Page 49 of Stalker's Toy

The reason she got in the fucking car, and hours later I no longer had a wife.

Once she's out of the room, I exhale a long, slow breath.

It's temporary, I tell myself.

She's only here for a week.

I just have to survive until then.

But in the pit of my stomach, something twists.

That distance between me and Mia.

It gets longer by the second.

I head home as soon as I can muster the courage.

It’s still afternoon, but hopefully she isn’t there when I walk in the door.

She's thrown me off orbit, left me circling what I want but unable to land.

Moody and restless.

That's me.

An addict with no fix, hungry for Mia but stuck with motherly obligation.

I feel the walls of this place getting tighter, pressing me into corners where I don't belong.

Mia should be in my sights.

I should know what she's doing, where she is, if she's still safe.

If she’s stillmine.

Then again, she'll always be mine.

I won't let anyone else have her.

The longer I'm away, the more I feel it unraveling.

That distance.

That dangerous void where things could shift.

It makes me anxious, not being there.

Not being the first thought in her head.

Not seeing the understanding in her eyes, those green flames, when she knows I’m near.

Unfortunately, due to my mother staying here, I had to give her the week off.

An entire week.

It’s unacceptable on the best of days, but these aren’t the best of days.

They’re the worst.

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