Smoked & Spiced
Chapter 1
chapter one
Brayden “Bray” YOUNG .
“What the hell is this?” I mumbled, glaring at “my” space which should have been empty but was currently filled.
I slowed enough to pull into the spot next to the one I intended to occupy, annoyed that some bright ass truck had me temporarily blocked, which meant time wasted. My cousin Lennox and I had work to do and I was about to be delayed with my opening process. He was more of the civil one so I was seriously regretting that he was at the store purchasing the liquor required for our special sauce blend.
My eyes darted to the bright pink food truck after I shut off my engine and secured the parking brake.
What the hell is Sweet Reasons?
Exhaling a sigh of frustration, I stepped down out of the truck and was on my way to fix their misstep because that was the only thing this could be. A poor judgment call on the owner’s part. This was our spot, and even if it wasn’t, who the hell parked a cupcake truck in such a prime location? Cupcakes were not a priority delicacy. Good ass barbecue was. Smoked & Spiced, the best barbecue in Caramel Cove and surrounding cities to be more exact.
“Ay…” I called out from the side entrance to Sweet Reasons. After a long pause and no response, I moved closer, prepared to enter the truck when I was blessed with the perfect visual. A visual that almost tempered my annoyance. Almost .
Thick, toned, brown legs extended from a pair of jean shorts. A cropped tee with Sweet Reasons printed across the chest dipped off the left shoulder, exposing more smooth brown skin and damn…
She’s pretty as fuck.
Narrowed chocolate eyes, plush lips, and a cute little nose wrinkled in disapproval.
“I know good and damn well you were not about to be all up in my truck when you clearly see that closed sign out there.”
She lifted a delicate hand and extended a slender finger with a painted white nail toward the side of the truck.
“I called out, you didn’t respond.” I angled my head to the side and she arched a brow and dropped that hand to her hip. The motion shifted her stance enough to add more of a dip to her waist and curve to her hip. As much as I wanted to ignore how much that simple shift in her stance had me intrigued, I couldn’t. So I did a lazy perusal of her curvy frame then slowly crawled back up to her face, just in time to meet her disapproval once more.
“I’m not on the menu, so what is it I can do for you? I’m busy and we’re not open.”
I chuckled lightly and brushed a hand over my mouth. “I only need one thing from you, beautiful, and it doesn’t have shit to do with the menu.”
“I’m waiting?” Those soft brown eyes narrowed again.
“I need you to move your truck. You’re in our spot.”
She laughed. Like full blown as if I had just told her the funniest shit ever kind of laugh which had me confused until she opened her mouth again.
“ Your spot?”
“Yeah, our spot. Smoked & Spiced.”
“Per the permit office and property management there are no assigned spots out here. It’s first come ,first serve and since I’m in this spot…” That damn white nail was exposed again, pointing to the floor. “That means Sweet Reasons was first , making this our spot.”
I stared at her for a long moment before I felt the tinge of annoyance crawling through me once again. The same annoyance I felt when I pulled up and saw this damn powder puff truck in our place.
“Bruh, are you serious right now?” I mumbled.
“Very…” She was quick to pull the trigger on that one and paired it with an accomplished smile as her other hand dropped to her waist.
“There aren’t assigned spots but this is our spot. For the past year, we’ve been here and common courtesy is to respect seniority. Everyone out here understands how things work, so if you’ll just move your shit, I can get set up and we can both go on with our days.”
She smiled devilishly slow and shook her head. “I’m not moving. This is a prime spot, the best out here actually, and I would be insane to give it up.”
“ Or you can be a considerate person who respects the natural order of things out here. You’re new, is this really how you want to be welcomed to the community?”
There was that cute ass smile again, and as annoying as it was, it was also unfairly adorable. If this were any other situation, I would have been all in with that smile and everything else about this woman.
Damn sure that body…
She tucked a few strands of her shoulder-length hair behind her ears. “We’re not here to make friends. We’re here to sell cupcakes. So if we’re not welcomed, so be it. As long as I follow city guidelines, then yours and no one else’s approval or acceptance is necessary. Now, if that’s all, I need to get back to work so we can open on time. As I’m sure you know, we’re the first truck everyone will see when they come out of the business park for lunch.”
Damn, she’s seriously not moving.
“The people leaving the business park will be looking for real food, not cupcakes.”
“Maybe, but I’ve learned to never underestimate the power of impressive baked goods. A sugar rush is sometimes just what people need to push through a stressful day. Cupcakes also make people happy whereas burnt meat…’” She frowned. “Is just burnt meat.”
“You’re wild.” I laughed through my irritation. “But I’ll let you live in your delusion. You think you can make this spot work, then ball the fuck out.” I shook my head in aggravation in place of cursing her the hell out then turned to walk away.