Page 31 of The Obsession

“Mom—” My voice was strangled, small. It was drowned out by the other sounds—Mom chattering as she poured juice for all of us, the pan sizzling as Logan cracked eggs into it. Dimly, I felt myself sinking into a chair. My legs had given out beneath me. “Mom—” I tried again, louder this time, and Logan turned his head and snapped his gaze on mine. I choked on my next words. He was still smiling his easy smile, but his eyes were steel, a warning etched into the hard lines of his mouth.

“Yes, sweetie?” Mom was too busy poking inside a paper bag. She missed the look of horror that passed across my face. “Which bagel do you want? Sesame? Poppy seed? Plain?”

I tore my eyes from Logan’s, my heart racing. I couldn’t do it. He’d tell her everything. He’d show her the video, show her how I’d walked past Brandon’s Camaro and then turned around and put my foot out and tripped the jack—

I forced a smile. “I’ll have a sesame one. Thanks.”

Mom winked at me when she passed me my bagel. Lowering her voice, she leaned close and said, “I like him, sweetie. I think he’s a keeper.”

Mom always did have the worst taste in guys.

Chapter Ten

Logan

By the time we finished our breakfast, it was time to go. Delilah mumbled something about catching the bus to get to school, but you could tell her heart wasn’t in it. We both knew I would insist on driving us to school, and her mom would tell her riding the bus was ridiculous given I had a car and was also going to Draycott. We walked out of the house with Delilah’s mom telling me I was welcome at their place anytime.

Anytime, Logan, when you get tired of boarding school food.

I laughed when Delilah jerked open the door to the car. This was something I loved about her. I knew that hidden deep beneath the thick layers of shyness, Delilah had a temper that was always bubbling, constantly on the edge of erupting. It was a privilege to know this side of her, the side she’d kept hidden so well that nobody else knew about it. Nobody but me. Months down the road, when we’d be solidly, definitely, In a Relationship, we’d surely get into some passionate fights because of her temper, and I couldn’t wait for that to happen, to have Delilah be comfortable enough to show me everything, all the raw, red edges she’d hidden for so long. But for now, I couldn’t let that spark get the better of her. She wasn’t thinking straight, what with all that happened in the past couple of weeks. It was up to me to be the rational one. If I wasn’t careful, she’d end up burning both of us down.

Sure enough, the moment we were ensconced in the cocoon of the car, Delilah jabbed a finger into my chest and hissed, “Never, ever show up at my house again, you freak.”

I won’t lie, that hurt. I knew I shouldn’t let it. People say all sorts of terrible things in the heat of the moment that they later regret, and this was obviously one of those times, but still.You freak. Freak.

It was something Mom called me. When she found my Sophie box—the strands of hair, the old sock I’d managed to steal from Sophie’s gym bag.

It stung. I’d even brought bagels.Deep breaths.I wasn’t a freak. I just had a bit of difficulty controlling my impulses. But as long as I understood that about myself, I’d be fine. Perfectly fine.

When I finally managed to shake Mom’s voice out of my head, I forced a smile. “Dee, take a deep breath.”

“Don’t tell me to take a deep breath!” she cried. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do, Logan, but whatever it is, you are not welcome at my house, okay, you asshole?”

Christ, the girl was brutal. I tried again.Love is patient.“You’re stressed out—”

“Hell yes, I’m stressed out! You know why? Because I freaking murdered my mom’s boyfriend and now it turns out you’ve recorded it and I don’t know—I don’t understand what it is you want!”

“I want you to give us a chance,” I said in calm, measured tones.Love is kind.

She looked at me like I’d grown another head. “Yes, but I don’t get it. You know what I did. You know I’m a killer. Why would you want to go out with me? Logan, look at you. You’re a real catch. You can date anyone you want.”

I wanted to shake her. I hated having to sit here and listen to her say these things, because what was she really saying? “You can date anyone you want” means “Why me?” I hated how she’d been so broken by Detective Jackson that she’d think of herself in this way. How could she believe she wasn’t worthy of me? Of anyone? But over time, I’d make her see I wasn’t out of her league. We were perfect for each other, she’d see that soon enough. I looked her straight in the eye, unflinching, and said, “I want to dateyou.”

She stared at me like the head I’d just grown had started licking my other head. “But why?”

“When you meet the love of your life, you know. It’s useless trying to pin any sort of logic to it. You might as well try to solve a calculus problem by chewing gum. And Dee, you need to know this about you: You’re amazing. You’re perfect. You can date just about anyoneyouwant.”

“Logan—” She stopped herself and took a deep breath. When she spoke again, her voice was lower, but there was a tremor in it. “You don’t know me. You can’t possibly know that you love me.”

I wanted to shake her. Why did she keep questioning it? Questioning us? She wasn’t supposed to fight this hard.

Deep breaths.

“Look, I get that it’s going to take some time for you to accept that we’re meant to be with each other. And that’s okay. We have all the time in the world. I told you, I’m willing to go at your pace”—I held my finger up when she opened her mouth to speak—“as long as it’s moving forward.”

She sat there for a while, staring at me, breathing hard. My chest tightened with guilt. This wasn’t what I wanted. The last thing I needed was for Delilah to fear me the way she feared Detective Jackson. I had to make her see I was nothing like him.

“Just spend some time with me,” I said kindly, and my heart ached because Delilah wasn’t used to kind, wasn’t used to being handled with tenderness. “You’ll see it’s really not as bad as you think.”

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