Page 24 of To Obsess

“Text me when you make it home,” I say as we prepare to part ways. “I’ve got to swing by the bookstore and double check the schedule real quick. Plus, there’s a new romantasy book that was supposed to arrive today, so I want to grab that for tonight.” With a quick hug, Abby’s slipping into the back seat of an Uber and whisked out of view.

I walk slowly down the street, taking in deep breaths of the late spring air. I love this time of year. It’s not too hot yet, even if it is a little rainy for my taste, but everything feels so alive after the harshness of winter abates. With a bit of alcohol still buzzing in my veins, life seems more vibrant, and the walk to the bookstore is even more serene than normal.

It takes nearly two more hours before I finally pull in my driveway and shift my car into park. I took my time at the store, chatting with Mrs. Yates and sifting through the new inventory since I won’t be there over the weekend to catalog everything like normal, then made the trek back to the restaurant to pick up my car.

Now it’s dusk, with the sun dropping just below the tree line, casting my yard in deep shadows. Thankfully, I remembered to leave the porch light on when I left to meet Abby.

The camera apps show no movement while I was gone except for the rabbit that hops across my yard nearly every evening at dusk this time of year. When I’ve checked each one, I turn off the car and head inside.

Instead of jumping into the book I picked up from the store, the rest of the night is spent cleaning my house in preparation for my date tomorrow evening. Not that I’m planning on bringing him home, but you never know how it might go, and there’s nothing worse than bringing a date home to a messy house.

After every surface has been cleaned and straightened, I collapse into bed, pulling the blankets over my body and tumbling into a restless sleep.

“I’ve had such a wonderful time tonight,” I say, leaning against the frame of my front door. I look up into Mason’s forest-green eyes with a shy appreciation before glancing away, not trusting myself to hold his gaze for too long.

One corner of his mouth lifts in a smile as he takes me in from head to toe. “I hope that means you’ll allow me to see you again sometime,” he remarks.

I feel the burn of the blush creeping up my neck and into my face from his gaze. “I’d like that,” I finally say, glancing from his eyes down to his lips and back up again. When he leans in, my heart hammers against my chest. It’s not like I haven’t had a hundred first kisses, but the anticipation always makes my pulse race.

Instead, I feel his warm lips against my forehead. “Until next time.” His voice is nearly a whisper, sending electricity racing down my spine. Without another word, he turns on his heel and makes his way back to his car, leaving me to pick my jaw up off the porch. I watch as he backs out, giddy as a teenager who just nearly kissed her crush for the first time. When he’s out of sight, I quietly close the door and let go of a content sigh.

I type a quick text to Abby to let her know the date was absolutely mind-blowing but details will have to wait until tomorrow.

Abby’s reply comes in seconds, but I’ve already dropped the phone to the kitchen counter and replaced it with a wine glass. The perfect end to a perfect day is a nice glass of wine and a new book, so that’s exactly what I do. I slip on my fuzzy pajama pants, throw my plush blanket over my legs, and curl up on the couch to get lost in the pages of a whole new world.

I’m so lost in the book that the sound of an incoming text jars me back to the real world almost violently. I place the now empty glass on the coffee table before padding to the kitchen to retrieve my phone. On the screen is a new text from Mason.

I smile and reread the text before tapping out a response, letting him know I’m free Tuesday after work or Friday after midday.

The grin that overtakes my face has to look absolutely ridiculous, but I couldn’t care less. A man who knows what he wants and isn’t afraid to go after it is insanely attractive. Normally, I would say no when a man chooses not to accept either option he was given, but the fact that he still gave me a choice has me saying yes with hardly a thought.

Before I can text something stupid back to him, I let Abby know the new plans and head upstairs to run myself a hot bath, complete with candles and bath salts. Ten minutes later, I’m soaking in the tub as the steam rises from the water, immersed in daydreams of a future with a man I hardly know.

Chapter 23

Violet

In what feels like the blink of an eye, we’re in the middle of a sweltering southern summer, complete with humidity high enough you might as well be swimming. As miserable as it can be, this is my absolute favorite season. I live for the warm mornings and late-night sunsets . I love being able to walk outside at midnight to bask in the glow of the full moon without needing a jacket or pants, which are my exact plans for tonight.

Things have been going great with Mason for the last few weeks, and I think I might finally be ready to take things to the next level with him. We’ve been seeing each other regularly, but we still haven’t had the talk about exactly what we are and thoughts of where our future might lead us.

As I stand on the back porch with a steaming cup of coffee in hand, my thoughts float to the realm of possibilities. Somehow, that always leads me to the same place. Images of a man clad in all black, standing at the edge of the forest, watching me with hawk-like intensity. I can never see his face, but he haunts my dreams and some of my waking moments as well.

I’m not sure when the dreams started happening, but it’s been several years since the daydreaming started. Abby swears I’m romanticizing a psychopath, but there’s something endearing about the cards he leaves, always making sure I know I matter to at least one person out there in the world. I’ll admit, it’s gone a little sideways in the past year or so, but I still can’t help but think it’s sweet on some level.

A cold chill wracks my body as my eyes land on a space between the trees that’s just a shade darker than the surrounding forest. My heart leaps into my throat as I imagine him standing there, watching my every move. For a moment, I contemplate leaving my coffee on the railing to run into the woods in hopes of finding him waiting there for me, finally ready to reveal himself. Instead, I shake my head to clear that insane thought and turn back toward the kitchen.

Things have been different since that first episode of the podcast anyway. He’s been completely silent since the sticky note was left in my kitchen. No cards, no flowers, no weird things being placed in my mailbox. It’s like he vanished into thin air.

I should be counting my blessings that things seem to have de-escalated on their own, but I can’t help the pang of disappointment whenever he crosses my mind. A tiny part of me had been hoping maybe the episode we put out would be enough to draw him back out again. I’ll never admit it to Abby, but I’m sick of lying to myself. I want to know who he is and why he’s been leaving me cards for the last twenty years.

With the click of the back door closing, I banish the thoughts from my mind and concentrate on getting ready for the night. I have several hours until Mason picks me up, but there’s still so much to do.

With that in mind, I turn on the Bluetooth speaker, crank up some 2000’s alternative music, and tackle cleaning the rest of the house. Once that’s out of the way, I slip into a hot bath so I can comfortably shave from head to toe, followed by a relaxing shower complete with full body exfoliation. I spend a solid ten minutes working in my favorite spiced vanilla lotion before blow-drying my hair and curling it into perfect soft waves.

I’ve got less than fifteen minutes until our date when I put the final touches on my makeup and lean back to appraise my work in the mirror.

Right on time, there’s a tap on the front door. “Be right there!” I yell down the stairs, pulling my shoes on before racing to meet him. I sling open the door and throw my arms around his neck in one fluid movement, knocking him back a step as he takes the impact.