Crave

- ONE -

Stacy P.O.V.

"Come on, we're going out tonight. You've been too depressed lately and it's bringing me down." Gloria Ore, my best friend and roommate, insisted. The bossy blond was too much for me at the moment. Alright, so I'd been pouting all week. I was a grown, twenty-one year old woman. It shouldn't matter that my father was remarrying after all of these years, but for some reason I wasn't happy about it. Maybe it was because he'd depended on me for so long and yet I hadn't even met his bride-to-be yet.

So to be fair, I didn't know that there was anything wrong with Sheila Strong. I just didn't know if there was anything right either. How could my father decide to marry this woman without getting my opinion of her first? I'd been the only woman in his life, since mom died when I was twelve. I knew that I should be happy for my father and I was. I wanted him to be happy. I didn't want him to be alone. Now that I no longer lived with him, I did worry. So maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to have Sheila around. However, did they really need to get married so quickly? They'd only been dating a couple months. I don't know why, but I kept picturing some hair dyed, plastic gold digger. Not that dad had any gold to dig for. I was being ridiculous, I knew it, but couldn't stop.

"Hello, earth to Stacy? Stacy Moore, did you hear me? We're going out. No arguments. So if you don't get your butt up off that couch in the next five minutes, I will you drag you out in your grungy robe." Gloria insisted. She was already mostly ready to go out. Her hair and makeup were done and she wore sexy, pale pink, undergarments.

I groaned, "Fine."

I knew better than to argue. Gloria and I had been friends since grade school and when that girl set her mind on something, nothing or nobody could derail her. So begrudgingly, I went to my room and opened my closet, looking for the most comfortable outfit that Gloria would approve of. I should have known she wouldn't trust me to pick out anything cute, because she breezed into my room shoving a dress and shoes into my hands. With a wink, she left the room again.

Rolling my eyes I cautiously examined what she gave me. A slinky black dress that would barely cover my ass and wouldn't leave a whole lot to the imagination in my chest area either. I wasn't the smallest person. I was average height, with curves. My curves would fill this dress to capacity and then some. Gloria was out of her mind if she thought I would wear this. As if she heard my thoughts, Gloria poked her head around the corner, "Put it on, Sister. You're a single, smoking-hot, brunette, who needs to have a little fun for a change. I know you're torn up over your soon-to-be step-mother, but you've got to let that go. Your dad is a big boy. He knows what he's doing. You had to be an adult too early in life with your mom passing. Tonight, I'm making it my personal mission to make sure you do something wild and reckless, for a change."

I sighed, "Glo, this dress is not going to fit me."

"Put it on!" She demanded, sassily, and then left me alone again.

Knowing that she'd hog-tie me into the stupid thing, if I didn't put it on myself, I stripped down, but paused before slipping it over my head. I glanced at my worn out bra and panties. I sighed again, heading for my underwear drawer. I dug around in the back until I found what I was looking for. Sexy black panties and a matching bra. If she was making me do this, then I was going to do it right. I slipped into the black undergarments and then pulled the dress on. I'd been right. I was poured into the thing, but it didn't look as trashy as I thought. I did look like I was trolling for a man, but I didn't necessarily look like I belonged on a street corner. Straightening my shoulders, I decided, what the hell, I'd give Gloria what she wanted and wear the stupid dress.

One look at the shoes, however, and I absolutely refused to put those on my feet. I'd give Glo the dress, but no way was I going to twist an ankle in the stupid stilettos. I dug around on the floor of my closet until I found a pair of black boots that I hadn't wore since Halloween, three years ago. They had moderate heel and zipped up the sides, almost knee-high. I then dabbed on a little eye makeup, light foundation, and lipstick. I wasn't much of a makeup wearer, so that'd have to do. Looking at my hair, I took the pins and pony tail out, which I'd put in place after my shower earlier. My medium-length brown hair cascaded around my shoulders, in natural waves.

"Damn, I hate you, but love you at the same time. I've been getting ready for hours and it literally took you ten minutes." Gloria said, entering my bedroom again, wearing a skin tight red dress and black stilettos. Gloria was a tall, slender, gorgeous blond, with blue eyes, whom seriously should have been a model.

"Wow, Glo. You looking for a man tonight?" I asked, noting that her small breasts were practically on display with her strapless, low-cut dress.

Gloria giggled and turned, ignoring my question as she asked, "How many times do you think I'll accidently flash my panties tonight?"

I saw that the bottom of her dress hugged and barely covered her ass. I rolled my eyes, "I can't even imagine a number big enough, but I'd say at least ten times within the first five minutes."

Gloria snickered, "Probably."

"Well, let's do this then." I say and head for the living room, where I'd left my purse. Gloria could totally pull off that red dress. I'd be splitting its seams. At least my black dress was flowy and didn't threaten to cut off circulation anywhere. Gloria really did know her fashion. Model worthy, fashion guru and she was a kindergarten teacher, I thought in amusement.

"We should think of a code word to use if we find someone that we want to go home with tonight. That way the other knows not to wait. How about something random like the word blueberry?" Gloria said, as we exited our apartment and entered the elevator. Our apartment building was four stories high and we were on the top floor. Sometimes I liked to take the stairs, just to say that I exercised, but more often than not, I used the elevator.

I laughed, "Glo, I'm not going home with a man tonight. You know that I don't do one-night-stands. I've literally had sex once in my life and that was a disaster."

"Stacy, you were in high school then. You need to live a little. I'm not saying go have meaningless sex tonight, but you better definitely do some flirting. You're going to end up a crazy cat lady if you don't put yourself out there." Gloria insisted.

"As opposed to you, who puts herself out there too much? Honestly, Gloria, you worry me sometimes." I lectured and not for the first time.

"I know. I know, but I never have unprotected sex."

"Gloria, it's not just STD's and unplanned pregnancies. There are so many whack-jobs out there!" I stressed. We lived in smallish town Petersridge, South Carolina, but crazies still existed.

"Ok. Ok. You're bringing my mood down. I'll be careful. I promise and I always carry pepper spray." Gloria insisted as we hit the ground floor. I let it go, because I didn't want to hassle her about it. I did worry about her, but Gloria was a grown twenty-two year old woman. She could make her own decisions and she's the one who has to live with those decisions. I, on the other hand, had zero plan to go home with some random stranger, for a night of mediocre sex, and the awkward morning after walk-of-shame.