Page 19 of Obsessed with the Heartbreaker

So with that, I stepped away from the dusty shelves and left the library.

Chapter 6

Antony

If I was offered a penny for every time I thought about Henry Campbell, I would probably be a rich man by now. Especially today, in which every hour, every lecture felt like torture, forcing myself to pretend to listen and not daydream about him like a lovesick idiot.

But it was hard. And how couldn’t it be? It had been the first time I’d seen him in months. The scent of his fruity shampoo had been strong, enveloping me in a nostalgic hug that made my throat thicken with emotion, and his naked chest?

Don’t get me started.

Not to mention he’d been with that Maddox guy.

I scowled at the memory. Making my way to the frat house under the fading orange sunlight, I reminded myself for the hundredth time that this was all business. This was me meeting Henry with the intention of helping him, on his father’s wishes, figure out what he wanted to do with his life. Well, that was probablymyinterpretation of the task, but the point was moot.

It was still business.

Connell wanted Henry to get his shit together, and I thought that meant finding his own path in life, not the one Connell wanted for him. He would see that was for the best when the time came, or at least, that was what I hoped.

I didn’t come here to reconnect with Henry, even if my heart lurched at the thought. A part of me wanted so badly to just wipe the last three years away and pretend nothing had happened, it made my chest hurt. The other one knew better than to hope. Because even if that day hadn’t happened—even if that kiss hadn’t been the beginning of our ruin, our friendship would have eventually ended anyway. There was no world in which popular playboys like Henry befriended uptight wallflowers like me long-term. And having to witness the slow but steady demise of what once had been such a bright spot in my life…

It would have broken me anyway.

So it was better like this. And, well, having to see Henry more often would even help to battle the nostalgia, helping me see there were no more feelings there, that what was lost was gone and would never come again. We were different people with different paths and it was just the way things were supposed to be.

With that in mind, I knocked on the white front door.

Adam, the guy from this morning, was the one to greet me again. He was blond, handsome, and built like a jock, but carried none of the arrogance I assumed one would carry as he sent me a greeting grin.

“Oh, Henry’s friend. Come in.” He stepped aside as I walked through the potted plants and into the frat house.

There was more movement now, with guys laying in couches, not sparing more than a glance our way, and loud voices laughing in the kitchen. It must have been ever-entertaining to live in a place like this, even if it probably would be a nightmare for someone like me. I liked my privacy and my quiet, thank you very much. The only people I tolerated nowadays in my low-energy times were Eliot and Scott, and we’d had a lifetime to get used to each other, so it made sense.

“I’d never heard of you before, have you been friends with Henry for long?” Adam asked me as we stepped further into the house.

“Long enough,” I said, trying to see if I caught sight of the devil—or theKing—himself.

He stopped by the stairs. “Are you a secret ex or something?”

Was I?

Definitely not.

Even if sometimes it felt that way.

Instead of answering, I asked, “Does Henry know you’re asking so many questions?”

That shut him up quick, but he didn’t look mad at it. A smirk stretched on his lips, making him look mischievous and amused. “Sneaky, aren’t you? I see why our King likes you.”

He doesn’t,I wanted to say.He probably hated me, which was why he stopped talking to me three years ago in the first place.

The memory burned, still bitter.

Adam nodded upstairs. “He’s probably in his room. It’s the one at the end of the hall to the left.”

I gave him some murmured thanks and made my way there.

This wasn’t about the past. I was going to eat my feelings and dig them deep, where no one, not even me could find them. It was going to be okay, and it would be over soon. He was probably going to give me the most annoying task, and then—

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