Page 51 of Quiet Obsession
I slip deeper into the room, weaving around groups of people engrossed in conversations, the air thick with the sharp smell of wet clothes and freshly ground coffee.
The bitter scent alone helps clear the fog behind my eyes.
I place my cup in the coffee machine, watching it sputter and hiss before the slow trickle starts. I force my mind into the present while it keeps veering back to waking up in Noah’s bed. I haven’t stopped thinking about it, Creed’s words looping inside my head.
“Don’t act like what you feel is wrong, baby. It’s not.”
Somehow, I doubt fantasizing about two best friends having their way with me at the same time could be consideredright.
“Millie!” Abby’s voice cuts through my daydream.
She’s at a long table nearby, surrounded by seniors, two of which I recognize, even with their clothes on.
One fucked her pussy while the other fucked her ass.
She waves me over, beaming from ear to ear as if we haven’t spent the last few days in a quiet state of embarrassment, exchanging the bare minimum of words. A smile is all I can muster before dropping my gaze back to my half-full cup.
“Millie, right?” someone says, slotting in beside me.
I glance sideways, finding the ass guy—Jasper—standing too close for my liking.
“Ward’s little sister,” he adds with a friendly, laid-back smile. “You look nothing like him.”
My eyes narrow, ears filling with the warnings Dash dished out in this very room, pointing out the cool people and those to steer clear of. When he jutted his chin at Jasper, his eyes grew hard.
“Stay away from the blond one and his dimwit buddies, Mini Ward. He and Hyde don’t get along.”
Apparently, they’ve been at each other’s throats since freshman year. They clashed over something stupid at a mixer. Dash can’t even remember what the argument was about, only that Jasper’s pride took a hit.
The tension between them snowballed into a full-blown rivalry pretty fast after that. In sophomore year, Jasper was obsessed with a girl who wouldn’t stop chasing Hyde. My brother eventually slept with her, mostly because she made it easy, but Jasper’s been convinced ever since thatHyde did it to spite him.
Knowing my brother, it was a bit of both.
“I know you’re not mute, Millie,” Jasper says. “Abby told us that you talk.”
Not to people I don’t trust.
The coffee machine sputters again, giving me the perfect excuse to turn away from Jasper, but as I snatch my cup and spin to leave, my path is still blocked.
“There she is.” Mateo grins, arms crossed over his chest. “The one who got away.”
My pulse quickens, and mouth goes dry when he steps closer, crowding me. I rein in my quickening pulse, rationalizing while my mind blurs reality and memory.
“Yeah, you looked sweet, watching us with Abby, you know that?” Jasper asks, his shoulder brushing mine. “You would’ve looked sweeter if you’d joined.”
Clutching my cup harder, I straighten my spine. This isn’t like when Evan and his buddies cornered me in the cafeteria the day I went back to school after recovering from his humiliation for two months. He was furious with me for filing charges and kept bullying me for the remainder of the year whenever the teachers weren’t looking.
Thisisn’t like that.
Jasper and Mateo aren’t touching me. They’re not laughing, pulling my hair, or spitting at my feet. They’re just being obnoxious, trying to get a reaction.
If I don’t give them any, they’ll move on.
“Shy little thing, aren’t you?” Mateo chuckles, reachinghis hand toward me. “Join in next time, alright?”
My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth and my ears burn hot. I’ve thought about sex way too much since walking in on them. I’m constantly wired, and the erotic dreams about Noah and Creed don’t help.
Neither does Abby.
