8. Lina
Lina
“Calling it an obsession is a stretch,” he said.
He towered over me and leaned in just an inch so our eyes were level.
A wide, animalistic grin pulled tight across his face.
“But you’re not wrong. If you’re trying to address my obsession with disliking you so much that I’d apparently keep stoking this fixation, then sure.
Perhaps I am obsessed with you, Dr. Lee. ”
A laugh bumbled out of me before I could stop myself.
My hand slapped across my face with an echoing smack.
Jonathan Lo obsessed with me? Before my first laugh could die down, another giggle bubbled up right after.
My stomach started burning from the aching contraction of each hard laugh.
Searing tears budded at the corners of my eyes.
I watched him through my hazy gaze. He wasn’t amused. Another one of my violent laughs tormented him as hot, acidic tears dripped down my cheeks. But the last of my laughter died down as I watched Jonathan stare at me.
Silent. Observing every single detail of my laugh and the contortion of my face.
Unlike before, his lips didn’t twist into a snarl.
Nor did his eyes glower in a fiery rage.
Little emotion showed on his face. Yet, he watched me in a quiet wrath.
It unnerved me more than his previously loud words or juvenile actions.
He no longer acted like a teenage boy who wore the animosity he had for me on his sleeves. The childish antics dissipated into thin air as he watched me. He was a predator, waiting for me to let down my guard and find my weakness.
“You have a nice laugh,” he breathed.
I stilled myself at once. He may be a predator, but so am I.
I moved to press my back against the door to create whatever semblance of distance between us. With the limited space we had, my breasts brushed against the tops of his abdominal muscles. His eyes darted to the lack of space between us—to my cold, hard nipples raking against his solid body.
His breath grew heavy with agitation. I almost matched him when I felt a sudden twitch against my lower abdomen. I was about to glance down when Jonathan shoved me gently to the side.
“We need to get out of here now,” his irritated voice rumbled out.
He jiggled the doorknob violently and I thought he was going to break it to let us out, but to no avail. We weren’t going to get out of here with him panicking like this.
“Let me try,” I said calmly.
I fumbled around his larger frame to grab the cold doorknob, but he rudely pushed my hand away.
“I’ll just do it myself,” he snapped. His voice was as bitter as the temperature in this tiny space.
He rattled the doorknob so intensely again he might as well have rattled my bones in the process. It wasn’t until he took a step back from the door that I managed to slip into the space between him and the cold metal door, stepping on his feet.
“What the hell, Lina? I told you I’d do it myself—” he heaved.
“At the rate you’re going, you’ll break something. If you want to sleep here for the night, be my fucking guest,” I snapped back, shuffling into place in front of him.
His body was too close for comfort, but I also wanted to get out. I shuffled again to give him the hint to give me some space.
I hadn’t even touched the doorknob yet when Jonathan yelled. “Stop that!”
“Stop what? I’m trying to get us the hell out of here too!”
I turned to look over my shoulder up at him, stepping back from the door and onto his feet again. It took me a second to register it as I bumped into him. But, even through the thickness of our clothes and my white coat, I could feel the shape of—
My lips parted open as Jonathan scowled. His hot palm came up at once and tightly clasped over my mouth.
“Don’t you fucking dare look at me with your mouth wide open like that, Lina Lee,” he muttered, dangerously low, and I shut my mouth.
Piping gasps of air blew over the top of my head as he gently shoved me out of the way again. Before I could blink, Jonathan forced open the door with another rattle.
A stream of bright light spilled into the janitor’s closet one moment, then his shadow was cast over me the next. He headed down the hallway. His heavy, thundering footsteps echoed through the building.
I bolted out to grab my bag and leave, but he was standing in the break room. Heaving huge gulps of air and drenched in sweat as if we had just escaped the surging waves of an ocean instead of a tiny janitor’s closet.
Our eyes locked as I loudly rushed in. Heat seared intensely through my skin before I ripped my gaze from his.
Instead of looking away like I should have, my eyes dropped to the third leg he grew.
It was tucked neatly to the side of his left thigh, and the black slacks he wore did little to conceal its thickness.
That was what I bumped into the closet earlier. That was also why Jonathan was so desperate to get out.
My lips parted again. Jonathan quickly cleared his throat. I clamped my mouth shut, as if on instinct now. I glanced away as he adjusted himself.
“Your . . . shirt, Dr. Lee,” he mumbled, grabbing my attention. His face flushed red as he glanced at my chest and then away. He waved in my general direction.
I looked down, and my face burned into the same shade as his. My hard, erect nipples could be seen through my bra and cream-colored turtleneck. I quickly tugged my white coat around me. Then, I walked over to the lockers on wobbly legs.
What could’ve been a mere thirty seconds felt like an eternity as I stood there, struggling to retrieve my worn-out, floppy tote bag with shaky hands. Sweat beaded down my back when I finally yanked it out—only for all the tote’s contents to pour out like a waterfall with a loud rip at the seams.
Various items cascaded down the side of the locker and onto the floor; the thuds and clinks were dramatic and violent.
As I tried to catch my wallet before it hit the floor, a thin cardboard box slipped out of a long-forgotten crevice in my bag.
I almost got a hold of it when my tin of mints hit the floor and startled me, causing me to retract for a mere second.
The only thing I could do was watch the box land on the floor with so much force it popped open.
The item inside flew out to greet the world.
My body ignited intensely at the sight of it.
If I could, I’d rather burn into a crisp than face the aftermath of what was unfolding before me.
Jonathan watched as it clicked on and eagerly slid across the tiles to where he stood.
The bright fuchsia pink vibrator my best friend, Mary, got me as a joke for my birthday was now quivering obnoxiously at my manager’s feet.
Mary mentioned she charged it for me so I could learn to let loose, explore my sexuality, and ‘maybe get you to start thinking about dating and finally get laid!’
Well, Jonathan Lo would never be a variable in that equation.