Sweet Addiction (15 page)

Reese rounds the couch
with two bowls and hands me one before he sits down next to my feet. “Bryce?”

I nod as I take in a
mouthful of spaghetti, moaning softly around my fork.

“What about him? Thinks
he’s hotter than he is, that’s funny.”

I roll my eyes and chew
up my bite. “This is really good. Did you make this?” He smiles and nods as he
takes a massive forkful. “Anyway, he doesn’t work with you does he? I mean, if
I were to come and see you at work, would he be there?”

He chews up his bite
and shakes his head. “No. He’s an investor and I have to deal with his stupid
ass occasionally but he doesn’t work in my building. Why, did he do something?
If he fucking touched you Dylan…”

Slurping in my noodles
I hold up my hand to stop him. “No, he didn’t touch me. Jesus, hulk, relax.” I
earn myself a stern look and quickly swallow my bite. “He just came into the
shop last week and asked me for my number, which I didn’t give him, and I
didn’t like how he looked at me today.”

His eyes narrow and his
fork stills in his bowl. “Did he look at you the way
I
look at you?”

I swallow my bite. “No.
You don’t make me feel like I’m being mentally taken advantage of. But he
doesn’t work with you so don’t worry about it.”

His eyes quickly flick
to mine. “If he comes into your shop again, I want to know about it.”

My eyes widen.
Oh
for fuck’s sake.
“Don’t you think that’s a little extreme?” I place my bowl
into my lap.
Was he seriously going to injure every man that looked at me
twice? Is he always this possessive with his flings?

“No.” He puts his bowl
back down. Turning his body towards me, he pulls my feet into his lap and his
green stare burns into mine. “I have a huge fucking problem with guys putting
their hands on you or making you feel uncomfortable. Don’t ask me not to react
to that.”

I lean forward and grab
his bowl, seeing one side of his mouth curve up as I get a fork full and hold
it out to him.

“You’re not going to
fight me on this?” he asks suspiciously before taking the bite off the fork.

“No I get it. I would
slap a bitch if she put her hands on you or made you uncomfortable.” His
mouthful muffles his laugh as he grabs his bowl from me. “But just so you know,
I can handle assholes like Bryce. I just didn’t want to have to run into him
when I come see you at work.
If
I come see you at work.” I grab my bowl
and pull another bite into my mouth, wiggling my feet in his lap.

“If? No, I don’t think
so. I like when better.”

“You only say that because
both times that I’ve been there, you’ve gotten off. It must be nice to have
orgasms during your work hours.” I move my foot and rub it against him, feeling
him twitch under me.

He arches his brow.
“You know damn well that if I could escape my office to make you come behind
that bakery counter of yours, I’d do it. And I don’t just like you coming to my
work to blow me or get fucked against my door.” I loudly slurp a noodle into my
mouth, making him laugh. My ringtone sounds through the condo and I hop up,
grabbing it off the kitchen table and exhaling noisily at the name on the
screen. 
Oh great.

“Hey, Mom.” I plop back
down on the couch and squeeze the top of my nose. I have an awful feeling that
I’m going to regret answering this call right now.

“Sweetheart. How are
you? I’ve been meaning to talk to you since the wedding but you father---”

“Her father what,
Helen? Her father what?”
Oh Lord help me.
My parents are notorious for
both staying on the line during our conversations. “You know damn well what,
Bill. Anyways, dear, are you home because we’re only five minutes away.”

“Mom, I’m fine. The
wedding was fine but no, I’m not home right now.” It has been a few weeks since
I’ve seen my parents and I did want to catch up with them, but now is not the time.
Not while I sit next to Reese.

“Just fine?” he asks
beside me, earning himself a right shove. “I’m sure when you were screaming my
name it was more than just fine in that moment.”

“I’m going to murder
you,” I mumble through clenched teeth as he eyes me up with his wicked grin. I
can feel my heart beating rapidly and curse myself for not letting this shit go
straight to voicemail.

“Well where are you?
We’re in the neighborhood and want to see our only child. Are you at Juls’
house? We know where that is,” Mom says and I hear the sound of traffic through
the phone.

“No, Mom, I’m not at
Juls’ house. I’m at…” My eyes flick to Reese who is anxiously waiting for my
explanation, devouring his spaghetti with a playful grin.

“Would you like
me
to
tell your mother where you are?” he asks, reaching for the phone.

I quickly turn away
from him and get out of his reach.
Well this is just perfect.
“I’m at a
guy’s house. Can I call you later?”

“A guy? What guy? Oh,
hunny, did you meet someone? What’s his name? Can we meet him? Is it serious?
What does he do, Dyl? Oh I’m so glad you found a new boyfriend.” “He’s not a
democrat is he?” My dad adds and I want to crawl into a hole and die. My mother
has been trying to marry me off since I was nineteen. She wants grandbabies and
she wanted them yesterday.

“Oh my God, can I
please call you back?” Before I can comprehend what’s happening, Reese grabs
the phone out of my hand and stands up, placing it to his ear.
Oh God, no.
My
eyes widen and my jaw hits the couch as I slowly watch my world implode.

“Mrs. Sparks? This is
Reese Carroll, your daughter’s boyfriend.” I run at him and knock him off his
feet, sprawling him out on his back as he holds me at arm’s length.
Does the
man have a death wish?
He seems completely unaffected by my move and just
gives me a sly grin. “Oh and Mr. Sparks. It’s so nice to talk to you both.”

“Give me the phone,
Reese.” I grunt and try to move around the arm that is holding me away from
him.
Jesus Christ. Why does every male in my life think it’s okay to take
the phone away from me?
“Give it.” My efforts are useless, only making me
out of breath while he beams up at me like the gorgeous god that he is. 

“Yes she is very
special, isn’t she?”

“You are never getting
laid again.”

“That sounds wonderful.”
He laughs into the phone. I glare at him and he winks at me.
Jerk.
“I’ll
tell Dylan to set it up. I look forward to meeting you too. Okay here she is.”
He smiles in his minor victory over me and holds out the phone. “Here you go,
love.”

Snatching it away from
him with one hand, I give him the finger with the other, as I stand up and
begin to pace. He stays on the floor, tucking his hands behind his head and
follows me with his eyes.

“Hello?” I ask and
brace myself for my mother’s rant. I sit down on the arm of the couch and rub
my temple with my free hand.

“Oh my. He sounds
lovely, sweetheart. And so polite.”

I shake my head. “Well
I wouldn’t get too attached if I were you. I’m plotting his slow death as we
speak.” Reese stands up and moves towards me, brushing his hand over my chest
before he walks down the hallway
.
I shudder at the contact.
 

“Oh hush. Anyways
darling, since you’re busy with your
boyfriend
we’ll have to see you
another time. Love you lots.” “Love you, sweetheart,” Dad says.

“Bye, love you too.” I
press end and slip my feet back into my sandals, walking myself over to the
table to retrieve my keys.
Great. My parents think Reese is my boyfriend.
They’ll want to meet him now. Just fucking great.
My head is spinning and
it’s officially time to go home before he decides to go through
all
my
contacts and explain our situation to each and every one of them.

“Please tell me I
didn’t piss you off to the point of you leaving?” His voice washes over me as I
turn and see him walking slowly towards me. His sweats hang loosely on his hips
and the tiniest amount of skin is now on display under his T-shirt.
Damn him
and his body.

“Why the hell would you
tell my parents that you’re my boyfriend? Are you insane? Do you have any idea
the amount of phone calls I’m probably going to get now? Since Justin, I’ve
been able to limit my mother to once a week check-ins. But
now,
she’ll
never leave me alone.”

Stopping in front of
me, he pushes the hair back that fell out of my bun and grips my head between
his hands. My face is stuck in scrunched up hate Reese mode but it is quickly
fading due to his softness, and his hotness, and his overall Reeseness. 
Stay
strong Dylan.

“What should I have said?
That I’m casually fucking their daughter and not in a relationship with her?
That sounds terrible.”

“I don’t understand why
you had to say anything, but fine. Every time she calls me, I’m just going to
give her your number and
you
can deal with her.” Crossing my arms over
my chest, I stare him down as he backs up and shrugs his shoulders.

“That’s fine with me. I
can dig for some Dylan dirt.”
How was he completely calm and collected over
this? Why the hell would he want my parents to think that I was seeing him in
that sort of way?

Flipping my keys in my
finger, I turn towards the door. “Everyone has gone crazy. It’s decided. I’m
the only sane person left in Chicago.”

His footsteps follow behind
me and I feel his hand grab a hold of mine. “Hold on, I’ll walk you out.” He
turns towards the pair of tennis shoes that are by the couch and slips them on
quickly.

Stopping in front of
Sam, I glance over at Reese who is staring peculiarly at my vehicle, no doubt
hurting my precious Sam’s feelings in the process.
Good Lord, we can’t all
drive Range Rovers.
“Why the hell did you drive your delivery van over
here?” His finger traces the cupcake design on the side as he studies it in his
usual Reese way.

“Um, because it’s my
only car.” I open the driver’s side door and hop in as he moves to stand by me.

“You don’t own a
regular vehicle?”

I shake my head. “No,
Mr. Money bags. I used to drive an old corolla but it broke down and I never
really had the money to get a new car so, I just take Sam everywhere. It pisses
Joey off but I don’t mind.” Reese runs his hand through his hair and I sigh.
“Don’t you dare hate on Sam. He’s been the only man in my life that has never
let me down besides my father.”

He squints at me and
leans in, brushing his lips against mine. “And me I hope.”

“Humph. The jury’s
still out on you, handsome.” I feel him pull back to allow me to leave when I
grip his T-shirt and pull him close to me again, nuzzling my head into my
favorite spot on his neck. “Just give me a minute.” I hear a tiny laugh as his
hand comes up to hold me against his body. Even though I’m a little irritated
and a lot confused, everything seems to melt away when I’m close to him like
this. I inhale deeply, allowing his smell to run through me and hopefully rub
off enough to take some of him home.

“You can stay with me
and do this all night if you want,” he says softly. I close my eyes and shake
my head against him. “Fine but just so you know, I’m not a fan of this bullshit
no sleepover rule.”

I pull away from him
and rest my forehead against his, seeing his serious expression. “I should go,”
I whisper and he grabs my face and plants kisses all over it as I try to
contain my euphoria. Playful Reese is hard to let go of, but I somehow manage.
Closing my door, he walks to the curb and watches me as I pull away, his
incredible build slowly getting smaller in my rear view.

My mind is racing as I
drive home. So many things happened tonight that I wasn’t anticipating and don’t
quite know how the hell to react to. Between him dropping everything to come to
me, telling me that I’m all he thinks about, and declaring himself my
boyfriend, I feel completely unprepared for what to expect out of him next.
Fuck my rules. Reese has his own set that he is playing by and I’m completely
oblivious to all of them.

It poured down rain all
day on Wednesday, preventing our usual steady flow of walk-in customers from
making the trek down Fayette Street. I stayed busy in the kitchen all day which
I tended to do most rainy days, while Joey rifled through my planner to make
sure we were prepared for all upcoming orders. I had one wedding this weekend
and the Frey’s anniversary cake to make which I decided to get started on after
lunch on Thursday. In between mixing the ingredients, I scroll over the last
several text messages between Reese and myself that had transpired yesterday.
He really is an expert at the flirty text messages thing. I had just managed to
slip the cake into my double oven when Joey’s voice comes ringing through the
shop.

“Cupcake, you have a
delivery,” he sings and I move quickly past the worktop and through the
doorway. Fred is standing in front of the counter and smiles at me, his
gap-toothed grin spreading across his face.

“Hi, Fred. How are you
today?” I ask as he steps up to the counter.  Fred is the only other man
that makes my heart flutter at his appearance, and it’s only because he always
comes with something from Reese.

“I’m great, Ms. Dylan.
Here you go.” Sliding a brown envelope across to me and holding out his
clipboard, I sign for it and hold up my finger to him. I grab a bakery box and
fill it with some apple turnovers, slipping one into a separate small bag and
handing them out to him.

“Would you please give
this box to Mr. Carroll for me? The one in the bag is for you,” I say and his
smile manages to grow.

“Sure. Thanks, Ms.
Dylan. See ya, Joey,” he responds excitedly, turning on his feet and walking
out the door. “Bye, Freddy,” Joey replies in his flirty voice, earning himself
an eye roll from me.

“Seriously? He’s like
sixty.”

“Age is just a number,
cupcake.”

I open the envelope and
pull out the tiny brown card, my heart beating so loud that I’m sure Joey will
give me shit about it.

Dylan,

    Have
you heard the song “Do I Wanna Know?” by the Arctic Monkeys? I can’t listen to
it anymore without thinking of you, not that I’m complaining or anything. Miss
your face.

                                                           
X Reese

Oh I miss his face
terribly.
Handing over the card to Joey, I watch his
expression get all weepy while he digs his phone out of his pocket.

“I don’t think I know
that song,” I say as he docks his phone and hits a few buttons. Music begins
playing through the speakers, music that instantly reminds me of sex.
Holy
shit.
I can actually picture Reese thrusting into me at the tempo.

“Jesus, is this it?” I
ask and Joey nods through a grin.

“Yup. I fucking love
this song. You should listen carefully to the lyrics, cupcake. I think he’s
trying to tell you something,” he replies as he hands me back the card and
starts organizing the display case. I lean against the counter, listening to
the song as the front door swings open and Juls comes barreling through. 

“Hello, my lovies. Ooohhh
I fucking love this song. Reminds me of sex.” She echoes my thoughts as I nod
in agreement.

“Reese said it reminds
him of Dylan. What you think about that?” Joey asks and her eyes widen.

“Damn. I think he wants
to fuck you sideways, Dyl.”

I giggle and smooth out
my apron. “Well naturally.” I glance over at my best friend who is standing in
the middle of the shop, rubbing her eyes and looking positively glowing.
On
a Thursday?
“What’s up with you?” I ask.

“Nothing, I just have
something in my eye,” she replies, as she keeps wiping below her lashes with
both hands. She’s really going at it and I look over at Joey whose mouth has
dropped open.

“JULS,” he yells and
startles me so bad I have to grip the counter.

“Jesus Christ, Joey.
What?” I ask, my eyes falling on Juls who is now only holding up her left
hand.  My eyes flick between my two best friends, back and forth, still
feeling completely lost until something sparkles and catches my attention. My
jaw drops as I finally focus on what Joey has seen. Her delicate hand is now
adorned with a shockingly large diamond and I scream. Joey screams. Juls
screams. There is a lot of fucking screaming going on.

“You’re engaged?” I
shriek and she nods frantically, her hands coming up to cover her face as Joey
and I round the counter and charge at her. “Oh my God.” The ring is beautiful
and totally her. Massive and sparkly, the princess cut diamond is surrounded by
smaller delicate diamonds and gleams brilliantly. Tiny diamonds run along both
sides down the band as well. “Holy shit, it’s gorgeous. When did this happen?
How did it happen?” I ask as Joey studies the ring closely.

“Seriously the most
beautiful ring I’ve ever fucking seen. Damn,” he chimes in as he holds her
petite hand in his.

She wipes the tear that
has streamed down her face and shuffles excitedly on her feet. “Last night. Ian
took me to Grant Park for a stroll after the rain had let up and he dropped
down in front of that massive fountain. I died, right there on the spot.” More
tears come down and she quickly rubs them away. “He told me he’s loved me for
so long and that he’ll love me forever. God it was so fucking romantic.”

My waterworks are now
free flowing and turning towards Joey, I see that he is as much of an emotional
wreck as I am. “You’re going to be the most beautiful bride.” I manage through
sniffles. “I’m assuming we’re looking at next September or October for the big
day?”

“Fuck that noise. I am
not waiting a year to marry that man. We’ve decided on September 17
^th
.”
Joey gasps and I’m pretty sure I do also. I’m stunned, completely shocked.
Is
she crazy?

“That’s like three
months away,” I say as the shop phone rings.

“Oh please. Have you
forgotten who you’re talking to here? I could plan a fabulous wedding in a
month if I had to.” I dash behind the counter and grab the phone on the fifth
ring.  She was right though. If anyone could pull off a spectacular
wedding in three months, it was Juls. Besides, I was fairly certain that she’s
already planned most of the details without Ian’s knowledge of it.

“Dylan’s Sweet Tooth,”
I chirp into the phone as Joey and Juls excitingly talk about the wedding.

“Hi, sweetheart.” My
mom’s voice instantly sends my back rigid and I squeeze my eyes shut.
Oh
great. It’s starting

“Hi, Mom. What’s up?” I
ask casually. Please Lord let her be calling to tell me someone died or
something else non-romance related.
Maybe she’s forgotten all about Reese.

I hear muffled noises
in the background, most likely the sounds of my father getting shushed. “Oh,
nothing much. So how exactly did you meet Reese? I’m dying to know all about
him and Google only tells you so much.”

“You Googled him?” I
didn’t even think my mother knew how to use the internet. Now she’s googling
the men I’m sleeping with?
Hmmm, maybe I should do that.

“Yes. Good grief he’s
handsome. Now tell me, how did you two meet?”
Oh you know, he nailed me up
against a bathroom sink at my ex’s wedding. Crap.
I need a distraction and
the sight of my bouncing best friends gives me inspiration.

“Mom, Juls is engaged.
Isn’t that great? And she’s getting married this September.” Nothing like
wedding news to get my mother sidetracked. She was a sucker for hard gossip,
especially when it involved my friends.

She gasps dramatically.
“That’s wonderful. Oh my, that’s so soon.” I hear her hands clapping together
through the phone.  “How lovely. Juls will make such a beautiful bride.
You know who
else
would
make a beautiful bride?”

What? Shit! I scramble
around the counter and grab Joey by the hair, a loud scream emanating from him
followed by a string of curse words directed at me. “Oh shit. Gotta go, Mom.
Joey’s having a gay emergency. You know him. Love you.” I end the call quickly
before she can throw out any questions.
Whew. Crisis Averted.

“What the fuck, Dylan?
That hurt. And why does it have to be a
gay
emergency?” Joey rubs his
scalp, his face scrunched up in pain as he glares at me.

“Ha! Like there’s any
another type of emergency involving you.” Juls laughs.

“Sorry. Really
really
sorry about that. My mom knows about Reese and I’m trying to avoid
her at all costs.” I exhale forcefully. “You know how she is.” I decide to keep
the Reese telling my parents that he’s my boyfriend news to myself. I would
never hear the end of it.

“Oh, yikes,” he states.
“Actually, that reminds me,” He quickly combs through his hair. “You remember
how Billy thought it was hilarious that you thought Reese was married?” I nod
as Juls moves next to me and faces Joey, her arms crossing over her chest.
“Well, I thought that was weird. I mean, why is that so fucking funny? He’s
gorgeous. He could have been married.”

“Joey, is there a point
to this?” I ask

He huffs in annoyance.
“Yes. I asked Billy about it and he said that Reese is completely against
getting serious with a girl. He won’t do it.” My stomach rolls. “When they
start getting clingy, he moves on to the next one.”

“Joey, that’s enough,”
Juls spats.

I blow my breath out.
“It’s fine. I figured as much.” But I wasn’t expecting it to hurt this bad to
hear it out loud.
Shit.
I feel like my heart has been shoved into a
vice.

He moves closer to me
and grabs my hand, stroking the back of it with his thumb. “Dylan, I’m sorry. I
just, I don’t want to see you to get hurt.” He squeezes me gently. “I like
Reese, I really do and I like him for you, but I don’t know if he’ll ever want
you for more than just sex.”

Juls steps in between
us and grabs my shoulders. “Don’t listen to him, Dylan.
I’ve
seen the
way he looks at you. I don’t care how many girls are lining up for him. He only
sees you.” She speaks softly, her hands applying light pressure to my tense
shoulders. He is
currently
only seeing me, I wanted to correct her. But
I don’t. I manage to paint on my most convincing
I’m not affected by this
face and smile. 

“It’s fine. I’m fine. I
wasn’t expecting this to become a fucking relationship or anything more than
what it is so, whatever, I’m fine.” Juls studies me closely as Joey manages
half a smile. “Anyway, where are we headed tonight to celebrate?” My change of
topic catches on and they both start rattling off names of bars. “You two
discuss. I have some work to do.”

My stomach churns as I
walk past my friends and into the kitchen. Images of hundreds of women walking
into Reese’s office, closing the door behind them, and then reemerging moments
later looking rightly fucked pour through my head.
How many girls have blown
him in that office? How many has he fucked against that door?
The thought
of Reese screwing anybody besides me makes me instantly queasy. “God, what the
fuck am I doing with this guy?” I say to myself as I check on the cake.

Juls pops her head
through the doorway. “6:00 p.m. at The Tavern, sweets. Love you.” She waves
with her blinged out hand and I giggle.

“Love you.” I reply
with genuine enthusiasm just as my phone begins to ring. Reese’s name flashes
across my screen and I hit decline. I can’t talk to him right now. I have work
to do and staying busy is my best defense at keeping my mind off him. Walking
over to the shelf, I grab the ingredients I need for the chocolate peppermint
frosting and place them on the worktop. I reach for my mixer next as my phone
rings through the kitchen. Leaning across the worktop, I see his name again and
huff loudly as I press decline. “No,” I state firmly. Perching myself up on a
stool, I begin rifling through my recipes. I really needed to organize these
better. And rewrite some of them. My grandmother’s chicken scratch handwriting
is beginning to rub off and most are borderline eligible. Hearing the text message
alert on my phone, I wipe my hands on the front of my apron and reach for it.

Reese: Are you ignoring me?

No mister persistent,
I’m just putting some distance between you and my heart.
The sound of the song that Joey has apparently put on repeat seeps into the
kitchen and I soften. A song reminds him of me. A song that I need to remember
to look up the lyrics to.  My thumbs get to work.

Me: No, just really busy. Juls
stopped in and showed off her massive engagement ring and now I’m behind on
some baking. What’s up?

I press send, pleased
with myself for not berating him with questions about previous lovers and
office sex romps. I’m about to place my phone down when his name flashes on my
screen with an incoming call.
Damn it. I can’t just ignore him again; he
knows I’m not too busy to text.
I swipe the screen.

“Not feeling the text
messaging today?” I ask through a smile that I inwardly curse myself for
having. He hasn’t even spoken yet and I’m glowing.

“Not when I can hear
your voice instead. How are you today, love? Any new favorite songs?” The sound
of crunching comes through the phone and I suspect that he’s received my
special delivery just for him.