Obsessed(69)

You reap what you sow.

Or maybe my idea of justice was skewed.

I threw the wallet on the other side of the bathroom, hearing the key clink along the floor. Instantly, Tuck pushed the door open and waltzed in, investigating the sound. He nudged the key around, and I should have told him to leave it alone, but I didn’t. Whatever. I tried to convince myself she deserved it, even though the voice in the back of my head said to return it. I was sore everywhere. Those bitches had done a number on me. I just hadn’t felt it at the time, but now…now I was covered in scratches on my face, neck and body. They’d kicked me too at some point, though I couldn’t recall when.

I worked my hand through my hair, pulling out long blonde strands from the fight. I tangled it up in a ball and threw it in the bin. Then I continued laying there, swallowed by the silence with just one thing on my mind.

Aston.

Fucking Aston plaguing my thoughts every time I was alone. He consumed my every waking moment.

Hayden Crowe? He was sexy and generous, but he still paled in comparison to Aston, and I was terrified of disrespecting what we had together if I had indecent thoughts of Hayden’s sexy face. Could you imagine the anger Aston would feel if he knew?

You say that like he still cares. He hasn’t talked to you in over six months. You’re not on his mind. He hasn’t even wished you a happy birthday.

But…fuck, it was the truth, wasn’t it?

He left us.

Goddammit, he… left us.

“Why can’t I just let you go?” I whispered, thinking of his deep green eyes.

I wanted to punch a hole in my chest, remove my heart and toss it in the bin. I didn’t want to feel like this anymore. I wanted to be numb. I wanted to stop feeling. Because I was so tired of being miserable! I was tired of loving and feeling alone. At the same time, I knew how amazing love could be, and I was struggling. When it came down to it, I was frightened of letting him go.

Sucking in breaths, I grabbed my phone and texted Cindy. I needed out of here. Away from my thoughts that profusely revolved around Aston.

I’ll go. I texted her. When do you wanna pick me up?

As I waited for her response, Tuck leapt from the toilet seat into the tub, splashing me right in the face. He surfaced a second later and chilled out by my feet, the only part of him visible being his head.

“You are so fucking strange,” I told him.





23.



Elise

The doorbell rang an hour later. I was already dressed and ready in dark skinny jeans, black Sorel boots, and a long grey cardigan. I hurried down the stairs and opened the door. Cindy stood on the porch, dressed similarly to me.

She smiled. “You ready?”

I looked over her shoulder and at the van in the driveway packed with students from school. They honked the horn once over their obnoxiously loud music and I rolled my eyes as I shut the door behind me. “I’m ready,” I told her.

We climbed into the back of the van, squeezing in against girls and guys who already smelled of alcohol and weed.

“Was this really the best you could do?” I asked Cindy, who was practically sitting on my lap.

“I don’t have my licence yet, so yeah, this was the best I could do, princess,” she replied.

“Is there something wrong?” asked the driver, looking over his shoulder at me. He was a meathead, and the last thing I wanted was to disgruntle a man who probably had a long history of ‘roid rage.

“Nope,” I lied.

The car pulled out of the driveway and screeched down the streets. People tumbled against people. Cindy’s ass was now over my knees and her arm was pressed against the window of the van as it twisted and turned viciously, tossing us around the congested death trap. It was a fucking joke. I was almost convinced I’d die of the smell, but then it stopped suddenly on the side of the street and we all filed out like cockroaches under a light.

“Next time transportation is on me,” I hissed at Cindy as I straightened my clothes.

She laughed and wrapped her arm around mine. “We made it in one piece. I deserve more credit than you give me.”

“Honestly, how did you even get that ride?”

“You may be hotter than me, but the guys still like me enough to extend a favour here and there.”

“I’m not hotter than you. You just have low self-esteem. You’re gorgeous, dumbass.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ll believe it when a hot doctor hands me his umbrella under the rain, El.”

We walked down the sidewalk, and I watched as more people jumped out of their cars and joined us. By the time we made it to the giant lit house on the end of the street, we were a large crowd of teenagers, most carrying packs of beer in their hands. Cindy remained close to my side as we marched up the porch steps and opened the door. We stepped into havoc. There were people everywhere. Music pumped through the house, bottles of alcohol lay empty on the hallway floor, kicked around by dozens of passing drunks moving in and out.