Compulsion: Magnetic Desires Read Online Free

stare at his feet.
    "Friends?"
    "Yes, Dad. Orion’s my best friend." Clo tucked her hand into my elbow.
    "Right," he drawled, darting a glance between the two of us. "Why don’t you have friends that are girls?" Then he turned on his heel and headed into the dining room, calling over his shoulder, "Dinner is now."
    "Your dad is... scary," I whispered, hoping it would come out comical, and not how I felt. "I mean, really scary."
    Clo took my arm. "No. He’s a pussy cat."
    Mr. Williams stood drumming his fingers on the back of his chair when we entered, and pointed to the one beside him. "Orion, you can sit here and we can have a chat, man-to-man."
    Since when had family dinner counted as a birthday party? I nudged her with my knee, and she gave me a tight smile while Mrs. Williams served dinner.
    "So you’re not the boyfriend?" Mr. Williams asked.
    I was sure we had already established the fact that I wasn’t, but his shrewd gaze seemed to see straight through me. I shifted in my seat. "No sir, I’m not."
    "How is it you’re such good friends with my daughter, then?"
    "We hang out with the same group of people, and she’s been tutoring me."
    "You’re friends with this Zack fellow, who’s dating my daughter?" he interrupted, before I could finish answering his first question.
    "You could say that." Not that I would.
    "What do you mean?" Mr. Williams asked.
    "We grew up together."
    "Right." The way he drew that one word out was disconcerting. "Are you in the habit of getting close with your friends’ girlfriends?"
    I choked as a lump wedged itself in my throat, and reached for my drink.
    "Dad." Clo rolled her eyes. "You know how hard it is for me to make friends. The girls at this school are super cliquey."
    He turned his gaze to her. "I just don’t understand why you make friends with these guys who want more than your friendship."
    Oh fuck, did he have me pegged. Clo blanched, and then her cheeks heated and she hung her head, her hair cascading to cover her embarrassment.
    I cleared my throat. "It’s not like that Mr. Williams. I have a lot of friends who are girls. Clo and I, we just get along really well. That’s all."
    He cocked his head to the side, considering my answer. "She does seem to have trouble making friends."
    I expected more. I waited for him to continue, but he turned his focus to his dinner, silent for the rest of the meal.
    Mrs. Williams seemed to go the opposite way. She filled the silence with random remarks about her day at the spa. Clo kept her head down, and pushed food around her plate without putting any in her mouth.
    Mr. Williams pushed his plate away, drawing everyone’s attention to him. "Genevieve, get the cake."
    "Clo hasn’t finished dinner, and Zack isn’t here. Shouldn’t we wait?"
    "I’ll be having a talk to that boyfriend of yours." He pointed a finger at Clo.
    That was a conversation I wouldn’t want to be at the receiving end of. I glanced at my watch. Mr. Williams turned to his wife. "I have to get back to work. Can we, at least, cut the cake?"
    Clo jumped up and cleared the plates, and her mom went into the kitchen, returning with a cake box.
    She lifted the lid to reveal a chocolate cake with Happy Birthday scrawled over the top in pink icing. Clo hated chocolate cake. How did they not know that about her? Her dad, in his gruff manner, cared, but he was too busy to spend time with her, and her mom seemed too wrapped up in herself.
    My parents drove me crazy. My sister was an annoying brat, but our family dinners were loud and happy, and birthdays were bigger. For Clo, it was the one night she got to have dinner with both her parents. I squeezed her hand under the table.
    When her father left, Clo took my hand and led the way to her room. "I’m sorry for making you come. I hoped with you and Zack here, it wouldn’t be so uncomfortable, but I was wrong. It was worse."
    I held onto her hand until she pulled away. "This is normal for your family?"
    "Every birthday." She