Page 81 of The Relationship Clause

“Deal.”

After some more kissing and seeing Junie safely into the elevator, I head back to the restaurant and the bar. I’m dreading facing my father again, but after a quick look around, I realize he isn’t here. I fear maybe they all got too drunk and ended the night early until I spot Craig and another couple of guys at a small table by themselves. The other two are getting up to leave when Craig sees me and waves me over.

I wave back, but before heading over, I stop by the bar. “Do you have ginger ale?”

The guy looks at me kind of judgmentally but nods.

“Good. Bring it to me in a pint glass, please.”

There’s no way I’m drinking around Craig tonight, but maybe if he thinks I’m getting tipsy, he’ll be a little more forthcoming with information on his wife and stepdaughter.

Moments later, I’m at a table with Craig. “Hey, man. Good to see you,” he says, shaking my hand. I nod and grunt. “Look, I’m sorry about what happened earlier at dinner. Is your girlfriend okay? Junie?”

“She’s fine. Where is my dad anyway?”

“Went to bed. He hit the bottle extra hard after you left. Could hardly see straight by the time we said good night.”

I grunt again as the bartender brings me my ginger ale like I’d asked. He leaves, and I take a few good swallows, setting it down hard on the table. Craig doesn’t seem nearly drunk enough to get much out of him yet, and that worries me.

“Can I buy you a drink?” I ask, waving the bartender over again.

“Sure,” Craig says, smiling easily. “I was telling Tim that—Hey, wait, isn’t that your girlfriend?”

I turn around, looking in the direction he is, searching the people behind me, but there isn’t a single familiar face.

“Ha, my mistake. Guess not,” Craig says when I turn back. “I could have sworn I saw her.”

“Right,” I say, taking another swig of soda. “How about that drink?”

“Make it a beer.”

“You got it.” Dang. I was hoping he’d order something harder.

He grins and leans back in his chair. For some reason, unease sinks into my bones. Maybe this isn’t the best way to find anything out about Linda’s daughter. Then again, what other choice do I have?

CHAPTER 25

JUNIE

I need to learn to be a little more selfish.

Maybe if I’d been more selfish, I would have been able to ask Owen to forget about Craig and come kiss me some more in our suite, but no. That’s not what I did. Stupid Craig. Stupid mole.

I get back to our suite all aloney on my owney and change out of my dress and into some comfy pajamas. I have every intention of staying up until Owen gets back, but after about thirty minutes of scrolling on my phone, I start getting sleepy. A day of pampering followed by an awkward dinner and some intense, emotional heart-spilling, then freezing and making out can take it out of a person.

I halfway consider trying to fall asleep on the couch so I’ll wake up when Owen comes back, but in the end, I decide to go to my bed. I leave the door open though, hoping I’ll still hear Owen when he returns.

Despite my exhaustion, I don’t fall asleep right away. Instead, my thoughts turn to our conversation from earlier.

I did it. I told Owen about my past and my fears, and he didn’t immediately drop me like I’d feared he might. He stayed. He stayed and we talked and the whole thing filled me with hope. We both have things we’re afraid of, and we’re both okay with that.

More than that, he said he wants to give me something to stick around for and that I can count on him. I don’t know if I one hundred percent believe that yet, but I want to. And for me, that’s some big progress.

Eventually, I do fall asleep, but it feels like my eyes are only closed for a few seconds when I wake up again much later. I’m not even sure what woke me up until I hear the muffled footsteps coming down my hallway. There’s a bang followed by a muffled groan.

“Owen?” I sit up, groggy and confused. Where am I? What’s going on? There’s another bang followed by another groan, and it lights a fire under my sleepy brain. I jump out of bed and flip on the light in the hallway. It takes my eyes a few seconds to adjust, but when they do, I have to wonder if maybe I’m still dreaming.

If it is a dream, it’s an odd one.

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