“Oh, it’s definitely weird. My sister-slash-best-friend is dating the guy who’s practically my brother’s other brother, who is married to your actual sister. I’m going to need a whiteboard and several different colored markers to map this out.” She grinned. “But it’s the good kind of weird.”
“Do you think Jax will be angry with Owen?”
Syn shrugged. “I don’t think Jax will like it, but honestly…” She paused, glancing to her left before looking back. “I think Jax is going to be too exhausted to care right now.” She chuckled. “He’s still figuring out this whole new parent thing. Kailyn doesn’t sleep more than an hour or two at a time.”
I cringed. “I just don’t want to cause issues between them.”
Syn shrugged again. “I think you need to do what makes you happy. Jax will get over it.”
I smiled. “Just please don’t tell anyone yet. We want to do it on our own terms.”
“My lips are sealed.” She mimed zipping them shut, then locking them, then throwing away the key. “But you owe me details later. Real details. Not this vaguewe’re figuring it outnonsense. I want the whole story.”
“Deal.”
The sound of keys in the front door made my heart stutter.
“He’s home,” I said, and I could hear the smile in my own voice before I felt it on my face. “I should go.”
“Oh myGod, you’re smiling. You’re actually smiling like a lovesick idiot. This is disgusting, and I love it.”
“Goodbye, Syn.”
“Use protection.”
I hung up before she could traumatize me further, my cheeks burning hot enough to start a small fire.
The front door swung open, and Owen walked in dressed in black joggers slung low on his hips, a white team shirt stretched across his chest, and an unzipped hoodie framing broad shoulders. His hair was messy and still damp from what I assumed was a post-practice shower. He had that easy, loose-limbed energy that meant practice had gone well.
Our eyes met across the room.
My chest tightened, and my stomach fluttered.
He stopped when he saw me on the floor, surrounded by my mess of study materials. “Well.” A smile tugged at his mouth. “This is...”
“Don’t make fun of me. Anatomy is trying to destroy my will to live.”
“Looks like it’s winning.” He dropped his bag by the door and crossed the room.
I expected him to sit beside me, but he didn’t. He lowered himself onto the carpet behind me, his long legs appearing on either side of mine, bracketing my body with his. Before I could process the position, his arms wrapped around my waist from behind, and he pulled me back against the solid wall of his chest.
Heat flooded through me instantly.
“How’s the studying going?” he murmured against my ear. The scent of his body wash surrounded me, something clean and masculine that made me want to press my nose to his throat and just breathe.
“Terrible.” I tried to keep my voice steady, but it was difficult when every hard plane of his torso pressed against my back. When his heart was beating strong and steady against my shoulder blade. “I’ve read the same paragraph seventy times, and I still can’t understand what a ventral rami is.”
“Sounds brutal.” His chin settled on my shoulder. His stubble scraped against the sensitive skin of my neck, sending shivers down my spine. “What’s a ventral rami?”
“I just told you I don’t know.”
“Right.” His chest vibrated with quiet laughter. “Sorry. Not helpful.”
“Not even a little.” I tried to refocus on the diagram, but Owen’s hands started moving, tracing slow patterns across my stomach through the thin fabric of my shirt. His thumbs swept back and forth along my hipbones. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.” His tone was the picture of innocence. His hands were anything but. “Just sitting here. Being supportive.”
“This doesn’t feel like support. This feels like sabotage.”
