OBSESSED

32

Not to mention the mind-blowing sex we had every single time we were together.

So what more could I possibly want?

I tried to focus on dissecting my hesitations since all the good things were sorted and understood. If I could figure out what exactly I was scared of, maybe I could work it out.

My mood turned when he asked me to join him today. Why? Well, he wanted me to meet his family.

What was so wrong with that?

We'd only just begun dating. It seemed too early to get our loved ones involved. What if I said something stupid and they didn't like me? Or what if I didn't like them?

Generally, I liked most people and most people liked me. I tried to be a nice, courteous person. Meeting them probably would have been fine.

And how sweet was it that he felt ready to introduce us? Even I could recognize that suggested how much confidence he had in the future of our relationship.

Meeting his family wasn't the first issue, though, was it? There was still the matter of his conditions and his interest in controlling what I did when not around him.

Perhaps the only way to know for sure was to enlist the opinion of someone else. Someone other than my mother, who would want me to be with him simply for the reasons that he had a good career and we could make beautiful grandchildren for her.

I couldn't believe he hadn't met Isabelle nor Ryan, and I hadn't met any of his friends—aside from that awkward interlude when I'd run into him on that blind date. He never really talked about people other than his family, though.

Maybe he just liked to keep his circle small. I could relate to that.

I imagined I would feel better once my friends met him and approved. Not that I needed their approval, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything. They could help me decide if the flags I saw were truly red or more of an orange or yellow.

Sighing, I decided to punctuate these thoughts by calling my mother. She could help distract me.

She answered on the first ring. "Hello, favorite daughter."

"I'm your only daughter, but hi. What're you up to?"

"Well, I just woke up and let Baxter out. I'm drinking some coffee and watching the sun rise over the lake." She cleared the rasp in her throat. "Why are you doing up so early, my little night owl?"

"Pretty much the same, minus the lake. I didn't sleep much."

"Aw. Bad dreams?"

I swallowed back something sarcastic, grinning. "No, just insomnia, I guess."

"Make sure you take some melatonin and magnesium tonight then. You need your sleep!"

"I will, Mom," I said, chuckling. "What are you and Dad doing today?"

"Well, he thought it would be a great idea to throw a poker party tonight, so it looks like I'll be upstairs snuggling a bottle of wine on the couch. You're welcome to make the trek home if you want to give your poor mom some company."