Page 20 of Obsession on Repeat (Vinyl Hearts #1)

Most of the crew had cleared out, only a few lingering bodies at the bar.

Asher was waiting in the booth, leaning back with one hand on the mixer, the other tucked casually into his pocket.

He looked up when he saw me. I felt myself start to sweat at the look on his face, swallowing nerves that suddenly erupted at how much he truly affected me.

One look, and I would collapse into a puddle on the floor, my insides nothing but mush.

I slipped behind him. I reached for the volume slider to give my hands something to do.

"You good?"

I adjusted a knob that didn’t need it. "Vanessa gave her blessing…. That and told me to keep the storage room off-limits. "

He chuckled softly, brushing his knuckles along the back of my hand. "You know, it wasn’t the sex. I liked you before I ever touched you."

I didn’t have anything clever to say back, something my chest cracking as if under a weight that I carried for far too long. I let go of the mixer, and did the only thing that felt right. I kissed him.

The break room smelled of burnt coffee and floor polish. I leaned against the counter, eyes half-lidded, scrolling mindlessly through my notifications.

DJ Fetish and Hollywood Star Asher Lark Heat Up The Night!

My thumb froze over the screen. I tapped the article before I could stop myself. A photo of us leaving the club the night before, my hand on his chest and his mouth dangerously close to mine. A moment frozen in time that was stripped of everything it actually meant.

Australia’s hottest DJ has moved on from Sullivan Masters… with his industry rival.

I stared at the screen for a full ten seconds before I locked it and set the phone face down on the counter. Fighting the urge to throw up, I stared at the phone, ignoring how it buzzed a happily little dance across the table.

Gina pushed open the break room door at that exact moment, a protein bar in one hand, iced coffee in the other. "Good afternoon, did you know you’re trending?"

"You don’t say?"

Ignoring my sass, she walked over and flipped my phone around. "Someone sent me the link five minutes ago. You and Asher are on the front page, complete with heavy breathing."

I rubbed my eyes. "Shit.”

"You look hot, though," she offered, sipping her coffee. "He looks like a man who’s finally been fed."

Groaning, I dropped my forehead against the table. "I hate it here."

"Rory? Are you okay?"

I didn’t answer. It wasn’t embarrassment or anger. I felt exposed, again .

The break room door creaked again. Gina glanced over her shoulder, lifting her eyebrows. "And that’s my cue to leave."

I knew it was him without looking, her action and the way the room quieted too familiar to believe it was anyone else. Head on the table, I listened to her slip out, closing the door behind her with a little too much grace.

"Rory?"

I closed my eyes for a beat, then lifted my head to meet his gaze. He stood a few feet away, hands in his pockets. "You saw it?"

"It’s kind of hard to miss. You’re on half the front page of the internet."

"Of course I am.."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I shook my head. "There’s nothing to say. It’s happening again."

His brow furrowed. "What is?"

"This." I gestured vaguely. "Being a headline. Having something real turned into a punchline or a poll."

Asher approached the table slowly. "It’s not a punchline to me."

"That’s not the part I’m worried about."

"I know."

"I don’t want this to become something you regret," I said, barely above a whisper .

His jaw tensed. He closed the space between us. I kept my eyes on him as he lowered himself into a chair beside me at the table, taking my hand in his. "I don’t regret a single second of you."

"I need time to figure this out."

He brushed his fingers against mine. "You've got it."

"I need to do something."

"Okay." He didn’t question me. He merely pressed his lips against my hand before releasing me, and he rose to his feet. "If you need me, you know where to find me."

I nodded, and after he left, I continued to sit there, staring at my phone. With a shaky hand, I retrieved it from the table. I scrolled to Sullivan’s name and paused. I pressed it.

It rang three times when suddenly the line clicked.

"Rory?"

His voice felt too casual, as if I hadn’t ripped us in half just weeks ago.

"There’s an article about me."

He paused. "Which one? You’ve been making a lot of headlines lately. You’ve had quite the rebound."

I exhaled through my nose. "Is that why you didn’t call to check on me? You were waiting for your ego to feel better?"

There was another pause on his side. "Don’t pretend that I didn’t try. You agreed to walk away. "

"No, I’m the one who stopped apologizing for needing more."

His voice shifted, smooth but edged. "So this thing with Asher? That’s more?"

"I wanted you to hear it from me before someone else spun it into a lie. I don’t know exactly what is happening with him, but it’s happening on my terms. Regardless of how we ended things, I don’t want you to think I’m doing it to hurt you."

"Okay."

That was all he said. There was no fight, no apology for the past or regret about where we had finally ended. All he offered was one last breath of something that used to be everything.

"I hope he knows what he’s getting."

He hung up before I could ask what he meant.

Music pulsed softly over the speakers, more ambiance than beat. Chairs stacked, lights low, the kind of hush that only came after everyone else had left.

I slipped back in the booth, half-expecting Asher to be gone.

He wasn’t. He sat on the stage steps, elbows on his knees, phone in his hands but not really looking at it.

His head lifted the second I stepped into view.

When our eyes met, he didn’t smile. I couldn’t find the strength to either, and I lowered myself beside him on the steps.

Without a word, he handed me a water bottle.

It was half-drunk, probably his, but I took it anyway.

After a long moment, he leaned back on his palms, stretching out his legs. "You okay?" he asked, not looking at me.

"No, but I’m getting there."

He nodded, understanding exactly what I meant. "Did you call him?"

I didn’t flinch. "Yeah." I looked down at my hands. "I needed to close something, or at least stop reopening it."

"And?"

"I think I finally did."

He exhaled. "Good."

Hesitantly, I rested my head on his shoulder. He didn’t move for a long time, then he reached over and laced our fingers together.

Somehow, I ended up at his house. I hadn’t planned to stay over. I borrowed one of his t-shirts and curled up on the couch, smelling of sweat and music.

When he pulled a blanket over us and settled behind me, it felt like I belonged there. I let myself believe it. I ignored all the screaming alarms as I settled against him and closed my eyes. I was half-awake, head on his chest, when the buzz of his phone broke through the stillness.

"Shit."

I blinked up at him. "What?"

Asher sat up, already typing. "Vanessa. Twice. My publicist. My agent."

"What happened?"

He opened his email, and I watched his jaw tighten. "They want a statement about us."

Frowning, I sat up, staring at him. "About what?"

He turned the screen to me.

Sullivan Masters’ Ex In Hot Club Affair With Rival Star - Breaks Her Silence in Private Call.

I stared at it, stunned.

"There’s a quote from his camp. Someone’s decided to spin your call like a betrayal. You know how drama sells."

My throat went dry.

"Did you say anything to him that could be twisted?"

"I don’t know. I didn’t think it mattered."

His jaw clenched. "It shouldn’t, but they’re going to make it matter."

I stood up, beginning to pace. "This is exactly what I didn’t want. This is why I never wanted to do this in the open."

His voice was calm, but firm. "So what are you saying?"

My throat tightened. "I’m saying I don’t know if I can do this, under a microscope with strangers dissecting every glance and every word I say."

He didn’t speak right away.

"I thought I could handle the attention," I continued, pacing now, trying to outrun the weight of what I was saying. "I’ve done it before, but this feels different. They’re trying to turn me into a version of myself I’ve worked so hard to bury."

I stopped moving and looked at him. "I need space."

"From me?"

I shook my head, but it didn’t make what I was saying any easier.

"I need space from everything, especially the spotlight, and this version of me the world keeps trying to write without asking who I actually am.

" My voice cracked, but I didn’t stop. "I can’t lose myself again. I barely survived it the first time."

Asher looked like I’d peeled back something raw, something he didn’t know how to put back, and yet, he nodded.

I grabbed my jacket from the back of the couch. He didn’t move or try to stop me. He sat there, jaw clenched.

My hand on the knob of the door, I paused with my back to him. "I’m not walking away from you," I whispered. "I’m walking away from the version of me that lets other people decide who I am." I waited for him to say something, but he didn’t.

I opened the door, stepped into the hallway, and closed it gently behind me.

The next few days, I buried myself in work, hours at the club, rehearsals, schedules, mixes.

Every time Asher texted, I answered. Every time he stopped by the booth, I smiled.

I wasn’t cruel. I simply wasn’t… available.

He noticed. He didn’t say anything, not directly to me, but his touches we re gentler.

His gaze lingered longer. It wasn’t about him. It was everything else.

The change was subtle at first. A slower reply to my texts. A missed call he didn’t follow up on. A night where he didn’t stop by the booth at all. And then one night… he wasn’t there. Not missing from the crowd but gone.

I tried to brush it off. I didn’t have the right to expect anything. Still, I found myself scanning the floor more than usual. Looking for that familiar shape leaning against the wall, arms crossed, eyes only on me. Nothing.

Gina caught me pacing near the bar, fingers fidgeting with the hem of my sleeve.

"Looking for someone?"

"What?"

She didn’t smirk or tease me. "He’s not here, Ro. You’re not the only one who feels things, you know. You pulled away, and now he’s pulling away, too."

"It’s not that I don’t want him."

"I get it. You’re scared you do, especially after everything that happened with Sullivan."

That’s when it landed. This wasn’t about fear of being seen. It was about fear of needing someone who might not always wait.

Without another word to her, I left the club, focused on nothing more than reaching him.

His house sat dark from the street, windows glowing faint gold from one room.

I stood on the sidewalk for a full minute before I buzzed his door.

He didn’t answer right away. I started to turn around when I heard the click of the lock.

The door opened slowly, revealing Asher in sweatpants and a black t-shirt, barefoot, hair slightly damp like he’d recently gotten out of the shower. At first he didn’t say anything and neither did I. He didn’t stop me when I stepped inside.

"I know I’ve been distant." I shut the door behind me.

"And I know you’ve noticed." When he didn’t react, I rushed onward.

"I didn’t mean to hurt you." I let out a shaky breath.

"I told myself I was protecting us by pulling back. I see now that wasn’t true because I was protecting only myself.

I was trying to stop from falling too hard, from needing you too much. "

His jaw clenched.

"And then you stopped showing up," I whispered. "That’s when I realized I already do. I miss you, not the texts or the sex, but you. I can breathe when you're around. I miss that version of me I become when you’re around."

He stepped closer in one slow movement. "Why now?"

"Because I thought I was being smart by holding back. All I was doing was watching something real walk away." I fidgeted with my hands, my shirt, anything to ground me to reality. "I don’t want to be afraid of this anymore."

"What are you saying, Rory?"

"I’m saying I’m all in if you still want me. "

His hand reached up, fingers brushing the side of my face. "Come here."

I went to him willingly, wrapping my arms around him as if I feared I’d fall, and I closed my eyes at the feeling of him holding me almost so tightly I couldn’t breathe.

Asher leaned back to look at me. His eyes searched mine. Whatever he saw there must’ve been enough, because he smiled, and he bent to kiss me, anchoring us back together, one heartbeat at a time.