Page 52 of Obsession on Repeat
"I’m sorry if I’m not comforted by that. You told me nothing was happening between you two."
"Nothing is happening."
"Rory, the whole world thinks otherwise." His voice finally cracked a little. "And if I’m being honest? So do I."
I pressed a hand to my chest, trying to breathe. "You don’t get to say that. Not when you’ve been distant, not when you haven’t been calling me."
"I was trying to protect you! Trying to keep you out of this mess, to give you some privacy, but instead, you walked right into it with someone else."
"I didn’t plan this."
"You let it happen. I don’t think deep down you cared how it would appear to everyone, especially me."
His words hit harder than I expected. I slumped against the couch, wondering how this suddenly spiraled into something uncontrollable. I hadn’t gotten drunk with the intention to hurt anyone. I had simply wanted to escape for a split second, to disappear from the mess that was suddenly my life.
"Are we breaking up?"
He didn’t answer right away. "I don’t know what we're doing anymore."
This time, he didn’t say he loved me. He simply hung up.
Forty-eight hours passed. He hadn’t called. There were no texts or messages explaining he needed distance or time. I told myself it didn’t hurt. That it was probably for the best, and I deserved it. Back at Euphoria, the music felt too loud, the lights too bright. The set list was solid, the crowd responsive, but everything inside me felt off.
I kept my head down, focusing on transitions, resisting every instinct to glance around for connection. I hadn’t seen Asher since the morning after the photo went viral.He hadn’t tried to talk to me, and somehow that made everything worse.
"You’ve been running at Level Ten Avoidance since you walked in tonight." Gina slid into the booth, shutting the door quietly behind her. "You gonna tell me what’s up, or do I have to pretend I haven’t seen the headlines?"
I kept my hands on the mixer. "There’s nothing to tell."
She raised an eyebrow. "So the photos were a collective fever dream?"
"Nothing happened. I was drunk. He gave me a ride."
"But you didn’t go home."
"I didn’t want to go back to an empty house." My voice cracked on the last word, and I hated it.
"Okay. So nothing happened… but something’s happening."
I didn’t respond.
Gina sighed. "Have you talked to Sullivan?"
I shook my head, watching the lights swirl across the dance floor. "He hasn’t called or answered any of my texts. I can’t blame him for ignoring me. I told him I loved him, and then he had to see pictures of me and Asher…" I ground my teeth together. "Nothing happened, it was a fucking error in judgment, and it’s turned into be a malicious lie. Now, Sullivan won’t won’t call, and Asher won’t look at me."
"You’re literally stuck in the worst episode of The Bachelor."
I laughed, though I felt like crying. "Yeah, except the only thing I’m getting is a scandal for ratings."
She nudged my arm with hers. "He’s here, by the way. He came in an hour ago. He’s been hiding in his office for most of the night."
"He knows where I’m at, if he wanted to talk to me, he would have already."
"Maybe he’s waiting for you to make that first move. You said nothing happened, that it was a misunderstanding. If there’s one thing I know for sure about Asher, it’s that if he says something, he means it. Maybe you should ask yourself exactly what it is you’re waiting on, him to call or for you to decide what truly makes you happy."
I looked at her. "He’s my boyfriend."
"Is he?" She walked out of the booth before I could answer her.
