Page 11 of Obsession on Repeat
"Spare me the inspirational soundbites," I rolled my eyes. "I’ve heard them before."
"And yet here you are, eating strawberries and letting me look at you like you hung the damn stars."
I scoffed, but the sound wobbled. "You’re good at making it sound as if this matters."
"It does matter, Rory."
"Why? Because we kissed in a club? Because I’m the first girl to challenge you?"
"Because when I’m with you, I don’t have to pretend. I don’t have to be the version of me they put in magazines." His hand brushed my wrist, deliberate but gentle. "Tell me you don’t feel it too," he murmured, "and I’ll stop."
I looked away, toward the waves, the sky, anything but him. A little boy was burying his father’s hand in the sand a few feet away, their laughter soft under the breeze. "I didn’t realize it was getting so late."
His touch shifted, but he didn’t press the subject. "Well, look on the bright side. Tomorrow’s your day off."
I nodded, fingers tracing slow patterns in the sand. "Yeah, I plan on sleeping until the sun gives up."
"Good for you. You deserve a break." He watched me climb to my feet. "Did I say something wrong?"
"Not at all." I flashed him a small smile. "I really need to head to work to start setting up."
"Sure, whatever you want." Sullivan stood and leaned in to kiss me.
I kissed him back. My hands slid into his hair, his grip tightening around my waist.
Click.
We both froze.
A second click followed. I turned, pulse stuttering in my throat. He stiffened beside me, his hands slipping away as his eyes scanned the beach. Half-hidden behind a dune, a man stood with a camera, lens raised, posture unmistakable. Another shutter snapped.
He swore under his breath. "They must have followed us."
It was the kind of reaction that alerted me this wasn’t new to him. But it was new to me. All I could do was stare. Throat tight, I tried to distract myself by brushing sand from my jeans. "It’s fine."
"It’s not fine, Rory. We’ll handle it."
"We?" I exhaled hard through my nose. "You’ll be back in LA in two weeks with your PR team spinning the whole thing into a late-night talk show anecdote, and I’ll just be the girl who got played by a famous actor."
"That’s notfair—"
"Isn’t it? You’ll disappear behind a gate in the Hills. I’ll be here, fielding phone calls from people who suddenly remember my name."
He took a step toward me. "I didn’t ask for that camera to show up."
"No, but you brought me into your world without thinking about the consequences."
"I brought you into my life, Rory. There’s a difference."
I crossed my arms, the wind catching strands of my hair. "You say all the right things. You show up, you make me feel like I matter, and maybe you mean it. But you’ll leave. That’s what people like you do."
He looked at me for a long moment, it seemed he was trying to figure out how much of me had already been damaged before he ever arrived. "I’m not trying to hurt you."
"Then stop acting like you won’t."
We stood in silence, the ocean roaring behind us, the world feeling a little too big and a little too exposed.
He didn’t try to touch me again. "Okay."
