Sweet Addiction (2 page)

“You okay?” she mouths.

“Whatever,” I reply.
She steps up and opens the double doors, allowing Sara to walk through with her
father.

I spend the rest of the
ceremony staring down into my lap at my fingers. They are freshly painted a
deep plum color and I smile at the sight of frosting that is smudged on my left
ring finger knuckle. Popping it into my mouth and sucking, I moan softly at the
sweet taste of sugar as Joey weeps like a baby next to me. To my surprise, I’m
not emotional at all. Weddings usually turned me into a blubbering idiot but
today, at this particular wedding, I’m emotionless. I guess a part of me should
feel a bit sad. Not because my ex-boyfriend is getting married to someone other
than myself, but because I wasted two years of my life on a relationship that
almost broke me. And seeing him again is a reminder of all that time wasted. An
annoying reminder.
Why the hell did I even stay with him for that long?
It definitely wasn’t because of the sex. Sex with Justin was bland and boring.
He never once brought me to orgasm. Not once. I would have to finish myself off
after he rolled out of bed and stalked into the bathroom. Of course, I always
let him believe that he got me off. I had to give the guy something. Raising my
head, I glare at his profile.
You’re welcome, dick.

“And now it is with
honor that I present to you for the first time ever, Mr. and Mrs. Banks. You
may now kiss the bride.” Everyone stands up and cheers and of course, I follow
suit. It would be rude not to and I’m not bitter so whatever, I cheer. Justin
and Sara share a lingering kiss and earn a few whistles from the audience. I
feel Joey’s hand squeeze mine and I glance up into his big blue eyes.

“I cannot
wait
to go drink my weight in booze,” I whisper to him.

He bends and presses
his lips to my ear. “And I can’t wait to get my hands down the pants of this
playa next to me. Maybe play a little just the tip.”

“Jesus. You would.”
Everyone is watching the bride and groom walk down the aisle but I’m lost in
silly conversation with one of my closest friends. I’m giggling so hard that
tears are starting to fill my eyes. And these will be the only tears shed from
me today.

“Come on Dylan, you
know you want to slip off into a dark corner with your mystery man whose lap
you accidently fell into. Maybe do a little something else in that lap of his.”

I raise my eyebrow and
lean back, seeing piercing green eyes flick to mine instantly. A small smile
pulls at the corner of his mouth.
Sweet mother, he is gorgeous.
I
quickly lean forward and try to play it off but fail miserably as my wicked
grin smears across my face. “Hell yes I do. I fucking love weddings.”

The guests file out of
The Great Hall and up the grand staircase to the second level. Once Joey and I
reach the top, we stand there a moment to take in our surroundings. The entire
second floor is the reception hall and ridiculously decked out in coral and
calla lilies.

“Holy hell. Are those
ice sculptures?”

My eyes follow Joey’s
gesture towards the right side of the room. “Isn’t that a bit over the top?
Ooohhh there’s the cake.”

“Told you I delivered
it. I feel you doubt my capabilities as your trusted assistant.”

I nudge his shoulder as
we walk to the place card table. “And I feel
you
really love Sam and are
just afraid to admit it.”

Tilting his head back,
he laughs loudly. “How bad ass would it be if we started doing our deliveries
out of a Lamborghini.”

“Bad ass and extremely
impractical. Maybe when we make our first million we’ll splurge on a luxury
delivery vehicle.” I grab our place card “Come on, we’re table twelve.”

I didn’t really care
what table we were at, just as long as we weren’t in direct view of the bridal
table. Justin still hadn’t made eye contact and I was hoping to keep it that
way. And with this many people in attendance, avoiding him shouldn’t be a
problem. Round tables cover three sides of a large wooden dance floor, the
bridal table elevated on a platform and overlooking the guests. The tables are
draped in white linen with coral ribbons running along the edges and beautiful
calla lily filled centerpieces. The DJ is already playing music and a few
people are dancing while others mingle around the tables, talking and enjoying
themselves. 

“There you two are.”
Juls comes skittering over to us in her dangerously high heels and grabs onto
our forearms as we admire the sculptures. “How was it? Be honest.” I cock my
head to the side and scrunch up my nose as Joey rubs the back of his neck,
seemingly in pain. Juls panics, her eyes bug and her fingers immediately rub
her temple.

“It was brilliant!” I
yell as relief washes over her, followed by a stern
I’m going to kick your
ass
look.

“As usual, you are one
bad ass bitch, Juls. If I ever get married, you’ll be running that show.” Joey
rubs her bare shoulder and she winks at him.

“Well, I only have a
few minutes to spare before I have to get the bridal party lined up to come in
so---” she steps in between us and loops her arms through ours “---let’s go
introduce you to some hotties.”
Oh shit. I almost forgot about hot lap guy.
Almost.

“Oh my God, Juls you missed
it,” Joey says through a laugh.

I lean back and hiss.
“Shut up, Joey.”

“What? What did I
miss?” She flicks her head back and forth between the two of us as I stare him
down.

Don’t you dare. I’m
still your boss and will fire your ass right here.
He must have read my thoughts because he never finishes his sentence, or maybe
it’s because we are now standing in front of the hot Chicago man candy club.
The four of them are standing near a table conversing amongst themselves, but
all conversation comes to a halt as we walk up. All of them, and I mean all of
them, are way too attractive to properly function around. And now it is
suddenly feeling a thousand degrees hotter in this room.

“There’s my girl.” Ian
reaches his hand out and Juls steps into him, placing a quick kiss on his cheek
before she steps back. I keep my eyes on Ian; not wanting to drift to the man
whose eyes I knew were on me. I can feel them burning a hole into my profile.

“Boys, I would like to
introduce my very best friend, Dylan.” Her hand grabs mine and pulls me forward
as I glance up and run my eyes down the row of men, stopping on the one closest
to me.
Damn, he keeps getting better looking.
“And this is Joey, the
hottest gay man in Chicago.”

“Oh please, Illinois
bitch. Let’s not downplay my sexiness.” Joey straightens out his tie as I try
not to laugh. My assistant has no modesty.

Juls glances down at
her Tiffany watch and her eyes go wide. “Crap. Ian, will you finish the
introductions? I need to take care of some shit.”

“Sure thing, babe. Be
quick though.” He holds onto her hand tightly, making her tug away playfully
before his smile lands on me.

“Christ, you’re so
pussy whipped.” The blond man standing next to Ian says softly. I glance at him
quickly, smiling at the idea of Ian being completely caught up in my best
friend. The two of them started dating a few months ago and she is already head
over heels for him. Due to our busy schedules, this is our first time actually
meeting and from what I can tell by the way he looks at her, he seems just as
infatuated.

Ian glares at the blond
who laughs around his drink before he turns back towards me. “Dylan, it’s nice
to finally meet you.” He holds out his hand to me with a genuine smile as I
shake it. Ian is tall and built, very muscular with nearly jet black hair that
is barely long enough to pull into his pony. His brown eyes regard me kindly.

“Yeah you too, Ian.
I’ve heard such lovely things from Juls.”

He shakes Joey’s hand
and exchanges some pleasantries while my eyes strain to not look at the man
standing directly to my left. “And these are my work associates and mates,
Trent, Billy, and Reese,” he says, motioning down the line of men.
Reese. Of
course that’s his name. A guy looking like this wouldn’t be named something not
sexy like Ted or Joe. 
I shake Trent and Billy’s hands as they say how
nice it is to meet me. Trent, who made the pussy whipped comment, is the
shortest of the group with almost white blond hair that curls at the ends. And
Billy, who only has eyes for Joey at the moment, has sandy blond hair that is
kept super short, diamond stud earrings in both ears. I begin biting the inside
of my cheek as I turn my body towards Reese.

“Dylan, I believe we’ve
met briefly.” He extends his hand and I place mine in his without hesitation,
feeling his callused fingers tickle my skin. I have to look up into his stare,
even though I’m wearing one of my tallest pairs of heels. He’s got a torso that
stretches on for miles, one that I’d like to wrap myself around. His perfectly
tailored dark gray suit frames his hard body almost unfairly and as he smiles,
the tiniest little lines appear next to his eyes. I sigh. His attractiveness is
a bit unnerving.

“Yes, briefly. I’m so
sorry about that.”
Not really.

Still holding my hand
he leans in a bit, his breath warming my face. “I’m not. Let’s go get a drink.”

I stumble a bit at the
closeness of his face to mine, but somehow manage a quick nod in agreement to
his request.  Finally dropping my hand, I meet Joey’s eyes and he winks at
me before I turn and walk side by side with Reese to the bar.  I want to
reach out and slip my hand back in his but I don’t. That would be weird.
Stay
strong. Resist the urge.

“What can I get you?”
the young bartender asks and I realize after a long silent moment that Reese is
waiting for my order, staring at me with an amused grin.

“Oh, umm, jack and coke
please.”

Handsome next to me
raises his eyebrows at my drink selection. “No girly drink for you?”

I shake my head and
brush my hair behind my ear. I’ve never been the type of girl that orders
martinis and fruity drinks that cost eight dollars apiece.

“I’ll have the same.”
His fingers strum the counter as I try not to stare at his profile, which is an
extremely difficult task. The man is too beautiful
not
to stare at. I’m
handed my drink and immediately take a large sip. “So, I don’t think I’ve ever
met a woman named Dylan before. And I
definitely
don’t think I’ve ever
had a Dylan fall into my lap.”  His lips touch his glass and I stare a bit
longer than I mean to as the liquid slips into his mouth.
And I am now
suddenly jealous of his beverage.

I shift on my feet,
flicking my stare back up to his eyes. “Oh, um, my parents were a bit obsessed
with the singer. They had picked the name Dylan before finding out the sex and
decided that no matter what, that was going to be the name. And so, here I am.”

He smiles. “Yes, here
you are. Do you like any of his music?”

I think for a moment
before replying. “I like that American Girl song.”

Smiling slightly, he
leans against the bar, his tall frame towering over mine and the bartenders.
“That’s Tom Petty,” he corrects me, his lips curling up in amusement.

“Oh, then I have no
idea if I like any of his songs or not.” I wrap my lips around the tiny straw
and his jaw tightens, a small twitch appearing at the sharp angle of it. He
clears his throat and runs a hand through his hair, making it even more of a
perfect mess.
God even his hair is sexy.

“So, bride or groom?” I
ask, watching his confusion turn into realization.

He smiles behind his
glass. “Bride, sort of. I don’t really know Sara but I’ve worked with her
father. He invited the four of us.” His hand motions towards Ian and Trent who
are sitting together at their table. I shake my head as I realize that Billy
and Joey are already missing.
Predictable Joey. We’ve been here for a whole
five minutes.
“You?”

I roll my eyes. “Groom,
unfortunately.”

He steps closer,
brushing his suit jacket against my bare arm and tilting his head down towards
me. “Really? Why, sweet Dylan, does it sound like you
really
know the
groom?”

Sweet Dylan?
Oh my.
I glance up into his eyes. “Because I
really
know the
groom. He’s my ex.”

His eyes widen and he
leans back. “Seriously?”

I nod. “Cheating ex to be
specific.”

“Fuck. That sucks. I
mean, isn’t this awkward for you? Why are you even here?”

I laugh slightly and
point through the crowd towards the dessert table with my free hand. “Do you
see that beautiful five tier deliciously constructed wedding cake?” He nods and
searches my face. “I made that. That’s why I’m here.”

“No shit? So, you’re a
baker?” I proudly smile as the DJ softens the music.

“And now, ladies and
gentlemen, I ask everyone to direct their attention to the front entrance. The
party has arrived!” The crowd cheers and whistles as each bridesmaid and paired
groomsmen line up at the door. I feel a pair of lips brush against my ear and
freeze, my pulse instantly racing.

“You interested in
watching this?” His face is dangerously close to mine and I almost stumble at
his scent that is now filling my lungs. He smells like citrus and I have a
sudden urge to bury my face into his neck and inhale him deeply.

“Not really,” I softly
reply, glancing up into this green stare. Nodding once, he grips my elbow and
pulls me through the crowd, stopping in front of the dessert table.

“So, what do we have
here?” He tilts his glass and takes a sip as we both admire my work. I smile
and beam at my creation. It really does look fabulous.

“Well, the cake itself is
an orange sponge cake with Grand Marnier whipped cream and marmalade
filling---” I gesture towards the peach colored pearls and calla lilies
cascading down the side, “---and the little dots and lilies are made of sugar
so it’s all edible.”

Leaning forward, he
admires the flowers with a furrowed brow, studying it closely. I greatly
appreciate his interest considering they were a bitch to make and can’t help
but giggle quietly at his look of deep thought. I’ve never even seen a groom
react this curiously to a cake I made.

“Wow. I thought the
flowers were real. You can really eat those?”

I smile proudly. “Hmm
mmm. They are insanely sweet and practically dissolve on your tongue once the
heat of your mouth touches the sugar.”

He raises an eyebrow at
me as he straightens up. “Christ. You make that sound so dirty,” he says with a
low raspy voice. I shrug as if to silently portray that I always made things
sound dirty which seems ridiculous even in my head.
No big deal, just how I
talk.

“So what do you do, Reese?”
I take a generous sip of my drink and watch his eyes go to my mouth, my teeth
clamping down on my straw.

After a moment’s
hesitation as his eyes linger, he replies, “I’m a CPA with Walker and
Associates.”

Nearly choking at his admission,
I clear my throat as his eyes widen. “Get the hell out of here. You’re an
accountant? You?”
He must be joking. Beautiful and highly intelligent? I
feel like I’ve found a unicorn.

He simply nods and
studies my face with a small grin. “Does that surprise you?”

“Yes. The guy that does
my taxes has psoriasis and looks more like my father. There’s no
way
someone as hot as you is an accountant.”
Jesus, Dylan.
I close my eyes
and shake my head, hearing a small chuckle from his direction. When I open them
finally, I lock onto his curious stare, his lips slightly parted as if he’s
about to speak. The DJ comes over the speaker system and halts him.