War Wounded (The War Trilogy #2.5) by Andria Large Read Free Book Online Page A

want to know if she’s dumped his sorry ass.
    The young girl, Jules, lifts her head from playing on her cell phone when she hears the door chime. Her eyes immediately widen when she sees me. I smile and take note of all of the Christmas decorations all over the place. There are a lot of Christmas and winter-themed cupcakes, too. I stop in front of the case and glance around at all of the sugary goodness.
    “Hey, Jules, can I get one of these Olaf ones?” I ask, pointing to the Olaf cupcake in the case.
    How do I know who Olaf is, you ask? Shit, who doesn’t know who Olaf is? And I might have watched the movie with my nieces when I was home for Thanksgiving. Don’t judge me.
    Jules takes one out of the case. “Do you want it in a container?” she asks.
    “Nope, I’m going to eat it now,” I say, taking the cupcake from her and handing her the money for the cupcake. “Is Arianna here?”
    “She’s in the kitchen,” Jules answers and points.
    “Think she’ll mind if I pop in?” I ask, eyebrow raised.
    Jules shakes her head. “Not at all.”
    “Great, thanks.” I smirk and send her a wink that makes her blush.
    I make my way into the kitchen and find Arianna with her back to me decorating some cupcakes. Music is playing and she’s shaking her little tush. I quietly step up behind her then stick my cupcake in her face while singing, “ Do you wanna build a snowman? ”
    Arianna yelps and totally messes up the cupcake she was decorating. She turns to glare at me. I just give her a shit-eating grin and take a big bite out of Olaf.
    “I’ll eat that one, too,” I say around a mouth full of cupcake.
    She makes a disgusted face. “Gross, Duke.”
    She turns back around while shaking her head. She slides the messed up one in my direction and I chuckle.
    “What are you doing here?” she asks dryly, going back to decorating the non-messed up cupcakes.
    I lean my butt against the counter and cross my ankles. “I just wanted to see how you were doing, you know, because I'm a nice guy like that,” I say after swallowing the cupcake in my mouth.
    She gives me a dry look. “I’m fine,” she mutters.
    “Now, that, Beautiful, is a bunch of bull,” I murmur before shoving the rest of Olaf into my mouth.
    She shrugs. “What do you want me to say? I broke up with Kyle and moved in with Jade and Justin while I look for a place of my own. I also cancelled everything for the wedding, losing most of the deposit money in the process. Plus, Kyle won’t leave me alone. So, it’s whatever.”
    I frown. “What do you mean he won’t leave you alone?”
    “He keeps calling me and showing up at Jade’s, trying to get me to change my mind. I’m sure he’ll get over it.”
    Irritation flashes through me. “Want me to talk to him?” I all but snarl.
    Her eyes shoot to mine. “No, please don’t.”
    I grit my teeth. “Fine.”
    I grab the ruined cupcake and dip my finger into the icing. I then wipe it on Arianna cheek. She gasps.
    “What the hell, Duke?” She huffs.
    “You got a little something on your face. Here, I’ll get it,” I say, fighting back a laugh as I set my cupcake down and grab her face. I lick the icing off her cheek. Oh, how I would love to lick icing off some other body parts…
    “Duke!” she squawks, but ends up laughing as she shoves me away and rubs her sleeve over her cheek.
    “Ah, there’s that smile.” I chuckle.
    “You’re insane.”
    “But I got you laughing. That’s all that matters.” I grin.
    She rolls her eyes at me.
    “Let me take you out,” I say, picking my cupcake back up.
    “Duke, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she murmurs, shaking her head.
    “Come on, I’m not asking you to marry me. Just let me take you out; we’ll have some fun. We can go as friends, not a date.”
    She hesitates and I take that as a good sign.
    “Fun with a friend,” I reiterate in a sing song-y voice.
    She sighs heavily. “Alright, fine. I guess I could use a night