Love Obsessed by Veronica Short Read Free Book Online Page B

she decided were not good enough for her.” I down my glass, and Brandon looks at me like he’s going to rip my head off. He would have, too, if Ryan wasn’t sitting at the table with us. That’s the only reason that I’m here with him. Ryan suggested that we all go out and have a few drinks, so I decided that since he’s paying, I’m getting drunk.
    “Ease up, Cole. No shit tonight,” Ryan states, looking deadly serious about his warning. I shrug and down another, then take a swig of my beer.
    “He’s right,” Brandon starts, “no one’s good enough for Erin. Not me, not you, and definitely not Jake.” He says his name like a bad taste on his tongue. I can taste it, too.
    “So what was your master plan, Brandon, dear saviour of Erin.” I wait for his answer, but he just continues to stare death at me.
    “Cole,” Ryan warns.
    “No, Ryan. I want to know what his plan was. Were you just going to keep her locked up in the apartment for the rest of your lives? Were you going to let her have a family, because she wants one, or would you have given her a family? Because I would have if you hadn’t have interfered. I was so close to having her, and then you fucked it all up for me and ripped her away.”
    Brandon moves toward me, but Ryan steps in front of him, stopping his advance. “Sit back down, Brandon.”
    “Do you love her, too?” he asks Ryan.
    “Sit back...” he starts again, but Brandon interrupts him.
    “Do you love her too!?” he asks again, louder than necessary.
    “Yes,” he replies, more quietly than Brandon had asked the question.
    “What?” I ask, stunned. He never showed anything but brotherly affection toward her.
    “It was a long time ago. Erin is special. There is no debating that, but it’s clear that Brandon won’t accept any of us with her, and secondly, Erin doesn’t want anything from any of us, except for us to be her brothers, and that is what we are going to do. We are her family, and we will remain that way.”
    “You’re wrong, Ryan. Erin wanted more from me. She told me herself. She loves me, and Brandon fucked it up.”
    “She loves everyone,” Brandon grates out.
    “She loved me more.”
    ***
    I thought that a run would do me some good this morning. Boy was I wrong. I’m running through the park when I see her. She’s in her running gear; short shorts, crop top, beanie on her head. I stop and watch her, and then I see him and I see red. He pulls on her pig tails, she smiles up at him, and then he kisses her. His hands are on her body, on her skin. She looks so happy. That’s all I wanted for her, to be happy, but with me. I turn back and run home.
    “What happened to your hands?” Dad asks as I sit down at the conference table, getting ready for the next meeting of the day. I look down at them, give them a squeeze, and wince at the pain.
    “Nothing,” I mumble. If I tell him that I punched holes in my wall until I couldn’t take the pain anymore, he’ll ask why, and I really don’t want to relive my morning encounter.
    “Put some ice on them, they look sore,” he continues.
    “Sure,” I mumble again, like ice can take my pain away.
    Erin
    I’m walking to the library, when my arm is grabbed and I’m pulled into a room on the side of the building that I was walking away from. Then lips are on me.
    “God, I miss your lips. I can’t stop thinking about them. It’s so hard being here with you, and not touching you like this,” Jake says into my skin.
    “You know that we can get fired for this.”
    “Only if we get caught.”
    “Jake,” I moan. “Jake, stop before I can’t.”
    He continues to kiss me. “Erin,” he groans, “stay with me tonight.”
    “Absolutely.”
    That’s what it is like, stealing glances and touches while we’re at work, an accidental arm graze here, a knowing smile there, and every now and then a stolen kiss in an empty office or room. We don’t spend every night together, but we do stay together a few nights a