Before Adam, Trey, and I left Calla alone in the office, we did a little brainstorming. I can’t believe she’s finally ready to make changes to Belladonna. It’s her baby. She’d talked about opening up a restaurant while we were in culinary school. Hell, she’d even mentioned it a few times while we were at UT in one of our nutrition classes.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think she’d go through with it. But here we are, working together and running the restaurant she’s always wanted. Granted, only a few people know my family helped put up the money to open Belladonna, or that I am practically a silent partner.

What would she say if she knew? Hell, what would Trey or Adam say?

Not that I really care what they’d say. I’m invested and will remain invested. Not only in Belladonna, but in Calla too. I’m still not sure how or why I let Torrance take her out on that first date years ago. Now I’ve seen my best girl broken by someone who once was a good friend. But that friendship ended long before the night Calla found him in bed with another woman. It had ended in college, when I found him kissing another girl at a frat party one drunken night. Kissing another girl while he was with Calla. Even our frat brothers had been pissed at Torrance after that. They’d all loved Calla like a sister. Some had known her older brother, Ben, when he’d been at UT three years before.

In fact, my older brothers are still friends with Ben. I’d become friends with Ben my first year at UT. That’s how I met Calla. Like my brothers, Sam and Noah, Ben was still at UT when Calla and I started our freshman year. That was almost fifteen years ago. How things have changed since then.

Especially considering what Ben asked me to do a few weeks back. ‘Get her back to normal but don’t touch her.’ Doesn’t Ben realize all I want to do is touch Calla? This is such a fucked up situation.

“Dude, where are you right now?” Trey snaps his fingers in front of my face.

“What do you mean?” I counter.

“We’ve said your name about six times.” Adam narrows his eyes in that probing way he has when he’s trying to figure out a dilemma. “Why haven’t you ever asked her?”

I blink.

“What the fuck?! Keep your voice down, man. She’ll hear you! And you know the answer.”

“We know what you think the answer is, but it’s not….” Trey starts but is interrupted.

“Y’all, what are the specials going to be tonight?” Nick, one of the line cooks, breaks in.

“Give us a minute, and we’ll get the specials figured out,” Trey answers. “I forgot all about those.”

Nick nods and walks off.

“Wes, stop fooling around man,” Trey continues. “Don’t push this onto Ben. You’re already like a brother to him, so man-up.”

I run a hand through my hair. “Let’s talk about this later. Besides, you were at Brewtorium when Ben told me not to fuck his sister.”

Adam and Trey agree, and the three of us head over to the prep table. I pull out my notepad, as does Trey, and we begin to work out the dinner specials. Adam comes up with a few drink specials as Trey and I create the menu.

“Nick, we have the specials now,” I call out.

Nick bustles over with the rest of the kitchen staff, bringing with him the two whiteboards that the specials are written on every day. Once we have the menu in place, the rest of the staff get to work prepping for the dinner crowd.

I head toward the pastry station. With Forest on vacation, I get to flex my rarely used skills tonight. It’s time to put them to work. Ever since Calla mentioned making some changes, ideas have been flying around in my head. This is the perfect time to try some of them out. I can spend the time I need away from the main kitchen area unless Trey calls for me. I comb through the ingredients and pull out everything I can think of. But there’s one ingredient I’ll need from Adam.

“Any music requests?” Trey calls out.

“Sex. I need something that makes you think about sex,” I respond, pulling my cell phone out of my back pocket.

Adam is going to give me shit for this next move. Unlocking the phone, I press the number four and hold it until the call connects.

“Seriously?! You’re in the next room. Why the fuck are you calling me?” Adam answers.

“Do we have any bottles of whiskey that are almost empty? Say... a quarter, or less, of the bottle?”

“I think so. Why?” Adam asks.

Trey steps into my line of sight.

“Ever since Calla talked about making changes, I’ve been thinking up some new dessert recipes. I want to try two of them out right now. The whiskey is for the recipes,” I explain on a huff.

“I’ll be right there.” The line goes dead.

I take the phone from my ear and look at the screen before sliding the device back in my pocket.

“What are you thinking?” Trey shifts on his feet, glancing around the kitchen.

“I want to try a chocolate whiskey sauce and a caramel whiskey sauce, to start. What do you think of mini apple pies with the caramel whiskey sauce drizzled over the tops? And what about putting the chocolate whiskey sauce in the center of a chocolate lava cake or soufflé?” I separate the ingredients out on the table as I speak.

“I like where you’re going with this. Take all the time you need. We’ll add the desserts to the specials if you like how they turn out. If you’re up for it, maybe we can start switching off during dinner to create our ideas. I have a couple swimming around in my head, too.”

“You’ve got a deal,” I agree.

The kitchen door swings open as three employees, along with Adam, walk in with arms full of whiskey bottles.

“Place the bottles on Wes’s table.” Adam gestures to where I stand with Trey. “Alright, since I’m giving you these, you need to make something amazing. Oh, and I want to add a hot chocolate to the drink menu.”

“We have hot--” Trey starts.

“I want real chocolate,” Adam cuts in, hands on his hips, and his feet in a wide stance. “Not that powdered shit that you add water to. I want to create two different hot chocolates, both with real chocolate and milk.”

“Do you want them today, or can I work on them another time?” I ask.

“Why do you want two different ones? What are you thinking?” Trey moves to lean against the table.

“I want rich dark chocolate for both. One a spicy or Mexican hot chocolate, the other with whiskey or another liquor. I’m pretty sure the whiskey will be a hit, though.” Adam steps closer to the table. “Can we make apple cider from scratch and spike it?”

“That’s an idea. We need to tell Calla to order more produce and chocolate,” Trey pipes in.

“Go tell her. I need to get this mixed. And don’t forget to tell her about the restaurant we want her to check out too,” I remind him, as I grab a few mixing bowls and pots and get started on my concoctions.

“You really want her to get laid by someone that’s not you? Do you think that will make things better?” Adam growl-whispers at me.

“She needs to get Torrence out of her system. If I had my way, she would’ve fucked someone already.” I chop the chocolate using more force than needed, and place the pieces in the double boiler.

“It’s not going to change anything,” Adam states before pushing off the table and heading for the swinging door.

“One of you push power on the stereo and turn it up. I don’t care what’s playing,” I snarl over the commotion of the kitchen.

The black and chrome room fills with Maroon 5, and all chatter ceases. With the music blaring, I am able to get into my zone, blocking everything and everyone out as I work on my creations. The chocolate in the double boiler is starting to melt, finally, and I flip on the burner for the milk and sugar to simmer.

Rihanna’s S&M echoes in the room, and my thoughts shift. Imagines of Calla splayed over one of the workstations, with arms and legs tied to the legs of the station, splash across my mind. Then come more images of me pouring the chocolate sauce down her chest and watching as it covers her ample breasts, trailing down her stomach to her apex.

“Fuck me!” I hiss out.

Think about something else and stop fantasizing about Calla! Especially here. It’s bad enough knowing that thinking about her is the only way I can get hard anymore.

I re-adjust myself and go back to the melted chocolate. I pour a cup of it out for Adam and set the rest to the side as the sugar dissolves in the milk. Before the chocolate cools too much more, I shoot off a text.

Wes: You have a cup of melted chocolate waiting for you.

Adam: On my way.

I test the milk and sugar, stirring it one last time. Then I begin adding the milk to the chocolate, blending the two together slowly until it is a smooth, glossy liquid. Cream goes into the mixture before I set that bowl aside to cool.

In a separate saucepan, I pour in sugar and let it melt into caramel. Once it is caramelized, I remove it from the head and add the cream. Returning the pot to the heat, I let the ingredients simmer, until the hardened caramel completely dissolves. Then I add the butter, incorporating it into the sauce. I turn off the burner and remove the pan from the heat, as I whisk in the whiskey.

“You have something for me?” Adam’s voice catches my attention, and I glance up.

“Yeah, let me put the caramel in a jar, and we can finish the chocolate.”

I find two jars large enough for the sauces and quickly get back to Adam. He has dipped his pinky in the cup of chocolate, tasted it, and is moaning. At least, I think that’s what the sound coming from my friend is.

“What chocolate did you use? This is delicious.” Adam sets the cup back on the table.

“The dark chocolate we use to shave over the top of a few desserts.”

“Nice. What’s this one?” Adam gestures to the caramel sauce I am drizzling into one of the glass jars.

“It’s the whiskey-caramel sauce to go over the mini apple pies I’m thinking about.” I pick up a spatula and scrape the remaining caramel into the jar.

When the caramel jar is full, I place the pot to the side and grab the one containing the chocolate sauce. It still needs the whiskey added to it, and I am debating which brand to use when Calla’s voice catches my attention. I need to make a decision. My hand lands on a bottle I don’t expect, a Yellow Spot.

“Adam, what the fuck man? Are you sure you want me to use this?” The shock in my voice must startle Adam, because his eyes go wide.

“Hell, yes! I know it’s expensive, but there’s not much in there. At least, not enough for a full glass, so I brought it in.” Adam shrugs.

I take the cup of chocolate from Adam’s hand and pour the remaining Yellow Spot in before mixing them together. I am handing the cup back to Adam, when Calla and Trey walk up.

“What’s going on over here? I haven’t seen either of you near a pastry table since the night we opened, and we all got wasted drinking,” she catches sight of the bottles and nods toward them, “whiskey while baking for the grand opening.”

“Damn! Has it really been that long?” Trey wonders, stepping up next to the table.

She nods.

“Some ideas started running through my head, and I wanted to test them out. No, you can’t try anything yet,” I tell her, as I hold up a hand in a stop motion. “You need to go relax and have a fun time tonight. I don’t want to get you sick if this doesn’t turn out how I’m envisioning it.”

“Oh, but it’s alright if you get us sick?” Trey points between himself and Adam.

“Hell yes!” I laugh.

“How are we still friends?” Trey wonders.

“Knock it off you two,” Adam cuts in, taking the cup out of my hands. “Let me try that, will you? I need to get back out to the bar.”

I hold up my hands in surrender once Adam has the cup, and I go back to the bottles of whiskey. I spot a single malt and pour two fingers into the remaining chocolate sauce. Picking up the spatula, I fold the liquor and chocolate in on each other, until both are blended together. Taking one of the tasting spoons off the counter, I sample this concoction before pouring it into the other glass jar. I repeat the process with the pot, then take the sauces to the refrigerator to chill until I need them.

By the time I return to the pastry area, Adam is walking out of the kitchen, and Calla is heading to the office.

“When are you going to put us all out of our misery and break up with Zoe so you can have Calla?” Trey’s words are spoken low.

“She needs to have a little fun first. You know I’m a broody SOB.”

“She knows that, too. What she doesn’t know about is your preference for kink when it comes to sex. Is that what you're so worried about? That Calla will judge you for it?” Trey asks.

I flinch.

“Seriously? What the fuck?” Trey mutters. Exasperated, he stalks off.