Page 6 of His Secret Obsession

“There’s a vacation resort,” he begins. “Way up in the mountains, about three hours from here. They need some help for the winter season. Manning the front desk, answering the phones, taking care of the guests—shit like that,” he says with a shrug.

My heart plummets and I pull back to stare down at him. “Three hours? But that’s—”

“Yeah.” He blows out a long exhale. “I would have to board in one of their rooms for the entire three-month contract.” One ofhis hands slides around to squeeze my hip, and his voice dips into a whisper. “That’s why I wasn’t sure if I should take the job or not, babe, it would be hard as hell to be away from you that long.”

Fuck.

The idea of living alone in this big house with only Jax for company makes my mouth go dry. A sliver of panic crawls down my spine and I shake my head. “Me and your brother barely get along as it is. There’s no way that—”

“Shh, I know,” Luke murmurs. He presses a soft, lingering kiss to my lips before moving to my neck. His teeth nibble at the sensitive spot just beneath my ear, and I hum.

“He offered you a job at his shop. What about that?”

“No fucking way,” Luke grouses, immediately pulling away from me. I crawl off his lap, frustration twisting in my belly as he stands up and begins to pace back and forth.

“Why not?” I ask.

He rolls his eyes. “He’s already on my ass all the time. I can only imagine how much more of a tightwad he’ll be if I work for him.”

Okay, good point.

“Look, I’ll figure it out. Okay?”

I cross my arms, staring at him as he moves across the room and puts his shoes back on. “Are you going somewhere?” I ask.

He pauses, shooting me a guilty look before standing. “Some of my old buddies want to hang out and catch up. I’ll be back later.”

“But we just got here!”

Luke walks up to me, cupping my jaw and giving me a pleading look. “I know, I know,” he says placatingly. “But I really need to blow off some steam. We’ll spend some time together tomorrow, alright?” He leans forward, brushing his lips over mine. Somefrustrated part of me wants to keep arguing, and yet another part of me wants a few moments of silence to myself.

“Fine.”

He taps me on the chin with the back of his knuckle before shooting me a wink. “Thanks, babe.” Spinning on his heel, he strolls out the door, slamming it behind him.

“Love you, too,” I mumble.

Flopping down on the soft mattress beneath me, I stare at the popcorn-style ceiling and listen to the sounds of someone moving around downstairs.

Jax.

There’s a swooping sensation in my stomach, and my breathing speeds up as flashes of the night we met come to me unbidden.

It’s the whole reason why we avoid each other.

The night I almost fucked my boyfriend’s brother.

Maddison

Four Years Ago

If there’s one thing that really grinds my gears, it’s when a person can’t read a room and take a hint. I drain the last of my soda from the corner of a smoke-filled bar, tuning out the sound of my friends’ rambunctious laughter around me as I watch the drunk woman across the room. The petite blonde is sloshed and all but humping the leg of a surly-looking dude, who looks like he’s just trying to tolerate her.

The woman flips her hair over her shoulders, cackling like a hyena while everyone around her shoots her irritated looks. Theman’s face remains stoic, his lips pressed into a firm line while taking a drink of his beer. To the drunk woman’s credit, she has impeccable taste in men. Maybe if the man wasn’t sporting some strong fuck-off vibes, I would have approached him myself. Maybe I would have smiled at him if I wasn’t just now crawling out of an almost year-long hole of numbness and depression. As it is, my friends had to cajole me to come out tonight. They’ve been living it up all year, not wanting to waste a single moment of their college experience when there are so many parties to be had.

I’ve been standing on the outside looking in the entire time.

Maybe ifithadn’t happened, I would be drunk and flirting my way through the room, too. Instead, I’m staring at a black-haired man in a white shirt and Wranglers as he tries to discreetly shrug off the woman’s touch. She gives him a flirtatious smile before slinging an arm over his shoulder and winking at him. She leans in a little closer, the angle of her body showing off her cleavage as she whispers in his ear. The man looks mildly uncomfortable, leaning away in an attempt to put some distance between them. When the woman’s hand grazes across his jean-clad thighs, I see red. Something about this exchange has me silently fuming and seething, wanting to storm over there and rip her hand away.

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