“I just don’t want you to think that anything that happens is going to make me walk away from this. Even if you were a total dick to me, I’m not just helping you. I know how important this is, and I want to be involved.”
“The more we talk, the less concerned I am about that, Keegan, I assure you. So now that we’ve wrestled some of those demons from our pasts, would you mind if I lightened up the conversation?”
“Please do!” I said with a chuckle.
“Do you wear panties a lot now?”
The way he said it and looked at me reminded me of how he’d said it was hot the night before…like he wanted to jump my bones again.
“Not all the time, but on special days. It’s almost like a way to treat myself.”
“So you were treating yourself last night when we were going out to the club?”
“Yeah. I wore a pair in Parlaisa.”
“Oh, really? That day I first saw you?”
“No, I wasn’t wearing any underwear that day.”
“Well, that just makes that day that much hotter, doesn’t it?”
“I’m surprised you didn’t notice when I face-planted into the asphalt,” I added. “My belt must have been a little tight that day.”
We laughed, and it was funny to find humor in something that had been so incredibly stressful when it was going down, on a day when I was so utterly confused about so many things.
Even though there were still so many complicated aspects to what Owen and I were doing, our conversation reminded me that we were on the same page. Despite all my assumptions about him that day we first met, he was a good guy at heart.
Maybe he didn’t always want people to see that, but I understood that too.
“I’ll tell Bryan to be more considerate and give us a heads-up about those kinds of questions,” Owen added. “It’ll help to start that way before we’re dealing with it in a live interview. And then we’ll just throw in a few more about your underwear of choice.”
I busted into a laugh. “It’s kind of strange.”
“Keegan, no, it’s not strange at all.”
“No, notthat. I mean, partlythat, but I was so stressed when that picture of us kissing wound up online. I freaked out for a minute, but then I was just so fucking relieved that people knew and it wasn’t this big, heavy secret anymore. That really outweighed all the rest, and now that someone else knows this little secret about me, that feels kind of good too.”
“So I’m the only one who knows about you wearing these sexy drawers?”
I laughed. “Yeah, it’s not exactly something I run around telling everyone, like, ‘Hey, Mom. Guess what I bought today.’”
His forehead wrinkled. “How do you keep buying them without people finding out?”
“Oh, I do it all online, and then I make sure I’m the one there to check mail the day it’s coming. Although, Steve and Casey have asked about my getting something from Victoria’s Secret, but I just tell them it’s for Serena.”
He laughed, and I detected admiration in his expression. “Oh, you clever, sneaky thing.”
“Well, we both clearly have our secrets, don’t we?”
“Yes, we do. And now we have one we share. Want me to tell you something funny?” Owen asked.
“Yeah, of course.”
“I kind of like the fact that I’m the only one who knows about this secret of yours.”
There it was again, that spark, that interest I’d seen him take in them the night before.
“Just do me a favor and make sure to wear them as much as you can around me. I like the idea of being the only one in the room to know.”
