His Soft Obsession

Chapter Fourteen: Act Like You Mine Already

Lyric

I wasn’t ready.

Not for the way Smoke’s place smelled like cologne and loud. Not for the bass thumping from the Bluetooth speaker, or the way my heart started acting brand new the second I realized—

Zay was already here.

He was sitting on the couch like he owned it.

Black tee. Gray sweats hanging low on his hips. Arms stretched out, tattoos dark and detailed. One leg bent, the other stretched. A slice of pizza in one hand. A blunt in the other.

Those gray eyes found me the second I stepped inside.

And just like that... I forgot how to breathe.

“Look who finally showed up,” Smoke said, locking the door behind us and heading to the kitchen like he ain’t just kidnapped me off my shift.

Janiyah plopped down next to Zay like she belonged there and grabbed a slice. “Mmm, y’all got chicken and bacon too? Y’all know how to host.”

I stood by the door, still in my hoodie and jeans, sneakers on. My hair pulled back from work. Chapstick, not gloss. I wasn’t dressed to be around him.

Zay didn’t say a word at first.

Just looked at me.

Long and slow.

Eyes moving from my face… to my sneakers… to the little silver chain peeking out under my hoodie.

Yeah. That chain.

The one he sent with no note.

I hadn’t taken it off since.

“You just gon’ stand there?” he finally asked, voice low and rough like smoke and silk.

My lips parted. “I didn’t know I was coming here—”

“I did.”

That shut me up real quick.

Zay nodded toward the other side of the couch. “Sit down, Lyric.”

My legs moved before my mouth could protest. I sat at the far end of the couch, not too close. Not too far.

Zay reached forward, grabbed another slice, and handed it to me without a word.

I stared at it.

“You think I’d poison it?” he said, eyes teasing but still serious.

I took the slice slowly. “Thank you.”

“You eat today?”

I blinked. “Yeah. I mean, kinda. I had a muffin earlier—”

“A muffin ain’t food.”

I swallowed hard. “Okay…”

He took a hit off the blunt, blew the smoke out slow, then said, “You wasn’t answering your phone earlier.”

“I was working—”

“I know. That don’t mean ignore me.”

The room got quiet after that.

Even Smoke looked like he wasn’t tryna get in the middle.

Janiyah just gave me a look like girl, don’t even argue.

“I didn’t say I wasn’t coming to the party,” I mumbled.

Zay leaned forward, elbows on his knees, eyes locked on mine.

“You said ‘maybe,’” he said. “And I don’t do maybe. If I tell you to be somewhere, I expect you to show up. You hear me?”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah.”

He leaned back again, exhaling smoke through his nose.

Then he added, almost lazy, “That chain look good on you.”

The pizza in my hand suddenly didn’t matter anymore.

My face felt hot. My chest tight.

He was calm. Way too calm.

Like he already knew he had me right where he wanted me.

Janiyah broke the tension. “Sooo… this party tomorrow? I’m tryna step out. Who all gon’ be there?”

Smoke grinned. “Everybody who matters. And a few who don’t.”

Zay didn’t say anything.

He just looked at me again.

Not with a smile.

Not with a smirk.

Just that stare that made me feel seen and claimed all at once.

Like I was already his.

Even if we hadn’t said it out loud yet.