Page 1 of Secret Obsession
MILES
Tonight’s party is dull. Knox wanted to throw it because we’re going home for winter break tomorrow. Our parents have summoned us home, which really just means we’ll have to be on our best behavior for a month. But more than half of the students have already left Crown Point, and thus…
Dull.
Greyson and Violet sit in the corner, their heads bent together. Music plays loud enough that their voices don’t travel.
I sip my beer and tip my head back on the couch, exhaling.
Steele and Aspen are outside, smoking a blunt. Part of me wants to join them, to get high and forget about my fucking troubles.
And then the front door opens, and one of my troubles strolls inside.
Her long blonde hair is coiled up on top of her head, her high cheekbones tinted red from the cold. I frown at the way her gaze travels around the room. She seems unsettled until she finds my brother, and I fucking hate that. The frigid blast of winter wind comes in behind her, until she slams the door shut and shucks her coat.
Still, that cold has buried itself under my skin. My bones have caught the chill, and I can’t seem to do anything but watch her from my spot on the couch. She’s the light that captivates my attention anywhere we go, and I loathe her for it.
Myself, too.
My heart thumps erratically. It’s chased on by the slight buzz I have, by the beer that I drain with a few quick swallows.
Her expression is set, decision made.
I push myself up and lean forward, tracking her across the room. To my brother, who waits like a hyena about to devour its prey. His smile seems more evil than anything else. Only because I know what he has planned, what’s going to happen the second she admits her feelings for him.
Feelings she should never have had in the first place.
She stops in front of Knox and tucks an invisible hair behind her ear. She does that when she’s nervous. My gaze drops down the rest of her, down the tight black shirt that hugs her figure, over her perfect ass in the dark jeans. She’s a dancer, and every inch of her is muscle.
When she opens her mouth, I know she’s going to blurt it out. Because my girl’s been working up the courage to tell my brother she loves him for the past six months—maybe longer. Six months ago was when I first heard the words leave her lips, in some sleepy mumble.
The fact that she hasn’t makes me wonder about who else hurt her.
There will be time for that later.
If you asked me last year how this would go, how the bet between our best friend, Greyson, and Knox would evolve… the foolish, naive part of me assumed it would be over in a flash. Knox would get Willow to fall for him in no time.
And maybe he did.
But she didn’t say it.
Then he got stubborn.
Almost a year later, and we’re here. At this moment.
“I just wanted to say…” I imagine she’s telling him. “I love you.”
It’s in my head, because I certainly can’t hear her. But the way my brother’s expression lights up, it must be true. He yells for one of the guys to cut the music, and everything falls silent. Willow’s tense, her shoulders inching higher. The turtle defense—except it’s not her neck she has to protect. It’s her heart that needs the armor, and now it’s too late. She just handed it over to the worst fucking person in the room.
“Say again, baby?” Knox says, his voice now audible. He takes her hand and runs his thumb over her knuckles.
He oozes charm. He’s all honey and sugar. And while we look alike, I’ve always strayed in the opposite direction. Bitterness and spice. I want to leap from the couch and snatch her away, but this must play out.
She’s in love with him—it’s only fair that he break her heart once and for all.
I’m okay with getting cut up by her jagged little pieces.
“I just, ah,” she clears her throat. “I’m in love with you.”
