OBSESSED

43

JARROD

My knuckles pulled ashen white over the steering wheel, clenching the leather handles in my fists.

I smashed the gas pedal against the floor and my car quivered before lunging forward with a menacing growl.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

She knew. Leah saw the video.

Heart stammering in my chest, I tried not to believe what I knew to be true.

She didn't want to speak or see me right now and she might never again.

I'd fucked up royally. We had something real going on, something amazing.

Could one little video corrupt that?

I never thought I could be this into someone after Tiffany, the one who abandoned me, who made me see women as untrustworthy and unreliable.

Leah wasn't like that, damn it.

When I looked at her, I could see the future in a way I never had before.

She was gorgeous, smart, witty. She could be my sole entertainment for the rest of our lives.

When I felt like life had lost purpose or I needed a new direction, I needed only to see her to remember.

There was so much left to live. Marriage and children and adventure. I wanted her to be my partner in all of that.

My life before her now seemed drab, colorless.

So don't give up, a little voice inside whispered.

I'd never been a quitter. Once my mind was set on a goal, I did everything in my power to achieve it.

I struggled in school. I wasn't the valedictorian or salutatorian or even in the top ten. But I never stopped finding ways to push on.

That was how I got into a good university, great medical school, and a reputable hospital residency. It was all hard work.

The only thing I had truly failed at was my marriage, and that was no fault of my own.

Tiffany only ever wasted my time. She fooled me into loving her and then broke my heart with her cheating and lies.

I should have listened to James when he told me to end things with her. He told me our marriage was going to fall apart and I thought he was just a jealous, cynical bastard.

He'd only been protecting me, though. James could really see people—their intentions, especially.

Some day in the future, I was confident they would encounter each other. James would love her, I was sure. She might not love his smart ass but I knew she'd get along with him for my sake.

Before that happened, though, I needed to find a way to make her see.

I had scared her. She didn't understand my desires towards her and that was understandable.

If any other man was offering her these things, I'd expect her to be suspicious of him. She needed to know that no other man would truly mean the things I said to her because they weren't me.