Page 65 of Addicted

A knock on his door made him jump. It was cracked open enough for him to see Marci lingering in the hall. That was strange. She’d usually breeze in; she was never hesitant.

“Come in,” Owen called and she did so, closing the door behind her with a glance at the wall between his and Liam’s office.

“Has Liam left for the day?” she asked, more at the wall than at him.

“Yes?” Owen gestured at the chair across from him. “Have a seat. What’s going on?”

She sat, quiet for a moment, which was scary. So was the expression on her face. Marci was always confident, even cocky, but right now she seemed cautious, uneasy.

“You and Liam, you’re…close, right?“ She looked at Owen, her eyes telling him this wasn’t her fishing for gossip.

“Yes, but that stays between you and me for now.”

“Okay. Good.” Her cheeks puffed on an exhale like she was gearing herself up. “I don’t know what happened to Liam in the past but I’m pretty sure you do. Wait!” Marci held up a hand as Owen took a breath to interrupt. “You don’t have to tell me, that’s on Liam’s timetable if he ever wants to. It’s just…”

Owen waited, the ball of anxiety in his stomach growing with each passing second. He had a sinking feeling he knew where this conversation was going.

Taking another long breath, Marci lifted her chin, declaring, “He needs help.”

Donning his poker face to cover up the shock, Owen steepled his fingers and looked at Marci over them. “What makes you say that?”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “You have eyes. He’s not sad, he’s depressed. Clinically, I think. He tries to hide it but I hear him crying in the bathroom or the storage room. I try to keep tabs on him by inviting him out, letting him know I care about him. But lately? I think he’s getting worse.” For a heartbeat, she wasn’t Marci The Strong and Capable. She was scared, vulnerable. “I had a little brother. Andrew. When he was ten they found out he had leukemia. He didn’t even make it a year. Liam reminds me of Drew and…I don’t want to lose him too.”

“I’m sorry. I had no idea.” Owen told her, dropping his stoic mask and reaching out across the desk, holding his palm up. She put her hand in his.

“It’s not your fault, it’s not anyone’s fault. Life has loss. It’s one of the things that I learned young.” Marci squeezed his hand and let go. “But I want to help Liam in any way I can.”

“I’ll be meeting up with him tomorrow and I’ll talk to him. About a lot of things.” Owen promised her.

Marci gave a single sharp nod. “Good. Thank you. And please don’t tell him that I came to you about this. I’ve tried bringing it up before and it’s like he can sense what I’m going to say and shuts down. I don’t want him to pull away from me. I care about him.”

“I do too. And my lips are sealed.” Owen stood, walked around the desk, and hugged her. “You’re a good friend, Marci. Liam needs more people like you in his life.”

“You’re not so bad yourself.” She lightly slugged him in the shoulder as they broke apart. “Whatever happens, can you please let me know? I mean, as much as you can without invading Liam’s privacy.”

“I will. Cross my heart.” Owen tried not to let his trepidation and disappointment show. What he thought would be a lovely first date was turning into a potential intervention. He’d need to observe Liam from a different viewpoint and then they’d need to talk.

He just hoped that Liam wanted to listen.

22

LIAM

“Yourcheckenginelightis on.” Owen squinted at the dashboard of Liam’s car and then reached under the steering wheel, pulling a lever that popped the hood.

“It’s been on for a while.” Liam stood by the front of the car, trying not to sink into himself at Owen’s incredulous stare.

“When was the last time you brought her in for a tune-up? Please tell me you have at least changed the oil in the last year?” Owen put his hands on his hips and Liam blinked, distracted. He’d gotten way too used to seeing Owen in a suit, so the jeans and white t-shirt were a whole new category of sexy, especially with how the fabric was stretching across Owen’s chest and biceps.

“I…think so?” No matter how much Liam wracked his brain, he couldn’t remember. The last three years were a blurry mess; however, the last few months stood out in sharp relief despite his drug use, as if Owen’s return had parted the clouds in Liam’s mind, bringing it light and focus.

Owen shook his head with a grin. “Then we’re doing an oil change too. I figured that might be the case so I stopped at the auto parts store this morning and picked up a few things.” Striding over to the workbench in the corner, Owen started rifling through the plastic bags that rested on top of it.

“You bought all of that for me?” Liam joined him, taking in the filters, a few quarts of oil, and some other things he didn’t know the names of. “How much did it cost?” Liam couldn’t let Owen shell out that much money since he was providing the labor and meal for tonight. Even if it required Liam to pull more cash from his inheritance he wouldn’t feel right unless he offered to chip in.

“Don’t worry about it,” Owen chucked Liam under the chin, looking at him for a beat too long, almost like he was scrutinizing him. Owen had been off since Liam arrived. He kept staring into Liam’s eyes and surreptitiously sizing him up when he thought Liam wasn’t watching. Liam wanted to write it off as attraction but it didn’t have any heat behind it. Maybe it was first-date jitters? But that required Owen to be nervous and he wasn’t; he was vigilant. He probably just wanted things to go well.

“Thank you, Owen.” Liam gave him a real smile, trying to do whatever he could to help things along smoothly. This was the last time he’d see Owen before he went clean. He planned to taper off over the next two days and then stop altogether, calling in next week with theflu. With the weekend, he’d have seven days, which should be more than enough, and if he was still weak when he returned to work then everyone would chalk it up to his illness.

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