Page 23 of Addicted

“I’m fine,” Liam told him, trying to steady his hands. It had been an emotional ten minutes and now he wanted to go home even more.

“Was he bothering you?” Owen squinted at the door as if Zach might suddenly reappear.

“No!” Liam said a little too emphatically. “I, uh, know him from the last time I was here. He was saying hi.”

“All right. I was a little worried when you didn’t come back so I wanted to check on you.” Owen stiffened right after he spoke and his cheeks turned pink at the top like he was embarrassed. Liam didn’t understand why; in fact, it was nice that Owen was looking after him. No one did that anymore. First the sandwich and now this? It was going to be very hard to push Owen Parker away. No matter what, he couldn’t fall any harder for this man.

“I was splashing some water on my face. I’m more tired than I thought,” Liam told him. It wasn’t really a lie.

“How about ten more minutes? Then I think we can leave.” Owen saidwe.We. Liam tried to ignore that tiny two-letter word, it was practically insignificant! But his twelve-year-old self and his twenty-one-year-old self teamed up to studiously ignore any decisions he’d made about his feelings and instead fill his stomach with the butterflies that had previously been missing.

Liam must’ve made a face because Owen tried again, getting closer, and Liam’s fingers twitched with the urge to touch his hand.

“Five minutes?” His eyes were a bright, sincere, clear blue, like the ocean that reflects the sky, like the sea from space. Liam could get lost in them for days. It took so much strength to break free and look away.

“Sure,” he breathed out, worried that he might have fallen too hard already.

9

OWEN

“Soletmegetthis straight.” Finn squinted at Owen. “Liam Gray actually works at The Pointe? And he’s your new assistant? Are you sure he works there? Doyoueven work there?”

“Shut up, Finn.” Owen tossed him a bottle opener, watching as Finn popped the top on his beer.

“It’s really him?” Finn continued, undeterred.

“Yes, it’s him.”

“And you’ve known this forhowlong?”

Owen looked out over the perfectly manicured lawns of his condo complex. “Five days.”

“Five days?Why tell me now? Why not keep it from me forever?“ Finn smirked at him and took a long pull from the amber-colored bottle.

“Let’s go back to you shutting up.” Owen shook his head in mock exasperation, leaning against the railing on his outside deck. It was a perfect midweek summer evening; the tree branches around them swayed gently in a breeze that eased the humidity and balmy heat of the day. Weddings and other events were usually held from Thursday to Sunday so the hall was closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and this was Owen’s first ‘weekend’ off so he’d invited Finn over to finally come clean, which was clearly going well. “And I didn’t tell you sooner because I knew you were going to read me the riot act about it.”

“You’re not wrong.” Finn was still smirking. “Anyway, I have questions. Questions and concerns.”

“Hold on, I need to prepare for the firing squad.” Owen took several deep swallows from his own beer, wiped his mouth, and then gestured vaguely at Finn to go ahead.

“Did you take that job because you thought Liam worked at The Pointe?”

Owen blinked at him. “Wow, Finn, you’re just going for my throat.”

“It’s like you’re new here.”

“Fair enough.” Owen gave him a nod. “I didn’t take the job because of him. I took the job because John matched my salary at the firm, including commission.”

Finn’s bottle slipped low and foam spilled out of it onto the deck floor. “Why didn’t you tell me that before? That’s amazing!” He switched hands, wiping the beer-soaked one on his faded band t-shirt. “So, Liam is a bonus.”

Owen didn’t want to consider that Finn might be a little bit right so he shrugged. “I wasn’t positive that he worked there, especially after I talked to you.” Owen raised an eyebrow at his friend, who gave him a shit-eating grin. “But then one of the employees recommended him to me. It’s not like I sought him out.”

“But you didn’t say no.”

“Why should I say no? Because I used to live next door to him?” Owen felt he had a better argument even though he was technically skirting the issue.

“You know that’s not what I mean.” Finn put the bottle on the table and stared Owen down. “It’s been three years and you think you see him all over the place. I know you don’t like the word fixation but obviously you have some kind of unresolved guilt-”

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