Page 44 of Beautiful Obsessions
The couch dipped beside me, worn fabric shifting under his weight as he closed the space that had been between us all night.Thin.Fragile.
Gone.Completely.
Heat pressed into my side, bleeding through the thin cotton of his shirt wrapped around me.Close enough that I felt it with every breath.Close enough that breathing stopped being automatic.
The air thickened.Tighter.
I caught the scent of him—clean soap, sharp—but beneath it, something darker lingered.Something that didn’t wash off.Didn’t fade.
A reminder.Of what he was.Of what we were standing in.
My heart kicked harder, too fast to ignore, but I didn’t move.
I didn’t give him anything, but I felt it.
Every inch of space between us burned like it mattered.
His arm stretched along the back of the couch behind me, not touching—close enough that it might as well have been.
If I leaned back, I’d feel him.If I turned my head, I’d brush him.
Intentional.Everything about him was intentional.
My fingers curled against my thigh, grounding myself as his presence pressed in from every angle without ever quite closing that last gap.
It was worse like this.The almost.The not quite yet.
I turned my head, slow, meeting his gaze.Too close.
“You always do this?”I asked, my voice quieter now.
“Do what?”
“Step into someone’s space like it already belongs to you.”
Something dark flickered in his eyes.Controlled.Enjoyed.
“Only when I need to make a point.”
My lips parted—just slightly.And his gaze dropped to them like he’d been waiting for it.
My pulse tripped again.Faster this time.
“And have you?”I asked, softer now.“Made your point?”
He didn’t answer straight away.Just watched me.Like he was deciding something.Or letting it happen.
“Yeah,” he said finally, voice low.“I think I have.”
I leaned in.Just enough to test the pressure.A line drawn in inches.
“Maybe you’re not as dangerous as you think, Archie Popovich.”
That did it.Something tightened in him—sharp, immediate, barely held in check.He closed the last inch between us.Heat wrapped around me, his hand shifting behind me—closer now, no hesitation left in it.
My breath caught.Everything in me went still.Waiting.
The sharp shrill of his phone cutting through the air broke the moment.
