Page 40 of Darkest Obsession

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: I made it weird, didn’t I?

I catch myself smiling and sober up quickly, forcing myself to roll my eyes. Three emails for all that? Whatever. And where’s that last notification from? I thought I had my inbox at zero. Ugh. I scroll a little and see an email from a couple hours earlier in the library.

There’s a fake name on the email, but our school emails are spam free, so this can’t be spam. Hm. I open the email.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Hey slut,

It’s bad enough you passed your dirty pussy around to Jude Fox and Kit Barclay, but now you throw yourself at THOMAS and think that you can fucking get away with it? Listen, bitch, you are absolutely wrong if you think I’ll let you get away with this. I’ve watched your shitty little show and I know you are NOT MISS INNOCENT. You’re a DIRTY SLUT and you had better watch your fucking back. Might be a knife in it soon.

SLUT.

I stare at my screen, re-reading the weird ass words in front of me. Who would send something like this? Spicy freak? What the actual fuck?

Chapter Eighteen

Sylvia

I sit on the edge of the dock next to him. I don’t want to name him yet. If I name him, I have to think about the world outside of us, the world when we’re not alone together. I have to think about my sisters and my mom, and anyone else but me. I’ve never had anyone like him in my life before. My hound.

“I’m not a hound. I’m a⁠—

I press my fingers to his lips. “Can you please stop talking?”

“Yes.”

He rolls the legs of his emerald green corduroys up the length of very hairy legs and then dips his big feet into the water, only shuddering slightly.

“It’s cold.”

“I’m joining you.”

I roll my leggings up, struggling to get them over my calf muscles and I squeal as I dip my feet into the water.

“Does anyone know you’re here?” He murmurs, kissing my shoulder. He smells like cigarettes and weed. I shake my head. He’s so gentle with me and he takes things so slowly. I didn’t think I would find a guy willing to take things slow with me — a guy who understands that I can’t give my heart to just anyone.

“No. I don’t want to tell my friends.”

“Am I that much of a devil?”

He’s worse than that, so I don’t answer.

He runs his hands over my thighs and then he finds my hands. It surprised me how much he loves holding hands. He doesn’t push me for an answer.

“Do you miss your dad today?” He whispers.

“I miss him every day.”

I never thought I would be able to wake up in the morning in a world without daddy and just keep living in it. I never thought I would have to. I mean, we all know our parents are going to die, right. But we ‘know’ it the way we know the world will end. We can’t really keep the depth of the grief in our hearts before it happens. We can’t ever be prepared because if we knew what type of hell we were in for… we might not even make it to the pain.

“I miss my mum,” he whispers. “Lots. Do you want to talk about him?”