Page 103 of Psychotic Obsession

Ewan decides to be blue, and I choose yellow. We sit side by side, his arm slung over the back of the couch with his knee bent, resting his foot on the seat. "I'm pretty sure Aria is terrible at this game," he says with a laugh, Jason giggling with a grin. "It's okay. I'll maybe let you win."

I slap his leg under the table. "I'm going to ruin you," I warn him, narrowing my eyes. He raises a brow at me, smirking. "I'll win fair and square," I add in.

I don't.

Three games later, and I'm starting to realize I'm shockingly bad at this.

Jason and Ewan seem to have ganged up on me, knocking me off the board whenever they can instead of knocking each other, making me huffand slouch away from them.

At noon, we decide to wrap up and walk to the stone-filled beach, watching Jason throw rocks into the water while Ewan stands behind me.

I’m silent. I like how silent it is.

"I want to protect you all," he tells me. "I'm not going to be much against someone like Tobias, but I want you to know I will do everything possible to keep you all safe."

"You already are," I reply, gesturing to our surroundings. "This is safe."

"Barely."

I huff. "I'm terrified of enjoying this, worried this is all too good to be true. I've always had you and Jason, but I feel like I could lose this at any moment."

"Yeah." He glances down at our hands before he reaches for mine, lacing our fingers. It’s a small act that has me struggling to hold it together. “Do you think we have a chance?”

My gaze moves to him. “After everything? You would be with me?”

“Of course I would. But we can go slow, as slow as we both need. We can focus on helping Tobias."

I frown. "Help Tobias?"

"You said he needed help because he's mentally ill, and going by how dangerous he is, he needs it."

I gesture to his head. "He hurt you," I point out.

He shrugs. "If the guy has lost touch with reality and his only focus is you, then he will do just about anything to have you."

"Are you really saying all of this?" I ask, turning in his arms. "Why are you all of a sudden Team Tobias?"

"I'm not. I just know he’s struggling, and with how much you care for him, I need to help too." He looks over at Jason, the little one still throwing stones into the shallow waves. "When we get home, I’ll tell my mum to take Jason until this blows over, just to make sure he’s safe."

My eyes flicker to Jason looking for crabs in the rock pool. "That’s probably for the best. I don't know how to help Tobias anymore, even if I do…" I stop myself. "Sorry."

"Don't be," he says, taking a deep breath. "I know you love him."

"Can I say I love you both?"

He gives me a warm, genuine smile. "I know you do."

"Aria! Look at how far I can skip this rock!" Jason yells, breaking me away from Ewan’s intense gaze. "It goes so far!"

I smile at him, wiping my tears away with my gloves. "I bet I can beat you!"

I don't.

I can't seem to skip a stone even once, yet Ewan and Jason have them skidding across the water like it's the easiest thing in the world.

The sun starts to set, the coldness creeping in more while I make food for us before sitting around the table. As a family, we watch a comedy, giggling away at Jason asking far too many questions.

"Am I getting a little brother or sister?" Jason asks.