Page 76 of The Reality of Us
Teddy scoffed. He helped himself to a bag of peanuts, tearing it open and tipping a small handful into his cupped palm. “Maybe Alice should keep it down when she showers after her morning run. You know when she’s in there all alone?”
Owen dropped his head into his hands.
“Seems like her divorce is taking a long time,” Nate said.
“We’re headed to court next month.” Although Phoenix was still asking Alice for money and she was ignoring him. Even Owen was annoyed by the big sigh he couldn’t stop escaping.
“Why don’t you go and see her, mate? Sort out whatever problem you’re having.” Nate gestured for Teddy to wing him a packet of nuts.
“She’s working.”
Teddy raised his eyebrows. “So, go and help her. Jesus. You lot act like I’m the family idiot but hello.”
Owen sipped his beer. “No one thinks you’re an idiot. We think your hair is idiotic.”
“Yeah, well, so is your face, asshole.”
Owen shook his head, a small smile pulling at his lips. He could always count on his brothers to pull him out of a bad mood.
“The way I see it, you can sit here with us and pretend everything’s fine, or you can go find Alice. A blind man could see what’s going on between you. Even Raff’s figured it out, which is impressive because he’s living and breathing work right now,” Nate said.
Owen stared at the drink mats lined on top of the bar. They’d been so careful. Only spending time at his place or hers when Teddy was out or supposedly asleep. And yeah, there had been that time in his office—he shifted on his seat thinking about it—but Frankie had been wearing headphones, transcribing a deposition. The bite marks Alice had left on his shoulders when she came had been worth it.
“There’s nothing going—”
“Whatever. Fine. There’s nothing going on. I guess I’m not used to seeing this Owen. Not since Camille, anyway.” Teddy threw his hands up in the air and stomped around the bar to sit next to Nate.
His family needed to stop acting like he was carrying around a barely bandaged together heart because his ex-girlfriend had dumped him. This idea he’d been so damaged, he’d been unable to form connections with women ever since was shit. He’d had plenty of consensual, no-strings-attached fun over the years. The no-strings aspect was purely convenience focused. That was all. End of story.
“Camille’s got nothing to do with this. Besides, you were about six months old when all that went down.”
Teddy threw a peanut at him. “I was seventeen, dumbass, and you were heartbroken.”
“I was fine.” Owen turned to Nate. “Tell him I was fine.”
“You were pretty cut up about it.”
“See!” Teddy stole Owen’s beer and finished it.
Continuing this conversation would be like banging his head against a brick wall. Still, something Teddy had said rankled Owen. “What did you mean when you said you weren’t used to seeing ‘this Owen’?”
“Since when do you not go after what you want?”
Owen’s phone rang, and Alice’s picture flashed on the screen. In it, she was snuggling Murphy, curled up in the corner of his couch. They were both asleep.
Teddy grabbed the phone and held it up. “You’d better get this. The woman you’re not seeing has been breaking into your place and napping on your couch.”
Owen stared up at his brother blankly. “But she set the rules.”
It was like they’d all swapped spots and Teddy and Nate were his older, wiser brothers. The looks they gave Owen were a hair’s breadth away from pity.
“Since when are you afraid to renegotiate?” Nate said, passing him his phone.
Owen nodded, his throat thick. “Hey,” he answered the call, pushing off his stool and waving farewell before he stepped outside.
“Where are you? I’m at your place, but you’re not here.”
He stared at the night sky, the crisp, cool air filling his lungs. “I stopped for a drink after training.”
