Page 14 of Darkest Obsession

“What happened?” Sylvia asks. She doesn’t look at me, which puts me at ease. Very little gets past Sylvia, but if she finds out I attacked her friend, she won’t look at me the same. I knew I changed everything between us when I told her the truth this summer. She could hardly handle the truth. I think she really only wants to get along with me for Amina’s sake. She’s afraid of me. People weren’t always afraid of me. But when you go from a beanpole to 6’5” of pure muscle, well, you start to scare people.

“I’d better go,” I mutter.

Sylvia glances at Clover and then at me. “Thomas, don’t move a muscle.”

Fuck. She suspects me. Sylvia gives me a stern look, like I’ve done something wrong and my heart drops straight into my arse. She terrifies me even more than Violet and my sister woke me up every day for a week with a recitation of the vagina monologues because I called her a bitch under my breath. Instead of calling for my hanging in the public square, Sylvia grabs my forearm.

“Thomas can help us find whoever hurt you.”

Revulsion crosses Clover’s face. “No, thank you.”

“I’d better go.”

“Do that,” Clover says. I hate that her words sting. At least she doesn’t know.

Sylvia glances at me and shrugs. “I need to look after her. You can tell me about that thing later.”

I mutter something stupid and before I can slink away awkwardly, Kit slaps his hand to my back and drags me away from them before my discomfort can make me sink into the ground.

“Thomas, my man! I’ve been searching for you, stupid.”

“You’re high.”

“Fuck yes! MDMA, gear, and whatever the fuck Jude put in that joint. Woo!”

Fuck, I’m going to end up taking care of him all night, aren’t I?

“And guess what?” Kit whispers, leaning in and throwing his arm over my shoulder. “I’m over Clover. I shagged another girl… I’m turning into a fucking player, Thomas! A player! Girls want my cock. Legitimately.”

Kit doesn’t realize how much of an obnoxious dick he sounds like, but he’s my friend. I can’t do much about that. I glance over my shoulder to look at Clover, and she’s looking at me. She knows. Fuck’s sake. I think she knows it was me. I would be the worst criminal ever if I acted on my urges properly. I need to stay away from her. I don’t know what I’ll do to Clover the next time we’re alone. She’s too bloody dangerous.

But I know myself. I’m a Bainbridge man. The same dark blood that flows through my father’s veins flows through mine. I can’t forgive him for the way he hurt mum, but I can’t escape the curse that runs through our bloodline. Bainbridge men draw blood, cause pain. We dominate. We hurt. We take what we can and give nothing in return.

I’m too selfish, broken and fucked in the head to get anywhere near a girl like her. But fuck, my cock rages just thinking about having her there and how close I was to taking her. Her arse wriggling against my cock drove me mad. At least I stopped myself. At the very last moment, I reminded myself I was human.

I need to stay away from her, but I don’t know if I can.

Chapter Six

Clover

Sylvia wraps her arms around me. She’s one of those friends whose touch instantly makes all your fear, worry and everything else melt away.

“What happened? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. I swear. I was just freaking out when I ran into Roger.”

My roommate Molly latched onto us when we wandered out into the kitchen. She hasn’t really picked up any friends since getting here, so she sometimes tries to hang out with me and my friends. I don’t mind her, but she doesn’t get any of our black references so it can get awkward having to explain things like the Cupid Shuffle to her or why we all love Beyoncé.

Kola nearly asked her to get the hell out of her room when she said (out loud for some reason) that she didn’t see the ‘big deal’ about Beyoncé’s iconic self-titled album. She’s plain clueless.

As for Roger. He’s the last person I wanted to find me in a discombobulated mess.

“We should find whoever did this,” Roger says. “Seriously, Clover. A man assaulted you. This is serious.”

“It was probably just a prank. Please, I don’t want this getting any more attention than necessary.”

When your parents upload a video entitled “CLOVER’S FIRST TAMPONS! MISTAKE PUTTING THEM IN!!” to the internet, attention makes you wary. Thankfully, no one in England gives a crap about D-list American celebrities. No offense to my parents, but it’s true.