Page 17 of His Obsession Her Cure

Pepper

I woke up from the best sleep I’d had in a long time.

Gunner had me wrapped up in his large arms with his head in the crook of my neck.

His soft snores let me know that he was still sleeping deeply.

As quietly as I could I tried untangling my body from his, but every time I moved, he would pull me back against his warm body.

He held me like I was something precious to him.

The feeling of his morning erection made me want to stay put and find out what he’d do to me when he finally woke but I couldn’t let Nyx’s and my lustful thoughts win.

Nyx’s voice purred in my head, sharp and electric.

“Did you feel that Pep? The way he held us like he would die if he let us go? He wants us pep. Let's stay and have him,” she purred.

I shut my eyes, willing her voice away, but my chest tightened each time Gunner tightened his grip on me. The warmth in my belly wasn’t just from what we did last night, it was from fear of what would happen when he found out who we were.

“If he sees me, us. Really sees us he’ll leave. And then we lose Char and Ma too. We lose everything,” I whispered.

“Or we do what we have to do to keep them. Don’t you dare run from this, Pep. Please, I’ll be good. I promise.”

“ I know you will Nyx, but you know we can’t have him. It won’t end well.”

No matter how much I wanted this for us, I had to go.

After a few more attempts I was able to slide out of his bed, desperately trying not to wake Gunner.

I couldn’t bear having to explain why I was sneaking out of his bed without a word.

I stood to the side of his bed looking at his perfectly sculpted body, getting caught up in memories of last night.

He stirred in his sleep causing me to jump into gear collecting my dress and shoes from the floor.

With each step I felt the aftereffects of that monster he had between his legs.

I hurried to the door as fast as my sore vagina would let me.

Closing the door behind me I hobbled down the stairs, running into Char who was perched on the counter in the t-shirt I’m sure Alestar was wearing last night, her hair was messy, and a dreamy smile was playing on her lips as she tapped on her phone.

She looked up from it, giving me a relieved look like she was expecting someone else.

“Well, well. Look who’s up. Or is it because you didn’t have time to sleep? I’ve been waiting for you. I was about to call you hot ass.” She smiled.

“Damn did everybody get fucked last night. Char looks like she got her doonies beat too.”

“Whatever, I’m here now.” I said, rolling my eyes at Nyx crazy ass commentary. “Are you ready?”

Char laughed, hopping off her stool as she grabbed her bag and walked towards me.

“I guess it was a good night for both of us. I saw you and Gunner disappear and judging by the way you’re avoiding eye contact it was everything you needed.”

“It was a mistake.” I said as we walked out of the door.

“Girl, I’ve never seen Gunner look at anyone like he looks at you. Whatever ya’ll did upstairs wasn’t no mistake you both needed that. How is that a mistake?” She said, frowning at me.

“She’s right. He’s obsessed. Just like us. You’re perfect together.”

“You don’t know me, Char. Not really. You know about Nyx, and I love you for accepting that part of me.

But there’s more to my issues than a troublesome voice in my head.

If either of you ever saw what’s underneath the mask I hide behind, you would walk away.

And then what? You’d pick him over me. Ma would too,” I stated. “I…we’d be alone.”

Char’s eyes softened.

“Don’t talk like that. You’re family to me, Pepper. Nobody, not even my cousin is gonna change that. But if you keep running from him, from us, you’re gonna regret it. He’s different. You know that right?” She said leaving me to think about what she said.

On the drive back to the house we talked about our preparations for school and what we were excited to learn.

My thoughts drifted between school and Gunner as I listened to Char talk.

I had never been with anyone that saw me like he did.

But I knew what would happen if I let him get inside my head so I would just have to avoid him.

It shouldn't be too hard since I would be busy with school and finding a job. A man as fine as him couldn’t be serious about being with a girl like me.

I was going to keep my head down, finish my degree, and start my life fresh without the drama a man could bring.

We showered and ate a quick breakfast once we got back to the house then headed out to grab a few things for school.

Even though I was dead set on only getting the essentials but out of nowhere Char pulled out a fuckin black card and forced me to buy everything I would need to get started at school including a new Eko core stethoscope.

I knew this was part of what Char meant when she said I was her family, but I still felt like it was too much.

I would just have to work hard at whatever job I find to pay her back.

After hitting a few more stores in the mall, we packed everything in the car and went back home so we could get organized for classes.

Brookville University was everything that I thought it would be.

Campus life was buzzing with energy. Students and faculty alike traversed the large campus with laptops, designer clothes and coffees.

I mostly kept her head down and in a book, slipping into classrooms, with my bag heavy with textbooks and new supplies I had gotten when Char and I went shopping after my night with Gunner.

Just like I told Char I introduced myself with my middle name instead of Pepper.

It even sounded weird coming out of my mouth.

“You can call me Leila.” I said to anyone that asked.

The transition was easy; nobody questioned it at all.

They had their own lives, their own worries that kept them from worrying about the new girls’ name choices.

There were a few mean girls on campus that gave me strange looks, but I had learned long ago to ignore them.

Nyx, however, wasn’t as nice and often encouraged me to catch each of them alone and make them beg for our forgiveness.

But I wasn’t in the mood to hide any more bodies.

I sat through lectures, memorizing facts on my Anki, and took notes in the sharp, analytical way I preferred.

To anyone on the outside looking in, I was just another focused med student set on being top of my class.

But inside, Nyx paced and pouted like a restless child.

The constant buzzing she created when she was agitated was driving me insane as the days went by and I knew it would only stop when she got what she wanted. What we both wanted.

“This is boring. Where’s Gunner? Bitch I know you miss the way he looks at you like we’re the only thing alive?”

“Us, he doesn’t even know that there's an us Nyx. He doesn’t know you exist. Please just let me get my bearings here first. A little structure, some control and then we can deal with our feelings for Gunner,” I said curtly.

“Control? You had control when you had him under you. You gave it all away when you walked out that morning. I want it back. I want him back. NOW!”

I tightened my shaky grip on my pen, ignoring her annoying voice, burying myself deeper in the endless grind of anatomy charts and clinical case studies.

But every quiet moment, every empty night in my room, Gunner’s handsome face burned behind her eyelids.

I had ghosted him completely, which was easy considering I did have a phone, and I refused to go anywhere near his house again with Ma or Char.

But I knew it couldn’t last. He was Char’s cousin after all; he would be around eventually.

“Hey, green shirt.” Someone yelled but was too wrapped up in the pathophysiology notes I was reviewing outside under the large tree that grew at the corner of the quad.

But then someone stepped into my space casting a large shadow over me.

When I looked up and an average looking buff sweaty guy was hulking over me, grinning like an idiot.

“What up green shirt?”

“Excuse me. What are you saying? Green shirt. Is that what you’re calling me.”

“Bitch please get this nigga out your face smelling like Funyuns and despair.”

I snickered before catching myself and straightening my face. “Is it something I can help you with?”

“Yes, I want to see if I could take you out.”

“No thank you, I don't date.”

“Well fuck you then bitch. All I wanted to do was fuck anyway. Bitch you ain’t even that cute close up with your fat ass.”

“I know this nigga didn’t. Looking like his mama should have swallowed.”

“I’m fat and ugly huh, but you came over here breath smelling like you been eating ass all day,” I said.

Watching his face turn beet red, fists balling and unballing at his side.

His nostrils flared as he looked around, maybe to see if anyone had heard our conversation but it was too late a few guys that I think he was friends with were standing behind him in a huddle laughing.

I kept my voice calm and even as he grew angrier by the moment.

In an instant he lunged towards me with every intent to knock my head off for embarrassing him. But quick as a flash I sliced him across his side with the boxcutter Nyx insisted I kept on me for this very reason. He stumbled back straightening and grabbing his waist where I had but him.

“The next time I’ll take your kidney.” I hissed, then sat back, returning to my studying like nothing had happened.

When he pulled his hand away coated in blood, his eyes almost bugged out of his head.

“Crazy bitch cut me.” He gasped, gritting his teeth and waddling off with his hand pressing his ruined shirt to the wound. His friends took off closely behind him looking at me scared like they might end up as my next victim.

“Let that be a warning to others of what happens when you fuck with the quiet girl.”