Page 145 of Quiet Obsession
Millie
Hyde’s visit helped me make a decision I’ve already been considering. I don’t owe him anything, but I’d be lying if I said I wanted to hurt him. And having me here is obviously hurting him.
So on Thursday night, I sit in my room, a stack of transfer papers scattered across my bed. I hate that I’m running away, but what else am I supposed to do?
Pretend they don’t exist, or pretend I’m not slowly dying inside every time I enter the gym or pass a classroom where Creed made me feel giddy with his kisses?
My eyes glaze over the admission papers for a Florida college. I’ve printed out papers for ten others, all located along the East Coast, far away from here.
There’s a knock on the door when I’m halfway through, a stack of ready-to-mail applications on mybedside table, the rest still on my bed. I glance at the clock, swearing under my breath. I promised Noah we’d play chess tonight.
“Come in!” I yell, scrambling off the bed, frantically gathering papers and stuffing them into my closet. “Shit, I’m sorry,” I say when the door opens before I’m done. “I completely lost track of time!”
I slam the closet shut and turn my head. Instead of Noah, I find Creed, three feet away, wet as a dog. Water drips from his hair, his hoodie drenched.
My breath catches and stomach drops when I spot a sheet of paper in his hand.
“You’re leaving?” he asks.
He looks worse than Hyde. The bruises under his eyes are almost purple, but when he steps closer, he smells so good my knees nearly give out.
“Why are you leaving?”
I can’t help but scoff, and my dumbstruck awe morphs into anger. He disappears for days after breaking my heart, and now he’s back demanding explanations? God, what was I expecting?
That he’d apologize?
“Get out, Creed.” I shove him away, my blood growing hot. I take a step back, flush against the closet door.
“Don’t even think about transferring out,” he seethes, his chest brushing mine. “You run, I chase, baby. And when I promise I’ll fucking catch you, I will catch you.”
“Why would I stay?! My brother doesn’t want me,you not only don’t want me but moved on already. Why would I—?”
“You think I don’t want you?” he grits out, caging me in. “You’re all I want.”
“For how long?!” I snap, shoving him back, close to tears. “You always do this! You want me, then you don’t. You let me in, then you push me away. You never want me the way I want you and I’m tired, Eli. I’m tired of crying, tired of choosing you and hoping you’ll choose me back!”
“I know, I know.” I feel the tremble in his thumb against my chin as he tilts my face toward his. “That ends now, I promise. Ipromise. I want you, Millie. I wake up every morning wanting you so fucking much it feels like I’m going insane.”
I want to believe him, but his words never match his actions, and my head’s full of his mouth on Flora and how easily hurting me came to him.
“That’s why you kissed that girl?” I ask, blinking back frustrated tears. “Because youwant me?”
“Because you were clinging to Noah!” he booms, the sound vibrating through my ribs. “You were in his arms, Millie.”
“He’s just a friend! I never—”
“A friend you kissed.”
My lips fall open on an outragedO. “I didn’t!”
“Don’t fucking lie to me.” He slams his fist against the closet, hard enough to rattle the hangers inside. He drags in a shaky breath. “You kissed him.”
“Ididn’tkiss him. He just held me.”
“And what happened in the library, baby?” he taunts, getting so close his lips brush against mine. “What the fuck was that?”
Oh... that kiss. Shit. I didn’t want Creed to know about that stupid, confusing, desperate moment when I didn’t know what to do with myself. Kissing some random girl is bad, but I kissed his friend. I blush, looking down.
