Juls backs out of the parking space and drives through the lot, slowing down and staring past me through my window. “Hey, isn’t that one of the desk girls from their work? She looks really familiar.”

My eyes follow hers and I recognize the girl immediately, the hair a dead giveaway. She’s sitting on a bench partially obstructed by a tree and staring in the direction of the basketball game. “That’s Reese’s receptionist. Fucking bitch. She was so rude to me when I went to kill him on Monday, acting all possessive and catty. Why the fuck is she here?” Part of me wants to hop out of the car and run straight into his arms, declaring in front of her and whoever else wanted to watch that he is mine. But I don’t. Instead I just glare at her profile.

“I don’t know but she’s staring at them like a creep. Redheads freak me the fuck out.”

“Me too. Come on, let’s go eat.”

Now that I seem to have not completely blown it with Reese, my appetite is back with a vengeance. Although, it is still a bit unsettling seeing his receptionist eye the lot of them up like she wants to eat them. Maybe she’s dating one of the other three guys? I make a mental note to ask Reese about it next time we see each other which I decide will not be until Tuesday. I can’t see him every day. I’m already struggling with keeping my feelings and emotions out of this thing between us enough as it is.

**

Monday morning came quicker than I would have liked. I passed out early on Sunday and slept soundly, not hearing my phone ring when Joey called at 2:00 a.m. Noticing the missed call when my alarm goes off at 5:00 a.m, I dial him quickly, putting it on speaker phone as I get into my running gear.

“I have news, cupcake. I’m on my way though so meet me out front.”

“Okay.” I end the call and slip on my sports bra, tank top, and running shorts before popping into my Nikes. Grabbing my phone and my keys, I run downstairs and out the front door, locking up behind me as I begin to stretch.

It’s already humid out and my top begins to stick to me in the most uncomfortable way possible. Summers in Chicago can be brutal, and when you start sweating immediately after stepping outside in the early morning hours, you know you’re in for a hot one. This was one of the reasons why I didn’t understand the appeal for a summer wedding, at least not here anyway. Maybe somewhere with no humidity that didn’t turn your hair into a frizz fest after spending hours on making it look nothing less than perfect. I attended an outdoor wedding a few summers ago where I appallingly watched my beautiful three-tiered white chocolate creation melt in front of everyone at the reception. It was awful. Luckily, the bride thought it was hilarious and didn’t care one way or the other because she was so deliriously happy to be married to her husband. Juls worked that wedding with me and told me that the couple had only been dating nine weeks before he proposed to her and at the time, I remember thinking that there was no way in hell that marriage was going to last. How could anyone know without a doubt that they wanted to be with each other forever after only being together a few months? Juls agreed with me, saying that the bride had mentioned how strongly her family was against the marriage but she didn’t care. She told my best friend that she didn’t want to wait any longer to start her life with him and that when it’s right, it’s just right. The past three summers on their anniversary, I’ve gotten a thank you card from the bride for helping make their day so special. And now look at Juls. She’s only known Ian a few months and is crazy in love with him. And look at you, Dylan. No, don’t look at me. Nothing to see here.

My eyes flick towards the pavement as Joey’s tall frame comes jogging in my direction. Stopping in front of me and pulling his knee to his chest, he looks giddy beyond his usual giddy self.

“Are you going to make me ask?” I question, stretching my arms over my head.

He smiles and switches legs. “Billy asked me to move in with him.”

Whoa. “What? Are you serious? That’s crazy. What did you say?”

“Yes. Obviously.” He jumps up and down on his feet and motions to me that he is ready to start running.

“Obviously? Joey, do you even really know this guy? He could cut out your organs and sell them on eBay. He could have a weird fetish.”

He shakes his head. “I know him as well as you know Reese and you’re in love with him.”

Fucking Juls. Jesus Christ, I needed some new friends. “I cannot believe she told you that. I will cut a bitch next time her skinny ass walks into my shop.” Realizing that Joey has stopped running, I glance back and see his expression. Motherfucker. He is one sneaky bitch.

“I fucking knew it. You love him, Dylan. Oh my God, this is fantastic.” Running up to me, he grabs my shoulders and pulls me against his already drenched shirt.

“Gross you’re all sweaty. And I am not in love with him. Juls told me that she was in love with Ian and I said something about maybe, possibly, doubtfully one day being in love with Reese. That’s it. End of discussion.”

Stepping back and holding me at arm’s length, he studies me for a moment before he speaks. “Okay, whatever. But I think I’m in love so can we focus on that fucking weirdness for a second?”

We hit our stride and I let Joey tell me all about how he’s seen Billy practically every night since they met at the wedding and that he’s never felt anything even close to this before, which I knew already. Joey was never shy about his feelings towards his hookups and always shared more information than I would care to know most of the time. He told me that they were hanging out at Billy’s last night, lounging and watching television together when he just came out and asked Joey to move in and without hesitation, Joey said yes. He said that he didn’t have to think about it, that he knew he wanted to be with Billy every free second he had and that he had never been this happy before with just one person. I was speechless. I was literally without speech. This was Joey Holt we were talking about here. The man who went through other men like he was going for some kind of record. He once hooked up with three guys in one night at a club and did it without them knowing about each other. His longest running relationship was five minutes. And now after a little over a week of knowing somebody, he’s wifing up? I wasn’t sure whose wedding I would be getting fitted for first, Juls’ or Joey’s.

I called Mrs. Frey that afternoon, confirming the details of her anniversary cake she wanted me to create for her since I missed our meeting on Tuesday. She sweetly asked me how I was feeling and told me how excited she was to be celebrating fifty years of marriage with her husband. Fifty years. I couldn’t even imagine. She was a bit undecided about her cake flavors, knowing only that her husband wanted a chocolate cake but not having any other preferences. I smiled to myself when I asked her if the two of them liked mint chocolate and she squealed into the phone. Suggesting my newly discovered chocolate peppermint frosting and telling her how absolutely decadent it was, she settled on her cake and I reassured her it would be ready for pickup on Friday.

After ending her call, I slip my phone out of my pocket and scroll to the contact info of a certain icing lover.

Me: Guess what kind of cake I get to make for someone’s anniversary? I’ll give you a hint. It’s a flavor that you seem to be quite fond of.