CHAPTERSIX
TYLER
As soon asthe band finished their last song of the night and the lights came up, people started filing out of the park. I stood near the entrance, saying goodnight and thanking everyone for coming out. I was a chicken, but it was safer for me back here. Owen still needed to secure his equipment for the night, and I was losing the ability to play it cool.
All night, I’d been trying to figure out what he had planned for tonight. He’d said we could talk, but I wasn’t sure that was what I wanted. If he left it up to me, I’d talk myself right out of the room and his life.
Owen was the first person I trusted. And as much as he thought he’d violated that trust when he left, I wasn’t so sure I saw it that way anymore. He was right; if he’d reached out to me after they left town, it would have made things that much harder on me. I would have tried finding a way to make things better for him.
A clean break was the best thing for us back then, no matter how bad it hurt now.
“Hey, I was starting to think you’d ghosted me for a change,” Owen teased as he approached. My heart raced, though I wasn’t sure if it was out of fear or anticipation. He slid up beside me, hesitating briefly before resting his hand at the small of my back. I settled, unwilling to admit how badly I needed that point of contact.
“Nope, just trying to make sure everyone gets out safely, then we can go.” Billy pulled up to the barricades before I could suggest Owen head to his car and I’d meet him at his room when I finished up. I groaned, wondering if he’d wait until morning before tattling to my cousin about the two of us being seen together again tonight. I hopped off the picnic table and moved the barricades aside so he could drive over to the ball diamond and turn out the lights for the night.
Billy slowed, rolling down his window. His gaze flitted from me to Owen and back. He smirked, as if he knew what we had planned for the night. Joke was on him though, since I didn’t even know what was going on. “Hey, why don’t you get out of here for the night? I’ll make sure everything’s locked up and the security cameras are feeding to the app.”
“You don’t have to,” I protested, more because I was a control freak with a side of anxiety than because I wasn’t eager to get away. It had been the first of several fourteen-hour days, and as much as I should go to my cousin’s and pass out, I was too wired.
“Shut up, Tyler, and get your ass out of here,” he scoffed. “I promise, your party’s in good hands with me.”
He glanced toward the picnic table where Owen was trying to pretend he wasn’t nervous about my easy interaction with Billy. If he’d recognized the older brother of one of our former classmates, he’d have realized there was nothing to worry about. Even though I liked to give Michael shit about the time they spent together, I was pretty sure he was straight. “Glad to see the two of you are getting along now. Would have been a shitty weekend if you hadn’t sorted out whatever had you ready to throttle him yesterday.”
“Wasn’t like that,” I insisted. “He used to live here. We were friends back then, and it was a surprise to see him again.”
“Yeah, tell yourself whatever you need to get through. I’m not blind, man. And if you’re jonesing to get out of here for a booty call, more power to you. Someone ought to get laid.” There was a hint of bitterness in his words that I wasn’t willing to address.
“You planning to call Michael as soon as I leave and tell him what you saw?”
“Not really my place, now is it?” He tapped the steering wheel, staring straight ahead. His shoulders dropped and he had the good grace to look remorseful for what he’d already said. “Look, I’m sorry if he came at you this morning. I was really just trying to figure out what was going on between the two of you because the sexual tension was stifling. I’ll keep my trap shut from now on, promise. But you can talk to him, you know?”
“Yeah, and if there’s anything to tell, I will. But for now, I want to have the space to sort shit out without anyone meddling.”
“In this town?” Billy threw his head back and cackled. “Good luck with that shit. Anyone sees you leaving his room in the morning and you know it’ll be the talk of the diner before lunch. So play it smart if you’re serious about keeping this under wraps.”
“Will do.”
Billy put the truck in gear and headed out with a wave out the window. I motioned for Owen to follow me to where our vehicles were parked. He fell in step beside me. With only a few stragglers in the park and the lights out, I felt brave enough to slip my hand into his. He gave my fingers a squeeze, and I sighed. “I don’t know what I want to happen tonight, O.”
“That’s okay,” he reassured me. “How about we don’t put any expectations on ourselves and see where the night leads. If all you want to do is talk, then that’s what we’ll do.”
“No.” I spun around to face him, pressing my hand to his chest. “I get what you’re doing, but this can’t be all about what I want. You’re part of this, too. What you want matters just as much.”
Owen leaned forward, pressing a kiss to the corner of my mouth before working his way to the side of my neck. The cool breeze coming off the lake accentuated every inch of skin where he’d left open-mouthed kisses. I shivered when he traced his tongue over the shell of my ear. “Baby, I’m not sure you’re ready for what I want. Soon, but I’m not going to scare you off by throwing you into the deep end the first time you step up to the edge of the pool.”
Despite how turned on he had me, I busted up laughing, remembering the summer afternoon when he’d done exactly that. I’d been so scared I nearly drowned, not because I couldn’t swim, but because I couldn’t believe he’d shoved me into the damned pool. As I regained my composure, the sound of the fountain at that very pool echoed through the night.
It was somewhat ironic that so many of our special moments had taken place in this very park.
“You didn’t let me drown then, and you won’t now.” I twisted his shirt around my fist, holding him tight against my body. “You’ve always known what I needed better than I did, Owen. Give me this tonight…”
“Give you what, baby?” His hand slid down my side and around to the swell of my ass. “I’ll give you whatever you need, but you have to tell me because, if I have my way, it’s going to wind up with you walking funny the rest of the weekend.”
“Yeah. That.” My body sagged against his. Owen shoved a leg between my thighs, giving me something to grind my aching dick against. If he kept that up, we’d be headed to the back of the park again so we could take the edge off before heading to his room. “Please, Owen. I’ve dreamed of this for so damn long.”
“Is that so?” he asked as he nipped along my collarbone. I whimpered as he worked his way back up my neck, nipping instead of kissing this time. Every time I made a sound, he paused, and I could almost imagine him cataloging my reaction so he’d know what to do to me later. “I might need you to tell me the things you’ve wished I was here to do to you. I doubt we can get to everything this weekend, but we can make a damned good dent in your fantasies.”
Hearing his reminder that this thing building between us had a time limit on it was like a bucket of water on the fire. I tensed, and he immediately pulled back. “Talk to me, Ty. What was that for?”
