Page 56 of Obsession

I continued to laugh as he stuffed himself full of food like a ravenous wolf. I started eating so he wouldn’t be embarrassed that I was watching him, even though he was too busy with his plate to notice. He said he hadn’t had a home-cooked meal in years, did that mean he didn’t live with his parents? With his mother? Of course, not all moms cooked, but the garage he took me to didn’t exactly look like a family home, and I got the impression he lived there with his friends. It was so fucking weird. Maybe he looked like a man, but he was still a high school student. I refrained from asking questions, though, because I also hated being asked awkward things about my life. Especially about my mother.

I got up to bring two glasses of water and he emptied his in seconds.

“So that’s the solution. I have to feed you to keep you from your perverted thoughts. Good to know.”

He snorted, having managed to gulp down the food in his mouth.

“I didn’t eat anything today. You’re a saving angel and, God, I don’t think it’s hunger talking, but this really is the best food I’ve ever eaten. If you cook this for me every day, I promise I’ll be as good as a saint.”

I started to laugh. “Only a demon could make promises like that to get what he wants.”

He grinned devilishly and then winked at me.

“Beautiful, talented, clever … what other qualities do you have?”

“You forgot the most important thing.”

“Sexy?”

I punched his arm. “Good cook.”

“That’s part of being talented,” he defended, and I pressed my lips together to stifle another laugh. “And I still think sexy is the most important thing.”

I rolled my eyes and let the conversation end there. Who knew where we would have ended up if we’d kept talking about it.

After he finished eating, he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his belly like a satiated cat. With Harris, everything was so spontaneous and unexpected. I had no way of knowing what would follow. Considering what had happened just a few hours before, I never expected us to be sitting in my kitchen, eating, and fooling around.

I felt a great sense of relief knowing he wasn’t being a perverted asshole.

“Thank you for that, even though I’m so fucking sure I didn’t deserve it.”

I licked my lips. “You helped me, even if I didn’t want to do drugs again. Better this way than the whole school finding out.”

“I’m sorry about what happened with Amber on the field. It was my fault.” I bit my lip as he leaned closer, propping hiselbows on the table. “I promise it won’t happen again,” he added before I could even think about a response.

“It was my fault too, I covered her in pasta.”

He didn’t smile. “She doesn’t like that you got my attention.”

I looked at him and struggled to stay calm, to not let myself fall into his voice, his gaze, into what those words really meant. I had to stay grounded and do what was right, even if it involved Amber.

I sighed and rose from the table.

“That’s why I think it would now be better if you leave, Harris. I have no interest in attracting your attention while you’re another girl’s boyfriend.”

I picked up the plates from the table and carried them to the sink, feeling him behind me.

“Who says I’m her boyfriend?” he all but whispered in my ear, and I turned to face him.

“I think it’s pretty obvious.”

He sighed and pressed his lips together into a thin line.

“It’s complicated.”

I rolled my eyes.

“No, Harris, it never is. You have a relationship, and you need to respect it.”

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