Owen is an optimist. He believes everything will be okay. Things will happen as they should. I, on the other hand, am a pessimist. Or, as I like to call myself, a realist.
My head isnotin the clouds. Everything is not sunshine and rainbows. But it sure is nice to spend time in his make-believe world from time to time.
I’m still stunned quiet while he pays and still when we walk out the door into the blazing summer sun. The heat hits me like a wall, and breathing seems improbable.
He wraps an arm around my shoulder and places a kiss on the top of my head. “I think we should talk, yeah?”
“Owen, I don’t know what to say.”
“Not now, Daisy. Let it sink in.”
Is this his way of telling me he loves me? Is that what I’m letting sink in?
I open my mouth to speak, but he continues before I can. “Not now. Just live in this moment with me.” He slips his arm from my shoulder to slide his fingers between mine. He bringsthem to his mouth and kisses the back of my hand. “Let’s just take in the city. We’ll enjoy the show tonight and be there for Knox on this momentous occasion. Then we’ll talk.”
____
Owen nudges me with his elbow. “Here comes the man of the hour.”
“Fashionably late, as always.”
The after-after party has been in full swing for quite some time already. Owen and I have been waiting in the massive open kitchen of a penthouse that belongs to the drummer of the band we’re here to celebrate. Finally, the man we flew across the country to see graces us with his presence. Knox searches the room, and his smile matches mine when he spots me, and Owen next to me.
Owen walked me to my room this afternoon and left me with nothing but a kiss on my forehead. An hour later we met Mom, Angus, Mia, and Sawyer in the lobby, and he’s been within reach every moment since. He’s kept his hands to himself, behaving as he always does around our family. It seems easy for him but is anything but for me.
When I first saw him waiting in the lobby with Mom, I stumbled my way out of the elevator. I was a shaking mess as I approached them to hear him telling my mom about how we had the Big Apple’s best pizza and about the walk we took around the city. When my brother and best friend joined us, I took Sawyer in my arms and let him distract me. Since then, I’ve followed Owen’s lead and compartmentalized his declaration to the backof my mind. But it’s never completely gone, it’s just buried deep enough that I can enjoy my brother’s special night.
Knox holds onto my friend's hand like she’s his lifeline as they navigate the throng of people. Every other person stops them to congratulate the lead singer of one of the biggest bands of the last two decades. He hates this part of it, but he’s handling it well with Ryan by his side. I’m so damn glad they found each other.
“Hey, big brother! I thought it might be past your bedtime, and you weren’t coming,” I yell over the crowd and loud music when he finally reaches us.
His reply is to wrap an arm around my neck and rub his knuckles across the top of my head. “Hilarious.”
“Hey, I’m thirty-three years old!” I swat him away. “How about for my birthday you let this childish behavior fade into the distance? Noogies are forever banned.”
“You’re not thirty-three yet.”
I tap my nonexistent watch. “It’s after midnight.”
His face pales. “Holy shit, Dais. I am so fucking sorry. I totally forgot. It’s your damn birthday, and it’s been all about the band.”
“Nah, at this age, who really cares? I got to have a birthday lunch in the big city while you were working. It’s all good. It’s only been my day for the last 43 minutes.”
He pulls me in for an actual hug, apologizing again. It’s sweet that he cares, but it’s really no big deal.
“Don’t worry, your mom prepaid for her lap dance. She still has a birthday gift to open.”
Freaking Owen. He can never leave well enough alone, and he loves to play with fire. But then, I do too. He’s proof of that.
Knox releases me to turn on his friend. “Owen Swift, if you give my sister a lap dance... So help me God!”
Playing along, I saunter over to Owen, where he casually leans against the counter, his dimples on full display, loving the reaction he’s gotten from my oldest brother.
“I mean, if Mom already paid for it, we don’t want her money to go to waste.” I make a show of dragging my hand down Owen’s chest, avoiding his healing tattoo.
For a second, Knox looks like he might be sick, but much to my surprise he recovers quickly. “I’m too old for this shit. Beer me.”
With me still pressed against him, Owen grabs a beer from the ice bucket and hands it to him. “Seriously, though. I’m glad I could be here, Knox. I know Cal wishes he could have come.”
