Dirty Addiction (Dirty 2)

I want her to wait for me. I want her to think only of me. But that’s not fair. She shouldn’t wait. She should live her life while I do everything I can to make it up to her. Because she deserves to be happy. Even if it means without me.

It’s been six weeks, twelve hours, and fifty-two seconds since the last time I saw Victoria. And every single one of them has been a living hell. I hate my new life. I hate pretending to care about a woman that I don’t. I hate being paraded out to interview after interview. To event after event like a show pony.

I hate running my company from a distance, not really able to take on new clients because it interferes with the work I’m doing with Lily.

But most of all I hate not hearing from Victoria.

I walk into the bar where Logan works with Lily draped all over my arm. The new shiny ring that I bought her to replace Victoria’s ring sparkling brightly on her finger. I couldn’t really change the style of the ring after she showed it on national television, but I couldn’t spend a year with Lily watching her wear the exact ring that I had used to propose to Victoria with. It hurt too much.

One year. That’s how long I promised Lily I would keep up this farce. Long enough for her to win, and then we would come up with a reason that I leave her. A drug problem. I cheat on her. Something. I just h

ave to survive one year and then I’ll be free.

I spot Logan behind the bar and walk over to it with Lily clawing at my arm the whole way. Our bodies don’t sync together like Victoria’s and I’s do, which makes it almost impossible to walk together naturally. We make it to the bar and I pull out a stool and take a seat not bothering to help Lily with her stool.

She huffs beside me as she has to pull her own barstool out and take a seat without the help of her charming fiancée.

Logan smiles as he walks over to us and leans on the bar.

“Hey, Carter! It’s good to see you in person man. I’m not used to having to turn on my TV in order to see my best friend.”

I exhale. “Sorry about that. I’ll try to stop by more now that things have settled down a bit.”

“Can I get you something to drink?”

“Beer,” I say.

“Oh good of you to look at me,” Lily says when Logan finally gives her attention. “I’ll have a white wine.”

He gives me an it sucks to be you look and then turns to get us our drinks.

“You don’t have to be such a bitch to everyone you know. Logan and I are best friends, be nice.”

She smirks. “You and Logan are no longer best friends. I own your ass for the next year and I don’t want you hanging with a slum like him. It’s not good for our image as a couple. So you better say your goodbyes now.”

Her phone buzzes in her purse and she pulls it out and answers in her annoying high-pitched voice before giving me an I’ll be right back look and gets up to take the call away from me.

I sigh. I don’t know how I was ever able to stand her when we dated in high school. Probably because we just had lots and lots of sex and very little talking. Probably because she was just a distraction from my best friend’s sister that I could never admit that I had feelings for.

Logan returns with my beer and Lily’s wine. He sets them down on the bar.

“Where did the evil witch go?”

“Phone call,” I say drinking down half the beer.

Logan laughs and pulls out two shot glasses and fills them both with whiskey. “I think you could use one of these.” He slides me one of the shots and takes the other in his hand. We clink them together and down the shots.

“So what did you really come here for, because it wasn’t to see me,” Logan says.

I frown. “I did want to see my best friend, but…”

“But you want to know how Victoria is doing?”

I nod. “But I shouldn’t know. I won’t be able to keep doing what I’m doing if I know too much about Victoria.”

Logan laughs. “What are you doing? Because it seems like you are making the biggest mistake you’ve ever made.”

“I’m paying for all of the mistakes I’ve made with Victoria.”