Owen stood at the counter with his back to me, shirtless, skin gleaming with a light sweat. He must have just come back from a run or a workout.
I should have announced I was awake, but I didn’t.
The muscles of his back rippled as he reached for something in an upper cabinet. A bead of sweat traced a path down between his shoulder blades.
He turned slightly to grab something from the counter, and I caught a glimpse of his profile: the strong line of his jaw, the slope of his nose, the damp hair pushed back from his forehead. His torso was all hard planes and defined ridges, a smattering of dark hair trailing down his stomach and disappearing beneath the waistband of his shorts.
He glanced over his shoulder, and our eyes met.
A slow smile spread across his face, not the smirk I was used to, but something softer, almost fond. It did things to my already-compromised stomach that had nothing to do with the hangover.
“You’re awake.”
I pushed myself up to sitting and regretted that decision too, as the room tilted sideways and my head throbbed.
“Unfortunately,” I croaked.
Owen grabbed something from the counter and walked toward me, and I had to actively remind myself to look at his face. Face, Harlow. Eyes are up there.
He stopped at the couch and held out a bottle of water, condensation already beading on the plastic. I took it with trembling fingers, fumbling with the cap until he reached over and twisted it off for me like I was a child who couldn’t manage basic motor functions.
Which, to be fair, I currently couldn’t.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, taking a long drink. The cold water hit my stomach and threatened to come back up, but I forced it to stay down.
Owen didn’t sit next to me on the couch. He lowered himself onto the coffee table directly across from me, forearms braced on his knees, close enough that our legs were almost touching.The position put us at eye level, and I couldn’t look away even though every survival instinct I possessed was screaming at me to run.
“I think we need to talk.”
The four worst words in the English language, delivered with a serious expression that made my already-churning stomach drop to my feet.
Sighing, I set the water bottle on the cushion beside me. “Is this about the kiss?”
“That too.”
Too. So there was more. Great. Wonderful. This was exactly how I wanted to spend my hangover morning, getting a lecture from a half-naked Owen while my head tried to split itself in two.
“Look.” He clasped his hands together in front of him. “I want to be friends. I really, really do, especially since everyone else is gone, but any time we’re sharing a space...”
He trailed off, and I knew exactly where this was going because Owen would never see me as anything other than his best friend’s off-limits little sister.
“It goes too far,” I finished for him, my voice flat.
“Yeah.” He exhaled heavily. “There’s this undeniable chemistry between us. I would be lying if I said there wasn’t.”
The tiniest bit of hope fluttered through me. “So maybe we should explore it.” The words came out before I could stop them.
His gaze held mine as he shook his head slowly, and the flicker died.
“That can never happen, and not just because Jax would kill me, although he definitely would.”
“Owen…” I practically groaned his name. Sitting here listening to a break-up speech from someone I wasn’t even dating wasn’t on my list of things I wanted to do this morning or ever, actually. I wanted him to just rip off the bandaid and get this over with so I could leave with what was left of my dignity.
“I learned my lesson with Cam.” The pain in his eyes made me go still. “My relationship with her will never be the same again. We’re trying to be friends, but there’s this…” He made a vague gesture. “...weight now. This awkwardness that wasn’t there before. I ruined something that mattered to me.”
I stared at him, at the genuine regret etched into his features, and my heart cracked a little more.
“Friends should never cross that line,” he continued, softer now. “It changes everything, and I can’t… I won’t… risk losing you and Jax and Kaia, too.”
