Page 135 of Quiet Obsession
My jaw locks. She never stands so close to me in public. Everything between us happens behind closed doors. Empty rooms, hidden alcoves, and my bed after the world’s gone to sleep. All I get are stolen moments.
I’m her therapy at best. An escape from her past, a way to reclaim her agency. I knew that the moment I touched her. The moment I let myself want something I have no right to want and no hope to deserve, but I keep fucking forgetting...
Because when we’re alone it feels real.
A group of girls approaches the drinks tables, giggling and clinging to each other, their dresses tight, short, and drawing Dash’s attention. One of them steps into my space, flipping her dark brown hair over one shoulder as she reaches for a Coke.
“Hey, Creed,” she chirps, her gaze moving over the bruising along my jaw. “That looks sore.”
It is. My jaw hurts every time I swallow.
“What do you want, Flora?”
“My boyfriend didn’t get a single shot past you last year.” Her tongue peeks out to wet her pink lips. “You, on the other hand, broke his nose.”
I remember the guy. Ash Rowan.
Half the guys on campus were in a dick-measuring contest with him over Flora Herring. She was dubbed Gravemont’s resident beauty queen back in freshman year and everyone thought I challenged Ash because I wanted her.
Flora did too, but the truth is, Ash just pissed me off. He dinged my car door when he opened his without looking.
Too bad for him, Iwaslooking.
Flora inches closer and I glance across to find that Millie finally remembered I fucking exist. Her narrowed eyes bounce between Flora and me.
The little scrunch of her nose sends a jolt of satisfaction through my system and I angle my body a bit more toward the brunette, craving Millie’s jealousy. I wouldn’t poke Flora with a pole, but if Millie’s cozying up to Noah right in front of me, maybe she needs a taste of her own medicine.
I could’ve had Flora last year, the night I fought Ash. She knocked on my door, dressed in just her lingerie, but I don’t touch girls who spread their legs for anyone with a dick.
I’d need two hands and most of my toes to count how many times I walked in on her getting fucked in various semi-secluded places on campus.
She sucked Hyde’s dick a few days before summer, then offered Dash her puckered little hole. I heard her screaming through the ceiling for an hour straight.
“Isn’t he yourex-boyfriend?” I ask.
“He is. Which is why I’m on the market for a new one.”
Hyde chuckles behind her back. “Then you’re barkingup the wrong tree, sweetheart. Creed’s not boyfriend material.”
Those words shouldn’t bother me because he’s right. How can I be boyfriend material when I’ve never dated anyone? I have no experience and no clue where to even start.
But theydobother me.
“Why not?” Flora purrs, leaning further into me, her lips not far from the shell of my ear. “You’ve got the looks, you obviously know how to fight, and I hear you’ve got the largest cock on campus.”
My eyes go to Millie. She’s holding her Coke with both hands, shoulders angled toward Noah, but her hazel-blues are onme, cheeks flushed, lips tight.
“Blasphemy,” I tell Flora, not sparing her a glance. “Small cock, toxic personality.”
“You think too little of yourself.”
“No. It’s you who thinks too highly of me. I’d maybe scratch that itch you want scratched if I weren’t afraid to catch whatever filth Dash left behind.”
“Hey!” Dash exclaims, feigning insult. “I wrapped it.”
Flora laughs. I mean, sure, because implying she’s a walking STD is fucking hilarious.
“I’m not buying this act, Creed,” she says, her voice dropping to a seductive whisper. “Your room in ten?”
