Page 46 of Obsessive Love (The King #1)

Chapter Forty-Five

Sophia

K aleb glowers at Jaylen through the rearview mirror as we stop at a red light, the music in the car blaring Eminem's latest song and Jaylen's horrendous singing ringing in our ears.

I giggle at my cousin's antics, knowing he's purposefully trying to get a rise out of Kaleb and then I decide to join in with the singing, not to annoy Kaleb, just simply because I love the song.

"Oh, for the love of God, don't you start this shit as well," he grunts, side-eyeing me as he changes gears and drives forward, towards the boutique that Jericho's sending us to.

"Stop being such a grump," Jaylen shouts from the back of the car before he pokes his head between our seats, showing off his wild grin.

Kaleb's arm reaches across my body, pushing me firmly against my seat. Then he slams his foot down on the brake, causing Jaylen to fly back into the rear of the car.

A smug smile appears on his face when he hears Jaylen curse and groan.

I turn the volume down and twist in my seat so that I can see them both and shake my head.

"Can you both please try and get along, even if it's just for the next few hours whilst we all have to spend time together?" Jaylen opens his mouth, ready to argue with me, but I hold up my finger, silencing him. "You both need to stop acting like children. Put your differences aside and play nice, okay?"

I wait for both of them to nod in agreement and then twist back around, sitting in my seat and smiling in triumph as the remainder of the journey consists only of music quietly filtering through the speakers and the sounds of other cars as we pass them by.

When we pull up outside the boutique, Jaylen leans forward again, looking out the window in awe.

"This place looks bougie."

"You say that like your family isn't rich," Kaleb mutters, putting the car into park and getting out of the car.

"I don't understand how or why you like him. He seems to have a gigantic stick up his arse," Jaylen comments as we watch Kaleb walk around the front of the car towards my side.

"He's not like that with me," I state, shrugging.

Kaleb opens my door for me, waiting for me to step out before he places his hand against my back and guides me towards the shop, not bothering to wait for Jaylen.

"We're in public," I say, stepping to the side so his hand falls away from my back.

He turns to me with narrowed eyes.

"So? If anyone has an issue with me being a gentleman and escorting you into a building, I'll happily gut them in the middle of the street," he retorts, smirking at my shocked face.

"Seriously, Soph, you must be deranged to like a man who says things like that," Jaylen says, coming up behind us.

Kaleb glares at him and I roll my eyes at their theatrics, walking ahead of them and entering the boutique.

The shop assistant rushes over to me, quickly introducing himself and whisking me away towards the dressing room, telling me they've already picked out multiple dresses for me to try based on what Jericho told them he'd like me to wear.

I turn my nose up at the thought of what Jericho has in mind for me to wear, but when I enter the dressing room, closing the cream curtain behind me, my eyes fall on an array of dresses, each varying in colour and length.

My eyes scan each dress and I hum as I examine them, surprised that Jericho actually seems to have given the boutique good advice on what dresses to pick out for me.

"You're telling me that I don't need to be here, but I think you're struggling to understand that I'm Sophia's primary bodyguard, therefore, if anyone should leave, it's you."

I huff as Jaylen's voice carries through the curtain from where they're seated outside on a plush leather sofa.

"Maybe you should ask yourself why she was appointed a secondary bodyguard," Kaleb spits back.

"I've been her bodyguard for years and I've managed to keep her perfectly safe, so don't insinuate that it has anything to do with my abilities."

"Says the man who let her slip away from him that one time at college," Kaleb scoffs.

"It was one fucking time!" Jaylen snaps.

"One time too fucking many!"

Tired of their childish bickering, I push the curtain open, glaring at the pair of them with my hands on my hips.

"You realise that a curtain isn't soundproof, right?"

Both of them sheepishly look at me as I shake my head.

"If you're going to constantly bicker back and forth like children, then either leave or just shut the fuck up. I can't bear to listen to it anymore! You need to get used to being around him and dealing with his sarcastic and arsey comments if you seriously want any type of future with me," I state, pointing at Kaleb. "And you," I say, switching my finger toward Jaylen. "You need to learn to deal with him because, for now, he'll be sticking around. You both seem hell-bent on being in my life forever and there is no way I will put up with this shit on a daily basis, so suck it up and find a way to get along."

I turn around, close the curtain again and sink down onto the bench as I sigh and rest my head in my hands.

After a few moments of silence, I decide to try on the first dress now that the pair of imbeciles outside have finally quit tormenting each other.

I strip my clothes off and then take the long, smooth, royal blue dress off the hanger, stepping into it and sliding it up my body.

It's a snug fit, the material clinging to my curves and showing way too much despite the high neckline. I step out of the changing room and spread my arms to the side as Kaleb and Jaylen examine the dress on my body.

"I don't like it," Jaylen says, shaking his head as I do a little spin.

"Yeah, I agree. It looks like it's strangling you," Kaleb adds, staring at the top half of the dress that wraps around my chest and over my shoulders.

"Aww, look at you two agreeing on something," I tease, giggling as they both glare at me.

I step back into the changing room, carefully taking the dress off and hanging it back up. I look at the next flowy white dress and immediately flick past it, not wanting to wear another white dress so shortly after my wedding.

The next dress my eyes fall on has a smile spreading across my face. The silky deep-red material shines beneath the dressing room light and as I pull it out to get a better look at it, I realise it has a slit down the bottom, running up to at least mid-thigh.

It reminds me of the dress I wore on the night that I met Kaleb at the club, only this one is more fitting for a formal event, despite the swooping neckline.

I quickly remove it from the hanger and step into it, sliding it up my body and then spending a minute or two bending and twisting around as I yank the zip up at the back.

Once it's on, I smooth my hands down the front of it and admire the way it looks on my body in the mirror. It shows an ample amount of cleavage and the slight peek of skin that you get when I move and my leg shows through the slit gives it a sexy feel.

"Honestly, why does it take women so long to choose a bloody outfit," Jaylen grumbles from the other side of the curtain.

"If you have an issue with how long this is taking, feel free to leave," Kaleb snaps back.

I sigh and shake my head, disappointed that the peaceful silence I was enjoying has now been interrupted.

Taking one last look at myself in the mirror, I pull the curtain aside and step out before them both. I watch Kaleb, who's currently glaring at my cousin and patiently wait for his reaction to the dress I've chosen.

"That one is much better than the blue one," Jaylen says, nodding as his eyes scan the length of the dress. "Maybe you could find one similar to this but without the rip in it, though. I feel like there's way too much skin on show."

His words have Kaleb's head turning in my direction and when his eyes meet mine, they soften and a ghost of a smile appears on his face.

Heat licks up my spine as his eyes slowly descend down my body and his smile turns into a cheeky smirk as he takes in every inch of the dress clinging to my body.

I alter my stance so that my whole leg slips through the slit up the side of the dress and he pulls his bottom lip between his teeth as he follows the movement.

"That's the dress," he says, his voice deep and husky as his eyes stay glued to the exposed skin. "No need to try anymore on. That one's perfect. We're taking it."

I watch in fascination as he licks his lips whilst his eyes scan my body once more before they meet mine.

"If you two keep looking at each other like you're lions waiting to pounce on their prey, we're going to have some big fucking issues tonight," Jaylen comments, breaking the moment Kaleb and I seemed to be having. "Maybe choose a different dress that won't have this psychopath wanting to maul you the whole night."

Kaleb's eyes narrow and his attention falls away from me and back onto my cousin.

"You're seriously starting to piss me off," he hisses. "Count yourself lucky that I don't have Holly or Adonis with me right now."

Jaylen and I both frown.

"Who are Holly and Adonis?" I ask as a jealousy hint of jealousy sweeps over me when I think about Kaleb spending his time with another woman.

"Two of my most prized possessions," he replies, glaring at Jaylen.

My frown deepens in complete confusion.

"So, they're not people?"

He glances at me and shakes his head.

"Of course not. They're my weapons."

"You name your weapons?" Jaylen asks, disbelief evident in his tone.

When Kaleb nods, Jaylen and I both chuckle.

"I knew you were deranged, but I never knew how much until now," Jaylen says, shaking his head. "Especially Holly and Adonis, like surely you could've come up with better names."

Kaleb shrugs and casually leans back on the sofa they're both sitting on.

"Naming them helps me connect with them. We've formed a bond, and we work seamlessly well together. As for the names, they were inspired by my most prized possession." His eyes settle on me.

"Are you on about me?" I ask, raising a brow.

"Yes, amore mia ."

"Okay, firstly, I'm not a possession." He rolls his eyes as if what I'm saying is ridiculous and I shake my head at him. "Secondly, how are their names inspired by me?"

"Well, when I was trying to think of names for them, I was finding it rather difficult because obviously my mind is always plagued by you, and at the time, you had gone off to university, so I was having to find new ways to keep a watchful eye on you. Therefore, all I could think about was you. That's when I had the genius idea of linking you to my weapons. So, I started searching for butterflies, trying to find some good names. Originally, I was going to name them after purple butterflies, but no offence, baby, I didn't really like any of the names, so then I started searching up blue butterflies and that's where I found the Holly Blue and the Adonis Blue butterflies."

"Why blue butterflies?

"Because of your eyes, of course," he states.

Tears prickle in my eyes as I stare at the man before me, shell-shocked by his admission.

"You really are crazy," I tell him, pressing my hand against my chest in hopes of calming the erratic beat of my heart.

"For you, yes," he says, smirking at me. "Now, take that dress off and get changed back into your clothes so we can get going. I'm starving."

"Yes, please ," Jaylen groans, jumping up from his seat. "I agree with the obsessive psycho. Let's go get food!"