Page 30 of Addicted

“B-But that can’t be legal?” Liam blurted. “She kidnapped him!”

“It’s technically not kidnapping until there’s a custody order in place which is what I’ve been trying to establish during the divorce proceedings. But Sharon and her lawyers are making it very difficult.” That was the understatement of the century; it was more like they were making it hell. Sharon was using Nathan’s connections to blackmail and bribe judges, doing whatever they could to hurt Owen. And it was working. Owenwashurting. But he wouldn’t give up, not until he saw Michael again, held him in his arms, made sure he was safe, and told him that he loved him. There was no other option.

“Owen…” Liam’s eyes were shimmering as he blinked back tears. “That’s awful. Terrible. I had no idea.” In a way, it was sweet that Liam felt so strongly about it but Owen didn’t want to distress him any further. Liam was skittish to begin with and now he looked shaken and mortified.

“It’s okay Liam. Really.” Owen reassured him. “I have a great lawyer and good friends to lean on. Including you. To be honest, aside from Finn, I talk to you the most.”

“What?Me?“ Liam’s shock turned comical as he pointed at his own chest in confusion.

Owen chuckled, some life coming back into him. “Yes, you. There’s no one else in this office with us is there?” He gestured around them with a soggy cold French fry. “They wouldn’t fit among all this paperwork.”

“But don’t you have othe-” Liam caught himself at the last minute but Owen still read him like a book.

“Most of my social circle came from Sharon and they left with her. Finn has been there for me through the divorce and I have some buddies from college. But I don’t see them every day.” Owen smiled and Liam gave him a hesitant one back, small and secret, and Owen felt heat creep into his cheeks, his chest, and somewhere further south.

“Do you text them terrible jokes too?” Liam’s smile grew a little bigger.

“No, only you.” Owen didn’t mention that Finn sent him gross pornography whenever Owen tried to joke with him. It would ruin whatever was happening right now. The room felt charged, electric, all the tension gone, replaced by something else, something that matched the warmth that Owen was feeling in his chest, the lightness that started with his confession. Although it had been a means to bring Liam closer it strangely seemed to help, to take some weight off, and Owen was grateful to drop some of the burden.

12

LIAM

SharoncheatedonOwen.She cheated on Owen! And kidnapped Mikey!spun like a mantra through Liam’s head for the next few days. He’d been shocked when Owen had first mentioned the divorce but, now that Liam had learned the details, he was downright astonished and distracted. Why did Sharon cheat? And why did she take their son? Just to punish Owen? Why would she want to punish him? It was hard for Liam to get his head around it all.

All the time he’d lived next door, he’d never noticed that The Parkers’ marriage wasn’t good. Owen told him that they’d hid their troubles well but Liam was still shocked. He’d been stalking Owen from his bedroom window for years but never saw the patterns. Or did he? Owen was always outside, working on his car, grilling, or swimming in his pool, which made him easy to ogle, but Liam suddenly realized that Owen had been doing all those things alone. He rarely saw Owen and Sharon hang out on their deck together or take a swim together, and they never canoodled or overtly showed their love as Liam’s parents did. Liam hadn’t judged that before; couples display their affection differently but, with what Liam knew now, it was telling.

He’d assumed that Sharon and Owen were as in love as his parents. He wondered how many other assumptions he’d made.

The side stairwell echoed with voices as the wait staff ran around preparing for the day’s events, and they pulled Liam from his reverie as he made his way up to the third floor. Dylan had been right, Liam didn’t miss setup and, if he were honest, he wouldn’t miss serving for a little while either. When Owen first asked about working upstairs full time, Liam had thought it was the worst idea ever. He’d drawn many lines in the sand about their relationship and texting had already crossed several of them, but to combine that with more hours together? It was the exact opposite of what Liam needed. However, once he had processed Owen’s words, he realized that more hours meant getting things done faster and that meant going back downstairs faster.

That was what he wanted…right?

“Good morning, Liam.” As Liam walked into the office Owen greeted him with a warm smile that melted his bones and he decided that the whys didn’t matter. Sharon had caused Owen a significant amount of pain so she was now Enemy Number One.

Liam just hoped that the sharing was one-sided. He didn’t mind listening; in fact, he’d wanted to know what had happened, but he wasn’t going to reciprocate by talking about his own pain.

“Good morning,” Liam said for the second time. The first had been via text; Owen greeted him every morning and Liam found himself blinking awake each day and reaching for his phone despite himself, wanting that gentle connection.

Putting his messenger bag in the corner, Liam looked around. He really did have his work cut out for him, The Pile was now demolished, leaving the other office eerily empty, but most of it had been transferred to the small stacks littering Owen’s floor. They were getting close to the digitizing stage; however, Liam didn’t know how that was going to work.

“I’ve been researching scanners,” Owen told him, the mind-reading happening so often that Liam was barely bothered by it anymore. “I’ll order one today and we’ll make a cleanup plan. I can’t meet with brides and grooms in John’s office forever.”

“I guess you can’t,” Liam agreed, knowing that in its current state this room did not make a good impression. A small rush let him know that his first pill was kicking in and he sighed in relief, picking up a box of old contracts that he’d found on a shelf in the coat room yesterday. Liam had searched the building a few times already and random paperwork was popping up less and less. He was nearing the end of hisnot being around Owenwork and hoped that he wouldn’t be stuck in the same room with him for the scanning.

“I’m also having a photographer come by this week to take photos for our website-” Owen added but the phone interrupted him and Liam took that chance to slip out, spending the next few hours wandering The Pointe. It wasn’t a futile attempt for he did find a few old contracts stuck in the back of the linen closet in the men’s room as well as a stack of credit slips under some lobster pots by the back door of the kitchen. When he returned Owen was typing away at his desk, a few ledgers in front of him as he worked on The Pointe’s finances. As usual, his dark slacks clung to his thighs and since it was afternoon his tie was off and slung over the back of his chair in case he needed it for a meeting. The sleeves of his dress shirt were rolled up, showing off forearms that Liam wanted to bite into, and the first button was undone, giving a hint of curled dark blond chest hair, which was a few shades darker than the hair on his head.

Liam swallowed hard, averting his gaze and placing his new quarry in the to-be-sorted area, which was everything on the couch.

“I should’ve asked this before but do you know how many venue managers this place has had in, let’s say, the last five years?” Fingers halting on the keyboard, Owen’s focus changed to Liam.

“Three? Maybe?” Liam scrunched his nose as he thought, studying the ceiling. “Marci said there were two before Dean so, including you, four? But one only lasted a month.”

“That explains so much.” Owen swiveled his chair left and right, then spun it in a circle, a boyish expression on his face. Liam grinned at him because he was spinning too but in a different way, buoyed above it all. Grabbing the edge of his desk, Owen righted himself, facing front, their eyes locking. It was silly, they looked at each other a lot; it was nothing new and Liam would usually avert his gaze after a few seconds.

But this time he was caught, frozen, and it felt like time was stretching as the hard pulse of his heartbeat echoed in his ears. He got lost in the blue of Owen’s eyes, went swimming in the depths of an ocean he’d gladly drown in. As Owen tilted his head a fraction of an inch, Liam noticed that there was curiosity in that gaze, along with something else Liam couldn’t place. Was Owen noticing his weight or his drug use? Was he too shaky? Meanwhile, Liam was caught up in how gorgeous Owen was, like he was still a lovesick teen.

The distinctive chirp of a phone shattered the connection. Liam blinked a few times, watching as Owen looked down at his cell.

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