Addicted

I picked up a fork and let out a slow breath as Allison moved us into the dinner room and escorted my mother somewhere else.

"God, your mother is a bitch." Amy moved up beside me and pretended to stab the air in front of her with her fork. "I think we should egg Paul's car tonight. He's a lying bastard to tell your family that you guys grew apart."

"Yeah, and who calls someone’s parents after cheating on them?" Lucinda gave me a look. "We need to wait for him in a dark alley."

"Word." Katelyn shook her head and moved ahead of us. "Someone needs to teach them all a lesson."

"We're not teaching lessons, beating anyone, or egging anything. My mother has always been like this, and I'm not at all surprised that Paul called. He's just like them. He didn't care about me. He wanted in with them, and now that he's figure out how to do that, good for him." I shrugged and moved up to the three large chunks of cake sitting on

the table before us. "Let's wait for my sister or I'm liable to eat the cakes in the wrong order and the room will blow up around us."

My friends chuckled as we gathered around the table.

Lucinda poked at me with her fork. "Tell us more about Tate. That's his name, right? The biker mechanic guy."

"Oh yeah, that's his name." Katelyn wagged her eyebrows. "Tell them all about him so I'm not jealous all by myself."

"Why are you jealous? Martin is a great guy." Amy gave Katelyn a look. "You don't get to be jealous. Us single girls get that right."

"Oh Lord, come on already. I want to know more about him." Lucinda grumbled as my sister walked back in.

Allison stopped across the table from me. "More about who?"

"This guy I met." I shrugged. "We'll talk about it later. This day is about you, so tell us what we're doing and what you want from us." I gave my sister a genuine smile.

"This day isn't about me, silly. Tell me about the guy while we try the cakes. Just see which you like best, and we'll vote. It's the bride’s cake we're trying to decide on. I'm not going to spoil it by telling you the flavors beforehand. Just try them." She picked up her fork. "And it's just us, so pig out."

I laughed and took a big bite of the first one, groaning in delight as the sugary goodness rushed over my tongue. I rarely ate treats, but when I did, I realized what I was missing and would usually overdo it for a few days.

"Tell us about Tate." Amy took a big bite of the last one and grimace. "No. That one is gross."

"Really?" Lucinda moved down to the last cake and tried a bite after Amy. "What? This is delicious. I love it."

I rolled my eyes and continued to try the cakes until they badgered me into talking about Tate. There wasn't much to tell, but I figured I'd share what I could.

"He seems like a nice guy. He's a little taller than me, broad shoulders, sandy brown hair. He's got a great smile, beautiful lips, and warm brown eyes." I took a bite of the middle cake and gagged. "Nasty."

"Nasty in bed or like he has a nasty attitude?" My sister glanced up at me.

I laughed. "The middle cake is nasty. I don't know Tate that well. We just went to lunch the day he fixed my tire."

"Oh, a man who's good with his hands. Fun." Amy wagged her eyebrows. "Didn't you say he was a mechanic?"

"Yep, and he has tats all over his neck and arms, too."

Lucinda wagged her eyebrows. "He sounds delicious. Did you get to see him the other day when you took her over there, Katelyn?"

"Unfortunately, no, but Tate is trying out of the swim team. Val got the opportunity for him with Martin by winning a bet." Katelyn smirked at me.

"A bet? Sounds interesting." Lucinda stiffened, and I turned to see why. My mother had walked back into the room.

"It's nothing. I scored the first three points of the intramural games the other night on the boys’ league. Just a quick fake and shot, and I got the tryout opened back up for him." I smiled and mimicked the move that sunk my three-pointer.

"Who's Tate?" My mother asked, and it was as if she'd sucked all the air from the room.

"Just a guy who helped me fix my tired that other night, Mom." I took a bite of the last cake, trying not to get into a conversation with her over it.

"And, you got him a spot on the swim team? Sounds quite self-sacrificing to me." Her tone was less than friendly. Where I used to be embarrassed by the way she talked to me in front of my friends, I was rather used to it now. There was no changing it.