Page 39 of Obsession on Repeat
"Then why am I doubting everything?"
"Because you’re human. Because letting someone in is agreeing to opening yourself to all kinds of pain." She squeezed my hand briefly. "But maybe it’s time to figure out if he’s worth the risk."
I took a deep breath, nodding slowly. "Maybe it is."
"For the record, if you do go, I’m stealing allyour good playlists."
I didn’t wait until morning to call him back. The conversation with Gina echoed through my thoughts, replaying like lyrics stuck on repeat. The second I entered the house, I opened my phone.
"Rory?" He picked up on the second ring, voice heavy with sleep. "Everything okay?"
"Can we talk?"
He was instantly alert. "Of course. What’s going on?"
I sank onto the couch, pulling a pillow tight against my chest. I inhaled deeply, steadying myself. "I’m scared, terrified, actually, of how quickly things have changed."
"It’s been an entire month since you moved in with me, and you haven’t spoken a word about this, about how you feel." He sighed softly. "Is that why you can’t say I love you back?"
My heart twisted painfully. "Yes. Because saying it gives up control entirely. And what if I’m not enough? What if this blows up, and I’m left alone in a city I don’t know, after giving up everything here?"
"Rory, it kills me that you’ve been carrying this alone. I love you, but that doesn’t mean I want you to lose yourself.I don’t need you to sacrifice everything to prove anything to me."
"I don’t want to lose you."
"You won’t, not unless you push me away, and then, I’d probably be around, annoyingly persistent."
I laughed, the tension finally loosening in my chest. "That does sound like you."
"Look, I know it’s scary. I’m scared, too, but I told you we’d figure it out together. We can slow down. If you need to find a place of your own, it’d hurt, but I’d understand."
"I don’t want to find another place to live." I hesitated. "I do love you. I’m sorry I’m telling you for the first time over the phone."
"I know, but hearing you finally say it back? Totally worth the wait. Do you feel better now?"
I smiled softly into the phone. "Much better."
I had barely finished my first cup of coffee when my phone began to buzz from where I had discarded it onto the coffee table. Sitting down my mug, I glanced at the screen, expecting a text from Sullivan or maybe a notificationfrom the club group chat about tonight’s shift, but instead I saw a flood of notifications.
My stomach sank. There was a flood of tagged photos followed by comments on social media. My phone buzzed again in my hand as articles began to pop up in bubbles across the screen.
I tapped the first notification, pulse quickening as the image loaded.
Sullivan Masters' Mystery Girlfriend Has Moved to LA? Are we looking at the newest power couple taking Hollywood by storm?
I sank down onto my couch, feeling sick. My phone rang again. His name flashed urgently, and I answered.
He didn’t greet me, his voice already tense. "Eric told me about the articles. It somehow leaked that you’re with me now in LA."
"It was only a matter of time. You’re famous, Sully. Have you talked to anyone about me?"
"No one I wouldn’t trust completely. I swear I didn’t leak anything." He sighed. "My life isn’t normal, but it’s part of being with me. It might never go away completely."
"I knew that when I agreed to move back here." I chewed my bottom lip, mind spinning in circles. "This is going tobe Australia all over again, with them hounding me and finding me at my job. Shit. I need to talk to Vanessa."
"I can get Eric to try to do some damage control, maybe we should look into hiring you some bodyguards."
I frowned at the suggestion. "Absolutely not. That’s not who I am. I won’t live that way."
