ADDICTED

56

I hugged her tightly and was surprised by the force with which she squeezed me back.

"Hey, sis," she said, pinching my ass.

I jumped with a yelp and earned a low, throaty laugh.

"Here's your present from Auntie Julia," she told me and handed over a short, heavy box.

Arching a brow, I placed it aside.

"Go on," she urged me.

"Should I be fearing for my life?" I asked, tearing off the gift paper.

"No, silly." She scoffed.

The box was glossy and metallic. I flipped it around until I saw a dial with numbers.

"A safe?" I wondered, completely uncertain.

"Yeah!" Julia grinned. "Every girl has to have a safe place to store her personal belongings . . . if you catch my drift."

I snorted and set the tiny safe aside. "Ah, yes. For all my tiny dildos."

She cackled. "So, what's been up? Hope ole Jamie hasn't been giving you too hard of a time since I've been gone," she says, winking.

"He's been pretty tame without you, actually," I admitted, rolling my eyes. "On another note, I want to introduce you to some people. That okay?"

Julia looked over my head and her emerald eyes brightened. "Who's this?"

Here we go, I thought with a chuckle.

"I'm Isabelle," said the woman herself, offering her hand out to Julia. "You're James' sister?"

I stood back and watched them eye each other.

I wasn't surprised in the least that Julia donned her sex kitten face. I'd witnessed her flirt with women firsthand on a few occasions now.

Isabelle, on the other hand, seemed intrigued. Her eyes were wide, her smile blinding, her voice higher than normal.

She only exclusively dated men up until this point. I couldn't believe Julia's powers of seduction were working so easily on her.

I watched on in amusement while the two women matched each other's sexual intensity pace for pace.

"Yep. I'm Julia," she told Isabelle. "You can call me Jules."

"Jules it is," Isabelle ceded.

She glanced over at me and exchanged a look of surprise.

"And this," I declared, grabbing Ryan and hauling him up from the couch, "is Ryan. Ryan, meet Julia."

They nodded at one another but it was clear neither was invested.

Julia locked eyes with Isabelle once more before turning to me.

"I wanted to warn you," she said. "My parents are in the kitchen. They're going to come off as they usually do. Bitchy and condescending. Just brace yourself."

I smiled. "Thanks. I appreciate the warning," I said. "How's it been with them?"

"Absolute hell!" she griped. "I'm glad you invited them to come because I was ready to kill one of them."

Her razored smile was full of pain.

"You're welcome to stay in my bed," I said, squeezing her shoulder. "Now, I guess I better go talk to them. Need anything to drink?"

She shook her head with a long breath. "I mean, I do need a drink, but I'll come get it in a second."

Leaving her to mingle with Isabelle, I asked Ryan to join me in getting more drinks. He complied and walked with me to the kitchen.

James noticed us first. Rather, he acknowledged me first.

His eyes were hard and full of warning when they met mine. I must have been in for some deep shit.

"Mr. and Mrs. Muller," I greeted them with an extra saccharine tone.

They turned to face me.

James' mother was dressed in a black and white business dress with little black pumps. Her husband wore a black button-up and matching slacks.

These two looked like they were headed to the office instead of visiting their son.

"Miss Harris," his mother said coolly, her gaze crawling over me. "How fortunate to see you again."

"You as well," I replied with a stiff smile. "Can I get either of you a drink? We have champagne, seltzers—"

"Sparkling water for me," she said.

James' father ignored me and went to the fridge. I fought back a groan and an eye roll.

His mother was lucky we even had sparkling water.

That was James had a secret obsession with it. I didn't understand, as the drink tasted like battery acid to me.

I poured the sparkling water into a glass with ice and handed it to Mrs. Muller.

She didn't bat an eyelash and kept chatting with James. He glanced at me and I knew he sensed the heat of my irritation.

Instead of fighting for attention I didn't even want, I set the water aside and turned back to Ryan.

I found him by the island. He popped a handful of pretzels into his mouth and stared off into space.

I sidled up next to him and grabbed a fistful of the little salty treasures.

"She's a bitch," he grunted for only my ears.

I coughed to hide my snort.

"Love," rumbled that familiar sultry voice.

James' hands found my waist and I instinctively leaned back into him.

"Would you mind popping in those croissant things while I show my parents the house?" he asked me.

"Sure." I stretched back to kiss his chin, cheekily adding, "Don't take too long or I'll eat them all."

Chuckling, he kissed me on the lips. His tongue flicked briefly but sensually against the soft pink skin.

"I can think of something else to feed you," he whispered. His voice dripped with deadly intent.

I gasped and everyone looked at us.

"Uh, yeah, honey," I said. Laughing, I tried to fight the burn in my cheeks. "I'll make sure to do that."

He smirked wickedly before guiding his parents out of the kitchen.

Ryan sagged dramatically against the counter.

"Jee-zus," he muttered. "I don't even know what to think. He's so genuinely obsessed with you. Your chemistry is hot AF, bitch. But his parents are batshit."

"You have no idea," I told him, blowing out a breath.