Page 45 of Obsessed with the Heartbreaker

Henry Campbell was gorgeous. It was a fact. One I’d been aware of ever since I’d met him.

What wasalsoa fact, and the thing that made my molars grind against each other, was the guy sitting next to him on his sofa.

As always, Henry had a two-seater sofa reserved for him. It was his throne, and his subjects sat in the sofas set around his in a half-circle, always trying to be as close to him as they could be.

For all intents and purposes, Henry and I had made a pact. One that explicitly stated that he could not, would not date, hook up, or flirt with anyone else while our deal was in place.

So this?

This was him willfully breaking it, even if he looked as pained as if someone was trying to pull his teeth one by one.

Admittedly, Henry wasn’t technically sitting right next to the guy. They were not even close totouching, Henry sitting as far away from his companion as he physically could without falling down from the sofa, but they were turned toward each other. It made my blood burn with jealousy, but I was all too satisfied to notice that thisguy, who was currently in my way, had an uncanny resemblance to me, to my shortly cropped hair, strong jaw, and even my build.

The poor guy—myreplacement, because that was what he was—looked a bit confused, even if excited to be sitting in the same house as Henry. The Heartbreaker, though, was sporting the fakest smile I’d seen in all my years, and shoulders tense enough to be made of cardboard.

This wouldn’t even count as flirting, this was justpitifulto watch. But it was breaking our pact because I was now morally against anyone else having the whole of his attention like this, the mere sight making me want to go up to them and sit right in the middle. Mark my territory like an annoyed cat.

My hands balled into fists, and right then, Henry’s eyes met mine across the room. It sent a stupid zing up my spine, one that I resented right now, especially asHenry,who was at fault here, looked at me with a ticking jaw like I was the onenotsupposed to be here.

Which I wasn’t.

But that was here nor there.

Because I knew for a fact he was doing this to get back at me. He was trying tosend a message. Telling me I’d gotten too close, that I didn’t have power over him—or at least, that he didn’t want me to.

We were on the same boat in that regard, but who cared?

I wanted him to come to me, to confront me and shout at me if that was what he wanted, because it would mean leaving my replacement in the dust, and right this second, that was my priority.

But it didn’t happen.

The Heartbreaker’s smile sharpened my way before he turned again to pay attention to his companion for the night.

Fuck.

He was really doing this.

This was him saying ‘keep your distance’, and ‘I don’t care about you’, which would have been a little more believable if he hadn’t looked so miserable while doing it.

Again, I should have accepted it.

But my adrenaline and anger were riding high, and they made an incredible cocktail that became something else.

I wasn’t leaving.

Two could play at this game.

And when I caught sight of Kevin, the guy who’d been sitting right next to me the other night before Henry came and displaced him, when I saw thegrinhe was currently sending my way…I knew how I was going to play this.

We were going to see who broke first.

I let Kevin approach me. He was wearing a tight-fitting T-shirt, khaki shorts, and a mane of dirty blond hair. By all means, he was an attractive guy, but I had no interest in him.

My only interest was in Henry looking at me.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” Kevin said, almost as if we’d known each other for years and not just for a night.

Shrugging, I said, “We’re in the same college. We were bound to stumble upon each other at one point or another.”

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