Page 23 of His Secret Obsession

His hand reaches out, brushing along his jacket. I jerk out of his grasp and quicken my pace.

“Maddison—”

“Don’t!” I snap as I whirl around, my voice coming out so harshly he flinches. “Just leave me alone, Jax.”

I can’t talk to him right now.

I can’t.

Maddison

“This is damaged. Are you going to discount it?” An elderly, brown-haired lady with a pinched expression points to a spot on the ceramic lamp she’s holding.

I study the lamp, my eyes narrowing before I turn to the woman. “I can do ten percent,” I reply tersely.

“Ten percent! That’s a low-ball offer!” She huffs, frowning at me before pointing back to the imaginary damage that doesn’t exist. It’s an ugly lamp, but it’s in perfect shape. “I mean, do you want me to spend my money or not? Look at that. It’s like buying second-hand goods!”

“You know what?” I plaster on a saccharine, sweet smile as I yank the lamp out of her hands. She gasps, her eyes going round. “You make a good point. I’ll drop it off at the Goodwill store on my way home.”

Hazel gapes at me as I march up to the register before slamming the over-priced lamp into the trash can. The disgruntled customer mumbles under her breath, shooting me a disappointed expression as she rushes out the door.

Hazel begins to cackle. “Holy shit! Do you think we could hack into the surveillance system so I can get a still frame of that moment?” She dips down at the waist, doing a mocking bow. “That was some passive-aggressive shit and I loved it.” She shakes her head, grinning at me. I let out a small chuckle. But then her smile fades, and she looks concerned. “Are you okay, Maddie?” She leans in a little closer to me and lowers her voice to a whisper. “Are you still thinking about Luke?”

I shake my head, but then my shoulders slump a little and I nod.

It’s been about a week since the fiasco at Luke’s going-away party, and Hazel has been nice enough to let me sleep on her couch. We spent the weekend binge eating ice cream and chips while I spilled all my feelings to her. I told her everything, and not only about Luke and his infidelity. Hazel is the first person I’ve ever felt comfortable enough with to talk about my sort-of past with Jax. And she’s been nothing but supportive.

Luke has been texting and calling me every day, and I’ve ignored every single one of his attempts to contact me. But what really surprises me is how Jax has been doing the same, and I have no clue why. I haven’t responded to any of his messages either.

“Maybe it shouldn’t bother me so much since I was going to break things off with him anyway. And honestly, maybe it’s what I deserve after what happened with Jax.” I swallow, my pulsefluttering nervously as I work up the courage to ask what’s been on my mind all day. “Do you think I’m a cheater, too? For letting Jax watch us like he did?” I study her face carefully.

“I think…” Hazel trails off, her lips twisting to the side as she thinks. “I think that’s a complicated question only you can answer, honey.”

My heart sinks a little and I avert my eyes, chewing on my bottom lip.

Hazel gently squeezes my shoulder. “I think the real question should be, why did you stay in a loveless relationship for so long?” she asks softly.

“It wasn’t always loveless.”

She gives me a sympathetic expression. “Of course not. But it does sound like it fizzled out a long time ago. I’m perpetually single so I probably wouldn’t take relationship advice from me, but if you want to do some soul-searching, that’s the question I would start with.” Then she gets a mischievous sparkle in her eyes, her mouth pulling into a smirk as her elbow jabs me. “Or you could find a sexy rebound and fuck him out of your system.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready for something like that.”

She waggles her eyebrows. “Some no-strings attached sex might be good for you.” Then her eyes widen and she snaps her fingers. “What about the older brother? You could get some revenge at the same time!”

“Hazel!” I push lightly on her shoulder. “I can’t go after his brother!”

She shrugs. “Why not? There’s obviously some unresolved attraction there.”

I give her an admonishing look. “I don’t want to hurt either of them. Jax would never do that to his brother anyway, and I’m not sure if he would even still be interested in me like that.”

“He watched his brother fuck you while he jacked himself off,” Hazel says, giving me an incredulous look. “Trust me, he’s still interested.”

A huff of laughter escapes me, and I shake my head. “I don’t know, maybe it was just something he did in the heat of the moment.”

Hazel rolls her eyes. “Fine then, keep living in denial. But if you do decide to fuck him, I’m going to need all the details so I can live vicariously through you.”

A burst of laughter erupts from me, and I push on her shoulder. “Hazel!”

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