I glanced back at the crowd on the lawn. “I mean... I don’t want to leave, but I also don’t want tonotleave, you know?”
“Same.”
“I still have some wooing to do, after all,” I added. “I have to at least get his number, since we had a moment, which means that it won’t be too awkward to follow through about playing pickleball.”
Owen cleared his throat. “Exactly. If you want, I can drive you to where you’re staying so you can change, and I’ll bring you back.”
As always, going above and beyond.
“No, that’s okay. I don’t want to interrupt your night. I can get Colton to do it.”
“Colton?” He laughed. “Last I saw him, he was three shots deep. C’mon, I’ll drive you. No big deal.”
I was dripping, and yes, a little chilly despite the midsummer heat, so the faster I could get into dry clothes the better. I scanned the crowd, trying to find Kai in the sea of popped collars.
“Actually, that would be great, thanks. But if you do it that means even more author support as you write your book. You keep saving my ass; I need to return the favor eventually.”
We started down the dock and I stared at Owen’s profile, waiting for him to answer me.
“Life isn’t quid pro quo,” he finally said. “I’m not keeping a tally, I promise you.”
“Yeah, but I am,” I replied quickly. “And it’s ridiculously lopsided. I don’t like feeling like I owe someone.”
He stopped suddenly and pivoted to me, frowning. “Seriously, you don’t owe me anything, Brooke. Friends help friends, right?”
The way he said “friends” sounded almost accusatory. Owen’s expression was stormy, like the levity of me belly flopping into the bay was long forgotten.
“Right,” I replied in a small voice. I crossed my arms tighter across my chest and didn’t look away despite his glare.
Since I’d met Owen, he’d pushed, and cajoled, and cheered me, but this was an entirely new side of him. All I’d done was offer to help him, yet he was acting like I’d somehow insulted him.
The air between us felt staticky, like I’d get a shock if an elbow strayed too close to Owen.
“If and when I need your help, you’ll know,” he said. “But I doubt it.”
His eyes tracked around my face. I tried to keep my expression neutral despite the nearness of him and my sopping state.
“Okay.”
I followed behind him, each squishy footstep a comical soundtrack to a suddenly unfunny moment.
“My car is parked down the street; it’ll take a few minutesfor me to get back,” Owen said to me once we reached the outer ring of the party. “I’ll pull into the driveway, and you can meet me there.”
“Yup,” I said with a quick nod. “I’ll let Meredith know I’m leaving.”
Owen disappeared into the crowd, and I pulled out my phone to text Meredith.
I fell in the bay. Owen is taking me back to change.
The reply bubbles popped up immediately.
What?!! How? Where are you now?
I looked around at groups of people filming themselves. The lower patio that’s filled with people in influencer mode.
I’m hiding in the bushes.
Coming
