Owen came back then, sliding into the booth and immediately launching into a story about his upcoming football season. Knox made fun of him for being the most insufferable jock known to man, I laughed, and the moment Knox and I had dissolved as quickly as it came.
I kept that ring. For months, I wore it on a chain around my neck, fidgeting with it until the plastic cracked and the fake ruby fell out.
I never told Knox about that.
I never told him how much it meant to me.
And I really never told him that was the moment I realized I didn’t just love him like a friend.
When I reach the door, I’m startled by someone holding it open for me, even more so when the cheery hostess asks if I need a table for one.
“I’m meeting someone,” I say, my voice sounding far away.
Each step I take, I bury the memory deep where it belongs. Hidden by better judgement and smart, safe choices.
“There she is!” Owen beams up at me. “Where’d you get lost to?”
I plaster a smile on my face and slide into the booth next to him, across from Knox, laughing about how there was a line at the bathroom. I can’t meet Knox’s gaze. I won’t. But a small traitorous part of me wonders if he ever thinks about that day.
If he remembers the milkshake and the ring.
If he still plays the scene back in his mind, remembering how he felt when he said “You’ve still got us,”like it was a promise he’d never break.
Chapter 5
Knox
The waitress has refilled my water glass three times. I’ve been watching her out of the corner of my eye, the way she glances at our table every few minutes, hovering, looking for a reason to come back. I know exactly what she’s doing. Who she’s looking at. It’s Owen. It’s always Owen.
She swings by again, and I stop her, gesturing to Sawyer. “She needs a side of honey mustard.”
Owen looks up from his onion rings. “How do you know that?”
“She’s always dipped her fries in honey mustard.” I take a drink of water. “You’d know if you paid attention.”
Ella glances between us, keeping whatever she wants to say to herself. Sawyer’s looking at me with an expression I can’t fully read. Surprised that I remembered that small detail…and maybe guarded too, like she wants to respond but is holding back.
Owen stares at me for a second, then goes back to his food. Done. Forgotten. That’s my brother.
He’s completely oblivious, always has been. He’s too busy pressing his shoulder into Sawyer’s and stealing her fries while she pretends to be annoyed about it. I go back to doing what I’m apparently very good at—watching her micro expressions fromacross the table and keeping every single thought about it locked behind my teeth.
Ella is beside me, close enough that her arm keeps grazing mine. It’s more and more irritating the longer we sit here, but I don’t move. There’s no point. She’ll just come closer again.
Sawyer scoots toward the end of the bench and stands, grabbing her bag. “I have to pee.” She points at Owen. “Do not eat my fries while I’m gone.”
Owen puts his hands up in mock surrender. “The accusation.”
She shakes her head at him and disappears toward the back of the restaurant. I watch her go for exactly two seconds before I force myself to look back at the half-eaten burger on my plate.
Owen waits until she’s through the door, then reaches into the front pocket of his shorts and sets a ring box on the table.
What the fuck?
I’m silent while I take it in. We’re all silent, like all the air gets sucked out of the booth.
“So, I have news,” he says so nonchalantly that I could scream. “I’m going to ask her tonight.”
Ella makes a sound somewhere between a gasp and a laugh. She leans forward, reaching for the box before Owen offers to show her.
