Dirty Obsession (Dirty 1)

But my lips barely brush hers before I feel the sting of a slap across my cheek, followed by a hard kick to the nuts. I roll off the table and crumple to the floor in unbearable pain as Sloane frowns over me along with all of her friends. Every one of their faces has turned from drunk happiness to anger. A few still have the lingering lust in their eyes, but most long pushed that thought out of their heads as soon as I went into the kiss.

“I’m marrying Wes. I love Wes. And any guy who thinks he can come in here and threaten my relationship with Wes deserves what’s coming to him. Because Wes and I have been through too much to let some asshole like you who thinks he’s God’s gift to women to destroy that. It’s not going to happen. And, if you do anything again, I’ll make sure that your most prized possession is no longer attached to your body. Understand?”

I grin at Sloane. I can’t help it. She loves him. It’s music to my ears.

Sloane doesn’t take my grin as a compliment though. She takes it as a grin from an arrogant asshole who is still going to try and get his way. And she’s right.

Sloane grabs what is left of her whiskey and dumps it on my head before I can react. I abruptly stand up and watch Sloane begin to walk out of the bar. But, before I can say anything else or run after her, another drink is thrown in my face. Followed by another and another until all of the women have thrown their drinks in my face. One woman kisses me on the lips before throwing her drink in my face and then slaps me after.

These women are crazy. But it’s exactly what I want. Crazy, in-love women. I smile like a madman.

Luca walks over, laughing in my face.

“I thought you’d left,” I say.

“I said I would leave after I watched you get thrown out. So, now, I can leave,” he says.

“I didn’t get thrown out.”

He laughs again. “You’re right. You just got a dozen drinks thrown in your face. That was much better than getting thrown out. I’m glad I stuck around to watch it happen. But what I don’t understand is why you are grinning like an evil bastard. You do realize that you just got rejected by a dozen women, right?”

I nod. “I did.” My grin curls up wider as I wipe my face off with my T-shirt, and then I put my swim trunks back on.

“Then, why are you still grinning? They won, and you lost. You look like a complete idiot.”

“Because she loves him.”

“Huh?”

“Sloane, the bride-to-be, loves her fiancé. That is going to make this so much sweeter when I finally steal her away.”

Luca’s smile drops.

I begin walking out of the bar, and Luca follows.

“I’m smiling because I think I just found my greatest challenge yet. Sloane.”

The sun begins to rise over the ocean as I sit in my hammock outside my shack on the beach. The bright yellow color that the sun brings is what I live for. Usually, before the sun starts to rise in the morning, I am already on the beach with my surfboard in hand. Early morning is the best time to catch some waves because very few people get up this early in the morning. The beach is empty as well as the ocean.

But today is the first time in years that I haven’t woken before the sun with a surfboard in hand. The last time I remember missing a morning surf session was when I was sick with the flu. And, even then, I tried to get out of bed. I planned to go surfing that morning. My stomach just didn’t agree with me, so I never left the bathroom that day.

I even go out surfing when the weather is less than perfect, which is rare for Hawaii, but still. I’ve surfed with the rain pouring down and lightning and thunder overhead.

Today though is the first day that I’ve chosen to do something else. I open my old laptop that I rarely, if ever, use and I type Sloane and Hawaii into the search bar. I don’t have her last name, and I know it’s a complete long shot, but maybe I’ll get lucky. If not, I’m going to have to go back to the bar where I met her last night and convince Paige, the waitress, to tell me her last name.

It takes a minute for my Wi-Fi to connect and for the page to come up. But, finally, it does. I click on the first link and see Sloane’s pretty, green eyes, luscious red lips, and shoulder-length blonde hair pop up on the screen.

I grin. This is too easy.

Her name is Sloane Hart. She runs a nonprofit called Kindness First with her grandmother. Actually, it’s one of the biggest employers on the island and also has satellite locations around the world. I’m surprised I’ve never heard of her. But it’s not like we run in the same circles. She’s the complete opposite of me in fact.

I’m the devil. I destroy people’s lives. She’s an angel. She gives children food and a chance at life.

I pause for a second. I shouldn’t do this. I shouldn’t destroy a woman’s life when she does so much good for the world.

What if, after I rip her heart out, she doesn’t have the strength to continue her nonprofit work? What if she never leaves her house again? Becomes a hermit?

I would have not only destroyed her life, but also thousands of kids around the world. This is on a whole different level, even for me.