He barely touched his plate. Owen wants to say it will be rude to leave him alone, but something stops him from speaking. He simply mumbles, “Okay.”
“Great.” Nate claps. “Sorry about that, man, but Ireally need Will for this one.”
Owen watches quietly as Will rises to his feet, heaviness in his movement. He does a good job not meeting Owen’s eyes. “I’ll take care of my bill. Sorry about this.”
Owen doesn’t respond because he’s too confused. Once he’s alone, he leans back in his seat, thinking that something is clearly wrong, but he doesn’t know what.
Chapter 10
Will
“I finished my books,” Julie says once he sits beside her bed. She’s wearing a green bandana today.
“Already?”
“Well, that boy from the library has great taste.”
Will smiles, but it’s forced. He hasn’t spoken to or seen Owen in the last three days, not since he left him alone while they were having dinner.
“When can you bring me new books from the handsome boy?”
“How do you know he’s handsome?”
“I have my sources. People around here also visit the library.”
Then they should be more accurate, he thinks. Owen isn’t handsome; he’s downright striking. And since Will had hoped to see him at Rodie’s the other day, he dressed up nicely and tried to make his hair more interesting, which backfired when Nate saw them together.
“You’re spacing out,” Julie says.
“Sorry.”
“What’s troubling you?”
He opens his mouth to say he’s fine, but he ends up saying, “I’ve gotten myself caught in a situation I’m not proud of, and I’m not sure how to get out of it.”
Julie sits straighter on the bed, watching him with concern. He hates worrying her, but he can’t think of anyone else he can share his burden with, if only small parts of it.
“What sort of situation?”
“Something that caught me off guard when it happened, and I didn’t put a stop to it in time.”
“Why didn’t you?”
He sighs, watching the setting sun outside the window. “I’ve gotten something out of it that I needed, but now it’s gotten out of hand, and I don’t see it getting better.” If anything, Nate’s sense of ownership is only getting worse. Will is certain that putting a stop to whatever it is they’re doing won’t go down easily, but he’s not sure how far Nate would take his obsession.
“I can’t even imagine what situation you’re in,” Julie says, reaching out to hold his hand. “Just try to think of the day after you’ve put a stop to it.”
“After?”
“If you only focus on how hard it will be to end it, you’ll get scared. Focus on how good you’ll feel when it’s over, and let that be your motivation.”
And what will that day look like?Would he dare to getcloser to Owen? To explore something deeper with a man whose company he enjoys so much?
He doesn’t know.
He stays another thirty minutes, and then it’s time for Julie to have dinner and rest. He kisses her goodbye and steps into the hallway to walk back to his truck, wishing to be home in the quiet of his solitude.
“Will, hold on.”
