Page 90 of Darkest Obsession

Sylvia’s condition takes priority. Once the paramedics and deans get there and they get Thomas’ story, I call Kola to update her on everything. I roused her from a very deep sleep, but she’s ready to jump out of bed just to check on Sylvia. The dean won’t give her permission since it’s so late at night and Kola has classes in the morning..

Kola asks to come over to my bedroom to offer moral support once I get back to the dorm, but I tell her to get some rest and that we’ll talk in the morning. I don’t want her to see Sylvia like this and I don’t want to put this on her. I’ll already have to ask her for too much soon.

I feel sick to my stomach as the paramedics take Sylvia away. Once we’re alone again, watching the ambulance disappear, Thomas slips his hand into mine and squeezes. My body ought to have a visceral reaction to Thomas slipping his hand into mine.

I didn’t see her wake up. I don’t like that I didn’t see her wake up. I fight back tears and Thomas squeezes my hand tighter. I don’t know if she’ll survive the night and it hurts to see her like this. I know someone attacked her. The deans and the paramedics seem to think this was an accident, but once Sylvia gets to the hospital, the doctor or nurse who attends her will probably find out the truth. Who could have done this?

“Hey,” he whispers. “Let’s get some sleep. We’ll go in the morning to see her.”

“We have Ethics class,” I blurt out. I don’t move my hand from Thomas’. I find his grasp oddly comforting and his hands are firm, tattooed and very masculine. I try not to think about his hands, even if they’re holding onto mine so tightly.

“Yeah,” he says. “Don’t care.”

He’s right. I don’t care about ethics class either, at least not while my friend’s in trouble. The thought of someone hurting Sylvia like this scares the crap out of me.

“Who could have done this to Sylvia?”

“We know who,” he says. “Come on, Clover. It makes sense. I think we’re close.”

He’s right. I know who did this. We both do. “Spicy freak.”

“Exactly. Let’s head indoors. They could be anywhere. Watching.”

I hope he isn’t right, but his comment forces me to instinctively jerk my hand away from his. This person doesn’t want us together and they’ve already gone pretty far to prove what they’ll do to keep anyone away from Thomas Bainbridge.

“My room?” I whisper.

I’m not asking Thomas to sleep in my room, right?

“If you can sneak me in again.”

“I don’t know if it’s worth it…”

Thomas puts his arm around my shoulder. “We’ve got to plot, haven’t we?”

We sneak back into the dorms too easily and my room’s still empty when we get there. Thomas and I crawl into my bed together and I pretend like I’m not letting him do that. He lies on his back and I lie on mine. I don’t want to touch him, or do anything to make this weird. So we just talk about Sylvia and what we’re going to do about the halloween party.

I don’t remember falling asleep in Thomas’ arms. I remember trying to subtly kick him onto the floor and then I remember his big, heavily tattooed arm falling over my torso and giving up as we faced each other and slowly fell asleep. In the morning, I’m reminded of my decision to sleep next to Thomas when a blood curdling shriek awakens me.

“THERE’S A BOY! OH MY GOD! RAPIST! RAPIST!”

Thomas groans as my roommate wallops him aggressively on the head with a book called Introduction To Inorganic Chemistry.

“RAPIST!” she yells again as Thomas struggles to get his bearings as I figure out what the hell is happening and stick my hand out to stop her from hitting him.

“Molly, chill!”

“What’s he doing here?! I thought he was–

“He’s not attacking me!”

Thomas sits up and then crawls to the other end of the bed, curling up and throwing his hoodie up. That’s it? Boy, get up! Thomas remains unbothered.

“He’s not allowed in here,” Molly snaps.

“I know. I know.”

“Were you having sex?!” She shrieks, her cheeks turning red. What? Why the hell is she so angry and what kind of question is that?