Page 287 of Obsession

“It’s, well, it was… mine,” I turned my gaze away from the sparkling ceiling and looked at him.

“Yours?!” I asked, having to pick my jaw up off the floor.

My reaction was greatly exaggerated by the obscene amount of alcohol coursing through me. Was this the house he lived in with his mother?

“Yeah,” he stood up from the bed and walked towards me, “I used to live here before I bought the garage with Jay and the others.”

I stared at him.

“When I joined Carter’s group, I became friends with Mike. Carter allowed me on the tracks, but I couldn’t sleep there. I couldn’t go back home either, for a plethora of reasons, and Mike took me to his place. His parents are business people, they have a lot of money, but they are almost always on the road, so they allowed him to bring me here. So for two years this was my home.”

He handed me the frame with a photo of two boys leaning against the hood of a car. My eyes widened as I recognized the serious boy with the dark, lighter hair that reached his shoulders and the much less tattooed arms crossed in front of his chest. Hewas thinner, but still tall, and had the face of a kid in the middle of puberty, but with all that, the same frown he had now stained his features. The other boy appeared to be Mike, only younger, but sporting the same mischievous grin.

“We were barely sixteen, I hadn’t started going to the gym and taking steroids yet,” Harris smiled, amused at his own image.

I smiled too, for it was nice to see a childlike image of him.

“Why did you leave here?”

“I don’t know. I loved this place. Mike and I were like brothers and we had wild parties almost every night. This is where I lived out my rebellious phase,” I looked around, trying not to think about all the girls he had surely brought to this room, “But after that, I went back to my mom’s and…you know the rest of the story,” he continued, pulling the pendant out from under his tank top and rubbing it between his fingers.

“I loved cars and wanted to be around them all the time, to feel the speed coursing through me and the oil on my hands when I was working on an engine. Living in this house made me feel like a spoiled prince. Mike’s parents treated me like their own son, and no matter how much trouble we both got into, they never scolded us. We never had do to without, Mike never had to do without. After I bought the garage, I felt like I could finally be myself, a wild demon in his cave, not a pampered one in a castle.”

I smiled at his choice of words.

“And you two lived here alone?” I asked, starting to walk across the room, but I soon tripped over something and felt Harris’ arm around me, holding me tight.

I looked down and noticed three steps leading up to the platform bed. Jesus.

“Not quite, there were the maids and the people who did everything we wanted and then cleaned up after us,” he laughed, helping me up the steps.

I rolled my eyes.

“And you still come here?” I sat down on the bed.

It was so comfortable.

“Once in a while, I’m always here for the parties and Mike gave me a key even though he was really mad at me when I left.”

He sat down in front of the bed, grabbed the back of my knees and looked at me warily.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked, frowning.

“You’re so beautiful,” he explained with a sweet smile, a little too sweet for him.

“Even when I am drunk?” I raised an eyebrow, and he laughed.

“Even drunk,” he chuckled as he started stroking my thighs.

“And how many girls did the demon prince bring here?” I asked.

“I knew you’d ask that,” he shook his head and pulled me closer to him to make room between my legs, “many, but none like you.”

I rolled my eyes.

“If you keep rolling your eyes, I’ll bite your ass.”

I grinned and smacked him over the head.

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