Sugar Rush (Friend-Zoned #3)(67)
Author: Belle Aurora

Nik rolls his eyes. “Oh yeah? What was stopping her from telling her friends? Fuck knows you would’ve told everyone about her if she hadn’t told you not to. I mean, c’mon. You spoke on the phone for months and declared your love for her on hundreds of occasions.”

I never saw it like that. “Well, I guess. It was a long time ago.”

He holds up a hand. “Secondly, when you guys were dating and she’d come to mom’s, she’d always make a point to explain how she couldn’t eat there because she’d already eaten, and she did this knowing mom would be cooking. She was rude like that. So she’d sit there like an asshole watching everyone eat, and then complain to you about needing to get home, when really, she just didn’t want to be around us. She didn’t like us, and you’d always stick up for her.”

I shake my head. “It’s not that she didn’t like you guys; it’s just that her family was different from ours, you know? They weren’t loud like we are. They were proper folk.”

Nik’s mouth gapes before he booms, “You’re still sticking up for her!”

I wince as soon as I realize I totally am. “Sorry, bro. I guess old habits die hard.”

His face turns soft. “The last thing I remember, and I’ll never forgive her for this, was when she got pregnant…” his eyes close sadly, “…and she blamed you for it. She told you that you were trying to trap her, to keep her from leaving you, and that you never wanted her to go to college. She hated you for it. She resented you. But you were so damn in love with her, you couldn’t see through the sunshine shining out of her ass.”

I remain quiet. Everything he just said is true. She did blame me for getting her pregnant. She blamed me for missing her pill. She didn’t want Ceecee. She never did.

Nik utters softly, “I’m sorry, bro, but that’s the truth.” He places a hand on my shoulder in a brotherly gesture of support. “According to Maddy, you were never good enough for her.” He squeezes my shoulder then walks out, closing the door behind him.

I don’t react for a long time. A long minute passes before I reach across the table with a shaking hand and pick up my coffee mug. I grit my teeth and grip it tight before hurling it across the room. I watch as it hits the wall, smashing into pieces and splattering coffee across the white surface.

Breathing hard, my body shakes with uncontrollable rage.

Panting, I whisper a shaky, “I hate you, Maddy.”

***

Helena

My body itches. I scratch absently at my chest as my leg bounces under the desk. I’m having withdrawals. Reaching across the table, I pick up my cell and type quickly.

Me: Excuse me, oh bringer of many an orgasm, you need to call Icing on the Cake and have me UNBANNED! I need cupcakes…stat!

His response comes immediately.

Max: Cupcake, I thought I was all the sugar you needed.

I can’t help but snicker. The ass.

Me: Although you are magically delicious, this is not a joke. I’m having withdrawals. I’m itchy and red, and I’m grouchy. You don’t want me to be grouchy to my clients, do you?

A minute later, my phone pings.

Max: I definitely do not want you grouchy, sweetheart. I’ll make the call. Give me a half-hour.

My heart swells at his calling me sweetheart. Then I stomp, clap, and silently squeal.

Me: I could kiss you right now!

A moment later, my phone vibrates in my hand.

Max: Baby, I want more than your lips.

In a mock-swoon, my head hits my desk with a thud. After the throbbing between my legs subsides, I lift my head and type a response.

Me: I’m at work! You can’t be sexy to me while I’m at work!

I should’ve guessed his response before I got it.

Max: Sure I can. x

I go about typing out my client reports with a smile on my face. Time passes quickly, and before I know it, I’m done. Sitting up in my chair, I reach behind me and rub my stiff shoulder. I guess having sex after such a long time is hard on the muscles. A pair of manly hands land on my shoulders and start kneading. A low moan escapes me. “Oh yeah.”

Lips hit my ear and whisper, “I think I’ve heard you say that before.” My eyes snap open, but the whispers continue, “But it was more like ‘Oh yeah, more’ and ‘Oh yeah, just like that’.”

Relaxing back into him, I ask through a smile, “What are you doing here?”

I try not to pout at the loss of his hands on me, then stand and turn to face him. Max grins down at me, looking good enough to eat in dark denim, a grey long-sleeved tee bunched up to the elbows, and white sneakers. He also holds a box in his hand.

A large pink and white box.

My heart skips a beat. I ask in shock, “You didn’t?!” Snatching the box out of his hands, I set it on my desk and open it to find a dozen pretty cupcakes sitting there, waiting to be sampled. I spin around and sputter, “B-but why?”

He lifts his hand and runs his thumb down my cheek. “Because you’re amazing. Because you’re funny and sweet. And because you deserve a sugar rush.”

My heart implodes from all the feels. I don’t even care I’m at work. I take the three steps over to him, lift my hands to cup his cheeks, and pull his face down to mine, planting soft, wet kisses onto his full lips. “Thank you, honey.”

He reaches up to my hands on his cheeks and gently takes them into his own, stepping away. He lifts my hands to his mouth and takes turns kissing at the knuckles of each hand. “I have to get back to work.” Walking backwards, he asks, “You’re coming to cook with Ceecee tomorrow, yeah?”

I shrug, knowing I could never deny him. “Of course.”

He winks at me before turning and jogging out the door. I sit back at my desk, smiling, and eye the open box of cupcakes, my sudden hunger for cake dissipating.

My smile fades. Max was right.

He’s all the sugar I need.

And that scares the living shit out of me.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Helena

With Felicity pulling at my hair to make a thin side-braid, my face bunches and one of my eyes closes from the pain. “Ow, turdette.” I hiss in a breath through my teeth. “That hurts.”

The tall blonde simply smiles cruelly. “Beauty is pain, assface.”

Today is Saturday, and we’re getting ready for The White Rabbit. The week passed pretty quickly, what with me working during the day then four out of the five nights I’d been at Max’s, hanging out, cooking with Ceecee, and eating like a piglet. I didn’t go last night, even though he asked. I felt Max and Ceecee needed time to themselves, so I set Max on a task. I told him to buy all the things to make ice-cream sundaes and have Ceecee make them both banana splits.