Page 39 of Their Obsession

“Take a seat,” she surprises me by motioning to the chair next to her.

I glance awkwardly between the empty seat and my car. I could make a dash for it, run to my car and drive away. She’s old and out of shape, I could outrun her. But she’s my girlfriend’s mom. I probably should try to make a good impression.Right?As much as I really don’t want to sit and talk to this blonde woman, my need to be with Lilly outweighs my desire to run away from whatever awkward crap this is.

“Thanks, Mrs. Pettersen.” I sit on the edge of the seat, ready to be on my feet and down the street in a second should shit get weird.

“I know you’ve been fucking my daughter,” she states matter-of-factly before taking a long drag from her cigarette. She blows out the smoke through pursed lips.

My stomach plummets. I try to swallow but the lump in mythroat is bulging as panic throbs through my veins.Oh, fuck.

“She’s too good for you,” she states before taking yet another drag.

I pull in a deep breath before slowly releasing it and trying to calm myself down enough to sound confident in my reply. “I love your daughter, Mrs. Pettersen. I would do anything for her.”

“I’m sure you lovefuckingmy daughter.” Her tone is cold, unfeeling. It makes my blood boil that she would think so little of me, and worse, so little of her daughter. Lilly isn’t some dumb, weak woman. She knows her mind and is able to stand up for herself when she needs to. “But she’s not just some hole for you to stick your filthy little cock in, boy.”

Her words sting. I know I’m not good enough for Lilly, but still, hearing it stated out loud hurts.

“I care about her. I’m not just sleeping with her. She makes me happy and I make her happy. I know her better than anyone, maybe even better than you do,” I state confidently. Maybe if I can make her understand, she’ll come around.

“Do you know who her father is?” Mrs. Pettersen’s eyes fall to me as she assesses me. She looks unimpressed. “He could bury your career before it even starts.”

The threat is laughable. I scoff loudly and shake my head. “With all due respect, Mrs. Pettersen, the only reason I’ve ever even stepped foot on the ice was to impress your daughter.”

Her eyes narrow and her top lip raises in a slight sneer, which muddies her usual pristine exterior. She stubs out her cigarette in the ashtray beside us. The stale stench of smoke laying thick across my palette. I struggle to keep my face neutral.

“Your father works at the factory across town, correct?” she asks but I know she knows the answer. I don’t even reply. “The factory that’s owned in part by my father, correct?”

Lilliana’s mother’s family is old money. The type who have been here for so long that they practically run this town. Iswallow down the lump in my throat and hang my head. The feeling of hopelessness settles in my gut.

“You’ll ruin any attempt she has at a future. She doesn’t need to be stuck with some wannabe hockey player who comes from a family that barely speaks English. She has a bright future ahead of her. If you truly care about her, you’ll let her flourish.”

Her words break something inside my chest. My family may not be wealthy like the Pettersens but that doesn’t mean we’re trash. I’m not trash. I know Lilly better than anyone, and I do want what’s best for her.

“She has a full ride scholarship offer, you know,” her mom continues.

My face snaps to her, and her face shifts. She knows she got me.

I didn’t know that Lilly was offered a scholarship.Why would she not tell me that?

“Where?” My voice trembles more than I’d like as I struggle to maintain my composure. Rain drops drip from my wet hair and nose down my face, but I barely feel them, not against the growing ache in my chest.

“Southern U,” her mom says with a shrug of her shoulders.

We agreed to go to Northeastern College together.Am I holding her back? Is she really going to give up her future for me?I can’t let her do that. But I can’t lose her either.

“They have the best psychology program that there is. It feeds directly into their graduate program. She has a full ride and an offer for an internship. It’s the future she deserves. The future she’s worked so hard for.” Mrs. Pettersen’s gaze bores into me from my side but I can’t bring myself to meet her eyes. I stare blankly at my hands as I wring my fingers. “You don’t want to take that future from her, do you?”

I don’t know how to answer. And even if I did, I couldn’t. The swelling pain growing in my core is suffocating me. I feel as if Ican’t breathe.

“If you love her, you’ll let her go,” her mother says as she rises to her feet. She adjusts her cream-colored silk robe to keep it firmly closed before she walks across the porch towards the front door. Before she closes the door behind her, she calls back at me over her shoulder, “She deserves so much more than you can offer her.”

I register the sound of the door closing in my periphery. I can’t move. I’m stuck in my seat, trying desperately to weed through the tangled mess of emotions and options.

I sit for what feels like hours. The rain is a steady soundtrack to my pain. Finally, I realize what I have to do. As much as it might hurt me, her mother is right—Lilly deserves the future she’s always dreamed of. I couldn’t live with myself if I stood in her way. I have to let her be free.

If I want her to be happy, then I’m going to have to break her heart.

TWENTY-THREE

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