LOGINShare
Chapter Eleven
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56“I know him already,” I mumbled it out.
Dayton tilted her head to the side, looking at me blankly. “Well, I suppose that will make everything easier. Maid of honor and best man. You guys have to get along.”
“Oh, we do. I can’t say we’ve chatted much, but we get along well.”
I saw the moment it clicked in her head, and her jaw dropped. My mouth flattened into a thin line and an awkward silence wavered as neither of us knows what to say.
That’ll teach me to get a last name next time I randomly do with someone.
Dayton picked up her glass and drunk half of it in one go. “Well, that’s a surprise.”
I snorted. “Yeah? Like the fact that he was the guy who photographed me two days ago?”
“I was supposed to go to that one with him. Oh my god.” She covers her mouth with her hand. “Brenda! Did you do with him after your shoot? Oh my god!”
“Um. I plead the Fifth.”
“Ohhhhh, noooo, shit.”
“If it makes a difference, we’d already met.”
She closed her eyes. “You fucked him twice?”
“I know, right? This week is full of great, little surprises,” I joked, trying to make light of it and avoid her next question.
“And you’re…”
“Well I wasn’t planning on getting his last name, but now I’m assuming it’s Stone, so that throws that plan to shit, eh? And no, I’m not. I’m fine.”
So what if he gave my orgasm back and Mr. Jack Rabbit helped me to it last night with the thought of him? Maybe not totally fine.
“This is bad, Dayton. So, so bad.” I grabbed my own wine glass and do as she did, drinking half in one go.
Two male voices laugh outside.
“And it’s about to get worse,” Dayton gasped
My eyes widened. Oh, hell no. Hell. Fucking. No.
“Hide me!”
Dayton bites her lip, an apologetic glint in her eye, and my heart thuds when I heard his voice.
“Wine already? Isn’t it early, even for you?”
Dayton said nothing, just stared at me.
“What’s going on?” Aaron asked.
“Um, Ivan, I’m assuming you met my best friend, Brenda.”
I’m gonna kill her. She couldn’t hide me, could she? There’s nothing good about this. Not at all.
I turned around and give him a smile. “Surprise.”
Ivan displayed no outward signs of shock as his eyes met mine and send a cold sweat down my spine. “I like surprises,” he said with a grin.
I like surprises. I like flowers turning up at my door, I like birthday presents, and I like it when my best friend surprises me with a girls’ weekend. I don’t like surprises like this.
Not that Ivan isn’t a nice surprise. He is. He’s very pretty. Okay, he’s fucking incredible to look at. And touch. And taste. And think totally inappropriate thoughts about. He’s a nice surprise when he doesn’t come with an aura of danger and a grin that tugs at my addictive personality.
I mean, really. He is very handsome and every girl like looking at handsome guys, right!
I slided my empty glass to Dayton and she filled it without speaking. First sign of addiction: rationalization of your actions. It’s not okay for his grin to affect me just because of his handsomeness.
Aaron catched my eye. “I think I’m missing something.”
“You and me both, brother,” I mutter under my breath.
Dayton pursed her lips to hold in her laughter.
“Aaron, honey, don’t you and Ivan have business to deal with?”
“Mmm, Nope,” Ivan answered. “All done at the office.”
“Are you sure you don’t?” She gave them a look that would melt the Arctic.
“You know,” Aaron replied, “I think I do have a contract for you to look over in the office.”
He grabbed Ivan’s arm and steered him in the direction of his home office, and I watched as they disappeared.
Ivan glanced back at me and smirked when he saw me watching him. I took a deep breath and looked into my best friend’s eyes. I shaked my head, and saw worry reflect in her eyes.
“Twice? And now this?”
Related chapters
WILD ADDICTION Chapter Twelve
The problem with best friends is that they know everything about you. Dayton knows everything about me, about every last one of my rotting skeletons I keep locked away in a foolproof safe.But as she and Aaron discovered, skeletons don’t stay buried for long.
WILD ADDICTION Chapter thirteen
I turned and looked at her. Aaron was standing behind her, his hand on her back, staring at Ivan. Dayton’s eyes were flicking between us.“It’s fine,” I answered, grabbing my keys from the bar. “Let’s go before I change my mind.”He watched me the whole time. Like he’s a predator stalking his prey, his eyes were fixated on me. They follow my every move, studying me, evaluating me…memorizing me.It’s unnerving. But it’s not uncomfortable. It’s not a sinister look or even remotely bad. It’s casual. Intense, but casual. No different than the way you watch the characters move across the stage at the theater.If only there weren’t something…in his gaze that set off a herd of butterflies in my stomach so strong that I can barely eat a thing. Most of my dinner is pushed around my plate, untouched except for the gentle prodding of my fork.Aaron asked for the
WILD ADDICTION Chapter Fourteen
“Oh, that parts. Still not believing you.” He released one of my wrists and dived his hand into my hair. “It came to my attention during dinner that you’re rather mouthy.”“I’m an independent woman. Being a sarcastic, mouthy bitch is an occupational hazard.”His laugh is low, and the way it shaked his body made his thigh rub against my core. I bite my lip again. Holy crap.“Ah, yes. The independent woman.” Ivan dropped his face and brushed a kiss against my jaw. “Vibrator and all.”My cheeks flushed. Why, oh why, did I have to mention the vibrator?He kissed his way down my jaw, his fingers flexing at both my wrist and the back of my head.“Ivan, get the fuck off of me.” Before I spontaneously combust because it’s getting damn hot out here.“Mouthy,” he whispered.He pressed his lips to mine before I could do anything about it,
WILD ADDICTION Chapter Fifteen
Cake. There were cake everywhere. Every-fucking-where. Normal cake, Chocolate cake, Cheesecake, Red velvet cake, Ooh, Red velvet cake… yummy. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. We are in a bakery, after all, but just the sight of all the cake is making me feel a little sick. I haven’t tasted a thing yet, but I’d bet I’ll be ready to vomit pretty damn soon if the platter in front of me is anything to go by. I eyed it warily, and Dayton nudged me. “It’s just cake.” “It’s a lot of cake. I mean, how many different types of cake are there?” She looked around the bakery. “A lot, evidently.” “Why do we have to try them all?” I picked up a chocolate cake sample and looked at the label. “Chocolate fudge cake! Well, we both know what that tastes like.” She grabbed my wrist before I could put it down. “Brenda, humor me, please?” I turned my face toward her. “Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.” She tried to put an annoyed look, but the twitch of her
WILD ADDICTION Chapter Sixteen
I hanged my coat in the back room and relieved Jeanie of her shift. She waved goodbye with a thankful expression, and I knew instantly that Old Jack was in the bar.Old Jack, or Jack Brice, is one of the loveliest old men I’ve ever met. When he’s sober. When he’s had a few ales, he turns into a humorous old lad with a roving eye over all the bar girls.This happened on a regular basis, given that my boss was a bit of a pig who insisted on only having young people behind his bar. Young girls bring in the guys and young guys bring in the girls.Tonight, Jeanie had brought in Old Jack and kindly left him for me. And judging by the grin on his face, he’s not totally hammered. Yet.“Brenda,” he crooned my name like he’s a ‘country singer. I’ve heard on radio.“Jack.” I looked at him my best smile. “How are you this evening?”“Better for seeing you, darlin’.
WILD ADDICTION Chapter Seventeen
“There are several things on offer tonight, but they might not be what you’re looking for.”“I’m sure there’s something in this bar I’m looking for.” His eyes flashed.“Then you should probably look at the bar instead of the woman serving behind it.”The twitching in his lips pulled them into a full-fledged smirk. “I’ll try, but I’m not promising anything.”“Oh, isn’t that the problem,” I muttered, turning to serve another person.Ivan’s eyes were on me the whole time, following every one of my movements as I poured three pints and handed them to the barely legal co-eds eyeing me up.“Are you working all night?” one of them asked. He was built and leaned his elbow on the bar so his bicep flexed.“I am,” I smiled at him flirtatiously.He winked before turning away with his buddies.I heard a
WILD ADDICTION Chapter Eighteen
“Two eighty, please.”He counted out the exact change and dropped it on the bar, the sound clinking over the music. “Do you often go home with college kids who wank more often than they fuck?”'Wank'. What a wonderful word.“Why are you smiling?”I licked my lips. “Wank. It’s a very British word.”“I’m British, if you hadn’t noticed.”“I noticed. Somewhere between you hooking my legs over your shoulders and pinning me against my car.” I leaned against the bar again. “Does it matter if I leave work with college guys?”“You’re free to leave with who you like. For now.”“For now? That sounds like someone planning to intervene in my lifestyle.”Ivan drunk his beer in one go and slided the bottle across the bar to me. “That sounds like someone who’s meeting you from work with an offer
WILD ADDICTION Chapter Nineteen
And that talking bullshit. I bet he wanted to talk—with his cock. Frankly, thought, I prefer his cock talking over his mouth talking. His cock isn’t capable of spouting complete and utter douchery - nonsense.I shivered as I unlock my apartment door. Thinking about his cock isn’t helping matters here. In fact, all it was doing is getting me worked up. It was not getting his arrogant ass out of my head or the tingle of his touch off my skin. It was making it worse.I grabbed my phone to call Dayton, but 1:45 blinks back at me from the bright screen. Huh. Maybe calling her at almost two a.m. isn’t a smart idea.I took a long breath and glanced at Angus curled on the sofa. I turn the key in the lock and headed for my room, intent on calling my best friend in the morning.Dayton asked me to meet her at the coffee shop to talk about something on her mind.“I don’t have long.” Dayton slided into the seat opposite
Latest chapter
WILD ADDICTION Chapter Eighty Seven
My lips formed a wide grin. “Okay. I think my need for information is sated. For now.” “Good. And now I guess we have to get to my gritty stuff, right?” I nodded. “I fessed up. Now it’s your turn.” “Okay.” He grabbed his mug of tea and drunk half of it before setting it back on the table. He settled his arms around me again, linking his fingers on my back, and looked up. “Let’s see… When we were little, Mish and Aaron were constantly following our parents around. They wanted to know every last bit of the business. My dad tried for about a year to get me interested, but I just didn’t care. I didn’t have the right head for it. “Then we got older, and while they started internships and work experiences, I started sleeping with girls. Yeah. I was that knobhead.” He laughed. “I studied photography at A-level in college just to make up the number of courses I needed to take and fell in love with it. It was so calm and quiet compared to my rowdy, devil-may-c
WILD ADDICTION Chapter Eighty Seven
He pulled on his pants and I grabbed some shorts and a T-shirt from my room. When I came back out, Ivan handed me a cup of coffee and grabbed his cup of tea. I smiled as we settled on the sofa, facing each other, my legs hooked over his. He tugged the coffee table closer so we could reach from this position. Then he wrapped his arms around me and linked his fingers behind my back.“Okay. Just…talk,” he said.“Um. Okay.” I settled my fingers against the top of his stomach. The lump in my throat was the only thing stopping bile coming up—I knew it. “Well, I went to my parents’ house yesterday. I needed to get out of the city to think. Of course, my batshit crazy nana was there, so I got more of an ass-kicking than I did thinking. But anyway, she made me realize that you have to face your fears if you’re ever going to get over them. So. Here I am. Fear-facing.”Ivan’s thumbs stroke my back gently, a
WILD ADDICTION Chapter Eighty Six
Tyler, sitting on the floor, his back against my door, throwing a tennis ball at the wall opposite him. One of his legs was bent up, the other stretched out. I watched him throw the ball, catching it one-handed every single time.I opened my mouth to talk to him, but he beat me to it.“I’ve been sitting here like a fucking idiot for about four hours. I have no idea why. At first, I thought you were in. Then I remembered you went out of town. Fuck knows where. No one will tell me where or why you went. So I sat down and started playing with this. Hit your neighbor’s door a few times. He invited me in, but I said I’d rather sit here. Got hungry and ordered pizza.” He knocked on the box next to him. “Sat here like a fucking teenage boy hung up on some girl he’s never gonna get.”My chest tightened when he looked at me. I’d never seen his eyes so empty, so dull.“That’s what I think. You know t
WILD ADDICTION Chapter Eighty Five
“I nearly lost my life!” I almost shouted. “How is that nothing? What if, next time, it’s worse? What if, next time, I do lose?”Nana’s face softened, but her eyes hardened. She leaned forward in her chair and pointed a wrinkly finger at me. “You listen to me, my girl, and you listen to me well. You’re not afraid of committing. You’re not afraid of hurting anyone. The thing you fear is weakness. It’s commendable, really, but also complete crap. The only person you’re hurting is yourself—and this boy. You’re stringing you both along because of your naivety. That’s what it is. What you are. Naïve. You think love pops up for every Tom, Dick, and Harry?”Her words stung.“It doesn’t. It isn’t something you can throw around. If you can sit there and tell me it wouldn’t kill you to walk away from him, then that’s exactly what you should do.&rdqu
WILD ADDICTION Chapter Eighty Four
“You look like you have a face slapped with a wet fish,” Nana said. “Have you been salmon fishing?”“It’s not salmon season, Nana,” I replied. “And I don’t fish.”“Not salmon season? It flamin’ well is! A bit cold for July though. Hey, Steve. Put the heat on. I’m turning into a snowman.”I raised an eyebrow at Mom. “July? Nana, it’s March.”“No, it’s July. I specifically remember arranging my next visit here for July.”“Mother,” Mom said softly. “You did. We talked about it yesterday. You said you’d come back in July.”Nana blinked at her. “Oh. Did we?”Mom noded. “Yes. You said you wanted to come up in salmon season because you wanted fresh salmon.”Nana tilted her head to the side. “Oh. Oh, all right. That would explain the temperature. Still, get t
WILD ADDICTION Chapter Eighty Three
“I don’t know his past and he doesn’t know mine.”“Because you’re refusing to talk about it. Yeah, we talk. Just because we’re guys doesn’t mean we don’t talk about this shit. I called him a hundred times with Dayton—he’s more like my brother than anything. I know how he feels about you, Brenda. He’s told me. And let me tell you if you’d asked me six months ago if I ever thought he’d be this serious about a woman, I would have laughed at you.” His lips twitch. “I did laugh when he told me. I thought he was kidding, but he isn’t.”“It’s not just a snap decision. I can’t clap my hands together and know. I’m not holding off to protect myself. I’m doing it to protect him.”“Ivan’s a big boy. He can protect himself. I’ve seen him do it several times.”I put my face in my hands then ran my finger
WILD ADDICTION Chapter Eighty Two
I stifled a yawn as I followed Aaron around the new bar. They landed back in Seattle minutes after Ivan and I did, and Day took one look at me and told Aaron to bring me there.She’d taken Ivan to get coffee, and I sworn, if she was pulling her matchmaking shit, I would kill her.“What do you think?” Aaron asked.I looked around the building. Then, it was carnage in there. Builders were everywhere. There was dust and wooden planks and whatever in every single possible place. But looking at the plans in my hand—Aaron’s vision—I saw it.“I think it’s gonna be the best damn cocktail bar in the city,” I said honestly.“Good answer.” He grinned. “It should be ready to go in two weeks. When do you have to tell Donny you’re leaving?”“I’ll go by when I leave here and tell him. I’ll give him a week’s notice then take a week off.”
WILD ADDICTION Chapter Eighty One
“I’m not afraid of relationships. I have an addiction to sex, not a phobia of commitment.” His words stung. They did. Right from my head to my toes. “But yes. That’s the main reason I never pursued a relationship in London. Everyone there knew who I was and what I was worth. Here in Seattle, well. I guess I just never found someone worth having a relationship for.” His gaze burning into me. “Until now,” he finished. “I wish I could be that girl.” My words were so quiet that they were practically a whisper. It was true. I wished I weren’t afraid. I wished I could tackle him with the impulsiveness I tackled Aaron’s new bar with. I wished I could throw every piece of bullshit away and gave him the thing he wanted because He deserved it. He deserved happiness. He deserved smiles and security and certainty. Something I couldn’t offer. Ivan reached across the table and linked his fingers through mine. He lifted our ha
WILD ADDICTION Chapter Eighty
I said nothing, letting the moment linger. Letting his words hover between us, embracing them, holding on to them…getting addicted to them. To the underlying current of power in every syllable. To the smooth way he strung them all together and the way he never stopped to take a breath. To the inflection in the word ‘yours.’ Addicted to the way he didn’t have to think for a second about saying them. Addicted to the way they were making me feel. Safe. Warm. Cherished. Protected. Owned. I took a deep breath that shuddered through my body. The combination of his breath mingling with mine and the tingle of his palm against my neck was heady and intoxicating. The dizzy from his words and the response they’d elicited inside me, I wanted to give in. I wanted to tell him yes. I wanted to tell him we could do that. That, despite our addictions, two opposite poles, we could make it work. But I didn’t. I couldn’t—because I
