Just a Bit Obsessed (Straight Guys, #2)

by Alessandra Hazard

“What do you want for dinner?”

“I’m not hungry,” he said, turning away.

“How many people have you slept with in the last few weeks?”

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t like that people think you’re easy.”

“It’s none of your business how many people I’ve fucked after you.” He knew he sounded pissed off and disappointed, but he couldn’t do anything about it; he’d never been that good at hiding his emotions. “I’m not going to apologize for being ‘easy.’”

“I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“Then what the fuck did you mean?” Christian glared at him. “What are you even doing here, Alec? And don’t feed me that bullshit about being in the neighborhood. Why are you here?”

“I don’t know,” he said tersely.

“You don’t know?” If Alexander didn’t know what he was doing here—if this was a spur-of-the moment visit—it was huge. Alexander Sheldon always planned and rationalized his actions. Always. That much Christian knew.

“It was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come here.” A muscle pulsed in his cheek. “Goodbye, Christian.”

There was finality in his voice, and Christian panicked and grabbed his hand. Alexander flinched. “Don’t go,” Christian said, squeezing his fingers. “We can be—we can be friends.” Inwardly, he was cringing, because this was a fucking terrible idea. Being friends with Alexander would be hell. But there was a part of...

“Friends,” Alexander repeated, as though the word was ...

“Friends?”

“Friends,” Alexander said.

“Okay,” Christian said, not sure whether he was elated or disappoin...

He freed his hand from Christian’s fingers and stretched his arm over the back of the couch, behind Christian. He was warm, and big, and comfy—and so close that Christian could smell his aftershave. Feel his heat. Christian took a shaky breath. God, he wanted him. He wanted to put his head on Alexander’s shoulder. He wanted to wrap his arm around his waist. He wanted to straddle his body and ride him. And all of it was going at a thousand miles an hour through his head, making him dizzy with need. Friends? At this rate, he would go mad by the end of the week.

Alexander was a very attentive “friend.” He came to Christian’s place every day, usually right after Christian returned from school. He somehow knew Christian’s schedule, but that didn’t exactly surprise him: Alexander’s memory was freakishly good and he noticed everything. Well, everything except for the fact that their “friendship” was weird as hell. He touched Christian all the freaking time. A touch on the neck or on the shoulder, an arm around his waist, a nose nuzzling the side of his face. Not to mention the staring. It drove Christian crazy. The worst part was, Christian was pretty sure Alexander didn’t even notice how weird he was behaving. But other people did.

“Успокойтесь, пожалуйста, господин Кабенов,” Alexander said, in what sounded like Russian. “Давайте поговорим спокойно, как взрослые люди.”

“Please calm down, Mr. Kabenov,” Alexander said, in what sounded like Russian. “Let's talk calmly, like adults.”

I think he’s good at ignoring things that he doesn’t want to notice.”

“You’re right,” Jared murmured. “People can be astonishingly good at ignoring things they don’t want to see or know about.” He glanced at the door before looking at Christian. A smile curved his lips, and Christian was reminded how handsome this man was. “Let’s do something that he will definitely see.”

Christian yelped as he was yanked off the couch by a very angry-looking Alexander. He actually looked pissed: his jaw was working, his eyes were blazing with anger, and rage was coming off him in waves.

It was the first time he’d seen Alexander lose his self-control. He’d always had a gut feeling Alexander’s unflappable, unemotional behavior was just a facade, but actually seeing it was a different matter entirely. A part of him felt ridiculously giddy, because Alexander had lost his self-control because of him.

“Do you want him?” he asked, killing the engine.

“He’s very hot,” Christian said. “He’s exactly my type.” Sorry, Jared, he apologized inwardly and looked Alexander in the eye. “So yeah, I want him—”

“I can’t do this,” he said, as though to himself, looking at him hungrily, hand still in Christian’s hair. He started leaning in again, but stopped, swore under his breath and sat back into his seat, his eyes fixed in front of him and every muscle in his body so tense it looked like he might snap.

“Alec—”

“Don’t,” Alexander bit out. “Don’t touch me. Please.” He rubbed his face. “Please get out.”

“But you didn’t cheat,” she whispered.

“I kissed him.”

“I don’t care. You didn’t have sex with him. You didn’t cheat.”

He didn’t want to hurt her, but she was clutching at straws. “Maybe not physically,” he said, forcing the words out. “But I did it every time I looked at him. Every time I couldn’t look away.”

“You deserve better. You deserve a man who will enter the room you’re in and see no one but you. I can’t be that man, but he’s out there. You’ll find him. I know you will.”

“Oh, shut up. Why are you so perfect all the time? Even when you’re dumping me? If you’re dumping me, at least have the decency to let me hate you! My next boyfriend will probably have at least five horrible flaws compared to you.”

“Maybe it’s a good thing. And I’m not perfect. Very far from perfect, actually.”

“You? Please. You’re the definition of perfect.”

“If you think that, you loved a man who didn’t exist.”

“Maybe. Maybe I never knew you.” She chuckled humorlessly. “Maybe if I knew you better, I could have stopped you from falling for him.”

“I didn’t say I love him,” he said tersely, turning away.

“I don’t love him,” he bit out. “It’s not love.”

“Then what is it?”

He thought of snowflakes melting on Christian’s flushed skin a few hours ago. He thought of how he looked and how he couldn’t look away. “Obsession,” he whispered, barely audible.

He’d never felt so damn out of control before. Never. It wasn’t normal that one smile from the guy could make his mouth go dry, his heartbeat pick up and his cock harden, as though he was a teenager once again. He hated his total lack of self-control around Christian.

“He annoyed me.” He chuckled humorlessly. “Not sure how I went from being annoyed to wanting my dick inside him.”

“From the way you looked at him today, it’s not just about sex, is it?” Jared murmured, sipping his beer.

“I don’t love him,” Alexander said tersely.

“I didn’t say you did,” Jared said, raising his eyebrows. “But out of curiosity—why do you...

“Because I don’t. This—it’s not love. Love isn’t supposed to be like this.”

“Like what?”

“When I saw you kissing him, I wanted to tear you limb from limb. I’m not exaggerating.” Seeing Jared’s expression, he let out a harsh laugh. “Yeah. It didn’t matter you’re my closest friend and cousin. This thing… it stripped me of all control. I felt like—like a man possessed. Like he’s mine. And no one but me can touch him. See, it’s obsession, not love.”