“That’s… fair.”
“Yeah.” He dropped his gaze to the sand, watching as he dug holes in the sand with his toes. “It is.”
The guilt twisted in my stomach. The same crushing weight I’d been carrying since it happened. Every time she smiled at me like I was her friend, it felt like another betrayal. Every time I saw her across the room, it felt like I was swallowing broken glass.
“I feel terrible,” I admitted quietly.
“Join the club.” Owen’s mouth quirked up, but it wasn’t quite a smile. “It’s exclusive.” He bumped my shoulder with his. “Just me and you. We have jackets. They’re ugly, but mostly honest.”
A surprised laugh escaped me.
“She didn’t seem surprised, though.” Owen was staring forward at the water now. “About us ending things, I mean. It was almost like…” He trailed off, shaking his head.
“Like what?”
“Like she was relieved.”
Everything Syn said came back to me, about Cam and Trystan being endgame and about Owen being the odd man out. It seemed like everyone saw it except the three people in the middle of it.
“Did you know?” I asked carefully. “That she was still… That she had feelings for Trystan?”
His jaw tightened, and for a moment, I thought he wasn’t going to answer. He exhaled slowly.
“Yeah.” The admission was quiet; I barely heard it over the waves. “I knew.” He kicked the sand. “We were always better as friends. We never should have started dating.”
“Then why did you?”
The last light faded from the sky, leaving us in that blue-grey twilight.
“Because I didn’t want Trystan to have her. I didn’t think he deserved her.” I stared at his profile; his jaw worked. “I know how stupid that sounds,” he continued. “How immature, like I’m some caveman beating on my chest over territory I don’t even want.” He finally looked at me, and the vulnerability in his eyes made my throat tight. “I didn’t want her, Harlow. Not really. Not the way you’re supposed to want someone. But I couldn’t stand the thought of losing to him.”
“That’s…” I paused, searching for the right word. “Really unhealthy.”
“I know.”
“And a little pathetic.”
“I know that too.”
“And really unfair to Cam.”
“Yep.” He nodded, accepting the judgment like he thought he deserved it. Which he did. “Got anything else?”
I almost smiled. “I’ll save the rest for later.”
We stood in silence again, but this time it felt different. Not so heavy, like somehow the confession had lightened something, even if it didn’t fix it.
“So what does this mean?” The question burned in my throat, clawing its way out despite every instinct screaming at me to keep my mouth shut. “For us, I mean. Is there any chance…”
“Harlow.” His tone was a warning, like a door was closing. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what? Ask? Wonder? Hope?” The words spilled out before I could stop them, laced with bitterness that I didn’t want to show, but I couldn’t stop it. “Because I’ve been doing all three for longer than I want to admit, and I’m kind of…”
“We can’t.” He cut me off. “We can never be more than friends.”
“Because of Jax.” It wasn’t a question.
“Because of Jax,” he confirmed. “Because of Cam. Because of everything.” He turned to face me. “I’m not… I’m not the settling-down type, Harlow. I don’t do relationships well. Clearly.” He gestured at the house behind us. “And I don’t want a repeat of Cam and me. I don’t want to hurt you like that.”
