Page 17 of Obsession on Repeat (Vinyl Hearts #1)

The scent of coffee was the first thing I noticed.

The second was the blanket tucked under my chin.

My head throbbed, my mouth tasted foul, and my memories were…

blurry. I sat up slowly, the blanket slipping down my shoulders.

I was in my clothes from the night before, minus my shoes.

A glass of water and two ibuprofen waited on the coffee table.

As if summoned by the movement, Asher appeared from the hallway, barefoot, dressed in joggers and a plain black T-shirt, holding a steaming mug in one hand and a phone in the other. "You live."

"Barely. Did I…?"

"You licked my hand and tried to seduce my seat belt."

I groaned, dropping my face into my hands. "Please tell me I didn’t say anything else embarrassing. "

"You called me pretty."

I peeked at him through my fingers. "I regret nothing."

He chuckled, setting his mug down and leaning on the back of the couch. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I’m surviving." I cleared my throat. "Thank you for last night. I can’t remember the last time I got that drunk. I’m sorry I made it weird."

His expression softened. "Rory, whatever you’re figuring out, I’m your friend. You have nothing to apologize for; we all have our low points."

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

His phone buzzed. Pulling his cell from his pocket, his eyes narrowed as he stared down at the screen.

"What is it?" I paused when my phone started buzzing, one vibration after the other, and snatching my phone from the coffee table, I swiped open the screen, literally feeling the color drain from my face.

Sullivan Masters’ Girlfriend Spotted Leaving Club with Asher Lark—Hollywood’s Golden Boy #2?

Beneath it, there was a photo of last night. His arm was around my waist, his hand on the small of my back. My arms around his neck. I didn’t remember doing it, the two of us outside the club next to his truck .

I was startled as my phone suddenly rang. I barely noticed Asher lingering in the background, the phone ringing again before I decided to answer it.

"Sullivan…"

His voice came through cold and flat. "I’m going to ask one question, and I want you to answer it honestly. Did you sleep with him?"

I didn’t hesitate. "No."

"But you were with him."

"I was drunk. Gina and I stayed late, and I wasn’t in any shape to go home alone—"

"So you went home with him," he cut in, his voice tight.

"He took care of me," I snapped. "That’s it."

"I’m sorry if I’m not comforted by that. You told me nothing was happening between you two."

"Nothing is happening."

"Rory, the whole world thinks otherwise." His voice finally cracked a little. "And if I’m being honest? So do I."

I pressed a hand to my chest, trying to breathe. "You don’t get to say that. Not when you’ve been distant, not when you haven’t been calling me."

"I was trying to protect you! Trying to keep you out of this mess, to give you some privacy, but instead, you walked right into it with someone else."

"I didn’t plan this."

"You let it happen. I don’t think deep down you cared how it would appear to everyone, especially me. "

His words hit harder than I expected. I slumped against the couch, wondering how this suddenly spiraled into something uncontrollable. I hadn’t gotten drunk with the intention to hurt anyone. I had simply wanted to escape for a split second, to disappear from the mess that was suddenly my life.

"Are we breaking up?"

He didn’t answer right away. "I don’t know what we're doing anymore."

This time, he didn’t say he loved me. He simply hung up.

Forty-eight hours passed. He hadn’t called.

There were no texts or messages explaining he needed distance or time.

I told myself it didn’t hurt. That it was probably for the best, and I deserved it.

Back at Euphoria, the music felt too loud, the lights too bright.

The set list was solid, the crowd responsive, but everything inside me felt off.

I kept my head down, focusing on transitions, resisting every instinct to glance around for connection. I hadn’t seen Asher since the morning after the photo went viral. He hadn’t tried to talk to me, and somehow that made everything worse.

"You’ve been running at Level Ten Avoidance since you walked in tonight." Gina slid into the booth, shutting the door quietly behind her. "You gonna tell me what’s up, or do I have to pretend I haven’t seen the headlines?"

I kept my hands on the mixer. "There’s nothing to tell."

She raised an eyebrow. "So the photos were a collective fever dream?"

"Nothing happened. I was drunk. He gave me a ride."

"But you didn’t go home."

"I didn’t want to go back to an empty house." My voice cracked on the last word, and I hated it.

"Okay. So nothing happened… but something’s happening."

I didn’t respond.

Gina sighed. "Have you talked to Sullivan?"

I shook my head, watching the lights swirl across the dance floor.

"He hasn’t called or answered any of my texts.

I can’t blame him for ignoring me. I told him I loved him, and then he had to see pictures of me and Asher…

" I ground my teeth together. "Nothing happened, it was a fucking error in judgment, and it’s turned into be a malicious lie. Now, Sullivan won’t won’t call, and Asher won’t look at me. "

"You’re literally stuck in the worst episode of The Bachelor. "

I laughed, though I felt like crying. "Yeah, except the only thing I’m getting is a scandal for ratings."

She nudged my arm with hers. "He’s here, by the way. He came in an hour ago. He’s been hiding in his office for most of the night."

"He knows where I’m at, if he wanted to talk to me, he would have already."

"Maybe he’s waiting for you to make that first move.

You said nothing happened, that it was a misunderstanding.

If there’s one thing I know for sure about Asher, it’s that if he says something, he means it.

Maybe you should ask yourself exactly what it is you’re waiting on, him to call or for you to decide what truly makes you happy. "

I looked at her. "He’s my boyfriend."

"Is he?" She walked out of the booth before I could answer her.

I sat on the edge of the bed, duffel packed at my feet. Sullivan found me in the bedroom doorway, his suitcase in his hand. He looked exhausted. For a second, neither of us spoke .

Finally, he set down his bag at his feet. "You’re here."

"I didn’t want to not be when you got back. It felt weird."

"This feels weird."

After the conversation with Gina, I had decided to call him one more time, and surprisingly, he had answered. His movie was moving into the final stages of pre-production, his presence no longer needed until they finally started filming in a few weeks.

I nodded, unsure of exactly what to say. I went with honesty. "I haven’t slept well the last couple of nights."

"Neither have I." He leaned against the door frame, his arms crossed. "I had the pleasure of seeing the photos again on the flight."

I didn’t respond.

"They hurt, but what hurt more was realizing I wasn’t surprised."

"I didn’t do anything wrong. Regardless, I never meant to hurt you."

"I know." His voice was calm. "That’s what makes it worse, Rory. You didn’t mean to. It happened anyway."

I looked down at my hands. "I was so angry at you for being gone all the time. You didn’t check in or text me."

"I didn’t think you needed me to. I thought you were strong enough to hold it all together."

"How can you say that with everything that was going on? With everything they were saying about me? "

He studied me, a frown on his face. "We had discussed all of that. You said you were okay, and then suddenly you’re not?" He snorted. "I guess it’s a good thing Asher was there, so you didn’t truly do something scandalous."

"This isn’t about him. I didn’t fall into someone else.

I started realizing how alone I felt when you were supposed to be the one I depended on.

You make it sound like I betrayed you in some way.

I got drunk and crashed at a friend’s house.

I would never have judged you in the same way had you done that. "

"I have a job to do, I can’t be here every second of the day to make sure you’re…" He exhaled. "We’re supposed to be in a trusting relationship. You said you loved me, but the minute I’m not here, you turned to someone else for support."

"I’m sorry you feel that way. I tried very hard to be that person, the one you thought you saw in Australia. It took forever to say I love you because deep down, I wasn’t sure. I care about you, but I don’t think we’re right for each other anymore."

He looked up at the ceiling for a long second. When he looked at me again, his voice was low and steady. "You’re probably right."

"I hate that it’s ending this way."

"Me too."

The VIP party was in full swing.

Lights pulsed across the floor in gold and amber, glasses clinked, and laughter floated through the air.

I stood near the edge of the crowd, drink in hand, heels already making me regret listening to Vanessa.

She had ordered me to mingle. I was off the clock, not allowed to lurk in the booth all night.

So now I was here, smiling when spoken to, nodding through conversations I barely registered, pretending I wasn’t scanning the room every five seconds.

I had never been so aware of someone in the room without looking at them.

Asher was across the room, talking to a group of investors near the bar.

He was dressed in sharp black, sleeves rolled up enough to feel unfair. He hadn’t looked at me once.

"Need another?" Gina held up an empty glass beside me, her eyebrows raised.

"I doubt another episode of drunk me is a good idea."

She followed my gaze, lips twitching. "Oh. Got it."

"I didn’t say anything."

"Why do you look like someone died? "

I let out a hollow laugh. "Because something did."

She didn’t ask what. Instead, she nudged her drink toward me. "At least toast the end of something that mattered."

I clinked her glass gently with mine and took a sip. It burned, but not enough.

"Did you do the breaking, or did he?"

"We both did," I shrugged. "We realized ultimately it wasn’t working. I want to cry," I added. "Or break something."

"You’re not ready to cry yet. You’re in the numb zone." She sipped her champagne. "Besides, we don’t break things here. We seduce lighting rigs and kill with bass drops. It’s much more productive, and Vanessa doesn’t send us a bill."

I managed a real laugh this time. I sensed him before I saw him. Gina glanced between us, before shooting me a small smile and disappearing into the crowd. I shifted uneasily on my heels as he came to a stop next to me.

"Enjoying the party?"

I didn’t look at him. "I’m trying."

"You clean up well."

Readjusting my grip on my glass, I forced myself to look at him. "Was that a compliment?"

Asher looked calm and composed, and somehow it made the uncomfortable feeling in my gut feel worse. "It’s merely an observation, but if you want to take it as a compliment, I won’t argue." His eyes never shifted from me. "You look like you’re trying hard not to see me."

"Vanessa asked me to be sociable," I shot back.

"Right," he chuckled, something unreadable flickering behind his eyes. "Well, you’re doing a great job appearing you’d rather be anywhere else."

We stared at each other, that familiar heat rising in the silence.

"Why are you here?"

He shrugged. "Same reason you are. Pretending everything’s fine."

"I’m not pretending."

"Sure, you look totally fine."

"What the hell do you want from me?" I glared at him, cradling the champagne glass against my chest. I suddenly couldn’t stop the wave of annoyance that crashed over me, the last few weeks taking a toll on my patience. "Did you come all the way over here to hurl veiled insults at me? You’ve been ignoring me all day. As you can see, I’m fine.

I don’t need anyone, especially you, checking up on me. "

Something flashed across his eyes. He took a step back. "I’ll leave you to it then."

He faded into the crowd, swallowed by the lights and the sound before I could think of anything to say. I downed the rest of my drink.