Page 63 of Obsession on Repeat
I grabbed my jacket from the back of the couch. He didn’t move or try to stop me. He sat there, jaw clenched.
My hand on the knob of the door, I paused with my back to him. "I’m not walking away from you," I whispered. "I’m walking away from the version of me that lets other people decide who I am." I waited for him to say something, but he didn’t.
I opened the door, stepped into the hallway, and closed it gently behind me.
The next few days, I buried myself in work, hours at the club, rehearsals, schedules, mixes. Every time Asher texted, I answered. Every time he stopped by the booth, I smiled. I wasn’t cruel. I simply wasn’t… available. He noticed. He didn’t say anything, not directly to me, but his touches were gentler. His gaze lingered longer. It wasn’t about him. It was everything else.
The change was subtle at first. A slower reply to my texts. A missed call he didn’t follow up on. A night where he didn’t stop by the booth at all. And then one night… he wasn’t there. Not missing from the crowd but gone.
I tried to brush it off. I didn’t have the right to expect anything. Still, I found myself scanning the floor more than usual. Looking for that familiar shape leaning against the wall, arms crossed, eyes only on me. Nothing.
Gina caught me pacing near the bar, fingers fidgeting with the hem of my sleeve.
"Looking for someone?"
"What?"
She didn’t smirk or tease me. "He’s not here, Ro. You’re not the only one who feels things, you know. You pulled away, and now he’s pulling away, too."
"It’s not that I don’t want him."
"I get it. You’re scared you do, especially after everything that happened with Sullivan."
That’s when it landed. This wasn’t about fear of being seen. It was about fear of needing someone who might not always wait.
Without another word to her, I left the club, focused on nothing more than reaching him. His house sat dark from the street, windows glowing faint gold from one room. I stood on the sidewalk for a full minute before I buzzed hisdoor. He didn’t answer right away. I started to turn around when I heard the click of the lock.
The door opened slowly, revealing Asher in sweatpants and a black t-shirt, barefoot, hair slightly damp like he’d recently gotten out of the shower. At first he didn’t say anything and neither did I. He didn’t stop me when I stepped inside.
"I know I’ve been distant." I shut the door behind me. "And I know you’ve noticed." When he didn’t react, I rushed onward. "I didn’t mean to hurt you." I let out a shaky breath. "I told myself I was protecting us by pulling back. I see now that wasn’t true because I was protecting only myself. I was trying to stop from falling too hard, from needing you too much."
His jaw clenched.
"And then you stopped showing up," I whispered. "That’s when I realized I already do. I miss you, not the texts or the sex, but you. I can breathe when you're around. I miss that version of me I become when you’re around."
He stepped closer in one slow movement. "Why now?"
"Because I thought I was being smart by holding back. All I was doing was watching something real walk away." I fidgeted with my hands, my shirt, anything to ground me to reality. "I don’t want to be afraid of this anymore."
"What are you saying, Rory?"
"I’m saying I’m all in if you still want me."
His hand reached up, fingers brushing the side of my face. "Come here."
I went to him willingly, wrapping my arms around him as if I feared I’d fall, and I closed my eyes at the feeling of him holding me almost so tightly I couldn’t breathe.
Asher leaned back to look at me. His eyes searched mine. Whatever he saw there must’ve been enough, because he smiled, and he bent to kiss me, anchoring us back together, one heartbeat at a time.
19
Itwasn’tsomeredcarpet moment. It was a normal night at Euphoria. The kind of night with a smaller crowd. Industry people, insiders, regulars who knew the club’s heartbeat by name. The lights were low and the bass steady, the atmosphere electric in that effortless kind of way. I was adjusting the tempo on the second set when I felt it, a subtle shift in the air. I didn’t look over my shoulder, simply finishing my track before I stepped away from the table.
Asher was near the edge of the floor, in a fitted jacket and black tee, a drink in his hand. The second our eyes met, his mouth curved, an expression that shouted to the world, mine.
I walked straight into his space, placed my hand lightly on his chest, and stood on my toes to kiss him. There was nothing shy about the caress, nothing showing an uncertainty, but one that made a firm statement.
The room didn’t gasp. There weren’t camera flashes, only a hum of awareness. A few people exchanged knowing glances, and there was no mistaking Gina’s slow-clap from across the bar.
