Page 13 of Obsession

We walked along the sidewalk until we reached the green space. All the benches were occupied, so we sat down on the warm grass. People were still giving us strange looks, me more than Candice. I’d had the impression that she was the center of attention, but apparently it was my turn to be scrutinized.

“The sun feels good,” Candice spoke in a thin voice, caused by the enthusiasm that resonated within her. We agreed with her and soaked up the warmth.

She was right, the weather was glorious. The sun was shining brightly, almost too warmly, and a light breeze here and there made thin strands of hair stick to my face.

I closed my eyes, propped myself up on my elbows and tried to relax while avoiding the chatter. Luckily, Candice was a chatterbox. But my peace was interrupted by some disturbing noises – a mixture of roaring, deafening bass and loud engines.

I opened my eyes, sat up and focused my attention on the noise.

My mouth dropped open as I saw the immaculate parking of four of the most beautiful cars I had ever seen. They all seemed to have come straight out of “The Fast and the Furious”. Their powerful engines sounded like a pack of jaguars, and I couldn’t recognize any of the brands. Sports cars, all painted in bright colors, with different drawings on the sides, some of them even childish. I had only ever seen tuning like this in video games.

The last one parked took my breath away. It was the spitting image of my latest obsession, namely Vantablack. I had no idea what make it was, because it looked so dark that it absorbed every speck of light and hid every detail on its bodywork, except for the decorations on the doors. They resembled demonic wings, still black, but a different shade. They bore no resemblance to the angel wings on my tattoo. They were truly evil, bat-like, bony, and scary. I’d never seen anything black applied over Vantablack before, let alone on a car.

Not only did those wings look real, but I could also have sworn they actually were, and I almost wanted to sprint towards them for a closer inspection. It was by far the most fascinating thing I’d seen in a long time. Was it legal to drive a car that could be mistaken for a black hole?

I thought the cars had stunned me, but the people getting out of them completely amazed me.

A group of about ten people caught the attention of all the students, while a graveyard-like silence swallowed up any murmur, as if everyone had suddenly disappeared. I wanted to make sure they were still there, but I couldn’t find the strength to tear my gaze away from the new arrivals.

“Looks like the stars are finally making an appearance,” Zac muttered angrily.

I looked at him briefly before returning my gaze to the others.

Extremely loud music was coming from the black car, making the ground beneath me tremble. Someone had yet to get out of that vehicle. I happened to know the song, it was Nightmare by 2Scratch – one of my favorites, and it was almost eerie how most of my latest obsessions were gathered in one place.

To say I was curious as to who was behind it would be an understatement.

“Come on man, time to learn,” shouted a blond guy amusedly, slapping the hood of the black car. The people around him laughed as the music came to a halt.

The passenger door swung open, and a blonde girl got out. She looked around the campus, exuding superiority and with an egotistical smile on her face. Her attitude screamed “diva”, and her outfit “hooker”. She ruined the car.

Calm down, Katherine. This is none of your business.

The driver’s door popped open so fast I flinched, since I was still looking at the chick. The silence swallowed me again, and all I heard and felt was my blood pressure rising. I saw a massive body materialize behind the black door.

Was it possible for the air to get stuck in your throat? Because that’s exactly what happened that second, and I coughed to check if I’d swallowed a fly or something. The guy walked in front of the others and propped his foot on the edgeof the hood. His face was serious, a mixture of stiffness and boredom. He was the first person I’d seen who wasn’t smiling, but then again, no one else would have looked this good next to a car like this.

My eyes wandered down and analyzed the perfect shape of his body. He was so damn tall and massive; his muscles were so well defined under his tight black t-shirt; his arms were covered in tattoos. Now that was a tattooed body.

He was wearing combat boots, black sunglasses, and black cargo pants, but they weren’t too baggy on him. The guy had some muscles on his long legs. I wasn’t sure if this man was a high school student. He looked out of place, maybe a lethal soldier who had a free hour between deployments and spent it driving his girlfriend to school.

His hair was black, almost too black, and I was pretty sure he had dyed it. It had a wild cut. Yes, that was the right word. Short on the sides and a few long, mischievous curls on top. The wind teased them, and it instantly brought to mind the tousled look of hair after sex. I was convinced it looked like his. I shivered and dismissed the idea, but my mind kept wandering and I pictured my fingers in his hair.

What the fuck had gotten into me?

I tried to avert my eyes, but something kept my gaze fixed on him.

When he took off his sunglasses, I went into raptures. I had hoped he would be ugly behind the glasses, but I wasn’t so lucky.

Not lucky at all.

He grabbed the blonde who had climbed out of his car and pulled her into his arms, grabbed her ass and kissed her in a rough way. She willingly snuggled up to him and her short skirt threatened to ride up completely if she continued to cling to him.She was so colorful next to him that the contrast was almost comical, even more striking than with Candice and me.

I’d always had a thing for serious, tough guys. They were my version of the ideal man, but this one was off the charts. His tattooed arms were enough to make you suspect you weren’t dealing with a nice guy, because they stretched across his arms like black sleeves.

“Who are they?” Candice asked with wide eyes.

I almost winced when I saw how hard she was staring, fearing I had done the same.

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