Page 14 of Pretty Obsessed

“Yeah…” How did one exactly explain making out?

"You should, but I don't think you will."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because you're too concerned about being the good guy. You’re so fixed on not being your father you are limiting yourself. Look where you pushed yourself to. A blow job in a club. Find this girl. You won’t hurt her by reaching out.” He rolled his eyes and turned to face the city with me. "Where are we?"

"Chicago."

“Oh…” He nodded.

Chicago was home. We’d all grown up here, and he didn’t recognize the skyline. I wasn’t sure I wanted to deal with what that meant.

“I might go for a walk,” he said.

"At four-thirty in the morning?"

"Yeah, I need to clear my head."

"Make sure your bodyguard goes." The last thing I needed was him getting mauled by someone, or robbed.

“Meh.”

"You're wrong by the way.”

“Huh?” he asked.

“I’ve got to find them.”

“How are you going to do that?” Iris asked.

“I have way too much money and a lot of people who want to make me happy. I don’t think it will be that hard.”

“I guess fame does have its upside. Who would have known?” Iris laughed. “Good luck.”

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“A walk, I told you. We have a week off, I’m going to go get lost.”

“Lost?” I asked.

“Yes. I wander around in the dark when I don’t have anything better to do.”

Was he serious? “Is that safe?”

“There is something poetic about this time of night. No one is looking for a celebrity. They’re all trying to get where they’re going in a rush, and no one pays me any mind. It’s the only time I feel human. The only time I can interact with the world and not have it resist me. I crave it.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” I felt bad for the way I’d been neglecting him and leaving him to Cas to deal with.

He gave me a soft smile and shook his head. “No. You have someone to find. Good luck.”

Three

River Wade

"Any luck?"

I hadn't heard my hotel room door open, but in it stood Iris, soaked to the bone from the sudden storm that came out of nowhere after he’d left for his walk. "You're going to catch a cold."

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