Page 81 of His Secret Obsession

The headlights illuminate the front porch, but neither one of us makes a move to get out of the car. He doesn’t meet my eyes, but he looks like he’s contemplating everything I’m saying. That alone plants a light thread of hope inside me, and it’s enough to give me the courage to continue.

“I kinda kept up with her for a while,” I admit, picking at a cuticle.

“What does that mean?”

“I watched her social media to find out where she went to school, where she worked. Stuff like that.”

“That’s kinda…”

“Stalkerish?” I supply for him. He gives me ayou said it, not melook, and I chuckle. “Yeah, I didn’t want to be a creep, so I quit.” I take in a steadying breath, hoping this next part won’t set him off. But it’s part of the story, and it needs to be told. “I was going to wait until she turned twenty and then approach her. Like ask her out on a date.”

Luke’s head whips around, his eyes flaring wide. “But I started dating her right before she turned twenty. I remember because we hadn’t been together that long. I had just introduced you a few months before and…”

I grimace. “Yup.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” He runs a hand through his hair, dragging the hair tie out as he does. “Why didn’t she? She never mentioned it…” He looks lost, and I wish I could take that away.

I shrug. “We never talked about it. Maybe it didn’t mean that much to her. Maybe she was trying to protect you…I don’t know.”

“Protect me?” He scoffs, but I nod.

“That’s why I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want you to feel insecure or jealous or…whatever.”

“Didn’t keep you from sleeping with her the minute I left.” He leans his head back on the headrest, closing his eyes. Maybe it’s just my imagination, but he doesn’t sound as bitter as he did before.

“The one thing I regret is how my actions hurt you.”

Luke shakes his head, a bark of laughter slipping out. He turns to me with a knowing smile. “I should have known…That night she caught me with another girl at my party, does she know you sucker punched me after she left?”

Oh, right. That. I glance away.

“Didn’t think so.” He huffs out a breathy laugh. “I should have figured it out then that you had feelings for her, but I thoughtyou were just being a self-righteous prick.” His gaze slides back over to me. “So, you love her, huh?”

I look him right in the eyes. “I love that woman with everything I’ve got.”

He looks physically pained when I say the words, so I refrain from elaborating. From telling him how every piece of me will always belong to her, whether she takes me back or not. I’m hers, even if she isn’t mine.

“I think the thing that bothers me most about our break-up is the fact that we were both willing to settle for each other,” he admits, staring down at his hands. “I always thought what we had was love. Maybe we were too young to know any better. We might have loved each other, but I don’t think we were everinlove.” He shrugs. “Not the kind of love the two of you seem to have, anyway.”

He manages to sound only slightly bitter at that.

“If you want to do one last thing for her, then just let her be happy,” I tell him.

“And you think she can be happy with you?”

“I would like to find out.”

He stares out the front windshield, his hands steepled over the steering wheel. We sit in silence and although I’m tense, I don’t push him. After a few minutes, he nods his head, something about the finality of it making my heart flip.

“This is going to be really fucking weird and awkward. It’s going to take me a while to get used to it.”

The butterflies in my stomach are already performing celebratory backflips. “Luke?” I ask cautiously.

He tips his chin towards the front door. “Let’s go inside and have a beer, and you can tell me how you’re gonna get your girl back.”

Maddison

“Ibelieve this is yours.” Irene holds up a piece of green-painted wood that’s been shaped into a mountaintop peak with a clock ticking in the middle. She stares at the clock like she finds it personally offensive, her lips curling into a sneer. I hold my chin up as I meet her unwavering stare.

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