perfect misunderstandings

Dating my Ex-Boyfriend’s Daddy

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Chapter 5: perfect misunderstandings

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“Joshua Roswell just walked in,” Devin says.

Addison’s heart falls into her stomach. 

She hasn’t seen Joshua since Lia dropped that news on her a week ago.

The office that Joshua works in is three floors above from the floor that Addison works on, and she has been avoiding it like the plague throughout the day, sending other coworkers on any errands that would usually bring her there.

She takes a deep breath, frowning. “Okay. Well, I should probably go home anyway. The club isn’t booming that well.”

“No!” Tara says, reaching out and grabbing Addison’s hands. “I’m not ready to go yet.”

“We don’t have to go together,” Addison mumbles.

She slides down a little bit so that the back of her head isn’t visible from behind the booth. “You still remember where you live, don’t you? You aren’t that drunk!.”

“But what about the cab fare! We were going to split it! And I can’t take the subway by myself, I’ll fall over and be arrested for public indecency.”

“Remember what I said about being dramatic,” Devin says dryly, turning and brushing his hand briefly through Tara’s hair. 

Addison tosses back the rest of her gin and tonic, sighing. Maybe cutting her evening short would just be letting Joshua win. Maybe she deserves to have fun, too.

She hasn’t even gotten to dance yet—the dance floor wasn’t packed enough when they arrived for her to dance without feeling awkward, but it’s swarming with bodies now.

Dancing alone with Joshua’s eyes on her, though… Addison isn’t sure whether she’s quite reached that level of post-breakup confidence yet.

“Fine,” Addison says, groaning. “I’ll stay. Only because I want to dance. But you have to promise to dance with me, and don’t let him anywhere near me.”

“If he gets within a ten foot radius, I’ll pounce like an attack dog,” Tara says solemnly. “I’ll start barking. It will be very scary. He’ll leave.”

“You’re so fucking weird,” Devin says, plucking a maraschino cherry out of his glass and popping it into his mouth. “But like, in a hot way, I guess.”

“Thank you,” Tara says, beaming. “I love you too, baby.”

“Let’s focus,” Addison reminds them. “Can I go up to the bar now? Where is he?”.

Devin leans to the right a little bit, gently colliding with the side of Tara’s head as he peers across the large space.

“You should be fine. He’s currently wandering about all the way on the other side, probably he’s looking for someone, I guess.”

“Okay,” Addison says, huffing as she slips out of the booth and rises to her feet. “You just want another one of the same?”.

They both nod.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go get the drinks instead?”. Devin offers. “I don’t mind.”

Addison shakes her head. “No. It’s fine. It’s so packed, I doubt he’ll even see me.”

Famous last words.

Addison squeezes her way through the crowd until she reaches the massive bar in the center, using her small stature to her advantage, wiggling between bodies until she ends up pretty close to the bar, with only one very tall woman standing between her and the bartender.

She pulls out her phone and scrolls through Twitter mindlessly while she waits, running a hand through her blonde hair. Someone dims the overhead lights a little, and cheers erupt from the dance floor.

After the woman ahead of her grabs her drink and ducks out of the way, Addison steps up to the bar.

The bartender closest to her, a short girl with bright blue hair, catches her eye and nods as she pours a pint. “What can I get you?”.

Addison lists off the three drinks, then reaches into her pocket for her wallet, fishing out her credit card.

She hasn’t opened a tab yet—Tara has been the one ordering drinks for everyone so far tonight.

As she’s about to slide her credit card across the bar, she feels a tap on her shoulder. A second later, there’s a familiar voice, low and close to her ear.

“Addy. Hey.”

Addison freezes, every muscle in her body tensing up.

Did Joshua Roswell just teleport here from across the room? What the fuck?

“Joshua,” Addison mumbles, barely turning to face him. Addison keeps her eyes on the bartender but still mutters. “Hello.”

She is trying to play it cool, but inside, she’s completely panicking. She has got to get out of this somehow. She was never planning on speaking to Joshua again. She wants nothing to do with him.

Being near him makes her feel ill, actually, and all the alcohol in her stomach is starting to feel a little unsettled. 

“How are you?” Joshua asks. “I haven’t gotten the chance to talk to you in a while.”

He slides into the freshly vacated spot on Addison’s left, leaning against the bar. He looks obnoxiously handsome, as usual—he’s wearing a perfectly tailored navy suit, not a single hair out of place. 

He’s far too close for comfort, and the way he’s looking at Addison is borderline predatory. 

“I’m fine,” Addison says flatly, still staring at the bartender. She’s busy taking someone else’s order at the other end of the bar.

Please come over here and take my credit card.

Please.

It seems she hasn’t learned how to read minds yet.

“I’m doing well. Not that you asked,” Joshua says coolly.

How perfectly pleasant.

Addison was just sitting in the back of the bar, whining about how lonely she is, and meanwhile, Joshua already moved on.

A wave of hot embarrassment washes over Addison, her cheeks flushing, but she doesn’t even fully understand why. It’s not like she’s here completely alone.

But she still feels like Joshua has beaten her somehow. 

Usually when couples break up, there’s a competition in who moves on faster.

Considering Joshua is about to become a new father. She lost.

“How nice,” Addison says. 

A few guys squeeze into the space to Addison’s right, trying to get the bartender’s attention, shifting Addison even closer to Joshua. There’s nowhere for her to go now.

“Are you here by yourself?” Joshua asks, the tiniest hint of a smirk on his face.

And then Addison does something dumb.

She isn’t quite sure where the idea comes from.

She does it before fully thinking it through, taking action before the thought has even finished processing in his brain, and she’s just drunk enough for it to make sense—for it to seem logical and not absolutely idiotic.

She swiftly turns to the right with only one goal in mind: immediately laying hands on the nearest physical body.

The lucky winner is a guy wearing a black turtle neck, his back turned to her. He’s several inches taller than her, with broad shoulders and long, dark wavy hair.

“There you are!”. Addison says loudly, her eyes wide and a little crazed, her hand pressing into the small of the stranger’s back. “I was worried about you. You weren’t texting me back throughout the day. How was your day, baby?”.

The man slowly turns to face her.

He stares down at Addison with an absolutely perplexed expression. His eyes are already huge to begin with, but they’re extra round now, looking ridiculously similar to Joshua’s and his lips are pursed in an unspoken question.

With Joshua right behind her, Addison can’t audibly tell this guy what’s going on, but he figures she can try to signal it with her face. So she waggles her eyebrows to the left, eyes widening further, mouth twisting to the side, desperately trying to communicate: Please help me out here.

Understanding slowly dawns on the stranger’s face, and Addison lets out a tiny breath.

“Sorry I’m late,” The man says, his expression shifting into something more apologetic. “I got tied up at work and forgot to text you.”

“Such a hard worker,” Addison coos.

She shifts a bit further away from Joshua and closer towards the man, pressing up against his side.

She silently reminds herself to apologize later for getting all handsy without asking for permission. “I missed you today.”

The stranger quirks a smile, his eyes twinkling a little. He’s very handsome, actually, but Addison is hardly concerned with that right now. 

“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” the man asks expectantly, glancing at Joshua with some sort of smirk on his face that makes Addison confused.

“Of course,” Addison says, turning to face Joshua. “How rude of me. Joshua, this is my boyfriend.”

The corners of his mouth twitch. “What?”.

“Yes,” Addison repeats. “My boyfriend. His name is...”

“Dad?.”

“Javan Roswell,” the man says, and it sounds like he’s choking back a laugh. “My name is Javan.”

Javan Roswell. The CEO.

Joshua has the petrified expression on his face that makes Addison confused as he turns back to her. “You are my father’s mistress?.”

Addison’s mouth falls open.

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TBC