My throat went tight again, but for a different reason this time. “Me too.”
“Good. Now go and tell Harlow I said hi.”
“I will.”
“And Owen?” One more pause. “Don’t fuck this up.”
“I’m trying not to.”
The line went dead, leaving me sitting in my idling car, Cam’s words echoing in my head.
If you’re not ready to possibly lose your friendship with Jax over this, then you should walk away now.
I put the car in reverse, backing out of the parking spot as those words played on repeat.
Walk away.
The thought was laughable. I couldn’t walk away from Harlow if I tried. She’d somehow become the center of my entire universe, the person I thought about first thing in the morning and last thing at night. The person who made me want to be better, do better, fight harder for something that mattered.
I’d lose Jax before I’d lose her.
The realization settled into my bones as I drove home. I never thought I’d have to choose between my best friend and... Anyone else.
But if it came down to it, if Jax made me choose...
I already knew who I would choose.
CHAPTER 31
OWEN
The apartment greetedme with silence when I walked through the door. I dropped my gym bag by the entrance and scanned the living room.
No Harlow.
The evidence of her was everywhere. Her books were sprawled across the kitchen table: anatomy textbooks, notebooks, highlighters in about seven different colors, and colorful sticky notes.
I smiled.
There was something about seeing her things scattered through my space that made my chest tighten.
“Har?” I called out, toeing off my sneakers and kicking them toward the corner where hers already lay piled.
Silence.
I moved deeper into the apartment, passing the kitchen and moving down the hallway toward the bedrooms. That’s when I heard it, the muffled rush of water through pipes, the faint hiss of the shower running.
My feet carried me to the bathroom door before my brain could remind me that barging in on my girlfriend mid-showerprobably wasn’t the most gentlemanly move. Then again, we’d abandoned any pretense of boundaries weeks ago.
I knocked once. Knuckles rapping against wood.
“Come in.” Her voice carried through the door.
I pushed the door open, and the steam rolled out. The bathroom was hazy with it, the mirror completely fogged, the air thick and humid against my skin. Through the frosted glass of the shower door, I could make out her silhouette, the curve of her shoulders, the dip of her waist, the way she tilted her head back to let water run through her hair.
My mouth went dry.
She turned, sensing my presence before she pulled the door open.
