The Sweet Addiction Series Collection: Sweet Addiction, Sweet Possession & Sweet Obsession (52 page)

He laughs quietly. “Like what?

I tuck my hair behind my ear and groan, keeping my eyes on my legs. “Like a train wreck. This isn’t like me; I can usually hold my alcohol. I don’t think I’ve gotten sick since the singing-telegram tequila incident.” My stomach churns at the word tequila. That hateful bitch and I can’t be in the same room together. I bring my fingers up to my face and begin massaging my temples. “What time do we have to leave?”

“Soon. The cabs will be here in thirty minutes.” His hands run down my bare arms, gently applying pressure. “Can I do anything else? Do you need anything?”

I shake my head before dropping it against his chest. “Just you.”

He presses a kiss to my hair. “You got me.”

The sound of our bedroom door opening alerts us both, and Ian emerges in the bathroom doorway. He surveys my pathetic condition as he leans against the doorframe, crossing his arms and his ankles. “What the hell did you and Juls drink last night? She’s been throwing up since 3:00 a.m.”

I shrug, barely moving my shoulders an inch. All my strength seems to have left me. “Just champagne. We had some wine at the spa, but not enough to make us sick.” I grab onto Reese and slide off the countertop. “Let me go see her.”

I pull my hair into a messy bun as I walk through our bedroom and into the hallway. My head still feels like it’s in a vise, but my stomach seems to have settled. I see the suitcases lined up outside the rooms, ready to be taken out. Four suitcases. Reese, Ian, Juls, me.
Where are the others?
Joey’s door is still closed and I panic that he and Billy might oversleep and miss the flight. Without knocking, or thinking, I open his door and barge in like I own the damn place.

Three heads pop up in the bed. Three very startled heads. And one of those heads becomes very alarmed being sandwiched between the other two.

“Brooke! What in the fuck are you doing in here?” Joey grabs the covers and pulls them up into his lap, covering him and Billy.

“Relax, baby. You invited her,” Billy says, before lying back on his pillow.

Joey looms over him. “I sure as shit didn’t. Did you?”

Billy grimaces before rolling over, pulling the covers over his head.

Brooke rubs her eyes and smiles. “You invited me, Joey. You also called me fabulous, I think, and said I’m welcome to join you guys anytime you go out.” She slips out of bed, revealing herself in a man’s T-shirt that barely covers the line of her panties. She flattens her palm against her forehead, frowning. “Oh, hello, hangover.”

“I would never invite you to share a bed with us. And get the hell out of my T-shirt. That’s one of my favorites.”

“Calm down, JoJo. You most certainly did ask her to share your bed. Drunk Joey is a major fan of Brooke,” Juls’ voice comes from behind me. I spin around a bit too quickly and have to steady myself with a hand on the wall. And then I look at her. She’s dressed in skinny jeans and a blouse, her hair pulled back into a bun and her makeup looking fresh. Even if she has been throwing up since 3:00 a.m., she doesn’t look it. Julianna Thomas has never looked anything less than chic a day in her life. She grins at me. “Sweets, can I talk to you?”

I nod, turning back around. “Cabs will be here in thirty minutes. You guys better get moving.” All three bodies scramble out and around the bed while Joey quietly grunts his disapproval of the situation. I follow Juls out of the bedroom, down the hallway, and down the flight of stairs.

“What’s up? And why don’t you look like shit? I know I do,” I say as we make our way into the kitchen. She holds a cup of coffee out to me, and I take it with an appreciating moan.

“I think I’m pregnant.”

I inhale the biggest, hottest mouthful of coffee known to mankind when I hear her statement. The scalding beverage slides down my throat, searing my tissue as I cough it up and hang my head over the sink. Mouth open, I let it run out down my chin and into the deep basin. “Owwwahhhhhh.”

Her hand touches my shoulder. “Oh, shit. Are you okay? Do you want some water or milk or something?”

I wave her off, wiping my chin with the nearby hand towel. “No. But maybe next time wait ‘til after I’ve put my coffee down before you say something like that.” I let my mouth hang open, inhaling the cool air that fills the kitchen while my mind processes her words to me. I feel my slightly-sore lips curl up. “You think you’re pregnant? I didn’t even know you guys were talking about that yet.”

She hesitates slightly before nodding with quick drops of her head. “Well, Ian wants babies yesterday. I always thought I’d wait until I was in my thirties, but it’s all he talks about. And the more he talks about it, the more I think about it.” She plays with the buttons on her blouse, looking over my shoulder in the direction of the stairs. I turn and see Ian and Reese walking down the stairs with our suitcases, both of them smiling in our direction before they walk out the door. I return my attention back to Juls as she begins twisting the diamond stud in her ear. “My doctor told me it can sometimes take a while for birth control to get out of your system completely. Years for some women. So I stopped taking the pill a few months ago and didn’t tell Ian.”

I step closer to her, the excitement building in my gut. “Are you late?”

“My periods are irregular. I really haven’t had one since I stopped taking the pill. But, my boobs are really sensitive and there’s no way the amount of champagne I drank last night could’ve made me that sick. I can usually handle way more than that and not have my head stuck in a toilet.”

My thoughts begin to scramble as I lean back against the counter and stare at the floor. I can usually handle way more than that, too. I was pretty tipsy last night, but I wasn’t
that
drunk. Not to the point of it warranting the dry-heaving session I endured for several hours; at least I don’t think. And my periods are so damn sporadic I never know when to expect them. But I got my shot a few months ago, so I should be covered. There’s no way I could be…

“Sweets, are you okay?”

Juls’ voice cuts into my thoughts. I twist the towel around my one hand, making it look like something a boxer might wrap his punching hand with. “Huh? Uh, yeah. I just—” I look up at her, “—are you going to tell Ian?”

She shakes her head. “Not until I take a test first. You know how he is. He’ll tell everyone on that damn plane he’s going to be a daddy if I say anything to him now. And I’d hate to get his hopes up.”

I chuckle. Ian would do something like that. That man is crazy when it comes to Juls. I smile at the idea of my very best friend driving a minivan full of little black-haired Ian lookalikes. She’ll have no trouble balancing her wedding planner business with soccer practice and PTA meetings. She’s amazing at everything and makes it look effortless. And then another image fills my mind: me, working in the kitchen of my bakery while tiny little feet run circles around my worktop. I can see the wild mess of brown hair just above the counter height and little grubby hands reaching for a taste of whatever it is I’m making. And that image makes my eyes suddenly misty.

Juls grabs my hand, squeezing it gently. “Hey, what’s wrong? No crying during your wedding week.”

I reach up and wipe underneath my eyes, turning my body toward her. “I want to take a test, too. Do you think we could do it together?”

Her eyes go wild with excitement and then instantly water over. She wraps her arms around me. “Oh, my God. Yes, of course. Have you talked to Reese about having kids yet?”

“No, not yet. But it’s weird. I got sick too.”

She leans away from me and frowns. “That is weird. Although, it could just be nerves. You have been stressed out to the max lately.” Her eyes glance over my shoulder and she immediately shakes off any trace of baby emotion on her face. “We’ll keep this between us until we know for sure,” she whispers.

I nod, spinning around and seeing Brooke pull her luggage down the stairs, followed by Joey and Billy who are arguing. Once they reach the bottom, Joey hands Billy his suitcase and makes his way over toward us with distinct annoyance. Billy and Brooke walk outside, leaving the three of us alone in the kitchen.

“Any chance your sister can ride with the luggage? I’m in no mood for another plane ride with her.”

Juls steps into him and pokes her finger at his chest. “Buck up, JoJo. And drop the attitude. Poor Billy doesn’t deserve to put up with your moodiness because you’re on your man period.” She stalks away from him like she’s just delivered an epic blow, swaying her hips and letting her heels click loudly on the marble floor.

Joey huffs dramatically. “My ‘man period’? What the hell has gotten into her?”

Hormones.

Reese walks through the front door, grabbing the last suitcase Brooke apparently left for whomever to pick up for her. My eyes narrow in on his perfectly-messed-up hair, and I can’t hide the smile that will most likely blind anyone who looks at it.

Mini-Reese’s running around my shop. How crazy cute would that be?

He raises his head and locks eyes with me, shifting the suitcase into his left hand and holding his right out for me to take. “Cabs are here. Are you two ready?”

I’m ready. To go back to Chicago. To take a test and find out if I’m simply losing my edge when it comes to my drinking ability. To be one day closer to marrying the only man I’ve ever pictured having tiny lookalikes with.

I could be pregnant right now. There could be a tiny peanut inside me, pissed the hell off that I chose to drag him to my bachelorette party. I flatten my hand against my stomach as I move toward Reese, holding out my other hand for him to take.

His brow furrows. “Is your stomach still upset? I can ask the driver to stop on the way to the airport to get you something for it.”

I shake my head, patting my stomach before dropping my hand down. “No. I’m okay.”

You hear that, peanut? If you’re in there, I’m definitely okay.

“You want the window seat, love? Is doesn’t matter to me.”

I glance up at Reese, bringing my attention away from my belly. He secures my carry-on in the overhead compartment above our row before turning his eyes to me. I smile and press a kiss to his stubbly jaw before I move between the seats, feeling his hand smack my ass. “Thanks, handsome. Juls hogged it on the way here,” I say with a teasing tone, loud enough for her to hear.

She scrunches her face at me in the row ahead of us.

“I’m going to use the bathroom before we take off,” Brooke says, getting out of her seat in front of me and proceeding toward the back of the plane.

Joey stands from his seat across the aisle from us and claims Brooke’s, kneeling so he’s facing me. He motions for me to come closer, grabbing Juls’ attention in the process. “So, what happened with the dress? Did it survive the night?” he asks in a hushed whisper.

I glance over my shoulder at Reese, making sure he’s unaware of Joey’s questioning which apparently can’t wait ‘til we land in Chicago. His head is tilted down as he glances at his phone, completely focused. I scoot to the edge of my seat. “No, it was destroyed in a very Reese-like manner.”

“Hot.” Joey wiggles his brows playfully at me. “I bet you got laid hard, didn’t you?”

Juls slaps his arm. “Shouldn’t we be asking you that, Mister Threesome?”

“That did not happen. I’m gayer than gay, and so is Billy. We just snuggled.”

“Oh?” I ask, teasingly. “You snuggled with Brooke?”

He looks from me to Juls and then back to me. “Yes. In my drunken stupor, I snuggled with a girl. Now, if you both don’t mind, I’d like to hear about someone getting laid last night because I sure as shit didn’t.”

Juls rolls her eyes as I scoot closer to both of them. Frowning, I shake my head before I reply. “No one got laid in my bedroom. I wasn’t allowed any relief and was forced to watch Reese jerk himself off. It was hot and frustrating. And hot. Did I mention hot?”

Joey and Juls’ both stare at me, mouths gaped open. Ian turns his head and glares over the seat. “What did you just say?”

Oh, shit.

I sit back quickly, glaring at Juls and Joey with panicked eyes. Juls turns and plants her butt down in her seat while Joey stands and excuses himself across the aisle.

Reese places his hand on my leg. “Everything okay?”

“Hmm mmm.” I slide my hand underneath his, interlocking our fingers. “Do you want to have kids?” The words cascade out of my mouth like the scalding coffee did earlier, surprising us both in the process.
Shit, Dylan. Way to just blurt it out.
I drop my head against the seat, feeling my hand tighten against his and my breathing become slightly restricted.

He tilts his head, leaning closer to me. “With you? I’ve thought about it.”

“Yeah?”

He nods, his lip twitching in the corner. “Yeah.” Before I can pry anymore, he brings his free hand across his body and places it flat against my stomach. I stop breathing all together as I watch his eyes go to my belly. “I want to mark this, too.” I feel his palm slide across my shirt, applying the tiniest amount of pressure. He’s studying his hand on my belly like he always studies me, with pronounced focus. Like nothing could pull him out of his moment.