Chasing Him (Dark Love 4)

“How many fucking times do I have to tell you it’s over? I don’t think about her that way,” Julian raises his voice, throwing his arms in the air with frustration. “This has got to stop, you understand me?”

“Argh, I hate it, too. Okay!” I fall into his arms, desperate to feel secure.

Slowly, he wraps his arms around me, allowing me to bury my head into his chest. His lips kiss the top of my head. “I need to go.”

I don’t allow him to let go of me, not caring at this moment who walks in on us. “Don’t go,” I plead.

“I have a meeting. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Come over tonight?”

“You have that thing at Eric’s,” he reminds me.

“Oh, right.”

“Tomorrow, okay? We’ll make something work. I promise.” He places a final kiss on my lips before exiting the store and leaving me on my own.

I plonk myself on the stool, slouching as I mentally

scold myself for being a hormonal, jealous woman. Sometimes, I have no idea who I am. Almost like I have multiple personalities, and the worst one of them all is jealous Adriana. The thing that scares me the most is I never know what’s around the corner. Our relationship is a roller coaster, and I blame myself. Julian does nothing but reassure me it’s only me he wants, yet it isn’t enough. What else do I want? That nagging voice inside me wants to ask him more questions. I feel like he’s hiding something, but what?

I have no idea, and jealous Adriana will only disappear if I find out exactly what’s bugging me.

The apple pie is placed in front of me served with a generous scoop of chocolate ice cream and covered in rainbow sprinkles. It’s my absolute favorite dessert, and my go-to comfort food whenever I’m feeling down.

Rainbow sprinkles can easily be the solution to world peace. Sprinkle it on everything, and the world will be a brighter place. At least, that’s what I thought when I was a kid.

Andy is standing on his tiptoes, peering over the countertop. Impatiently, he jumps up and down, forgetting to use his manners while forcing me to pull out the discipline card. He listens to my warning. After all, there are two scoops of ice cream on the line here.

Placing the bowl into his hands, my mom takes him to the sitting room and settles him in, returning moments later.

“So, honey, tell me what’s been happening with you.” Covering the pie dish, my mom moves it toward the side, leaning forward. She rests her elbows on the marble countertop and awaits my response.

I shove a mouthful of pie into my mouth, closing my eyes and letting out a satisfied moan. She smiles and waits for me to finish, using a spare spoon to scoop a small amount of ice cream from my bowl.

“Not much. I’m styling a few celebrities for that red-carpet event,” I mention with a mouthful of food. “Oh, and Andy peed in the toilet for the first time.”

“What? My baby peed in the big-boy toilet?” She leaves in a hurry, leaving me mid-conversation.

I use the time wisely, digging into this pie like it’s my last meal on earth. My mom is the best cook ever. Not being biased, but if all women in America had a pie bake-off, she’d win in a heartbeat. With that in mind and knowing Lex will be here any minute, I pull the pie dish close to me and serve myself another slice. The selfish jerk will eat the whole plate if he sees it.

My mom casually walks back into the kitchen with a proud smile. Positioning herself as before, she gloats about Andy’s achievement. “Oh, my little baby is becoming a big boy.”

“Mom, don’t get too excited. It happened only once. The ten times after that, he peed on the living room rug.”

“Adriana, that happened with your brother as well. Took him weeks to gain confidence. He was peeing any place he could, all except the toilet.”

“Gross. What about me?”

“My angel?” She laughs. “You toilet-trained yourself at two, no intervention from Dad and me.”

I know I totally rocked, and just as I think that Lex and Charlie walk through the back door. Charlie wraps her arms around my waist, squeezing me into a tight hug, then walks over to my mom and kisses her hello. Charlie’s stepmom, Debbie, is in town, offering to sit for her kids leaving them childfree for tonight.

Knowing Andy is here, Charlie goes in search of him, leaving us in the kitchen.

Lex pulls a stool beside me, almost knocking me over. Like a hungry wolf, he spots the pie, not even saying hello before he gets his dirty mitts on it. I scold him for being an immature ass, but he is too busy shoveling the pie in his mouth even to care.

Charlie strolls back in and takes a seat beside Lex. “Are you curious about what Eric has planned?”