Page 128 of Devious Obsession
I pick up my pace, heading for the forest trails.
All of a sudden, someone comes around the corner—and I smash into them.
“Whoa.” Hands grab at my arms, keeping me upright. “Aspen?”
My gaze lifts, locking on to Chase King. He eyes me, his brows furrowed.
“Are you okay?” he asks. “You look like you saw a ghost.”
“I’m fine.” I step out of his hold. “Um, I… I just thought I saw something, and it freaked me out.”
“Where are you headed?”
“Campus,” I lie.
He falls into step with me, turning back the way he came. “I’ll escort you.”
You’re going to get wrapped up in something you don’t want any part of, I almost say. There’s a new lump in my throat, though, and I can’t seem to push out the words around it.
“O’Brien treating you okay?”
I glance sharply at him, then straight ahead again. “We’re a good match, I think.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Am I interrupting something? Were you headed somewhere?”
He’s got his bag slung over his shoulder. Unlike me, who bundled up as much as I could to sit in the cold arena, he’s only wearing a sweater over a shirt and jeans. And he seems completely unruffled by the bite in the air.
Winter is coming fast, and it’s all the more apparent after the sun sets.
“I was just going home,” he replies, shooting me a glance. “Even though Crown Point is pretty safe, I don’t like the idea of you wandering out alone.”
“Thanks,” I murmur.
We reach campus, and Chase only pauses at the huge doors to the Administration building.
“I’m good from here,” I tell him. “I appreciate your… kindness.”
He smiles. “Anytime.”
Nodding to himself, he ambles off the way we came. I watch him for another beat, then lift my gaze and scan the area. Students mill around, of course, but there’s no one out of place. No dark gaze that makes my heart pound faster.
No Steele O’Brien.
I hurry inside, toward the auditorium. At this time of night, I might get the whole place to myself for a moment—which means I can play on the baby grand on the stage. I slip into the back of the darkened auditorium and scan it. There’s no one here, as far as I can tell. And it takes my eyes a minute to adjust to just the dim emergency lighting.
Still, I can play the piano in the dark. Something simple to calm my nerves.
Steele won’t find me here—not when I should be running scared.
I slip down the aisle and up the side staircase, dropping my bag at the edge of the stage. I shed my coat, too. My fingers don’t tremble when I pull out the bench and take a seat. The ivory keys are barely visible, but I know them by heart. I find my place and play a single note. It rings through me, unlocking the desire to do this permanently.
My audition is coming up next week. Between Steele and classes, I’ve spent far too many evenings locked in the practice room trying to get the audition piece perfect. Memorized.
I do have it memorized now, and I run through it without thinking.
“It feels hollow.”
