This Obsession of Mine (Raine Series #5) (2 page)

Joey

Flashbacks from that day flooded my memory as I continued to make my way back to Tanya’s house. I seriously wish that I could just fall in love with her and everything would be awesome, but unfortunately, someone else had reemerged in my life and was quickly diverting my attention away from Tanya. Tanya noticed at first, but then she came to the realization that neither one of us really loved each other, so she was trying to be somewhat okay with it.

When we showed up at Glenn and Cami’s, I never meant to take away from her big day, but I had to make a scene. I had to make sure that everyone knew that we were married now, and just how madly in love with one another we were, or were pretendin’ to be. I knew there would be some instant backlash, and a little bit of annoyance, but I never expected my brother to go all
Hulk
on me. But that’s what I was questioning now. Why
did
Glenn care so much? He was deliriously happy with Cami now, so why in the world would he care if Tanya were with me now?

I glanced over at Tanya who was now on the phone with her mom, tellin’ her
all
about our
accident
, and how she was okay, but severely shaken up.  I felt bad, truly I did, but man she sure had a way of makin’ a tiny thing into a
huge
thing. Since we had gotten home, I had checked my phone at least a dozen times, just waitin’ for someone to call and ream my ass over the phone because they didn’t get to do it the right way in person. But lucky for me, there was nothin’ but silence. I was relieved, but I was also completely confused. The way Glenn was prattling on about how I barely know her and whatever else, you would think that he would call and finish me off. Glenn
loved
playin’ big brother far too much to just let this one go.

A few minutes later, my phone vibrated to signal that I had a new text message. In all honestly, I didn’t even want to check who it was, but somethin’ inside of me told me to. I reached across the kitchen counter for my phone, and the minute I saw whose name illuminated my screen, I wanted to jump for joy. I quickly slid my finger across the screen, and brought the text message to life. It was short and sweet, but more than enough for me to want to respond. We hadn’t spoke in what felt like forever, okay it had technically only been about five days, but with her, everything felt like forever.

I re-read the text one last time before responding.

Hey you, just wanted to say hi.

Like I said, short and sweet, but heartfelt all at once. Man, I was startin’ to sound like a chick.

Well Hi right back at ya. How are you?

I wanted to ask her if she missed me, if she was thinkin’ about me just as much as I had been thinkin’ about her, but I didn’t. I had to play it cool, and I most definitely needed to play it cool around Tanya. If she found out about her, she would most likely try to kill her. She may have said she was okay with it, but I knew better. A few seconds later another text came through.

I honestly didn’t think you’d answer back.

I’m good, I guess. Miss talkin’ to you though.

I knew exactly how she felt. Every minute that I didn’t get to talk to her was torture. And to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t even sure if we would be able to go back to the way things were before all of this drama started, but man if there was even a .1% chance, you bet your ass I’d be takin’ it.

I heard Tanya start to say her good-byes to her mom, and I quickly typed out a text back before Tanya had a chance to catch me.

I’ve gotta go, but I’ll text again soon. Miss you.

I quickly hit send, and then erased the entire conversation from my phone before shovin’ it into my front pocket of my jeans right as Tanya came struttin’ into the kitchen to join me.

“How’s your mom doin’?” I didn’t really care to be honest, but I couldn’t let her know that.

“She’s doin’ okay. Just worried about her little girl is all. So, should we talk about what happened at your brother’s house?” She bent forward against the counter, and took my balled up fists into her small dainty hands.

“Not really much to talk about, is there?” I pulled back from her, and made my way over to the fridge to pretend to look for somethin’ to eat.

“Of course there’s stuff to talk about.” She replied in a hushed tone, and I knew she was tryin’ to get on my good side.

I closed the fridge, and made my way over to her. My large six foot and some odd inches frame dwarfed her tiny five foot five frame, and I could all of a sudden feel her nervousness bouncin’ off of me. Was she scared that I would hurt her? “Look love, you knew what
this
(I pointed between me and her) was when I agreed to marry you, right?” She simply nodded in agreement, so I continued. “I’ve got plans love, a future that I have been buildin’ since I was big enough to throw a football. And to be quite honest, this whole thing is puttin’ a wrench in all of that. I’m not blamin’ you, but I can’t put what I’ve been fightin’ for my whole life on the back burner because one night you decided to do somethin’ completely stupid.”

Tanya pulled back from me, and I could see the tears beginnin’ to well up in her eyes. I reached out for her, to pull her towards me for comfort, but she just pulled away. “I think I’m going to head to bed now. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Tanya, wait.” But it was too late, she had already made her way up the small flight of stairs that led to her bedroom. Man, I really messed this one up. I let out a loud sigh as I threw myself onto the couch, aka
my
bed. As much as I wanted to be there for her to comfort her, and let her know that everythin’ was goin’ to be okay, I just couldn’t. The truth was, she brought this all on herself, and it wasn’t my job to fix it for her.

I woke up the next mornin’ to complete silence. It was almost deafening. I sat straight up on the couch and let out a loud obnoxious yawn as I stretched my arms high above my head. I was surprised at how well I had slept, and now I was ready to take on whatever this day may hand me, head on. Part of me wanted to check on Tanya, just to make sure she was okay, but if she wasn’t up yet, I didn’t want to be the one who woke her, especially when I wasn’t sure which version of her I was gonna get. So instead, I made my way into the kitchen and made myself some coffee.

The mouth waterin’ aroma tickled each one of my senses as I sat in my favorite chair out on Tanya’s back porch. The sun had just barely begun risin’, and it was like lookin’ at a postcard as its rays broke through the early mornin’ clouds. I took a sip of my favorite beverage in the world, and then sat back to take in all the beauty that surrounded me. Sure the summers were excruciatin’ but the beauty of this state was what kept me here. I wasn’t quite sure I could ever see myself livin’ anywhere else.

I glanced at the clock on my cell phone, realizing that it was just barely seven in the mornin’ and that I could relax a little bit because I technically still had plenty of time to get all of my shit together before headin’ out to camp. I was just about to get up and get myself a second cup of coffee, when my phone chirped. I picked up my phone in hopes that it would be someone other than my brother, but those hopes were shattered the second I saw Glenn’s name pop up on the screen.

Jo, we need to talk. Please call me ASAP.

As much as I
didn’t
want to text him back, let alone talk to him, I also knew that if I didn’t do it now, things would get ugly. I mean, he is my brother after all, so maybe we could work this out somehow.

Why don’t you just come by?

Five minutes later I got a text back.

I can’t go to her house. Let’s meet up at Rose’s Diner.

Say like 20 minutes?

My phone chirped again.

Sounds good, see you then.

I downed my second cup of coffee, and then headed to the bathroom to jump in the shower. I was just about to jump in when I heard faint voices comin’ from Tanya’s room. I wrapped a towel around my waist, and silently tiptoed towards her bedroom door. I could barely hear what was bein’ said or who she was talkin’ to, so I moved in closer, just prayin’ to god that she didn’t catch me. Once my ear was pressed firmly against her door, I could finally hear what was bein’ said.

“But I thought you were falling
madly in love
with him?” The girl’s voice didn’t sound familiar, and I couldn’t help but wonder who the hell she was.

“Oh please, Joey Green?” I pulled my ear back in shock with how disgusted she sounded by the idea. “That is all just for show.”

“Yeah but eventually you’re going to have to tell him the truth, Tanya. Does he even know?”

Know what, know what? What don’t I know? As much as I wanted to barge through that door and find out what all she has been lyin’ about, I also needed to not overreact and jump the gun, hopin’ that she would continue to tell the truth to the girl she was talkin’ to.

“Oh my god, no he doesn’t, and it needs to stay that way. Got it?”

“Yeah, yeah I got it.”

“I just need him to think I’m in love with him for now. I need this marriage to work to my advantage. I need to get closer to Glenn, and –“

I cringed as my foot moved on the squeaky floorboard beneath my feet, and I flew back into the bathroom, turnin’ on the hot water and jumpin’ in like I had been there the entire time. Although the water that was supposed to be hot was actually cold, and I had to cover my mouth in order to not screech like a little girl as it hit my warm skin. I quickly started latherin’ shampoo into my overly thick head of hair when I heard the bathroom door creak open. I stood there hummin’ a tune and washin’ my hair, just waitin’ for her to say somethin’.

“Babe?”

Yes you lyin’ filthy piece of trash. Of course that’s not what I said out loud. “Yeah love?”

“I didn’t know you were awake yet. How’d you sleep?”

I pulled the curtain back just a titch as shampoo began to run down my face. “Like a rock. How about you?” I could see that lookin’ at me made her visibly uncomfortable, and I liked it. It was like a humane type of torture, because I knew deep down that this whole lie thing that she was speakin’ about with her girlfriend would tear her up inside the nicer I was to her.

“I…I slept, okay?” The dumbfounded look on her face was all I needed to see to know I had her right where I wanted her.

“Was that a question, or did you sleep okay?” I laughed. “You’re too cute. Hey, so I have to go and run some errands this mornin’, but I wanted to know if you’d like to go on a date with me later, before I have to take off for camp?” I could see the gears in her mind turnin’ with confusion.

“I guess so, yeah.”

“That’s it, you guess so? Wow, way to make a man feel loved, Tanya.” I joked as I winked at her and pulled the curtain back in place. She let out an achin’ moan, and I knew that I succeeded at gettin’ under her skin. It was all the confirmation I needed to know my little plan would work.

“I mean..I…You know I would love to go out with you. But, I just…I kind of thought that maybe you weren’t going to go to camp after everything.”

Her thought process baffled me. Did she honestly think that I would give up on my future because we got into a faux marriage? This girl was seriously delusional. “Why wouldn’t I go?” I shouted through the curtain as I continued to wash up.

“I don’t know. I mean, we didn’t even go on a honeymoon or celebrate with your family.”

“Well I don’t think my family would be too inclined to celebrate a marriage they don’t quite agree with, do you? And as far as a honeymoon goes, this is all a sham, why would we waste the money on a honeymoon when we’re not honeymoonin’?” I turned the water off and reached for my towel that I left right outside the shower, and pulled it tightly around my waist. The water was still glistenin’ on my upper torso, and I knew just how to get her all flustered and forget all about this stupid idea of a honeymoon.

I pulled back the curtain, showin’ off every ounce of muscle I had. Her eyes darted straight to my six pack, then made their way slowly and meticulously up the rest of my body before finally restin’ on my eyes. I could tell by the way she was lickin’ her lips that I had somethin’ that she most definitely wanted. I reached out, pushin’ my fingers back through her hair, cuppin’ the back of her neck, and pulled her as close to my lips as possible without them actually touchin’ one another.

“We can have a honeymoon here.” I smiled against her lips, brushin’ them delicately across hers, and I could feel her body shutter beneath my touch.

She swallowed loudly, and as her eyes fluttered shut she leaned forward tryin’ to push her lips against mine. I have to admit, I
was
gettin’ turned on, and I knew she could feel my length pushin’ against her belly, but I quickly pulled back, droppin’ my hand to my side, and scooted around her to get to my hairbrush and the mirror. I could feel her shock and irritation radiating off of her, and I had to smile at myself. This was gonna be fun.

Diem

Not a single day has gone by that I haven’t thought about him, and it was literally killing me not to be with him. I had never met anyone like Joey, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get my mind off of him. We had met by chance when I was living in London, but something about that day had stuck with me.

He was on his senior class trip to Europe, and when I spotted him from across the line at the London Eye, I almost died. He was drop dead gorgeous, and man did he have a body on him. He wasn’t overly muscular like some players I had seen, but he was definitely defined. And his thick head of blonde hair and icy blue eyes pushed me over the edge when he looked in my direction. I’m sure he had hit on a million and one girls that day, but it didn’t matter to me, because the minute he started talking, I knew that none of them mattered.

He was such a gentleman, and the way he spoke made him sound like he was in his twenties and not just eighteen. The conversation had been easy, and everything about that day just felt so right. After our time in the London Eye, he found a way to escape from his class, and we ran off to explore the city. Okay, he let me
teach
him about the city because I lived there and had explored the city about a million times since my childhood. It was so much fun running around showing him my hometown, and though we had just met that day, it felt as though I had known him my entire life.  We laughed, we danced, we hung out with a rugby team at the local pub, and just when I thought our day couldn’t get any better, he caught my hand in his and never let go.

I was smitten. Every single thing about this guy had me yearning for more. When the sun began to dip below the horizon, I knew it was almost time for us to say good-bye. Deep down inside I began to panic because I didn’t know when I would get to see this amazing man again, but then his lips pressed gently against mine, and all thought and worry disappeared from my mind. My arms slipped around his neck, pulling him closer to me, and I could feel the spark ignite between us. It was magical, and everything I imagined love would feel like.

When he said good-bye to me that night, I certainly thought it would be the last time I would ever see him, but lucky for me, he snuck out the next three nights he was here. We spent every night doing something new and exciting, and every night we said good-bye my heart broke just a little. Piece by piece he began taking them with him, and I knew that even if we never saw each other again, that he would always hold my heart. On his last night, we made love. It was my first time, and I knew that I would get the lecture from my mother later that my first time should be with someone that I love, and that I’ve known for quite some time, but it was ultimately my choice, and I chose him.

He was gentle and sweet. With every touch, he made me feel like I was the only woman that existed in the world, and I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. When I got the phone call from him a couple of months ago telling me all about this girl Tanya, my heart broke. The phone slipped through my fingers, dropping to the ground as I stood there in shock. I was gutted as I shook my head in disbelief, trying to comprehend what he had just told me. How could he tell me every day how much he loves and misses me, but then run off and marry some girl who was in love with his brother? This wasn’t okay, especially given that I had flown all the way from London to a one horse hick town in the middle of nowhere Texas.

When I woke up the next morning, I half expected it all to be a dream, but unfortunately it wasn’t. Now what was I supposed to do? My father was going to kill me. He warned me about chasing after a boy, but I wouldn’t hear it. I knew what was best, and as much as he didn’t want to see his little girl go, he was going to have to deal with it. He trusted me enough to know that even if it turned out that I had made the worst decision of my life that I would somehow find a way to persevere. It was who he raised me to be, but that definitely didn’t make the phone call I knew I had to make, any easier.

I held my breath as the phone began to ring, and I could only pray that he wouldn’t answer and that I would be forced to leave a voicemail. Unfortunately, I wasn’t that lucky.

“Well there’s my baby girl. I was starting to think that you had forgot all about your dear old dad.”

“Hi Daddy. Of course not. I would never.”

“Well what do I owe this pleasure to?”

“I just wanted to check in with you and see how you’re doing today?”

“Is that a question? You sound confused. What’s going on with you, sweetheart? I’m getting worried.”

“Daddy, I need you to sit down for a minute.”

“Oh dear lord, what did you do now, Diem?”

“It’s really not that bad, Daddy. Just remember how much you love me.” I took in a deep breath, and told him the god’s honest truth. “I’m in Texas.” I waited for some shouting or yelling, but the line was so quiet, I had to pull the phone away from my ear to see if he was still there. “Daddy?”

“Where in Texas are you?” His voice was stern, and I could tell that he was holding back the anger I could sense in his tone.

I took in a deep breath, “I’m in Abernathy.” I knew he was about to flip out on me, but he had to know the truth.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN THAT GOD FORSAKEN PLACE?”

I knew the shouting would ensue the minute I answered, so I tried to hurry and get out my answer. “I actually came here for…” before I could even answer, he was yelling again.

“THIS IS BECAUSE OF THAT BOY ISN’T IT? HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO WARN YOU ABOUT GUYS LIKE HIM?”

“Daddy, you don’t even know him.”

“I
know
that he somehow figured out a way to convince my daughter to leave her home, and go somewhere she has never been, and that’s enough for me.”

“Daddy, you do understand that I am twenty, right? Technically I don’t need your permission to leave the country. I’m sorry I lied to you about where I was going, I really am, but you have to stop suffocating me. Daddy I love you, but you have to let me go…a little.”

I heard him take in a strangled breath and I could tell that my words were affecting him, even more so than I thought they would. “Okay, I’ll ease up…a bit, but you have to promise me that you will call me once a day or at least send a text so I know you’re okay. Deal?”

“Deal.” I could no longer hide the excitement in my tone. “Thank you so much, Daddy. I love you so much.”

“I love you too, baby girl. Please be safe.”

“I will. I promise. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Sweet dreams, baby girl. Love you.”

“Love you too, Daddy.”

I hung up the phone and threw myself back on the rundown hotel bed. It was a far cry from my comfortable mattress in my flat back home, but it would do. I relished in the thought that I had finally gotten through to my father, and for once he understood that I needed to do something for myself.

The next morning I woke up at the crack of dawn, and tried to find out where Joey lived. I was able to find where his parent’s house was, but given what I knew about Joey, I was willing to bet that he would be at his
wife’s
house. I sat there staring at the blank computer screen in front of me while I tried to remember the name of his faux wife. And just then, it hit me. I ran a quick search through the Internet to find Joey, and sure enough…she popped up. Her name was Tanya Lee, and lucky for me, it had an address.

Just a short while later, I was climbing into my rental car and punching the address I had found online into the navigation system. It showed that her place was only fifteen minutes down the road, so I turned the key over, bringing the car to life, and then started making my way in the direction that the American voice was telling me.

When I pulled up a few minutes later, I sat in my car staring out at the small, dilapidated house in front of me. It didn’t look like much from the outside, but maybe it was beautiful on the inside. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins, and I was suddenly extremely nervous. I wasn’t the type to start a fight with anyone, but I had to know what this whole “marriage” thing between the two of them was all about.

I knocked at least a dozen times, but nobody answered. I peeked through a few windows to see if anyone was home, but I could only see the living room, and it looked empty. I let out an aggravated sigh. Of course he wasn’t here. I thought about leaving a note for him, but I wasn’t quite sure who would receive it, him or her. Instead, I simply got back into my car and made my way back to the hotel.

When I got back to the hotel, I was gobsmacked to see Joey standing in the car park. I quickly turned into a space, and jumped out of the car. I wanted to run to him. I wanted him to swoop me up in his arms and squeeze me so tight that he would never let go. Unfortunately, that’s not quite how it went. As I neared closer to him, I could see a look of frustration on his gorgeous face. The same face that I had dreamt about every day since the day he left London.

“Hi, love.” My voice was small and quiet which was so unlike me.

“Hi sweetheart. What are you doin’ here?” His voice was curt, and threw me off a bit.

“I came here for you.”

“But why? I told you, I’m married now.”

“I know what you told me Jo, but I just can’t bring myself to believe it. How could you tell me all the things you have, and then turn around and marry some other girl?”

“We can’t talk out here.” He was acting extremely weird, but I invited him to my room regardless.

As we both walked in and shut the door behind us, Joey quickly pulled me into his arms, pulling me as close as two people could be. His lips came crashing down on mine, and my hands instantly flew up to his face, pushing back through his hair and pulling his lips deeper against mine. My heart jumped up into my throat, and my knees began to get weak with every passing minute. As much as I wanted to continue to stay exactly as we were, I knew I also needed answers. I slowly pushed him back from me, and our lips parted ways. When he gave me that cute look of confusion, I couldn’t help but giggle at him.

“Well that was quite a hello.” I whispered as I tried to regain my composure.

“I’m so sorry, Diem. You have to believe me, this is not what it seems.”

“Then what is it, Jo. Because I’m having a really hard time with all of this.”

“When did you get here?”

His question caught me off guard, but I knew if I wanted answers from him, that I would have to be willing to do the same for him. “I got into town yesterday. After our last phone call, I had to see you. I needed you to tell me to my face that you have moved on.”

Joey moved closer to me, pulling me into a tight, warm embrace. “Of course I haven’t moved on. You’re the love of my life.”

With those words, I melted. I completely caved, and gave in to every single thing this guy wanted from me. He told me all about why him and Tanya had to marry, and I found myself in awe of this man sitting before me. What a selfless individual to help someone out like that, but I was still left with one question…why?

My plan had gone all to pot.

Their marriage was dodgy, and I was about to prove it.