Free Sweet Addiction by Jessica Daniels

grab a spoon and retreat back
upstairs with my bowl. But I yawn instead. And yawn again. Glancing at my
phone, the blurred numbers read 4:27a.m. as my eyelids refuse to stay open.
With a third yawn, I pull up a stool and prop my head on my fist as I sit and
wait for the cupcakes to cool. Then I could ice them and get ready for my day.
Yup. That’s exactly what I’m going to do. I didn’t need sleep. Because with
sleep came dreams of Reese and I didn’t need that. My eyelids fall shut and my
breathing steadies. Nope, definitely don’t need sleep. Or Reese.

Five
    “Cupcake, I think you
need to wake up now.”
    My eyes slowly flutter
open and the bright sunlight beaming through my window makes me close them
tight again. “Shit.” I roll over and cover my head with my pillow, hearing
Joey’s soft giggle.
    “Seriously, Dylan,
you’re going to sleep the day away if you don’t get up.”
    Sleep the day away? I push back onto my shins to look at the clock.
    “It’s 3:30? In the
afternoon? Fuck.” I shoot out of bed and run into the bathroom. “Joey, why the hell
did you let me sleep this late? And how did I even get up here?” He follows me
into the bathroom and leans against the door as I brush my teeth and unruly
hair.
    “First of all, I came
in this morning to find you passed out face down on the workbench. So, being
the nice guy that I am, I carried you up here and put you to bed.”
    I splash my face with
cold water and dry it with a towel, turning to smile at him. “Oh God. I bet I
was a sight.” He shrugs and steps aside as I walk into the bedroom and begin getting
dressed.
    “And secondly, I have
been trying to wake you for the past four hours.”
    I roll my eyes at his
statement. Of course he’s been trying to wake me up and I’ve slept through it.
What the hell don’t I sleep through besides my alarm? I slip on my jeans and a
black tank top before I walk out from behind the partition. “Four hours? Jesus.
Oh shit.” My stomach drops. “I missed my consultation.”
    He smiles sweetly at me
and I want to punch him. What is he, mental? That’s money lost. “ Relax,
I took care of it. Mrs. Frey was more than happy to meet with me since you were
suffering from a stomach bug. You’re welcome.”
    “I love you. You know
that right?”
    He wraps me up into a
big hug and kisses the top of my head. “You better. Come on, I have something to
show you.”
    I follow him down the
stairs and into the bakery. Everything is in perfect order, which I knew it
would be. Joey is more than capable of handling shit while I slept my life
away. “God, I’m starving. I feel like I haven’t eaten in days. Ooohhh and you
iced the mocha cupcakes.” I pull a blueberry muffin out from the almost bare
display case and begin nibbling on it while spacing out the remaining treats.
Joey emerges from the back carrying a familiar looking white box. Oh God.
    “Of course I iced them.
And they have been selling like crazy too along with everything else today.
We’ve been slammed.” He places the box on the counter in front of me and I
swallow loudly. “But who gives a shit about cupcakes or anything edible right
now. You have no idea how hard it has been to not open this.” He pushes it
closer to me. “Now get to it.”
    My heart begins beating
so hard in my chest I think for sure it will crack my sternum. “Maybe later.” I
push it away from me easily. Hmm. Definitely not flour.
    “Fuck that noise. Since
you aren’t going to freely tell me why you couldn’t get any sleep last night,
which I’m just going to assume was because a certain someone was on your mind,
you will open this right now.” He pushes it back in front of me and
pulls the ribbon.
    “Same delivery guy?” I
ask and he nods. Not that I really had any doubt. Placing my half eaten muffin
down, I open the box, grabbing the brown card that is lying on top of the
tissue.
    “Read it out loud,” he
squawks.
    “No. What if he’s confessing
to a murder?