Page 127 of Obsession

The doubt in her eyes makes me feel like I’m suffocating, and suddenly, I’m the same boy standing in front of that burning house, on the verge of losing everything. My voice lowers to a hoarse whisper. “Why? Would it be that bad?” I ask, vulnerable as hell. “Do you loathe the idea of loving me that much?”

I can see her searching my eyes, and her voice is hollow. “I’ve never been in love before, but I have a feeling that if you break my heart, I won’t survive it. I don’t want to take that risk.”

I hate that this isn’t an innocent college student talking to me. It’s a woman who’s experienced far too much pain in life and has lost faith in people. I can see inside of her how tattered and broken she truly is. It only makes me want to hold her even closer.

“What if I promise not to break your heart?”

She shakes her head disbelievingly. “You can’t make that guarantee, Hunter. No one can. You’re taking a gamble, and my pain is the price.”

I study her, an urgent feeling seizing my chest. I can’t let her run away from this. I won’t. It’s too late for running.

“You, of all people, should know that everything in life is a gamble. You getting a scholarship into an art institute was a gamble. You coming and working here was a gamble. Sleeping with me was a gamble. Everything you’ve achieved in life has been through hard work, but it’s also been a coin toss. So why not us?”

Chapter 46

Whenever, However and Always

MEGAN

Why not us?

I stare up at the man whom I’m already falling in love with.

My heart is racing.

He’s usually so calm and composed, not a hair out of place. Even in his anger, he’s like a frigid glacier, an immovable mountain. And yet right now, in front of me, he looks worked up, furious, his grey eyes boring into mine, demanding an answer—willing me to tell him exactly what he wants to hear.

I’ve spouted lie after lie at him, hoping that he bought my deceit and believed that I was content with a physical relationship. I hoped that if I said it fiercely enough, with just the right amount of conviction, even I would begin to believe it.

I never expected this reaction.

“So...” I choke on my salvia, feeling disoriented. “Do you want to date me?” I finally ask after a long moment, and I can hear the disbelief in my voice.

“That’s a start,” Hunter says with a tight facial expression.

“Why?” The question slips out of me before I can reel it back in. He stares at me, and his hands finally loosen their grip on my arms.

“Other than the possibility of being hurt, which is the chance all humans take, I need to know why you’re so afraid of falling in love with me. After all, while you may know about some of the darkest parts of me, you can also see that there’s some light, too.”

My heart crawls up my throat as he puts me on the spot. I don’t want to answer his question, and I can tell that he knows it. I’m just not sure that I have any more lies left in me.

“You have five seconds,” he warns.

“I don’t know how to explain it,” I try bullshitting him.

“Try.”

“It doesn’t make any sense.”

“It will to me.”

I lower my eyes from his. I’m not sure that I can look at him as I say the words. “You make me feel safe.”

“Is that it?”

I raise my eyes back to his. The disappointment in his gaze is crippling, but if he wants more of an explanation, I’ll give it to him.

“Ever since you walked into my life, everything has changed. I feel hopeful about my work, where I live, and even my life at school. You’ve been kind to me, and you protect me. It’s a nice feeling to know that someone has my back, and when I’m around you, I can see a better future, a happier one than the mediocre one I imagined.”

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