Ice Tyrant’s Obsession

Chapter 1

~~LOLA~~

We were barely four weeks settled into Michigan when Mom let the cat out of the bag.

“Okay girls, listen.” Her slender frame appeared in the backyard from the kitchen’s back door, a laundry basket in hand, her dark curls dangling atop her shoulders as her expression contorted into displeasure at the soaked mess Sam and I were from the sprinklers.

“She sprayed me first.” Sam pointed fingers.

“What? no…!”

Mom’s voice snapped through the bickering. “Promise me you both… promise me you won't embarrass me with this childish behavior when we move into your stepfather’s house.”

For the first time in minutes, the sounds of birds chirping nearby were clearer than ever.

Sam’s gaze clashed with mine on cue, our eyes saying things our mouths couldn't find words to say.

“Aren’t you girls happy for me? I found love, I'm getting married again and you are going to have a father figure around after ten years, also… brothers.” She rushed the words, her eyes glinting in anticipation of our reaction.

“…Okay?” Sam finally voiced. “Congratulations I guess?”

Sam stormed in after that, not really elated about the news.

“Since when?” I heard myself ask.

“He’s basically the reason we moved cities, Lola,” Mom said, coming down the wooden stairs to meet me. “I know this is so sudden, it’s sudden for me too but every nuptial and civil wedding has been done, it was just us two…”

I took her pale fingers into mine. “As long as you are happy?… congratulations.” I tried to sound positive. “I’ll try talking to Sam.”

“We move in three weeks, Lola… It’s enough for you both right?” She asked, her voice certain.

I shrugged. “Sure, of course!”

Now I somewhat regret ever agreeing to that because three weeks breezed by faster than I could catch up. My phone was blowing up in my bag from mom’s incessant reminders about the logistics company and the moving men.

It was all I’ve ever had to put up with in the last four days.

Logistics this. Logistics that.

Tonight was for me alone and my boyfriend, Ryan. It was his twenty-first birthday and I was paddling up to the rooftop of a mini duplex, my hands filled with a cake in one and a wine bottle in the other.

Ryan had absolutely no idea I was coming and neither was I invited to this. The only reason I made it here was that he’d done well a month back to mention this little party he would be hosting in his apartment.

Back then in Las Vegas, I had been bummed because there was no way mom would have let me fly five hours away from home for a party.

The music got louder. Pale blue and red disco lights flashed across my face once I ascended the last stairs.

What was before me was far from a little party.

There were girls at every spot in bikinis and boys in briefs. At the centre was a large Suds pool, with about a dozen people making out in it.

My face fell.

I scanned the laughing faces for Ryan, and relief washed over me when he was missing from the lots.

Propping the wine beside my foot, I swiped into my call log, Mom’s twenty missed calls glared red at me. Ignoring it, I called Ryan’s line instead and all I got was an automated voice.

Now my feet were dragging down the stairs in search of the main entrance, the wine long forgotten behind.

“Nice hair.” Some guy on Afro complimented.

“Thanks.” I kept moving but on second thought, I paused at the foot of the stairs and turned around.

“Excuse me?”

The guy halted, turning to look at me from the top of the stairs. “Yeah?”

“Sorry…have you by chance seen my boyfriend?” No that wasn't right, I blinked. “Ryan…”

“The birthday boy?” He drawled.

I nodded.

“I guess he must be at the main pool just behind the duplex.”

I was moving already.

There was a main pool? The hell. Thoughts of Ryan in briefs, soaked in soapsuds and surrounded by a bunch of random hookups assaulted my head but I shook it off.

He had to be with his friends, right?

The cake had gotten ten times heavier on my arms as I rounded the house in just a few walks, blue reflections from the water rippling across the wall ahead. My feet drew closer and I took the final bend.

“Ryan…”

His name turned sour on my tongue at the sudden scene before me.

No he wasn't with his friends and no, there was no loud music or hookups or soapsuds.

Just Ryan in a pool with some girl seated right in front of him on the pool’s edge…

“Ow! Ryan!” Her loud moan cut my thoughts off and I couldn't help flinching.

His laughter followed, a sharp rumbling sound that bobbed his Adam’s apple as he poured more blue cocktail right into the middle of the girls' spread thighs. She had each of her legs dangling on equal sides of his shoulders, naked.

I watched my boyfriend dive head straight between her legs, the sucking sound of his lips, and her strings of moans that followed after, twisting my belly into bitter knots.

It was only after the cake dropped from my hands with a thud, that I tore my eyes away from them to stare down at the crushed mess on my feet.

“Who’s she?” The girl’s head suddenly turned in my direction.

God, I wanted to run.

But I was too stiff to even lift a finger.

“Who?” Ryan looked up, his chin soaked with whatever he was feeding on between her legs, and the minute our eyes jammed, the sharp glint in his eyes dimmed.

I heard the tiny whimper in my throat before tears began hitting my cheeks.

Ryan was already hurrying out of the pool while the girl still sat at the edge, her eyes darting from him reaching for a towel towards me.

“Okay?” she scoffed. “What’s happening here?”

Ryan was more fixated on covering up than actually answering the damn question.

As for me, I found the courage to force my legs into movement and turn around. My eyes were blown wide with tears that wouldn't cease but instead, made my lungs constrict painfully.

The ground swayed beneath my feet.

I forced my way through another dozen semi-naked people that I barely even saw.

When I looked over my shoulder, my stomach plummeted further on seeing Ryan who should be chasing after me, now held up in the midst of his guests.

They were all chanting his name, and someone even popped open a bottle of champagne that had white foam erupting into the air like a miniature volcano.

Even though Ryan’s body movement appeared as though he was intent on chasing me, his priority was more on entertaining his guests.

This was horror.

My head swirled with a strange kind of lightheadedness. It wasn't until our eyes met again that Ryan finally moved like he remembered he was supposed to chase me.

I snapped my head forward to keep running only to collide hard into a group of guys walking in that minute. Strong palms caught my elbows before I could hit the ground.

Everyone turned at that moment.

“f**k!” Ryan cursed behind, already rushing over.

This stranger was still holding me or maybe I was the one clinging tightly. At least he was clothed, he and his gang were.

I felt so much shame that I couldn't bring myself to look up at their faces so I pulled one arm away from my savior's hold to scatter my hair across my face. Then breaking away my other hand from his palm, I dashed for the exit.

Once I managed my way out of the gate, I was fortunate enough to catch a cab coming my way. I flagged the vehicle down and slipped in.

“Please drive,” I cried to the cabman.

The car moved and for once I was so scared to look back because what if Ryan wasn't there? What if he didn’t even chase me out of the gate?

That would sting more than seeing him face-buried between a girl’s legs.

Whatever was happening right now had to be a nightmare and I would be up in my bed very soon, laughing at this.