Page 56 of Obsession on Repeat
Without another word, he walked out.
I sagged into the desk chair. I hit Print and almost cried in relief as the printer worked perfectly, the papers slidingeasily into the tray.
Two days later, I was in the break room at Euphoria, warming up takeout, scrolling through my phone like it was any other quiet moment, until the notification popped up.
Sullivan Masters Confirms Breakup with DJ Fetish.
My thumb hovered. I tapped the link. The quote that appeared next was polished, probably drafted by a PR rep in under ten minutes without a thought to the fact that real humans were involved.
"After a lot of reflection, Rory and I have decided to end our relationship. It wasn’t an easy choice, but it was a necessary one. I have the deepest respect for her and the time we shared. We kindly ask for privacy as we both move forward."
I snorted under my breath, closing the article, and almost childishly, I tossed my phone onto the table, the thud breaking the silence of the room.
Gina stepped into the break room, raising an eyebrow as she eyed my phone. She sat down beside me at the table. "You okay?"
I turned my phone around to show her the headline.
She winced. "Damn. You didn’t know that was dropping?"
"Nope." I set the phone face-down on the table.
"Want me to go unplug the router and start a fake fire?"
"Tempting, but I’m fine, truly." I was, but it didn’t stop the burn in my chest. I hadn’t realized how final it would feel seeing it in print.
She watched me carefully. "You know they’ll be waiting to see how you respond."
"I’m not going to post anything."
"Nothing at all?"
Shaking my head, I picked at the label on my water bottle. "I don’t care what anyone thinks about it. Let him have the narrative. He’s a celebrity. I’m just a DJ, and that’s the only thing I care about right now, getting back to that."
She nodded, quiet for a second. "You sure you’re okay?"
I wasn’t, not completely, but I was done bleeding for a narrative that didn’t care about the truth. "I’m sure."
"You’re not just a DJ, you know," Gina studied me, her gaze soft with understanding. "You’re a wonderful person who took a chance on love, and it didn’t work out."
I gave her a small smile. "Thanks."
She bumped her shoulder against mine. "Don’t thank me for telling the truth."
17
ONEMONTHLATER
Summer heat clung to the walls, and the dance floor throbbed with sound. I was back in the booth, comfortable, focused, alive in a way I hadn’t been in months. Asher had been everywhere I looked the entire night, arms crossed, not saying a word. Something felt different in the way he watched me. His eyes followed me with a sharper kind of hunger.
The second I stepped out of the room, he was standing in front of me.
"What do you want?"
"Same thing I wanted the day you wouldn’t turn around at the printer."
For weeks, something had been happening, changing in a way I was constantly knocked off balance. Maybe it had always been there, my mind distracted by the whirlwind that was my doomed relationship with Sullivan.
Before I could process what was happening, I grabbed his shirt, clutching it in my hands, dragging him closer as his other hand slid to my waist, pulling me flush against him. His mouth devoured mine, and I kissed him. I’d forgotten every reason I shouldn’t. At that moment, suddenly none of them mattered. We broke apart for breath, and I tugged on his shirt, pulling him across the hall to the storage closet. I had barely shut the door before I was pushed up against it. His hands flattened on either side of my head, his body caging mine in. It didn’t feel close enough.
