Obsession (Dangerous Love #1)

CHAPTER 5

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FLAMING TOUCHES

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A familiar energy coursed through my veins. I was locked in my body and could not open my eyes, although it felt like I was being reborn.

It was as if my soul was hovering somewhere above its vessel, struggling to return.

Suddenly, I tore my eyes open, gasped for air and broke through the wall that had kept me unconscious. My blood boiled and flashed through my veins like mercury. I felt the strange euphoria that I had missed so much come over me, and it felt so good, but… why?

I had been close to death; my body seemed to be dismembering itself and my mind had lost its sanity. How was it possible to feel so good after all that? There was only one correct answer to this question: I was high again.

I seemed to have woken up in a bedroom, even if it didn’t look like one.

I looked around wide-eyed, remembering how I had kept thinking about how I wanted to paint my room black… and now I was in the right place.

The bed was a large mattress covered with black sheets that smelled of tobacco. In front of me was a huge desk with three monitors – two normal ones on the sides and a big curved one in the middle, with a neon green light shining behind them. I didn’t know much about technology, but I knew enough to recognize that I was staring at next-generation technology. The audio system was reminiscent of an alien ship and there were stereos dotted around the space. Hanging from the ceiling on three thick chains was an abused punching bag. On the left side of the room was a glass display case with motorcycle helmets, strange silver gas tanks and many other items I didn’t recognize. The ceiling was also black, with LED lights stuck everywhere, and I could only imagine what this dark place looked like when it was lit up.

Next to the window was a medium-sized black dresser.

His scent lingered around, mixed with tobacco. By the mattress was an ashtray, a Monster can, and various weights on the floor.

The whole room screamed man, and not a happy one at that.

I stood up and felt the energy flow through me after moving. I was still dressed in my cheerleading gear and walked to the window, pushing the curtain aside and quickly covering my eyes as the bright sun came in.

I couldn’t figure out where I was. The view outside was unfamiliar: an unkempt neighborhood, unlike anything I’d seen in Seattle. Each house had its own structure, either old or nearly crumbling. It was either a not very inhibited area or the outskirts of the city. I didn’t like any of those options because these were the neighborhoods where people shoot you in the head and then ask questions.

I rubbed my temples, trying to remember what had happened and figure out where I was. I noticed a small red dot on the inside of my elbow that looked like an insect bite.

I gritted my teeth .

I had fought so hard to quit drugs and it had all gone down the drain. I saw the demonic car parked a few feet from the house, and it brought back my memories like a slap in the face.

Harris.

He had brought me here; he had caught me when I fell. His warm arms and his strong breath, his anger, and those eyes… all these things made my head spin while I couldn’t believe he’d drugged me.

Oh, dear God, was I in his house? Were his parents here? How would I get out without being noticed?

Anger overcame me as the door opened behind me. I turned around and saw him leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed and a poker face.

“Feeling better?” he asked, far too relaxed.

“You drugged me?” I barked through my teeth, clenching my fists as I took a few steps towards him.

“Isn’t that what you wanted?” he spoke rather disinterestedly, turning around and walking out into the hallway.

I huffed as adrenaline built up in my veins and followed him out of the room.

“Do you have any idea how hard I fought to quit?” I shouted after him. I had too much energy for his own good.

“How’s that going for you?” He repeated the words he’d said in the car, and I was ready to hit him.

I caught up to him and grabbed him by his shoulder, forcing him to turn around and face me, just like Zac had done. It was the second time that exact thing had happened today, and I don’t think he liked it much.

“What did you give me?”

“You should thank me; you’d be in a hospital right now if I hadn’t given you that shot.”

He lowered his eyes to me, their color truly black in the darkness of the hallway. Not a spark of light in them, just a deep abyss, and I remembered how much I loved the darkness, how much I longed to be surrounded by it, but I didn’t expect it to come from the eyes of an arrogant asshole.

His hair was wet, and he was wearing different clothes, even if they looked the same. He smelled… fuck me, he smelled too good for how angry I felt. He looked too good for how much I was starting to hate him.

“I have survived so far without your help.”

He narrowed his eyes, analyzing me with that look that seemed to burn my skin. “I liked you better when you were half dead and kept your mouth shut.”

His hot breath blew across my forehead.

Anger coursed through me, and I slapped him before I could change my mind. I had no idea what had gotten into me, what he had given me, but I felt incredible, and the adrenaline was boiling inside me. I hit him with all my might, and despite everything, the impact only turned his head a little. He didn’t even try to cover the spot with his hand, and I was pretty sure he allowed the slap, because he had all the means to stop it if he wanted to. He gritted his teeth, pressed his lips into a tight line and glared at me, burning rage slowly flashing across his features.

“Do that again, Katherine, and you’ll regret it.”

With all that his threat entailed, why did I only care how hot it sounded coming out of his mouth? I might as well have slapped myself for turning into a moron, thanks to him.

“I’m not afraid of you, Harris,” I spoke his name for the first time, and the devilish grin returned to his mouth.

He leaned over me until I felt his breath brush across my lips.

“You should be,” he whispered, and I didn’t know if I was angry or fascinated.

His voice seemed to melt my clothes off, but his words annoyed the fuck out of me.

I took a few steps back to put some distance between us, but he followed me. God, he was huge. At my height, I rarely felt small around guys, but this one was probably over six feet three.

“Is that why you brought me here? To threaten me?” I walked backwards until my back hit the wall.

He had me where he wanted me: trapped .

“Not a threat, merely a warning.”

I rolled my eyes.

“You could have drugged me in your car. You didn’t have to bring me in…” I closed my mouth because what I was about to say wasn’t going to help my situation.

He came closer and I could barely see him because he was leaning over me, but I was aware of every movement of his body, every breath.

“In my bed? Is that what you were going to say?”

I didn’t answer.

“I’d say you seem disappointed that you woke up alone. We can change the situation right now…”

Anger rose up in me once more and I responded without thinking.

I slapped him across the face. Again.

That surprised him, but I didn’t care. Slapping him in his perverted, arrogant face was becoming a great pleasure for me.

With an angry growl, he grabbed my wrists and pushed me against the wall. I didn’t make a sound, but I fought back.

“You should have been satisfied with the first slap.”

“I don’t know what your idea of me is or what you are fantasizing about, but I’m not a fucking sex toy,” I replied, giving him a taste of his own aggression.

We were too close, our noses almost touching, both of us breathing through our nostrils like crazy.

Suddenly his breath descended on my neck, completely disarming me. I flinched, startled, because that was the last thing I had expected. I felt a sudden surge of electricity as my entire body awakened. I had an irresistible urge to run my fingers through his hair and pull him closer, just as I had pictured the day before when we first crossed paths. I wanted to know what those black curls would feel like between my fingers, especially now that they were wet and smelled so strongly of menthol shampoo.

I swallowed down the dryness in my throat and refrained. I couldn’t allow myself to fall into him because that was exactly what he wanted.

“It didn’t even occur to me to compare you to a sex toy, but you should know that your aggressiveness isn’t having the desired effect.”

I frowned and tried to get him off, but it felt like he was all over me.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He freed my wrists and propped his palms against the wall, on either side of my head. That way he could put some distance between us and look me straight in the eye. He was so big compared to me; his enormous arms made me feel caged in. He let go of me, but I was still a prisoner.

“It means, it fucking turns me on.”

I struggled to swallow, and I found it harder and harder not to hit him again. The smirk on his face said he knew exactly what I was thinking.

“You’re not going to hit me again?”

“You’re crazy.”

“Maybe, but you’re too violent to hold back.”

I had no way of contradicting him, but I didn’t like this game we had gotten ourselves into. I wanted out of it, preferably without having to touch him.

“Harris…” I tried a threatening growl.

To no avail, but his smirk returned.

“Fuck… my name sounds so good on your lips. I can’t help imagining how your moans would sound when I …”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence and, fuck, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to know. My cup full, I raised my knee to hit him right in the family jewels, but he saw it coming, because that’s exactly what he wanted. His left hand dropped quickly and stopped my knee before it could hit him. His palm cupped it, lifting my leg and forcing me to latch onto him so I didn’t fall on my butt. His other hand dropped to my opposite thigh and lifted me so that I was now wrapped around his waist.

I let out an angry cry and tried to escape as he pushed against me, pinning me to the wall. He laughed, his abdomen resting between my legs, while those electric shivers inside me felt like they were going to black out the whole neighborhood.

“Each strike is going to cost you. If you keep this up, you’ll end up on my mattress again, but not alone this time,” he inhaled over my neck, sucking a small piece of skin into his mouth and biting into it lightly.

Well, fuck me.

I had to bite my tongue to stifle the sounds that threatened to escape. How could he annoy me so much and bring out such feelings, all at the same time?

“So, please, try to hit me again.”

I hated him.

It was official, set in stone – pun intended – I hated him, and I wanted to hit him, but I refrained and tried to escape again. That didn’t work either.

“Get the fuck off me,” I roared, anger seeping from my pores.

I could use my arms now to try and get rid of him, but it didn’t work as planned. Furious, one of his palms traveled up my leg and landed on my butt to get a better grip and free his other hand, with which he grabbed my left wrist and pinned it against the wall.

“Running is not an option.”

I was fuming.

“Did I already tell you that you’re crazy?”

“Yep.”

We stared at each other, and I could tell he was amused by my situation. He didn’t give two flying fucks about my anger.

A dark strand of hair fell across his face, covering one of his eyes. It bothered him, but he couldn’t push it away. A devilish grin crossed my face as a childish plan formed in my head. Since I still had one hand free, I used it to pull all his hair forward. The soft curls completely blocked his view and he looked ridiculous. But also, insanely hot. I analyzed him further and noticed that his hair was slightly curly towards the ends.

“Is that all you’ve got? What are you, five?”

“I’ll be four next month,” I continued to play along, sticking my tongue out at him even though he couldn’t see me.

“Want to bet you’ll push my hair back in the next five seconds?”

Well, now he seemed to like it, and I didn’t.

I snorted, convinced he couldn’t do anything to me, until the hand on my butt became restless. He squeezed then pinched it hard. I cried out and tried to push his hand away, but it was hard to reach, especially as he kept pushing me against the wall.

“Thinking about it, don’t, I don’t mind at all what I’m about to do to you.”

It was just at that moment that I realized that my outfit consisted only of my exercise gear, which included a pair of high-stretch, flimsy shorts. He took advantage of them, and his hand wandered under the fabric. I winced as I felt his cold fingers on my skin.

“Harris, stop it.”

“Make me.”

God, who did he think he was? How had I gotten into this predicament with him when we’d only spoken for the first time that morning? The ridiculousness of the situation annoyed me more than what he was doing.

His palm didn’t stop. In fact, it was moving towards a dangerous spot. I noticed his cheeky grin and let out an exasperated breath as I pushed back the strands of hair covering his eyes. A triumphant smile played around his mouth, and even with his hair disheveled, he still looked incredibly sexy. I wanted to slap him and kiss him at the same time.

I was in disbelief over my own thoughts.

He grinned, stopping the movement but refusing to take his hand out of my pants.

“Put me down, now!” I demanded angrily.

Angry because I was enjoying his touch a little too much, and there was no way I was going to start wishing for more. Or I was even crazier than he was.

“Chill, Katherine, we’re not doing anything.”

“It seems to me like we’re doing a fuckload.”

“No… when we actually do a fuckload, you’ll sweat, you’ll scream, you’ll moan my name, you’ll…”

That’s it!

I slid my fingers back into his hair and tugged his head away from me. He winced in pain, and the force with which I pulled caused him to let go of my trapped wrist. Huge mistake. Finally free, I clenched my fist and punched him in the chest. It didn’t seem to cause him much pain, but he dropped me.

As soon as my feet touched the ground, I pushed him away and ran down the narrow corridor until I reached the dead end. I stopped and stared at the wall like a deer in headlights. Where was the staircase that led to the first floor? I was pretty sure there was a wall on the other side too.

I heard Harris’s arrogant laugh behind me and turned to face him when I saw him walking in my direction.

He ran his fingers through his hair before reaching me.

“You’ve got quite a mean swing for a girl. Are you that aggressive in bed too?”

“Stop it, Harris,” I shouted again.

It was clear from his grin that he was just saying these things to piss me off, and I couldn’t stop myself from responding.

“I want to go home,” I demanded, trying to calm my nerves.

“Already? We’ve only just warmed up.”

“Are you kidnapping me, you maniac?”

I asked jokingly, hoping it was one.

“Don’t give me any ideas.”

His depravity didn’t help – a devilish smile paired with a gentle, amused look that kept me from panicking for the time being.

I narrowed my eyes and felt my cheeks boil with anger as I prepared to give him a biting reply, but I was interrupted by the buzzing of the phone in my pocket. I was shocked that it had stayed there after our brawl. I took it out and sighed as the word “Dad” flashed on the display.

“Yes, Dad,” I answered, trying to appear calm.

“Katherine, where are you?” He sounded upset and worried.

Great .

“Dad, calm down, I’m with…. some friends.”

“What kind of friends? The principal just called and said you skipped school.”

“I didn’t skip school,” I let out another weary sigh, “I felt sick, and I left, she made me join the cheerleading squad.”

“She told me about it, and I think that’s a good thing. You need more activities. Stop giving up your passions because of the past.”

The phone nearly shattered in my hand. Harris watched me intently, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

“We’ll talk about this at home, okay?” I said through clenched teeth.

I wasn’t about to talk about it in front of Harris, who at least wasn’t looking at me like a crazy person anymore.

“Now,” my father insisted, “you come home right now. You’re grounded!”

“What?!” I fumed.

“It’s your second day of school and you’re already in trouble.”

I let out an angry breath and gave Harris a murderous look. It was all his fault.

“Ten minutes, Katherine. I’m serious!”

“Fine!”

I hung up and shoved the phone back into my pants.

“This is all your fault,” I blamed Harris and scowled at him.

“My fault?!” he repeated in astonishment. “If I hadn’t gotten you out of there, you would have left in an ambulance and ended up in rehab for another two months.”

He turned his back to me, opened a door I hadn’t even noticed, and my jaw dropped behind him.

“Oh, you, the great savior,” I mocked him, gesturing dramatically, “I assume you’re a big user since you know so much.”

“You catch on fast.”

My insult had no effect on him. He seemed bored by my attacks, as if he’d finally had enough of our silly games. After I stepped through the door, I was astonished to see a room about one hundred and sixty feet long. I walked behind him and stepped onto a metal platform.

So that’s where the staircase was.

My mouth fell open in amazement as I saw what lay below us. There were the cars I knew, their cars, and some others I’d never seen before. The interior was huge, the walls covered in graffiti. On the left, I noticed a drawing of a skull holding a smoking bullet between its teeth, surrounded by dozens of guns of various sizes and bloodstained knives.

Impressive and terrifying at the same time. It resembled a demonic altar if there was such a thing.

The rest of the drawings consisted of cars, various video game characters, motorcycles, and monsters. To the right, near the garage door, was a desk similar to the one in Harris’ room, only much more cluttered with PCs and gadgets. I counted six monitors strategically arranged in a grid system, while on the wall next to it was a large, probably 80-inch, TV.

Three people sat at a table in the middle of the room, smiling and looking up at us. I already knew them: Spikey, the blond guy who had approached me the other day, a beautiful girl who reminded me of blueberries because she was almost completely purple, and a red-haired guy who I had seen around Harris before and had opened the car door for him today.

I was sure Harris had said their names, but I’d been too out of it to remember any of them.

Harris walked down the stairs to his friends, and I was still in shock. This was not a normal house under any circumstances. Not even a normal garage.

“You plan on staying there all day?” He addressed me as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

I mumbled to myself and followed him.

“Feeling better, Blondie?” Spikey Boy asked with a mischievous grin on his face.

“Yeah, Blondie , thanks to your friend here, I’m an addict again.”

Harris rolled his eyes.

“No, you’re alive thanks to him,” he raised his finger, “and if you ask me, you’ve been an addict all along. Those meds they probably made you take will only give you the illusion of feeling better. At the end of the day, those are drugs too,” he stood up and walked up to me, “I’m Jay, but you can call me Spikey,” he winked.

“I was already calling you that,” I laughed and took his hand, “Kath.”

I noticed Harris’s frustrated face as I shook Jay’s hand, especially because I also gave his friend a smile, which I hadn’t done even once with him. Well, I was fucking sure he hadn’t given me a reason to be nice to him yet, since he’d put me against a wall ten seconds after we met.

The others stood up as well and came towards me. The girl’s name was Violet, which didn’t surprise me, and the other guy was Ty, friendly enough and not as serious and tense as Harris.

He was a black dot in a sea of colors. They were all colorful, literally. Jay wore a white tank top, his tattoos obvious, but completely different from Harris’s – an entanglement of color from which you couldn’t pick out the essence.

V was dressed all in purple, with black accessories here and there, but her purple hair was the focal point. Ty had a special hairstyle, black roots with red ends pinned up into a ridge – a very eye-catching hairstyle. He also wore black eyeliner and had his nails painted black. From his appearance, he seemed to be the dark one here, but he wasn’t.

Harris had no piercings, no dark make-up, and no painted nails. He looked like a normal man who loved tattoos, until you took a peek into his eyes – always so serious. Even when he smiled, he remained hard, especially as he was at least a head taller than most of the people around him. There was no point in talking about his muscle mass.

After a quick analysis, I realized that each of them brought something unique to the table. Jay had his piercings and his hedgehog hairdo, Violet had what looked like a purple obsession, Ty had his makeup, and Harris had his contact lenses – because I still refused to believe those were his real eyes. Those were the things that made each of them stand out.

I was glad Amber wasn’t there, she was probably still angry about what Harris had done to her at school. She had every right to be.

“How about it, Katy, you want to play some cards?” Jay asked, looking at me with his blue, totally normal, eyes.

“If you want us to be friends, do not ever call me that again,” I threatened, trying to look angry.

He pretended to surrender, raising his arms in defense, and making a scared face. Funny.

I laughed and the others followed suit. Alright, maybe Spikey wasn’t so bad after all.

“What are you playing?” I looked at the pile of cards and money on the table.

“Blackjack,” Ty grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.

“With money?” I asked curiously.

“Yeah, but now that there’s another girl, we’ll go for strip blackjack.”

Jay’s grin was too funny to annoy me. I snorted and laughed as he wiggled his eyebrows too. Violet slapped him across the head, causing a giggle to escape me. I was actually in the mood for some fun since I hadn’t had much of that lately.

“What do you think, Kath? Do you want to see those cocky assholes naked?” Violet was teasing me, and it didn’t take much for her to convince me.

I vehemently refused to believe that I was agreeing because I wanted to see Harris without his shirt.

“Okay,” I accepted and returned her cheeky grin.

I had lost a lot of nights, a lot of money, and I had done a lot of crazy things because of this game.

“You need to go home,” the demon interjected before I could step towards the table.

What was wrong with him? He accused me of being annoying for attacking him, and now that I was trying to be friendly, he was still annoyed. He was making me feral.

“So, you have given up on the idea of kidnapping me?” I countered, the corners of my mouth lifting in mischievous sarcasm.

“I’ll save that for later, I don’t want you to blame me for your punishment as well.”

He finished his sentence angrily, grabbed my hand and pulled me behind him. How did he know I was grounded?

I needed to remember to adjust the volume on my phone.

“Harris, come on, man… let her relax a little,” spoke Jay from behind us.

Harris turned to him with a deadly glare: “Stay out of this, Jay,” he said angrily, pulling me even closer to him.

Either I was freaking out because of what he had injected me with, or he was actually jealous.

Jay immediately shut his mouth, raised his arms defensively as he sat back down in his seat. I noticed the others looking at me, a hint of sadness on their faces.

“Let go of me,” I suddenly got angry and yanked my wrist out of Harris’ grip. I had no idea where he was taking me because his car was parked outside. “Are you always this annoying and dominant?”

“Yes.”

My lips pressed into a tight line, anger burning inside me. I was at a loss for words as his answer was too direct.

“Are you always this impulsive and aggressive?” he asked back.

“Yes.”

“Good,” he gave me a grin over his shoulder, and I knew I hadn’t given him the right answer.

“I’m going to call a cab to take me home. I’ve had enough of you for today.”

He threw me another mischievous grin. My protests died down when I found myself in front of four huge motorcycles, all in bright, vibrant colors. I’d only ever seen anything like this on my TV screen, and I’d never sat on a motorcycle before.

Harris grabbed one of the helmets from the counter next to them and handed it to me, with a sadistic look in his eyes.

“Oh, no, don’t think I’m getting on one of those with you.”

“You’re the one who said I don’t know how to drive a car, let’s see what you think of a motorcycle.”

“No fucking way.”

He rolled his eyes and came towards me. I tried to walk away, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into his arms. My belligerent attitude amused him. Before I could answer him, I heard a sea of screams from outside and then, I’d bet my life on it, a gunshot.

I froze on the spot.

“What neighborhood is this?” I whispered before he could say anything.

Even more shocking was that Jay, V, and Ty continued their game without any reaction to these noises. I could hear dogs barking in the distance.

When Harris didn’t answer, I looked up at him.

“Yesler,” he answered hesitantly.

Fucking fuck ! My father would lose his shit. I didn’t know much about Seattle, but he had made a list of places I should never visit. Yesler was first on that list.

Harris surprised me when he gently took my hand in his.

“You’ll be safe, I promise.”

Fuck his voice. It was thick and deep, but when he spoke so softly, he seemed capable of sending a woman’s soul to hell.

I frowned at him.

“That’s hard to believe, especially coming from you.”

He smiled briefly, then slipped the helmet on my head and over my face before I had time to protest again.

“Precisely. I’m a monster, so allow me to take you home before I…”

He paused deliberately and gave me another of his special smiles. As he tucked a few straps under my chin, I couldn’t help but wonder how he would have finished that sentence, and I hated myself for it, already feeling crushed by the tightness of the helmet.

“I am claustrophobic,” I said the first thing that came to mind, the words sounding like an echo in my head because of the helmet.

When he was finally satisfied with my safety, he took my helmet-covered head between his large palms and pulled me towards him. I felt like a na?ve child about to throw a tantrum.

“You’re a very bad liar,” a cheeky grin ghosted his face as he leaned down and bit my nose, since that was the only thing still peeking out of the thing, then he pulled down the visor.

I huffed out an angry breath and he laughed and let go of me.

He stopped next to one of the bikes, which I assumed was his because it was black. Its mileage was higher than my father’s car.

He took it off the jack while I felt my heart crawl into my throat with fear and then he was gesturing for me to climb on behind him.

I clenched my fists.

“Don’t make me pick you up again,” he threatened, and I knew he would.

I let out an exasperated sigh, stepped closer and looked at the monstrous machine as I copied his move and tried to climb on. My version was less successful, and I would have fallen, but he caught my hand and helped me to settle behind him.

He adjusted his position and started the engine. It vibrated beneath me like an animal waking up, and my bones seemed to shake in unison with the bike. We hadn’t even started moving yet and I was already scared.

“Wait, you’re not wearing a helmet?”

He ignored me and kept pressing buttons.

“Is it safe to go out now?” I asked, even though we couldn’t hear anything from outside anymore.

Harris turned his head towards me.

“I wouldn’t go out if it wasn’t safe. No one’s going to attack us, okay?” I finally nodded. I was actually used to bad neighborhoods.

“Hold on to me.”

I gritted my teeth because I knew I would fly off the bike if I did not, so I put my arms behind his back and pressed my palms against him.

Exasperated, he yanked my hands from his shoulders, pulled them around his torso and hugged them to him.

“Hold on tight, Katherine! I’m not kidding,” he demanded again, and I could see the slightly diabolical smirk at the corners of his mouth.

I had not recovered from our earlier entanglement in the hallway, and already I found myself in another compromising position with him. He lifted my knees and placed my legs over his thighs, and I could have sworn he was far too satisfied. I squeezed my eyes shut and buried my face in his back, the helmet not being much help. I didn’t want to think about the sensations that were spreading throughout my body from holding him so close, practically gluing him to my body. Somehow, he’d managed to get back between my legs.

I wanted to survive. I was doing it for my life, not because it gave me any kind of pleasure.

He revved the engine a few times while my eardrums vibrated, and my heart pounded with fear. The sound was strong, even pleasant, but oh so frightening. Then I finally felt the cold air on my skin, and we started moving.

I didn’t think much of it until we drove out of the garage. Eyes wide open, I watched the empty road ahead as the speed increased and the air stung my skin. His curls swirled wildly in the wind, his body was stiff, and I could feel his muscles tense to stone under my grip. I couldn’t deny how pleasant it was to feel him like this, so close to me.

Wasn’t it just yesterday that I had scoured the internet for pictures and created a whole diary page for him? It all felt so surreal to me. He was a jerk and an asshole, but God have mercy on me, he was incredibly attractive.

That singular thought made me subconsciously compare him to Adam, who was one of the most attractive non-asshole guys I’d ever met. Yet I had never felt even half the feelings Harris could evoke in just a few hours.

What was wrong with me? I was an undeniable magnet for trouble. I wanted to dive headfirst to where the danger was greatest.

Something was making me uncomfortable, pressing into my abdomen, and I realized it was coming from his back. I couldn’t say exactly what, because it was hidden under his T-shirt, but it was hard and had a strange shape.

As the speed increased and the situation became dangerous, Harris leaned even further forward and pulled me with him. We were already out of his neighborhood, darting between cars on the highway while I feared we’d crash at any moment. I felt like I was in a whirlwind, and I clung to him because I knew that at that moment, he was the only one who could get me home safely. Maybe it hurt him because my hands went numb from clinging to him so tightly. But instead of protesting, I felt a giggle run through his body.

He was deliberately driving like a madman just to annoy me. And while it was clear that he was an amazing driver, I didn’t want to admit it out loud. His ego was already big enough without my praise.

“Relax,” he shouted, turning his head slightly towards me.

The smile he put on could have killed me faster than the motorcycle going 200 miles an hour.

“Easy for you to say,” I shouted back, but he probably didn’t hear me.

He didn’t turn back around but took one of my arms and intertwined his fingers with mine, giving me a reassuring squeeze. My heart skipped a few beats in my chest as I swallowed down the painful dryness in my throat. I allowed myself to look at my surroundings, savoring the crazy adrenaline and incredible sensations. My body relaxed, but he didn’t let go of my hand, and in that moment, I knew…. I had started to fall.

Just like the quote on his page said: it was so easy to fall for him.

Frighteningly easy.

I recognized the houses in my neighborhood, and I let out a sigh of relief because it was almost over, the drive having gone by faster than I expected.

On the last bend, he loosened his grip, and I felt my heart fly out of my chest as the bike leaned dangerously low to the left and my knee almost touched the ground. I screamed in panic and tugged at his T-shirt as if to right the bike, but he just laughed. Of course, this was just another maneuver to annoy me. I punched him angrily on the shoulder while he was still laughing. I would have cursed too, but I wasn’t sure if he could hear me.

Relief washed over me, and I thanked the gods as the bike regained its balance and came to a halt after a few more feet. The engine was reduced to silence like a monster who suddenly became quiet.

We were in front of my house, but I couldn’t tear myself away from him. I was petrified, and my skin burned as heavy breaths left my lungs.

“Is that your way of telling me you want another ride?” he chuckled, looking down at the hands clutching his T-shirt.

Startled, I took my hands off him and jumped off the monster bike. He caught my arm to steady me before I fell again. I struggled to get the helmet off, although I didn’t have much luck and he had to help me. With an amused grin, he pulled it off my head so that I could breathe a sigh of relief.

I ran my fingers through my hair and looked up at the sky, thankful to whatever deity was up there that I was still alive. Suddenly I realized something.

“How did you know where I lived?” I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

“I have my connections,” he winked, pulling me closer to him as he sat on the bike.

His face was dangerously close to mine again, and why was it driving me crazy to see him on the bike?

His eyes were still tired, but absolutely stunning in the sunlight. The black in them was less intense, and little flecks of silver played in his irises, making my knees shake. I was dying to know what color they really were. His hair had dried up, all tousled from the ride, and it made him inhumanly sexy. I still wanted to run my fingers through it.

He leaned closer to my face, closed his eyes, and stroked my cheek with his nose. His touch felt like electricity on my skin.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he whispered, his lips gently touching my cheek before he pushed away from me to start the engine.

He winked at me, adjusted his position on the bike and drove off like a flash, leaving a cloud of dust behind him. I watched him disappear, unable to move, and rubbed my arms, realizing that I had been freezing during the ride, but I hadn’t noticed before because he kept me burning.

What had just happened?

He was the most… terrifying boy I’d ever met.

I was attracted to him, but he already thought he owned me, and I wasn’t going to take that lying down. I liked this game now that I knew its rules.

I went inside, still massaging my arms. My skin was cold, and I couldn’t believe that I had practically been on fire until a few seconds ago. The even better part was that my jacket was in my locker at school, just like my other clothes. Awesome ! Like I said, it was all Harris’ fault… well, not everything, but I enjoyed blaming him for everything.

“Where do you think you’re going, miss?” I heard my father’s exasperated voice and stopped dead in my tracks.

I closed my eyes briefly, then turned to look at him as he analyzed me, a frown on his face as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. He waved his index finger at me and showed me the way to the living room. I let out a deep sigh and descended the few steps I had climbed.

I rubbed my forehead, sat down on the chair, and tried to think of a credible explanation to avoid the promised punishment.

How was I supposed to explain the biker who had brought me home?

“What’s going on in your head, Katherine?” He immediately scolded me, giving me an accusing look.

I bit my lip, not knowing how to answer.

“Dad, I didn’t skip on purpose. Please understand, I felt sick and…”

“Stop lying,” he interrupted me, shouting and banging his fist on the armrest, “who brought you home?”

“I’m not lying,” my answer was calm to avoid the second question, “Why do you never believe me?”

“I want to believe you, Kath, but right now you don’t have an alibi. When you get sick, you go to the nurse, not skip school with your friend group, who, by the way, came by half an hour ago and were worried and looking for you. When I called you said you were with them, so who’s lying again? Tell me who the kid that brought you home was; and on a bike I could hear before you even entered the neighborhood because you were going so fast, for God’s sake!”

Well, fuck.

I wondered what he would have said if he had seen his car.

“I said I was out with some friends, that boy is a friend. I wasn’t talking about the ones I met yesterday. He was just giving me a ride home.”

Yeah… that’s it. My skin prickled as I remembered what had happened in that dark hallway.

“Well, and… how did this other friend help you when you were feeling sick?”

I could have explained everything to him, but I didn’t want to tell him how my addiction came back, and I was basically dragged out of there like a sack of potatoes so he could drug me. I remembered the red dot on my forearm and tried to cover it up as inconspicuously as possible. I had to get out of this talk before I got into any more trouble.

“You know what, Dad? Believe what you want. Just give me my punishment so we can get this over with.”

“No going out for two weeks, no dates or anything like that. After school, you come straight home and concentrate on your homework.”

His voice sounded more authoritative than a judge’s.

“Oh, and… you stay on the cheerleading team.”

My anger grew at the same moment his slightly evil grin appeared.

“No freaking way,” I stood my ground and gave him a dirty look.

“This is your punishment. You asked for it.”

“It’s something else entirely, Dad, and you fucking know it.”

My expression calmed him down a little because he knew why I had given up dancing.

“You’re so good at it, Kath. You have worked so many years to get to where you are now, yet you give it up so easily? You don’t have to give up your dreams for anyone, not even your mother.”

My lips pressed into a tight line as I struggled to hold back my tears. I was so tired of crying every time something reminded me of her.

“I did it all for her.”

“But it was all your doing. You’re the best dancer I’ve ever seen, and I’m not just saying that because you’re my daughter. Just because you refused to bring your trophies here doesn’t mean they don’t exist. You can hate me now, but I am not going to let you give up dancing, even if it’s just a cheer team.”

“Exactly, I am not a cheerleader. I have no connection to what they do.”

His smile let me know I wasn’t fooling him.

“I doubt any of them can do the splits as well as you,” I rolled my eyes, “the negotiations are over now. It’s settled.”

He seemed so proud of his power over me, and I growled through my teeth as I stood up. I was afraid to say something I would regret, so I walked out of the living room, cursing like a sailor all the way up to my room.

“‘Negotiations are over now,’” I scoffed, muttering, and slamming the door to let him know I wasn’t in the mood to be bothered.

I wanted Julliard and ended up on a high school cheerleading squad.

The definition of success, obviously.

I threw myself on the bed with my arm covering the puncture. I traced the spot with my fingertip and imagined the moment he injected the drug into my veins. How did he do it? Did he use a sterile needle? Did he do something else while I was unconscious? When I thought about how easy it would have been for him to take a peek inside my bra, or maybe my…. no! That scared me.

I snorted, cursing the fact that I had fainted right when I shouldn’t have.

I sat up on the bed, took off my sneakers and threw them on the floor. They looked new, and I hoped they were, because I had no desire to get foot fungus from an unwashed athlete. I already had too many things on my plate.

I stood very still, staring at the floor and analyzing every second, waiting for the dizziness, the headache, the shaking.

Nothing.

I desperately needed a shower because his scent still clung to me, especially on my neck, and I’d had enough of him for today.

As I stepped in front of the mirror, I looked at my legs.

I tensed my muscles, curious to see if they were still there. After falling off the pyramid, I wasn’t so sure I could do it, even if it was just a pompom dance. My body wasn’t as toned, even though I weighed almost as much as before. I had lost about 7 pounds, so it could have been worse.

I’d had weight fluctuations before and had been pretty chubby until I turned fourteen, when I realized I’d never reach my goals with a muffin top. Even though my body was pretty beat up, if I tried hard enough, I could see the body of that dancer.

Feeling brave enough, I did the splits standing up. My tendons ached, my joints were rusty from sitting on my butt so much, but my body did what it had been taught to do in all those years of hard work. My knee touched my shoulder just before I lowered my foot back down. Some time ago, I was able to do a deeper angle, over 180 degrees, which was the definition of a perfect split.

I wasn’t in a movie with a happy ending where all the dancer’s plans are thrown out the window and then, miraculously, everything changes radically in the last ten minutes, and she gets higher than she ever wanted to. In reality, it was almost never like that. I had to erase that chapter from my life and accept that I was now just a cheerleader, and after that… maybe I would figure out what to do with my future. My career as a professional dancer had gone down the drain because of the drugs and the arrests for vandalism.

Completely unprompted, Harris returned to my thoughts as I remembered how he held me. Was there, for the life of me, a state-of-the-art cleanser that would remove the stain of an arrogant, sexy asshole from the brain? Because I desperately needed it.

His voice lived rent-free in my head – hoarse, hard, but soft at the same time. His hot breath on my neck, those molten tar eyes that analyzed me without shame. His electrifying touches… Suddenly I flinched as I realized I was touching myself, retracing the paths his hands had taken.

Ahh, snap out of it, you idiot!

Luckily, I was pulled out of my thoughts when my phone rang, buzzing uncontrollably in my pants. I took it out and mentally prepared a string of insults for Kristen or whoever, but my jaw dropped when I saw the name flash up on the display.

“Nicky,” I shouted into the speaker and jumped for joy.

“Kath! Oh my god! Girl, where have you been? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for over a week,” her voice seemed upset and thrilled at the same time.

Only Nicky could express two different moods at the same time. She was my best friend, part of my old circle of friends, but also the one who had introduced me to the world of drugs, alcohol, crime, and boundless insanity. Maybe a real friend would have never done something like that, but she knew what I needed back then, and I would never hold that against her.

“You know how it is when you move: new neighborhood, new school, new narcissists…” I apologized, unable to contain the smile on my face.

“Pff, the boys and I plan to visit you as soon as we can. We miss you, bitch. Vandalizing restaurants is not as much fun without you,” I laughed, only now realizing how much I missed her vulgar sarcasm.

“I’ll be waiting for you. Although my dad will lock me in a closet when he finds out you’re coming to Seattle.”

“Eh, who says he’ll find out?” I could feel the devilish grin on her face. “So, tell me, what’s it like there, anything noteworthy?”

I rolled my eyes in amusement. By “noteworthy” she meant boys, of course. Suddenly I was unsure whether I should tell her about Harris or not. She would want to know details, lots of details … Details I wanted to keep to myself.

“Not really, made a few friends, nothing special… boring life,” I lied, biting my nails, and praying to God she didn’t hear the lie in my voice, because she was frighteningly good at it.

“Hmm…” she mumbled.

Oh, no.

“How are you doing with the meds?”

I heaved a sigh of relief as she dropped the subject and moved on to what I really needed to talk about.

“It’s complicated, I thought I was off the addiction, but no… I still have a desperate craving for drugs,” I whispered, fearing my father had nothing better to do than lurk outside my door and eavesdrop on my phone conversations.

“Oh, God,” she shrieked, “Where did you find any?”

I bit my lip and slapped myself inwardly. And now what?

You know, I forgot to tell you about this abnormally hot guy at school. A dangerous racer saved me from a jerk and a possible fatal crash into the ground. He kidnapped me from school and drugged me at his house, then pinned me against a wall. Yeah, like I said… boring life.

“I saw someone smoking at school and talked him into selling me some,” I replied, trying to sound as believable as possible, even though in my mind I kept seeing Harris carrying me across the field.

“Fuck, now we really need to come over and bring you something. Stop smoking shit from strangers. Your dad really had to move you to another state, huh?” she muttered, and I giggled.

Yeah, bring me that arrogant, sexy asshole stain remover.

My conversation with Nicky lasted about two hours. I felt right at home talking to her, and then to the rest of the group, who almost begged me to go back to New York. Adam questioned me like a detective, more so than Nicky, but I managed to avoid the subject of “Harris”. Only because Adam knew me and knew I had no interest in the male species… at least not until I’d found the alpha male who turned my world upside down. Would Adam and Harris get along? They were the alphas of two seemingly similar packs, except Harris’s was bigger and stronger and Adam, despite his looks and capacity for utter anarchy when he was angry, was much gentler than him. They seemed equal, but also different. No, they wouldn’t get along. They would probably pounce on each other like sharks on chum. If Adam came here, I would have to keep them apart, especially since I didn’t know who I would choose. Adam was like a brother to me, and Harris… I was afraid to imagine what Harris could become.

After I hung up, I was numb from sitting for so long. I went downstairs to the kitchen. Knowing that the dose Harris had given me wouldn’t last long and I would soon need another one, I decided to enjoy this extraordinary feeling. I had never felt like this before, full of energy and yet clear. I had to find out what he had given me.

I was happy and didn’t understand why. I wanted to jump around like a kangaroo, so I had to find something to use up the energy I hadn’t felt in a long time. It seemed to blossom out of the blue, and I had Harris to thank for that. No, not thanking him. I was hooked again, and in a few hours, I was sure to feel sick.

I wasn’t very hungry, but I took a packet of meat out of the freezer and held it under running water while I rubbed my chin and thought about what to cook. My father had left and one day I had to track him down and find out where he always disappeared to. I was stuck inside while he had the opportunity to come and go like a rebellious teenager? No, it couldn’t stay like this.

I opted for roast meat with potatoes and other vegetables, even though I suddenly had a craving for sweets and my father had not bought anything good.

I was chopping the peppers and trying to remember the steps of the recipe when my phone rang again.

Kristen, oh… let the lava flow.

“I’m going to kill you,” I answered the call and slammed the knife down on the cutting board.

“Kill me? Good luck with that without the head I’m going to rip off when I get my hands on you. Do you have any idea how worried we were? I thought that nut case cremated you. Where have you been, woman, and why aren’t you answering your damn phone?”

Okay, her outburst was bigger than mine, and I blinked rapidly, confused by the wave of questions.

“Calm down, he didn’t do anything to me, he… helped me, actually.”

“He helped you? How did he help you? Katherine, are you sure he didn’t do anything else? I know Stone…”

I took out the knife and stabbed the board again. What did she mean by something else? What was I? A puppet? What angered me even more was that I knew she was right. I had been a puppet in his hands, and he had maneuvered me as he saw fit, even when I was resisting him.

While I prepared dinner, I continued to discuss the same topic with Kristen, then with Candice and Chris, who both shared the same opinion: Stone, aka the demon, had possessed me. Zac wasn’t there, and I was glad about that since I had escaped his questioning, but then I remembered his implication in the parking lot. Harris’ angry look at my friend was still fresh in my mind and sent a shiver down my spine.

After everything was in the oven, I cleaned up the mess, but my mind was still set on something sweet. The thought of chocolate made my mouth water.

I searched through every drawer and cupboard in the house, hoping my father had a stash for the apocalypse. I found nothing but a few sesame and honey bars, which were nowhere near what I wanted. I thought about it as I paced around the kitchen and called my dad, hoping he’d be back soon and could stop by a grocery store first.

His phone was switched off.

I was immediately furious. He called me an irresponsible teenager, but what kind of parent was he to turn his phone off when he left the house? He had also taken the car, of course.

I left him a note informing him of my plans and ran upstairs to change. After a quick shower, I threw on a pair of jeans and an oversized hoodie with a very large hood. It was thick enough that I did not need a jacket over it, even though the clouds were getting thicker and darker by the second. I hoped the storm would wait until I was back home.

I called a cab and waited impatiently outside the house, then asked the driver to take me to the nearest store in the neighborhood. It didn’t have to be the most crowded, sweets were sold everywhere, but the good driver left me in front of a huge supermarket that looked more like a produce market. At the top of the building was a huge logo emblazoned with the words “Ballard Market”. Not exactly what I had in mind, since I would have found what I was looking for at a gas station.

I sighed and stared up at the sky, which urged me to get going on my shopping so I could leave before the storm broke. I put my hands in my pockets and went through the big doors.

The next few minutes were not very satisfying. I couldn’t find what I was looking for as most of the products were from local producers. There were kids everywhere handing out flyers. I received three before I started turning them down.

“Get involved in your community” it said, which brought an amused smile to my lips. How could I tell them I wasn’t part of their community?

They seemed to be preparing for some sort of Harvest Festival, something I had never experienced in New York.

Everything was of the highest quality, from vegetables and fruit to cheese and meat. But the real joy came when I reached the homemade candy aisle. I had completely forgotten about my favorite Lion bars when I tried a cherry tart that made my taste buds tingle. All natural, extremely delicious and I had just discovered my new favorite store in Seattle. There was also a regular supermarket inside, but I was not interested in that anymore.

I was deep into some coconut cupcakes when I noticed something strange to my left. I instinctively glanced in that direction, but the silhouette made me turn around completely.

It was a tall, bulky man dressed in black. The clothes I was so uncomfortably familiar with. He had a leather jacket on, and I couldn’t see his tattoos, so I could be sure it was him, but those pants didn’t look good on everyone, and there weren’t many guys his size.

The man turned around, analyzed some cookies, and then walked on without buying anything.

“Miss?”

I shook my head and turned back to the woman in front of me, who had probably called on me many times before.

“Would you like anything?” her smile was a little forced because I probably looked like a crazy person while staring at that guy.

A sigh left my throat as I tried to clear my head. What if it was Harris? It was his right to go shopping, just like any other person. I was the odd one out, sweating my ass off every time I saw him.

“Yes, a coconut cupcake, please,” I smiled back, trying to regain my composure.

But I couldn’t.

As I strolled through the store, I could see him at every corner. It was as if he was following me, but at the same time he was always in front of me. He caught my attention in a very unsettling way because I could not see his face and he wasn’t buying anything. Out of annoyance, I started to follow him, wanting to catch up with him and see his face, but he was always out of reach.

His presence made me uneasy. Harris wasn’t like that, he had no reason to avoid me, because I was sure that’s exactly what the guy was doing. The weirdo disappeared every time I got too close to him. The only way to catch him would have been to run.

“Katherine!”

A woman’s voice distracted me from my embarrassing chase. I turned around and saw a little old lady with a big smile behind a huge stall filled to the brim with jars of honey.

“You’re Christopher’s daughter, right?” Before I could answer, her smile grew even wider. “You look so much like him.”

Her sentence surprised me because she was the first person to say that. I was the spitting image of my mother.

“You know my father?”

“Oh, yes. Quite well, actually.”

I frowned a little because I had never met anyone from my father’s childhood, and it felt strange to hear about it now. I knew he lived here before he married my mother, but I hadn’t gotten used to it yet.

The woman started to laugh.

“Sorry, honey, you have no idea who I am or what I’m talking about. Iolanda,” she held out a small, aged hand to me.

She radiated the same cheerfulness as almost everyone in this town, or maybe just typical of this neighborhood.

“Nice to meet you, too,” I smiled as genuinely as I could, shaking her hand gently and trying to forget the gloomy freak from earlier.

She came closer to me, her eyes a clear blue, and even the wrinkles that surrounded them couldn’t diminish her beauty. She barely reached my shoulder, but her happiness was intoxicating.

“Everything is good now. Just as it always should have been for your father,” she said, holding my hand in both of hers.

My brows drew together in confusion.

“Did you know my mother too?” The joy on her face faded a little, sadness brewing underneath.

“A little,” was all she said, but her eyes told me she had more on her mind.

A loud rumble of thunder caught my attention. I was close to the exit and could see out through the glass doors. A storm was brewing, and it wouldn’t be long before it started. Everything seemed strange, from the stranger dressed in black to the woman who seemed to know my parents better than I did, and I wanted to leave.

“It’s been a pleasure meeting you, but I’m afraid I have to leave now before the storm breaks.”

She smiled again.

“Of course. Oh, allow me to give you a welcome gift.”

I was about to decline when she handed me a jar of honey, but she just pressed it into my hand.

“It’s the best, you’ll see. I’ve been doing this for forty years; I’m allowed to be proud.”

I giggled, mesmerized by her personality. She didn’t let me pay for it.

“Thank you so much.”

She squeezed my hand again and smiled. I wanted to stay and ask more questions, curious about what my father was like before he met my mother, but I didn’t feel ready to find out all those things. All I knew about his family was that they had never accepted his wife.

“I’ll see you at the fair.”

As my eyebrow raised questioningly, she pointed upwards. Above us hung a large poster announcing the same fair everyone was talking about. I didn’t think I would attend festivals in this town, but I smiled and nodded.

As I was about to leave, Iolanda held my hand tightly and did not let go.

“Katherine, I know it’s painful right now, but believe me, your father made the right decision to bring you here. It’s better for you, and for him. He’s with the people he should have always been with.”

She puzzled me again, but I didn’t linger for details. I nodded and left. My father should have been with my mother, anywhere, but with her.

The memories came rushing at me faster than I could hold them back, and I felt my eyes begin to burn. I pressed my lips tightly together and forced myself to suppress it. I was so tired of crying for a family that no longer existed.

Outside, I breathed in the cold air as if I was ravenous for it. At moments like this, the tough fa?ade I had built up completely crumbled away, leaving nothing but this lost, abandoned child. Sadness crept into my soul and all the pain my mother had caused me came flooding back.

The realization that my father had really moved on, that he had returned to his former life, that he had managed to forget my mother…

I was happy for him, but at the same time horrified because I couldn’t move on. I had nothing to go back to, everything I had ever had… was destroyed.

I could not accept that she had left me for money. That all her love was a lie. That she regretted giving birth to me because I had locked her into a poor marriage. She should have left much earlier and not lied to me for so long, playing the role of the loving mother.

I was still under the tarp when the first raindrops fell, and a few seconds later it was pouring.

I shoved the honey jar into one of the pockets to have one hand free to fish for my phone.

The guy in black came out of the store and walked past a few feet away from me, stepping straight into the rain without seeming bothered by it. The shout stopped on my lips because I wanted to ask him to stop so I could see his face once and for all and find out if I was just being paranoid or not. I could imagine Joshua doing something like that, but his size didn’t match.

Part of me felt crazy, so I didn’t say anything when I saw him get into a Range Rover. The wind ruffled his hair as he turned around, but his face was unrecognizable in the distance.

He started the car and sped off while I stepped off the sidewalk to look at the license plate. It wasn’t a car from the garage, and he surprised me when he steered the car towards the front of the store, passing by a few inches away from me.

I flinched and jumped back.

I’d had enough of his stupid games.

The windows were tinted, and I couldn’t see anything, so I stood there muttering to myself. I realized I was standing in the rain when I felt my clothes getting soaked down to my underwear.

“ Fucking hell ,” I thought and jumped back under the store’s awning, my phone wet in my hand.

I called for a cab, but my amazing day continued as the volume of orders was too high due to the storm and I had to wait at least ten minutes before they could find an available ride for me.

I tried my luck calling my dad again, but his phone was still switched off.

Now it was official: I was angry. My clothes were wet, I was starting to freeze, and it was possible that my cookies were wet too. Minutes passed, my cab was nowhere in sight, and I sat outside the store like an idiot. People were running out of the market to their cars and driving away while I was stuck at the doors.

My phone rang, and I hoped it was my dad finally deciding to act like a parent, but an unfamiliar number flashed on my display. I picked up without much thought, too angry to care.

“Yes!”

“How are you?” I recognized his timbre far too quickly, even though the noise caused by the storm, his voice was too present in my head to mistake him.

Rage exploded.

“Do you think you’re funny?” I roared at him.

My reaction seemed to surprise him. “Because I asked you how you were?”

Before I could throw another tantrum, I realized he had my phone number.

“How did you get my number?”

“It wasn’t that hard to get it.”

I tightened the hold on my phone, finding it harder and harder to suppress the urge to curse him out. He probably took it while I was unconscious.

“Your sick jokes are starting to piss me off, Harris.”

“Katherine, what are you talking about? I called to see how you were doing after the shot I gave you. It’s possible to feel sick because you haven’t taken anything in a while.”

I rolled my eyes. He really was a good actor because his voice sounded serious.

“Oh, yeah, sure! And that’s why you have to stalk me around the store like a freak?”

“What?” His tone promptly became a little sharper. “Who’s stalking you?”

“Well, no one! Because my stalker – you – just left and pulled the same stunt you pulled yesterday with your car, so stop denying it.”

“Katherine, I didn’t…”

“My cab will be here soon, and I don’t feel like talking to you,” I interrupted him.

“Where are you?” he asked as I was about to hang up.

“That’s none of your business! Not that you didn’t already know!”

I hung up and continued to rant about nothing. I knew he was arrogant and an asshole, but I didn’t think he would stoop to such stupid pranks. Didn’t he have anything better to do than mess with me like that? What did he actually want from me? I very much doubted that he treated all the new girls at school like that. Candice was new too and he didn’t even seem to notice her. It was me, the permanent trouble magnet.

I called for a cab again and was politely asked to wait another five minutes. Great! The storm got even stronger, and I could barely see a few meters. When the wind picked up, I decided it was best to go back inside until the stupid cab came.

Minutes passed and no one came. I was ready to set off on foot, through the rain, just to get rid of my anger. I saved Harris’ number in my phone so I would know not to pick up next time, but my carelessness cost me dearly. A cab pulled up outside and a man ran towards it and got in. I sprinted to the doors and shouted after him, but the car drove off.

“Fucking fuck.”

I stomped my foot. Someone must have cursed me because I was definitely caught up in a series of unfortunate events.

I was about to call for another cab and ask them to stick the fuck to the customers when I heard that vibration even over the thunder, and that black hellhole seemed to come straight out of the thunderstorm and stopped in front of me.

I had to blink a few times to make sure I was seeing correctly and that it wasn’t an optical illusion. I wouldn’t have figured out what it was if it had not been for those special green lights. The urge to kick his car grew.

No more Rover now, huh?

Harris came out and walked straight towards me. I don’t know what I looked like, but something scared him. I sidestepped him before he could reach for my hand.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’re leaving right now!”

“Katherine, please, get in the car.”

He’d used the word “ please ”? That was new. How could he make such a serious face after such a stupid joke.

I wouldn’t have gotten in his car even if he’d poured hot wax on me, but I was in the mood to throw a massive tantrum and I didn’t want to be seen by all the people who knew my dad.

Full of rage, I got into the car and slammed the door as hard as I could.