Page 79 of Toxic Obsession

“Okay. Try not to scare your sister. She’s been through enough.”

Why was she concerned about everyone except me? I shook it off, reminding myself I didn’t need her in my life at all. It was a constant roller coaster of drama, and I was ready to hop off that ride. How she chose to show up moving forward was her choice, and I refused to coddle her. I had other things to focus on, like finding Ky’s journal in the next twelve hours.

Chapter42

Quinn

Iknew I’d lost my mind when I’d asked Wynter if I could spend Thanksgiving with her in Washington. A part of me was desperate not to sit at a table with Adam and Brody and the constant reminder that Bell and Mom were gone. At the time, it seemed easier to visit the house of Bell’s killer instead. How fucked up was that?

I rubbed the back of my neck, waiting for Wynter to open Kyler’s door. My heart slammed against my ribs, and I struggled to breathe.

“Ready?” She looked up at me, a combination of fear and courage dancing across her face.

“Yeah.” I wasn’t, but I knew there might be answers inside those walls.

The door creaked open and a strong, musty scent nearly knocked me backward. Wynter fanned her hand in front of her nose. “Ugh. I’m going to have to crack a window in here.” She flipped on the light, and for the first time I saw Kyler’s bedroom.

I walked in slowly, searching the posters on his wall—Metallica, Portugal the Man, Twenty-One Pilots. Then, I came to an abrupt stop, my vision tunneling in on the area before me. I was in the same space where Kyler Baldwin had plotted the violent act that had taken my sister’s life. The room began to spin wildly, the walls closing in on me like a vacuum, terror and rage bubbling up through my chest until it seemed as if I couldn’t contain it any longer. I gasped for air, desperately trying not to let out the anguished cry that was screaming to get free.

“Quinn! Quinn!” Wynter gripped my bicep and shook me gently. “Talk to me. Are you okay?”

I blinked rapidly, and mentally cleared the darkness that threatened to overtake me. “Let’s do what we need to and jet.”

“Okay. You can wait in the hall or downstairs if you need to.”

No way in hell would I let her face Kyler’s memories on her own. Her parents had already done that, and I was determined not to do the same.

Wynter walked across to the window and unlocked it. She groaned in an attempt to lift it, but it didn’t budge. I hurried over to give her a hand. Together, we forced it open after years of being closed, and a rush of cold air blasted in.

“Maybe grab your coat if you get too cold.” She shivered, then lowered the window until it was only open an inch. Her expression clouded as her attention scanned the area. “We used to sit on his bed and listen to music together.” Her voice sounded hollow. She pinched the bridge of her nose and placed the other hand on her hip.

“Wynter, if this is too much for you. We don’t have to stay.” I hoped she would want to leave, but instead she waved me away as if I were a pesky fly on a hot summer day.

“I’m thinking.” She tapped her foot against the wood floor. “Mom and I talked a few minutes ago.”

“Oh?” Maybe focusing on Wynter would help me manage the suffocating feeling that was pushing on my chest.

“She said that the cops searched the house and his room. They took his cell, laptop, notebooks … everything that might be used for evidence.” She bit her lip before she continued. “Mom said Ky had a journal, but it wasn’t ever found.” Wynter looked at me. “When we were young, we played all kinds of games together. Hide and seek, tag, you know the usual stuff, but we took it a step farther and instead of hidingourselves, we would sometimes decide on an object. Normally it was a stuffed animal and completely harmless.” A soft laugh escaped her. “Ky always cheated and eventually confessed.”

It was strange to watch my girlfriend have a good memory about the same guy that killed innocent people.She knew a different person.If I was going to survive the visit to Ky’s world, I had to keep in mind that she probably knew him better than anyone else had. According to her, he’d been a kind, good person. I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to believe that, but I knew Wynter wanted to learn the truth as much as I did.

“He finally showed me the hiding places.” Her eyes narrowed as if she were reliving the memory. “I need your help.” Wynter walked to Kyler’s closet and flung the door open so hard I thought she might rip it off the hinges. She hesitated when she saw his clothes hanging up. Her hand trembled as she reached out and touched one of his T-shirts. “Mom used to hang up all of his clean laundry because he would throw them on the floor, and she hated to see wrinkles. It was like she was allergic to them.”

Wynter knelt and moved his shoes out of her way. She crawled to the back corner, but I couldn’t see what she was doing.

Completely distracted from my surroundings, I crouched down. “Wynter?”

“Yeah?” Her response was muffled. “Dammit.” She backed out, her perky ass appearing first. It took everything inside me not to rip off her clothes and fuck her until she was senseless. I’m sure that would piss Ky off to no end. My dick agreed as it hardened and pressed against my jeans. But I understood that wanting to have sex with her at the moment was a way to escape the tumultuous feelings that were spinning out of control inside me.

“Someone fixed the damn closet.” She dusted her hands off, frustrated. “There used to be a gap in the corner, like whoever built the house was in a hurry and the walls didn’t quite meet. Ky had cut out a small piece of the paneling and made a hiding place. But it’s sealed up now. Maybe Dad found it after the cops searched the room.” She rubbed her forehead. “It just doesn’t seem real, but at the same time, I’m afraid the memories might destroy me where I stand.”

I took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I think both of us have been in here long enough. You knew Ky better than anyone, so I’ll let you search the house for the journal.” That was the best I could do. The walls had begun to spin like a vortex, threatening to drag me under a sea of my grief.

“Good idea.” She hurried to the window, closed and locked it before we hightailed it out of there.

We stood in the hallway, staring at each other. Wynter grabbed my wrist and dragged me back to her room, then secured the door before she forcefully unbuttoned my jeans. She dropped to her knees and shoved my hard cock in her mouth. Wynter sucked and licked me like her life depended on it. Maybe it did.

I threaded my fingers through her hair, rocking my hips to the same rhythm that her hand was pumping me. She dug her nails in my ass cheeks, taking my entire length in until the head of my dick hit the back of her throat.

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