As Casey spun around, still smiling, Steve assessed his expression.
Steve didn’t have his usually happy-go-lucky grin on, though. I saw sadness in his eyes.
If I hadn’t known better, through all their years as friends, I might have thought he was starting to develop some kind of crush on Casey. However, it was more likely he was considering the potential acceptance letter he might be receiving from Georgia Tech. In a few weeks he would know if he would be staying in the Falls or heading to Atlanta.
I was surely overthinking it.
Owen and I enjoyed dancing to a few songs before I headed to the bar for some water. Owen wasn’t far behind me.
He gently tugged on my arm, and as I turned back to him, his face came quickly at mine and I felt his lips crushing down on mine. He guided me back against the nearby wall, the way he claimed my mouth reminding me of something we would have shared in a more private setting, not in a packed bar. But I enjoyed it nonetheless.
“What was that for?” I asked when he finally pulled away.
“Tonight reminded me of how incredible you are—all you’ve done for my country, my family…and me, really. Although, we do have some business obligations to conclude.”
“Business obligations?”
Before he could reply, I saw something flash by my view and turned to see Sawyer rushing out of a nearby hall, the one leading to the back rooms. He always looked serious, but his expression now made me think he wanted to bust his fist through a wall.
The hell?
“Looks like someone pissed him off,” Owen noted.
It was a weird situation, but Owen shook it off, and I remembered what he’d said before we’d been taken by surprise.
“Sorry, you were saying something about business obligations?”
“I have a lot to thank you for, Hot Lips, and I don’t know how to do this, considering we’re dating, but I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t…”
He reached into his back pocket and slid out a slip of paper. As he handed it to me and I saw the fifteen grand made out to me, I quickly realized what it was.
“Oh my God,” I said. “I’m seriously holding this right now.”
That was three times as much as I had made part-timing at Fever Pitch.
But despite the excitement about holding such a big check in my hand, it didn’t mean much. “I already told you I’m not accepting your money.”
“I was thinking it over while we were celebrating in Parlaisa. You need this. You’re in school right now, and part-time waiting tables won’t cover everything you need. It’s my gift to you for all you’ve done for me.”
I cringed as I tore the slip in half, which made Owen’s brow furrow… It was a very sexy furrow, really.
“O, I appreciate the thought. It’s sweet, but I want to do this whole starving-college-kid thing for myself. So let’s make a deal: when we get home, you give me the only gift that matters.” I slid my hand down to his crotch, gripping his balls as I tossed the check halves over my shoulder. “So now will you stop treating me like some sort of cheap prostitute?”
“Actually, a fairly expensive prostitute.”
I laughed before kissing him, enjoying my real reward for everything we’d been through together.
I pulled away from those wet lips.
“I hope you know,” he continued, “I wasn’t giving you that to disrespect you or make you feel like I didn’t believe you could take care of yourself. I know how capable you are, and I admire—”
I slammed my lips against his once again before pulling away. “Enough about this. We need to get back to the house so you can treat me like a sex worker…and maybe get a peek at this little surprise I got under these pants.”
“Mmm…yes, that sounds like exactly what we need to do.”
I was still sharing an apartment with Steve and Casey, but I was mostly staying over at Owen’s rental. Still, he would occasionally swing by our place for dinners or to play video games with the guys.
“However, maybe we won’t leave two halves of a big check lying around,” Owen said.
