Page 26 of Red Obsession

Pullingintoabusygas station, I turn the truck off glancing into the back seat to find Gabriel and Izel asleep. His head lays in her lap as he snores, while she rests her head against the window. She looks highly uncomfortable, yet her hand clutches his dirty shirt as if he is going to disappear.

The pure rage I felt when I saw the fucker grab her. I hate that he even got close enough to her. I could feel the terror she felt around him, and I hated that it took me so long to kill him. I wanted to take my time to kill him. But I couldn’t, not with her and Gabriel there, and not with a bus of people watching what I was doing.

I hate that I like when she argues with me. It’s refreshing in an annoying kind of way, but it’s nice. It’s odd she’s not scared of me and challenges me. But I want to know more about this dead fucker and the people she’s running from. I want to know why they’re running. I hate the idea of going behind her back and doing intel about her. I need to know who I’m going up against. I need to know how to protect her and Gabriel. And I can’t do that if she’s hiding shit from me.

The overwhelming need to protect her from everything is deafening. The need to touch her and have her within eyesight is nearly drowning.She burrowed too far into my skin.

Shaking my head, I carefully remove myself from the truck and begin pumping gas. I need to relieve myself and probably need to get some type of caffeine. My plan is to just drive straight through until we reach my house, and with very little sleep in the past few days, I am going to need something.

“I need to pee.”

How the fuck does she keep sneaking up on me?

Turning around, Izel stands there watching me, her curly hair a mess, a fine line across her cheek from being pressed against the side door.

She is beautiful.

“Can I go?”

Nodding my head, Izel swings around heading towards the gas station.

“Wait.” I nearly trip over the gas pump. “Fuck,” I mutter under my breath.

Why the fuck am I so God damn nervous?

“Yes?” Izel motions with her hand to continue speaking. I don’t have words; I just don’t like the thought of her going in there by herself. But I don’t tell her that. I’ll never tell her that. I already fucked up by telling her there were things I wanted to do to her. She’s bound to run from me if she knows the dirty things I want to do to her body.

“Me too,” is what I tell her instead and like I’m the biggest idiot out there, Izel squints her eyes and cocks her head to the side. “I have to pee too,” I tell her. Which I do, but it’s not the reason I want her to wait.

“Oooookay,” she draws out, walking back towards me.

Hurrying up, I finish with pumping gas and close the cap. Locking the doors, I grab her hand without thinking, carrying us across the gas station.

Neither of us speak before she’s slipping inside the women restroom. I rush into the men’s since I don’t want her to come out and decide to look for snacks without me,again.

Standing by the ladies’ restroom, Izel comes out and grabs my hand without a word. I smile behind my mask, loving that she’s comfortable to touch me. Even if my hands are still gloved.

“Dill pickle?" I ask as we stop by the chips.

Izel's head snaps up to mine, as though she’s confused on how I know that’s her favorite chip. She’s only eaten about five bags in the past two days before we got to Gabriel.

“No, I don’t want to wake Gabriel up.” She gives me a sad smile, trying to tug me further down the aisle. Snatching up a large bag, I follow behind. We grab a few water bottles, some caffeine for me, and my arms are nearly full of chips, candy bars, donuts, and an apple for Izel. Nearing the counter, Izel stands close to me when all of a sudden, she squeals and runs off.

“Izel,” I growl.Irritation spiking that she would just run off.

“Look,ohmygod,they’re so cute!” I don’t get a chance to see what she’s looking at before I’m next in line. Keeping my eyes on her, I rush to pay for the snacks.

Once I reach her, she’s twirling a turtle keychain around, eyes glue to the thing.

“Isn’t it so cute?” Izel shoves the turtle up into my face, I nearly smack her hand away. But the smile on her face makes everything disappear.I love that smile on her face.

On the other hand, when I finally get a look at that turtle she’s shoving in my face, I will never complain about my mask again because of the disgusted look on my face.That has got to be the ugliest fucking turtle I’ve seen.The keychain is an off silver, the eyes are way too close together, and one of the legs is much smaller than the others. And there’s a long crack along the shell.

It’s so fucking ugly.

“It’s different,” I find myself saying instead.

“It’s cute Z–” She stops herself from saying my name. I almost beg her to just say my name. I love hearing it from her lips but instead she smiles and mumbles, “You know we need to come up with a nickname for you.”

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