Addicted: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance (24 page)

I was about to reply, when the look from his face cleared, and the wise guy that was Julian when he was trying to hide something showed up on his face again. "Now, get out of here before I have to drag you down to O'Hare myself. You miss your flight, and your boss is going to have a few uses for your knives. You did pack them, right?"

I shook my head. "No, the rules don't allow it. Both teams start with the exact same things hardware wise. It's okay, I know the brand of knife they're using, I've used them before. They're good knives, I can do my thing with them."

Julian smiled and looked towards the front door to my apartment. "Well, can I walk you down at least? I wanted to go shopping anyway, I'm kind of out of socks."

"What, you don't know how to use a laundry machine?" I joked. "I'm kidding, I know you've been carrying your weight and more, Julian. I appreciate it, too. But on a serious note, what did happen to your socks?"

"Well, I kind of only came with a few pairs," Julian replied. "I wasn't exactly thinking straight when I packed a bag and came to Chicago."

I laughed and patted him on the arm, my hand resting seemingly on its own on his ripped bicep. I reluctantly took it back after a moment, and looked up at him again. "You do whatever you want, Julian. I trust you, and if I didn't, you wouldn't have gotten a key. But sure, walk me down to the bus stop."

We left my apartment, Julian taking the time to double check his key and lock the door to my apartment. "Thanks. Actually, while you're gone, I was thinking of finding a gym. I mean, I've been doing bodyweight work and stuff, but I miss having a big fu . . . a big pile of weights on my back or in my hands," he said, putting the key back into his pocket. I noticed again the change Julian was going through, disciplining himself and his use of foul language. "Any recommendations?"

"Julian I'm so busy most of the time I don't even have time to go to the gym," I admitted, "I do my little martial arts thing with Kim, but that's about it usually. But this is Chicago, there's gotta be your sort of place around here somewhere. You know, Kimberly might know a place, she dated a guy for a few weeks who was on the old Arena Football team the last year they were in town. Give her a call."

We reached the elevator and got inside. Julian pushed the button for the lobby, and turned back to me. "I don't know if that'd go well, Kim doesn't seem to like me very much."

"Actually, Kimberly likes you just fine. She's just very protective, and very bluntly spoken. She'll open up to you if you're as honest with her as you have been with me."

Julian thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. I'll give her a call. Worst thing that can happen is she hangs up on me."

"She didn't last time, and she won't next time either, Julian." The elevator doors opened, and we walked out of the lobby onto the city streets. We walked the two blocks to the bus stop, where I set my bag down. "Well, here we are. Where are you going to go shopping?"

Julian looked around and pointed uptown. "Figure I'd catch the El train. There's a shopping mall I wanted to check out. If you're right with talking to Kimberly, I can maybe give her a call and check out Edgewater or something too."

I nodded and set my bag down, shifting from side to side. "Okay. Well uhm, be careful on the El, all right? You're a pretty big guy, but this is Chicago."

There were so many things I wanted to say, like how much I didn't really want to go, I wanted to stay in town and spend more time with Julian. Part of me wanted to tell him about how he'd been a constant presence in my fantasies for almost a week, and how I'd almost cut the end of my index finger off at work while thinking about him. But most of me wanted to wrap my arms around him and hold him close, and more importantly have him hold me. Instead, the bus approached, and I picked up my bag. "Well, here it is. I'll call you when I get to New York, okay?"

"That sounds good. Be careful, and cook your ass off, Krystal. Show them what Aksoy DNA means," Julian said intensely, looking into my eyes again. He stepped back, and I got on the bus, watching him out the window until the bus turned the corner, and I was on my way to the airport.

I
was rooted
to the spot as I watched Krystal disappear around the corner, and it took me a good two or three minutes after the bus left before I realized I was standing in the middle of the sidewalk like some sort of idiot. Shaking my head, I turned towards the El train station. I didn't really need to go shopping, honestly. I mean, yeah I had two pairs of socks, but I had spent so much of the time since coming to Chicago indoors that I was barefoot most of the time. Still, the idea of finding a gym to get a lift in was pretty attractive. Krystal's building had a fitness facility, but for a guy like me who counted his lifts in the number of big 45 pound plates I could put on the bar, it wasn't enough. I needed a place I could sling some heavy ass iron. First though, I needed to get some clothes.

Climbing on the El, I remembered a shopping mall in the North Side that Krystal had taken me to, it had a Dick's Sporting Goods. Not quite the same as ordering stuff online, but I needed a new belt since I'd left my weightlifting belt in L.A. like a total dumbass. Mostly I needed some shorts, a few t-shirts, the aforementioned socks, and a pair of Chuck Taylors. Nothing better for lifting than a pair of Chucks, in my opinion.

About two hours later I was decked out. The clerk, a skinny little guy who a month ago I would have tried to punk out, looked at my shoulders and chest in admiration. "Wow man, you getting ready to hit it hard, aren't you?"

"That obvious?" I asked, an unfamiliar smile coming to my face. "Yeah, planning on finding a new gym. New gym, new gear, know what I mean?"

"Yeah. Good luck," he said, bagging my purchases. "You need anything else?"

"Nah, I'm cool. Have a good one, dude."

Walking out into the mall, I realized that for the first time in years, I felt mostly at peace. Even with the situation with Krystal tearing inside my gut, I felt happier than I'd been since my teenage years. It was actually pretty fucking awesome, if you know what I mean. I pulled out my cell phone, and pulled up Kimberly's number. I had programmed it in from the memory on Krystal's home phone, but hadn't had a reason to call her yet.
Well, here goes nothing
.

The phone rang a few times, and just when I thought it was going to kick over to an answering machine, she picked up. "Hello Julian."

"Kimberly? How'd you know it was me?" I asked, surprised. "I mean, I've never called you from this phone before."

"Krystal gave me your number after the last time you called. I thought as long as you were in town, it'd be a good idea to have it." It was one of those surprising things about her that I was still getting used to about my stepsister and her best friend. They always seemed to be one step ahead in terms of planning and were always keeping me off guard. "What can I do for you? Did you lock yourself out of the apartment?"

"No, not yet," I said with a laugh. "Although I'm not surprised you'd expect that. No, I was talking with Krystal before she left for the airport, and she said you might be able to help me out. I'm looking for a place I can get a good weight training session in, and she said you used to date a football player. She thought you might know."

Kimberly was silent for a moment, which I had come to understand was her way of thinking. "Yeah. You looking to head North or South for the gym?"

"Doesn't matter to me. If it's a good place, I don't really care."

"Okay, two places come to mind. First is over by Wrigley Field, about two or three blocks away, called Quads Gym. It's the place my ex-ex-ex-he-was-a-total-asshole-of-a-boyfriend went to. It's used by a famous old powerlifter, guy named Ed Coan. Down on West 35th is a place called Lance's Gym. Where are you right now?"

"I'm closer to Quads. I decided to do some shopping at Riverpoint Center. By the way, you want me to pick up anything for you? Krystal said you like getting over to Costco when you can."

I heard the thaw and surprise in Kimberly's voice as she replied. She still was suspicious of me, but seemed to be accepting me more, kind of. "Thanks, but no, I'm good. Just went by on Saturday. Anything else?"

"Nope, not right at the moment. Thanks Kimberly. Actually, one other thing. Uhm, I really don't know how to cook, and ordering another pizza for myself is kind of stupid. Now, I'm not sure how to ask this without it sounding like I'm hitting on you which I'm totally not, but would you maybe like to get some dinner tonight or something?"

Kimberly laughed and I could hear the total thaw in my ear. "Yeah, sure. As long as you're paying, of course. Krystal may not want your money, but I won't say no. I'll take all the free Chinese takeout I can get. You got my address?"

"Uh, no. I just know you told me Edgewater."

"I'll text you the street number. Probably best if you take a taxi, the bus and El connections are confusing unless you know what you're doing. Thanks, Julian."

I hung up my phone, and headed out. Kimberly was right. While the El and the bus service wasn't as bad as the Southern California systems, you had to be more experienced, or at least more patient, than I was to be able to get around well. As I looked for a taxi, I should have remembered Quads Gym. Ed Coan is one of the greatest powerlifters of all time, and one of those guys that everyone at Metroflex, my gym in Los Angeles, looked up to. "Yo, taxi!"

A
nervous sweat
ran down the small of my back as I walked into Kitchen Stadium for the first time. Shannon, my boss, glanced around as well. "Yeah buddy," she whispered under her breath. "Tomorrow, this is all ours."

I nodded and walked over to what we had planned would be my station. I touched the cutting board and looked at the array of knives on the magnetized strip above the surface. "I kind of prefer our own kitchen more though," I said. "Although I guess it'd be a bit unfair to do it there."

The rest of the team also hit their stations up, and we spent the next twenty minutes talking through our various game plans for the next day. After we were done, Shannon called me over. "Krystal, are you okay? You've been a bit off this past week, and I need to know if you're going to be on point tomorrow."

"Yes Chef, I'll be fine," I said quietly. "Just, you know my stepbrother is in town, and he's staying at my place. It's kind of thrown me off a bit. But I'll be focused and ready tomorrow."

"Okay. You know, I had some doubts when Horst said you'd be a good add to our team, you being so new and all. But he's been dead on, you've been great. Now get your head in the game tomorrow, and we're all going home as champions."

Shannon clapped me on the shoulder, and walked out of Kitchen Stadium. I looked around the set one more time before turning to leave, when I heard my name called again. "Miss Aksoy?"

I couldn't believe it. Approaching me was the man, the myth, the legendary host of so many things I'd watched on Food Network since I was a little kid, Alton Brown himself. After Dad died, Alton's show was one my main comforts in life. Dad was a lot like Alton, quirky and focused, if sometimes a bit nerdy. "Yes? Wow, it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Brown."

"Pleasure is all mine," Alton replied. "You may not have known, but I had the opportunity of meeting your father once when I was working on the pilot for
Good Eats
. This was back even before it was picked up here, and I was on PBS in Chicago. I'm glad to see you followed in his footsteps."

"Thank you sir, it's an honor to be here. But I'm not the contestant, Chef Shannon is."

"Well, if I'm still around in five or ten years, I expect I'll be seeing you up here, or maybe over on
Chopped
. In any case, good luck tomorrow."

We shook hands, and I turned to go. As I did, I stopped and turned back around. "Excuse me, Mr. Brown?"

"Yes?" he replied.

I smiled, remembering a promise I'd made. "You wouldn't happen to know if Iron Chef Morimoto is around, do you? I promised a friend an autograph if I had a chance to meet him."

Alton shook his head, but then stopped. "Just a moment. He's not in the studio today, he's not filming until tomorrow, but let me give him a call. Maybe if you can get in here a bit early tomorrow you'll have a chance. You have anything he can sign?"

"I'll have something tomorrow. If anything, I'll steal one of the swag bags that the celebrity judges get and see if he'll sign a t-shirt for me or something."

He smiled at me and I nodded my thanks and left Kitchen Stadium, feeling better than I had in hours. Tomorrow was my day for battle, and Alinea was going to kick some ass.

I
looked
down at the stereotypical boxes of Chinese takeout in the bag in my hand, and wondered just what I was doing here. If I were back in Los Angeles, I'd be dressed up, ready to hit the clubs or maybe just find one of the never-ending parties that dotted the landscape. My night would end sometime around sunrise with at least one woman in bed with me, maybe more.

But you were a miserable asshole then
, a little voice said in my head. I'd come to hear that voice more and more often since meeting Krystal, and knew that most people called it a conscience. I wasn't really sure if that's what it was, considering I'd never heard it before. I didn't know if I was worthy of having such a term applied to any part of my thought processes, but so far it had been honest with me.
Face it Julian, you've had more peace and better sleep over the past few weeks than you have since childhood.

"Yeah, but whose fault is that?" I muttered under my breath. "John Castelbon's dumping of Mom did a lot more than just get him some fresh pussy. And you know, like father, like son."

The voice in my head didn't have anything to say to that, and I looked down at my bag of food again. Still, I was trying, and talking with Kimberly was one of those things that I didn't just tolerate, but I was kind of looking forward to.