Page 13 of The Sweetest Obsession

This jacket is so large I could nearly wrap it around me twice, the sleeves falling far past my hands and the hem dropping almost to my knees.

It’s like being wrapped up in him.

But it’s also not the same.

You don’t want that anymore, remember?

Do I?

Those are old memories trying to live in the now.

A broken, girlish crush that doesn’t belong to me anymore. But his scent lingers from the collar of the jacket.

My chest goes tight.

So tight.

And it’s nothing like the explosion of hurt that hits me as Grant says, with absolutely no warning, “I still miss him, too, Ophelia.”

Holy shit, holy shit.

I can’t breathe.

Just like that, he knocks the air out of me.

This harsh reminder that while he lost a friend, all those years ago, I lost a brother, and we’ll never get Ethan back.

It’s my turn to lose my voice. My lips part, but nothing comes out.

I stare at Grant, frozen to the spot.

His expression never changes, but I’m—dammit, I won’t cry.

Not in front of him when it hasn’t been five minutes.

I cried my tears dry years ago and put everything to rest, so I still have a smidge of pride.

Pride he lets me keep.

Because as soon as he moves around, I no longer have to look into those hazel eyes and wonder if that giant rock feels anything at all.

Those words, however heartfelt, don’t match that closed-off expression.

I just want to see it once.

I want to seesomefeeling on his face, to show me that Ethan ever meant anything to him at all.

No, thatIever meant anything.

But he’s already walking past and I can’t see anything at all.

He’s leaving, so I don’t expect the warm, heavy hand that falls on my shoulder, burning me even through the dense layers of his jacket. This calming weight settles all the awful, squirming things zinging around inside me, pressing them down, down,downuntil they stop making me shake.

“Stopped in on your ma this morning,” Grant says. “She’s looking good. Can’t wait to see you again.”

“You went to see her?” I swallow, somehow finding my voice past the stunned shock.

“Just being neighborly.”

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