Page 5 of Obsessed

Rain blinked at the spot where Mason had been and then burst out into surprised laughter. Did Mason justrun away? Why? Was he straight? Afraid of Rain? Afraid of liking Rainbecausehe was straight? It didn’t matter because Rain clearly had an effect on him, which meant he’d won half the battle.

Forty minutes later, Rain saw Mason again in the same spot photographing the bride and groom from behind as they were about to walk into their reception. Taking a wide berth around them, Rain stopped in the corner, pretending to check his notepad while using The Pointe’s shiny and partially mirrored walls to watch Mason, who grabbed more pictures of the couple from various angles.

And then he quickly turned the camera in Rain’s direction and pressed the shutter hard.

Rain tried not to move or give any signal that he knew, but he allowed himself a small smile. It looked like his hooks were already in; he only needed to reel Mason to shore, but this game was very interesting. Would Mason continue to steal photos throughout the night?

There was only one way to find out, and since Rain’s curiosity was already at full blast he played along. Over the next few hours he hovered nearby yet out of reach, watching the reflections, and it rarely took more than twenty seconds for Mason to snatch a photo.

Rain considered trying to flirt with him again, maybe go a little harder, but his gut told him to wait it out, to reel Mason in slowly. Still pondering exactlywhyhe was so invested, he ran into Emma downstairs after the cake was cut.

“How’s it going with your photographer?” Her eyebrow raise was immaculate, like she’d majored in it, and Rain didn’t have to ask how she knew because Kate was her assistant.

“It’s going, I think.” Rain bit his lip, smirking.

“With Mason? Really?” She paused, looking him up and down. “You must have some kind of witchcraft going on in there.”

“Thank you, queen.” He curtsied again. “But he’s going to take some work.”

Kate passed through with an empty cart. “Are you talking about Mason? Because I saw him staring at youandtaking sneaky pictures.” She put her hands on her hips. “That’s creepy.”

“I think it’s hot.” Rain made a face at her and Emma snickered like a demon.

“You’re both children.” Pursing her lips, Kate shook her head. “Anywhooo, I have to refill the crepe station. Rain, can you put this cart in the storage room?”

“Sure,” Rain told her, earning him a kiss on the cheek. Grabbing his quarry, he took the back elevator downstairs, evading servers like it was a video game until he came to a large door that blended in with the hallway. Opening it, he flicked on the lights and placed the cart with the others.

According to Kate, all the shelving in the front had fallen a few months ago, so everything had been nicely reorganized; however, the room wentveryfar back, bending in an L-shape, and Rain looked over his shoulder, closing the door behind him before winding his way to the reaches beyond.

It took almost a full minute for him to pop out into a slightly open area surrounded by shelving, there was even a couch and some tablecloths placed on the floor. Although it looked like no one had been back this far in ages, Rain took a chance and sat down, testing the couch with a nod. It was actually quite comfortable, if not a little dusty, but that could be easily taken care of. If things got bad enough at home, he might be able to use this little haven, but for now, he had to get back upstairs because Marci was in his ear again asking for help with cleanup.

The first few bars of “Save the Last Dance for Me” rang through the building as Rain left the storage room, going back into busy mode and the game, secretly rejoicing when he stared into one of the dark windows and caught Mason stealing a few more shots of him.

Kate had it all wrong. The sneaky photos weren’t creepy; they were strangely seductive, keeping Rain’s head in the clouds all the way to Bar None. Most of The Pointe was there too, along with Marci’s fiancé who co-owned the place and Liam who was a Pointe alumnus. The two of them sat at the end of the bar on either side of Marci, going through color palettes for her and Isaiah’s upcoming wedding.

Rain had officially met Liam a few weeks ago. He’d grown up in the same town as Rain and Tommy but was two years older. Of course, Rain had heard about Liam’s parents dying in that car accident, and after Liam had disappeared the rumor mill had churned for years. Somehow, he’d ended up at The Pointe and, according to Kate, he’d struggled a lot during his first few years. The whispers said it had been grief which spun into drug abuse but now he was thriving. He looked happy and healthy, and his relationship with Owen Parker, the venue manager, was something Kate often sighed dreamily about to Rain.

Meanwhile, Rain wondered if the couple would be up for a threesome because Liam was almost as pretty as he was, and Owen seemed very climbable. It was clear he was packing some goods below the shorts but the two of them didn’t seem to be the open type.

Playing with the end of his braid, Rain glanced around. Hopefully, he could find someone to roll around with, maybe stay the night, but he couldn’t pull from the servers again. Bryce had tried to grab him seven times during the party and Rain had ducked and covered, so he needed some distance, but the pickings at Bar None were very slim.

“Hey, heartbreaker.” The Pointe’s head chef, Angelo sauntered up with a drink in his hand, giving Rain a friendly slap on the back.

“How am I breaking hearts?” Rain arched a brow at Emma as she approached, Kate right behind her. “I’m just having fun and it’s not like I’m asking anyone out or making promises I don’t keep.” Tipping his soda at them, Rain took a sip. It was important for him to be in control at all times, so he didn’t drink or do drugs. He also didn’t do relationships because they never worked out. Why waste his time and energy? There was a smorgasbord of dick out there and he wasn’t about to miss it by being tethered to someone.

“With that face, hun? You should know better.” Emma pursed her lips at him, nodding at Angelo, who let out a hum of agreement.

Rain held his hands up. “Okay, okay, I know when I’m getting ganged up on.”

“And you’d enjoy it,” Emma cracked, and Angelo practically spit out his drink.

“I would!” Rain toasted them again. “I’ve always wanted to be fucked to death.”

This time Kate choked on her beer, turning beet red. “Okay, I think that’s enough Pointe for the day. Time to go home.”

“Guess what? I have a new boyfriend.” Bryce popped up behind Rain as he was setting tables for the reception, and Rain had the urge to dump breadsticks on him. It had been two weeks; when was he going to take a hint and leave Rain alone?

Making a half-hearted noise, Rain continued to plate, double-checking his work. Today’s party was a big deal; he’d heard from Kate that the mother of the groom was a force to be reckoned with. Marci called her The Wicked Witch of the West and there was tension in the air as everyone strove to make things perfect.

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