Page 8 of Easy To Lose

Damn, she’s right.

* * *

There’s nothing like going from a therapy session to work in the span of a few hours. And even worse? As I walk up to the front door, Owen is there, leaning against the side of my building, waiting for me. Fuck. He looks gorgeous with that backwards baseball hat covering his blond hair. The blue fabric makes his eyes pop. As my hand reaches for the front door’s handle, his shadow overtakes me, and I feel the heat of his chest against my back.

“What do you want, Owen?” I know I told Kennedy that I was going to give him a chance to redeem himself, but the moment I see that sweet smile and dimple on his right cheek, I can’t help the anger that surges through my body. That face was the star of every fantasy I had as a teen. And now when I see him, all I remember are the tears streaming down my face as my mom comforted me in the living room, and my dad threatened to kill Owen.

“I just wanted to come by and apologize for Bailey. She was out of line yesterday.” A scoff of disbelief escapes me as I turn, making Owen back up just an inch.

“Out of line?” His eyes plead with mine to understand where he’s coming from, but I’m not willing to give his girlfriend a pass because he’s sorry she said something she clearly meant to say. “Owen, you don’t need to apologize for something your girlfriend said. It’s not your fault.” The more his eyes bore into mine, the more the anger begins to dissipate, and those feelings that Kennedy tried to uncover start to rear their ugly head.

“You have to know that what she said isn’t true, right?” The words sink into my skin as I start to process the idea of Owen not thinking that I’m overweight.

“Come on, Owen. I’ve spent my entire life dodging the looks, the whispers and crude gestures. I’m just not used to the comments being hurled at my face.” He flinches, and I know I need to leave—for both our sakes.

“M, please. Just talk to me.” His eyes plead with me as I ignore the pull I feel toward him and turn and open the door to the shop.

“I have to get to work. I’ll see you around.” With that, I head inside. The moment the door shuts behind me, I lean against it, close my eyes, and wonder how the hell I’m going to get through being around Owen Peters for the foreseeable future.

Chapter 7

Owen

I can’t stop pacing. The way Morgan walked away from me earlier haunts me, to the point where I’ve been forcibly keeping myself from going over there and ruining the rest of her night by talking to her about the disgusting things that Bails said. That sad, broken look that crossed Morgan’s eyes when Bailey mentioned her weight left a sinking hole inside me. Because I’ve never seen anything but the beautiful girl she refuses to see.

I wish I had her phone number. At least I could text her, make sure she’s okay. But I know she’d likely hate that. I could always go see her parents since I know they never moved from Morgan’s childhood home. But they haven’t been that welcoming to me since prom night—and what happened. Even though I tried to explain why I did what I did, they refused to hear it. They told me that I needed to tell the one person who deserved an explanation. Unfortunately, by that time, Morgan had moved thousands of miles away, and I was left with a lifetime of regret.

So, I continue to pace until I hear a knock at my front door. For a split second, I wonder if the fates are being kind to me today. Maybe it’s Morgan standing beyond that threshold, waiting for me to explain everything. But when I open it, it’s Bailey, arms crossed, looking as if she hates my guts.

“I can’t believe you!” She storms past me, leaving me to hold the door open as my eyes track her movements throughout my house. First, she makes her way into my kitchen, takes out a bottle of water from my fridge, and then heads to my cupboard and grabs a protein bar she knows I always have on hand. Usually, the thought of Bailey making herself at home makes me feel like our relationship has some kind of normalcy to it. But lately when she’s here, all I can think about is getting her to leave so I can have some time to myself.

“What are you talking about?” She can’t mean what happened with Morgan. That would be insane.

“You couldn’t keep your eyes off her! I was standing right there and all you were doing was looking at her! I’m your girlfriend, not her.” I guess she is insane because no scenario on this Earth would allow me to side with someone who treats people the way Bailey did with Morgan yesterday. I’ve created a business around helping both men and women be confident however they see fit. It could be losing weight, gaining muscle, or just learning how to be healthy in their everyday life. Bailey telling me that I should have taken her side when she was insulting someone I care about makes me question not only her morals but also what I saw in her in the first place.

“Bails, we need to talk.” From the way the bottle of water stalls on the way to her lips, and her wide eyes plead with mine, she knows what’s coming. All the fight from a second ago leaves her, and her body language changes in front of me. She stands up straighter, her eyes narrow, and she takes deliberate steps toward me. This conversation has been a long time coming. I had this thought in my head way before Morgan showed up, but now, the idea of being with someone when I know my heart belongs to the girl that got away doesn’t seem fair.

“Don’t you dare say what you’re about to, Owen,” she demands, her voice stern as she sets everything in her hands down on the table in front of her and places her fists on her hips. “You will not break up with me when you know we’re meant to be together.” There’s a slight hint of panic in her tone, and I know she’s not worried about not being with me. She’s concerned about her access to my gym. I take a deep breath and sit down on the couch.

“Bails, you know this hasn’t been working for a long time,” I start, but she comes over and straddles me, sitting on my lap, her breasts directly in front of my face. As a guy, I notice how amazing they look in the loose-fitting top that hangs off one shoulder. But the reality is, the woman in front of me doesn’t have the same appeal she did all those months ago.

“Owen, baby.” She moans as she hooks her arms around my neck, pulling me closer so she can take my earlobe into her mouth and lightly tease my flesh. Her hips circle over my cock, hoping to garner some kind of reaction like she used to, but I feel nothing. I wish I loved her the way I thought I did back when we started dating. But in reality, everything has been slowly falling apart around me, and it took Morgan coming home to put things into perspective.

“Bails, stop.” I pull away from her eager lips. When I see the dramatic pout on her face, I know I’m making the right decision. That the only thing I want to do is roll my eyes when I see that look should tell me everything I need to know.

“Owen, come on. You can’t seriously be thinking of ending things. We’re so amazing together.” This time, I do roll my eyes as I pick her up and place her on the couch beside me.

“We haven’t been together for months, and you know that.” She starts to shake her head, fingers inching closer and closer to my knees. I get up and start pacing the living room again.

“What is this really about?” She stands, hands on her hips again, waiting for my response. And, truth be told, I don’t know if I have a definitive answer for her. I know she wants me to say Morgan’s name, but I won’t do it under any circumstances. I know the minute her name leaves my mouth, Bailey will make sure to cause as much damage as possible, and I refuse to bring that down on Morgan.

“What do you want me to say, Bailey? I just can’t see this working, and I think it’s better if we stop seeing each other.” Argh, even hearing the words makes me want to cringe. I sound like every bad romance movie in the world. The difference here is that I mean every word, no matter how clichéd it sounds.

“You’re so pathetic, Owen.” I take another deep breath, closing my eyes and counting to ten before I try explaining things one more time. But before I have the chance, Bailey continues her rant. “I can’t believe you are choosing to dump…this.” She motions to her body as if it’s the eighth wonder of the world. “For what?” Her eyes search mine, and I try my hardest not to give her any nuggets of info that she can use against me. “Please tell me this has nothing to do with that girl from yesterday.” Her inflection bleeds disgust as I let out a groan that surprises us both.

“Bails, this is about you and me. It has nothing to do with anyone else. I promise.” But I can tell she doesn’t believe me, because before I can explain myself again, she storms toward the front door.

“You’ll regret this, Owen. Soon, you’ll realize that we’re meant to be together. That’s my promise.” And with that, she opens the door and then slams it behind her, leaving me to take the first deep breath I’ve taken in months.

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