An hour ago, as Calla was shopping, I finished the desserts I’d wanted to experiment with. Adam and Trey seemed to enjoy them. Now, Nessa needs to taste both of them before I set aside one of each for Calla and add the rest to tonight’s specials.

Except for the time I spent texting with Calla after Nessa sent that picture, and the few minutes I spent talking with Trey and Adam, I’ve been solely focused on cooking. Well, sort of. There is the issue with Zoe that I still need to take care of, sooner rather than later. I’m not sure how many times she’s called and texted since she showed up here this morning. But I did know Adam had locked the door so she couldn’t get in. Thankfully.

I am getting sick and tired of her drama. Hell, I can’t even remember the last time I was happy being with her. Maybe the month we started dating? I’ve only stayed with Zoe to keep my mind off Calla, but that isn’t working anymore. There isn’t a minute that goes by that I don’t think about Calla. To make matters worse, Zoe isn’t that great in bed. And I know all she really wants is my family’s money.

This morning I’d finally had enough of her bullshit and lies. For the last month I’ve been sleeping on the couch. Two weeks ago I put in a notice to move. This morning, I informed Zoe she needs to find her own place, unless she can afford the apartment by herself. The look on her face was priceless. Now I need to figure out how to ask Calla to be my roommate.

“What’s the deal with Zoe? Are you finally going to tell me, since I know she’s the one that’s been blowing up your phone?” Trey stands in front of his workstation, arms crossed over his chest.

“I told her I was giving up the apartment in two weeks, and that she needed to get out. We haven’t slept together in over a month.”

“Well it's about damn time. Where are you going to go?” he asks.

“I was thinking about asking Calla if I could move in until I know what I want to do?” I glance up at Trey.

“Are you thinking of leaving?” Concern lines his face.

“No, nothing like that. I just want a change, and I’m tired of the place I’m in now,” I respond.

“Why haven’t you said anything before now?” Trey questions, shifting on his feet.

“We’ve been so concerned about Calla, and this place, that I didn’t want to add to the stress,” I gesture to the building.

“Speaking of Calla, she just sent me the bill for what she got. Do you even remember the last time she went shopping?” he wonders.

“It’s been a while, I think. Why?”

“I just spent four hundred dollars on her.” He grins.

“Why did you spend four hundred dollars on her?” I growl, slamming my spoon down.

“She let me pay for her shopping today. It seems she’s picked up quite a few things, so I’m not exactly sure what she’s wearing tonight. Did she tell you?” Trey lowers his voice as one of the chefs passes by.

“No. All we talked about was the one Nessa sent the picture of.”

“Yeah, that’s all she and I talked about as well. She’s going to knock someone’s socks off tonight. Are you sure you’re ready to see her with another guy?” he asks, for what seems like the thousandth time.

“I want that bastard out of her system completely before I make my move. I’ve told you that,” I remind him.

Trey shrugs and moves back toward his side of the kitchen. The rest of the dinner prep is uneventful. That is, until Nessa shows up with our favorite barbeque, and for some reason, Zoe tries to follow Nessa in. After Adam hears what’s going on between us, he tells her to leave, or he will call the cops for harassment.

I wonder if she knows he’d call his own brother to come get her?

She probably doesn’t. She’s never paid attention to my friends, other than how much time I spend with Calla. It’s always about my money. I need to find a way to get her out of my life. And fast. While the rest of the kitchen staff finally shuffle in for the dinner shift, I follow the gang into the office so we can eat and discuss our plans to help Calla get her cooking chops back.

Nessa begins. “As you know, she has a few dresses to pick from tonight. After the Zoe issue this morning, she wanted to call this whole going-out thing off. She said it was a bad sign. I fixed that for you guys.” She takes a bite of her sandwich.

“Thanks, sweetie. We owe you,” Adam tells her.

“Yes, you do. Now, what else do we need to do?”

“Try these after you finish that bite.” I pass Nessa a small plate with two desserts on it.

She takes it, puts her dinner down, and smells the different options.

“Tell me about them. I’m guessing you want to add them to the menu?” She smiles, knowingly.

I grin. “I do. They’re specials for tonight. One is a mini apple pie with a caramel whiskey sauce, and the other is a chocolate molten cake with a chocolate whiskey center. Adam and I also created a real hot chocolate with whiskey.”

She picks up the apple pie and pops it in her mouth.

“Mmmmm yum. That is delicious! Why did you ever stop creating desserts, Wes?”

“I have to be in the mood to create, so it’s more of a hobby than a passion like cooking is. Baking means I have to be exact on all the measurements, whereas I don’t have to be so precise when I want to create something new for dinner. I can play around a bit. Besides, your twin is a much better pastry chef than I am.”

“Calla told us this morning that she wants us to think of any changes we want to make around here and let her know. She made it sound like she wants more of our input this time. Did she say anything to you about remodeling Belladonna or updating the menu?” Adam quizzes Nessa, as he squeezes his wife’s leg.

“No, but she has made a few comments about removing any and all things that Torrance had a hand in. Do you think since he had some input on the menu, that’s why she’s having a hard time cooking it perfectly?” Nessa wonders.

“I think that has a lot to do with it. I’m just glad she’s finally starting to see what’s been happening. I wonder why the change?” Trey ponders, taking a big bite of his food.

“It’s getting to be that time of year when the food and wine expos start. Which means Mr. Grimm comes out to make his hit-or-miss list. He’ll definitely stop by here, especially considering all the hype Belladonna is getting. Plus, this will be the first year Calla hasn’t been a part of the food and wine events in town,” I add.

“Shit. That’s coming up in what, three weeks?” Adam asks.

“To make matters worse, this morning I found Torrence’s wedding announcement on the kitchen table,” I tell them.

Coughing erupts in the room, and Adam pats Nessa’s back.

“Sorry, wrong pipe,” she wheezes.

“I can’t believe he sent an announcement to you.” Trey shakes his head.

“Oh I bet he sent one to all of us. Including Calla,” I quip, biting into my barbeque sandwich.

“I’ll take that bet.” Adam pulls out a twenty and places it on his desk.

Trey and I follow suit. We started this betting ritual six months into culinary school, and we haven’t stopped. Calla even joins in most days. As of late, she hasn’t placed any bets, though. Mainly because she isn’t around when we place bets. Or the bet is about her.

“Before I forget, when’s the next poker night?” Adam asks.

“You actually going to show up and not pussy out?” Trey chuckles.

“That was my fault,” Nessa chimes in. “I wanted sex, so we headed out to Crave. Trust me, that’s the only reason he missed poker night.”

“Well, fuck. I can’t very well give you shit now, can I? I’d miss poker night for sex at Crave. Kudos.” Trey puts his food down and applauds.

I remain silent.

Would Calla go to Crave? Is she into kink? Fuck. I don’t know if I can go back to vanilla. I can’t remember the last time I had vanilla sex.

Three pairs of eyes stare at me, and I shift uncomfortably in my seat.

“She’s not, just so you know,” Nessa says.

“Huh? She?” Like I don’t know who Nessa is referring to.

“Calla. The questions you’re wondering about are written across your face. She’s not vanilla. Torrance was. Well... with her he was. I think that’s what has her confidence shot more than anything.”

“Explain,” I insist.

“Yeah,” Trey and Adam agree.

“Torrance hadn’t been satisfying her sexually to begin with, but she did love him, so she stayed. She thought he wasn’t into kink, because when they talked about it, he wasn’t interested. So think about it. That night, she walks in on him doing at least a little kink with the woman he’s been cheating on her with. That’s a blow, no pun intended,” Nessa explains, wrinkling her nose.

“Wait, what? What exactly was the asshat doing? I don’t think Calla ever really told us,” Trey demands.

Nessa rolls her eyes at the three of us. “What did she tell you? If she left anything out, I’ll fill in the blanks.”

I clear my throat. “She told me she walked in on a naked woman coming down the hall from her and Torrance’s bedroom saying something about chocolate syrup and whipped cream.”

Trey wipes his mouth off with a napkin. “That’s pretty much all she told me as well. And now I think I might be sick.”

“Ah. Umm. I guess I know a bit more.” Adam winces.

“Yes babe, you do,” Nessa confirms. “That is part of what happened. But there’s so much more. And it’s bad. All the candles in the apartment were lit, a plush blanket was on the floor in front of the TV, which was on with a fireplace flickering, clothes were strewn all over the floor, and a pair of dice was laying on the coffee table.”

“Dice?” Trey questions.

“Yeah. The kind with all the sexual positions on them.”

“Oh hell.” Trey pushes his sandwich aside and takes a long gulp of his drink.

Nessa nods. “Yep. So the girl is coming down the hall and is about to ignore that Calla is standing there in horror. Instead, she saunters over and gets in Calla’s face. Torrance runs down the hall, buck naked and wearing a cock ring. He starts his bullshit, and the girl is yelling and bitching. So Calla bypasses both of them, makes a comment or five, and heads into the bedroom to pack. There she finds he’d put satin sheets on the bed, and had straps attached to the head and footboards. Nipple clamps were on the floor, along with a flogger or three, a whip, a riding crop, like five different paddles ranging in size and shape, rope, toys, plugs, and a spreader bar.”

My mouth falls open, and I gape at Nessa.

“I remember she did say it was like a mini sex shop in her bedroom,” Adam mutters, running his hand through his hair.

“Needless to say, she grabbed her overnight bag, threw some clothes and her bathroom stuff in it, told him to be out the following night, and walked out,” Nessa finishes.

“I want to kick his ass all over again.” I narrow my eyes. “If I see that fucker again, he might end up in the hospital.”

“Now I’m really sorry I stopped you from kicking his ass after it happened,” Trey pipes in. “If I’d known all this, I would’ve helped you!” Trey then focuses on Adam. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell us?”

“Calla didn’t want any of us going to jail. Nor did she want Ben to ask questions if something happened to either of you. And you know Ben would’ve asked questions,” Adam explains, tossing the rest of his food in the trash.

“Why didn’t you want to kick his ass?” Trey and I ask at the same time.

Adam huffs and glares at us. Nessa stands and holds up her hands.

“That night, Adam tried to leave to do just that, but Calla and I stopped him. If you remember, he called y’all to come over for poker and told you to bring lots of beer and pizza.”

Trey and I groan. I toss my plate away and slump down on my stool, rubbing my face with my hands.

“I’m not happy about any of this. No wonder she was more pissed than anything that night. I mean, I knew they’d been having issues, but I just thought he couldn’t get her off without help. I didn’t realize it was more,” I admit.

“She didn’t want you guys to know how bad it really was. Plus, when have you known Calla to talk about her feelings? I mean, for fuck’s sake! For the most part, it’s like there are five of you males around here. She might have breasts, but she’s one of you guys,” Nessa gripes.

Laughter fills the office.

“Sorry, Darlin’. You know none of us would want Calla any other way,” Trey says.

“I know. But, I’d like to have more girl time with someone. Not that I don’t love having it with Ella, but there are things I just can’t say to my seven-year-old niece. Calla hates shopping. By the look on her face this morning, you would’ve thought I told her Baggie was sick or dead. I’m just glad Adam suggested having the wine with me at the store.”

More chuckles follow, but I’m getting restless and keep fidgeting on my seat. The office phone rings, as does someone’s cell phone.

Turning on my stool, I grab the office phone and notice it’s my cell that is going off.

“Whatcha need?” I ask the hostess on the office line.

“I have someone on the phone that wants to set up a reservation for thirty people in four weeks. The woman also asked about a set menu. I didn’t think we did that,” the girl remarks on the other end of the line.

“Hold on, let me give you to Nessa,” I tell her then cover the receiver. “Nessa, this sounds like something you need to handle.”

Nessa stands and heads toward my desk, taking the phone from me before reaching it. She snaps her fingers at Adam and gestures for her tablet. He passes it over to me, and once Nessa has it, I check my phone. I have about ten missed calls and a handful of text messages, most of which are from Zoe. But a few are from my brothers and Ben.

“I need to go return a few of these,” I say softly, raising my phone and waving it a bit.

Trey does a chin lift as Adam gives me his Red Raider salute, a two-gun salute with both hands. I shake my head and head out of the office before stepping out the back door to deal with the calls and texts. I quickly skim the messages from Zoe and groan.

“Why can’t she take the fucking hint?” I lean against the brick wall.

I check the texts from my brothers and Ben. All of them basically ask the same two questions. How is Calla doing, and when is the next poker game? I only respond to Ben.

Wes: Calla is doing fine. We are making her go out tonight. The poker game is next week. Are my asshole brothers coming to town with you?

Ben: Good. She needs to get out. Yes. We’ve all talked, and they want to meet up, so the plan is for them to come. I think they both have the weekend off, according to the schedule. I’m on a bye week, and I want to see the family.

Wes: Sounds good. I’ll let everyone know. Later.

I listen to my voicemails, cuss for about twenty seconds, and head back inside to start the dinner rush.

As I pass the office, I hear Trey yell, “What the fuck is wrong with that asshole?!” The office door swings open, and Trey stomps out.

“I need a smoke, and I haven’t smoked in months!”

“What the hell happened?! I haven’t been outside that long.” I quickly move out of the way before Trey tackles me.

“Torrance! Need I say more?”

The back door slams open then closes behind Trey. I wince and pop my head in the office.

“Something I need to know?” I ask Nessa and Adam.

“Yes, but I only need one of you pissed at a time,” Nessa responds.

I blink. It isn’t like Nessa to call me or Trey out on our tempers. Granted, the majority of the time we keep our cool, so if Nessa thinks I’ll blow a gasket too, it has to be bad. Which means whatever is going on will affect Calla badly.

“Son of a bitch,” I mutter.

“You can say that again,” Adam retorts. I notice the pissed-off look on his face, as well. “Remind me to tell you after work tomorrow. I need a day to cool off. And a few beers.”

“Done.” I make my way back into the heart of the kitchen.