Chapter Sixteen Putt-Putt! #2
In an instant, the pieces click into place, and Owen understands what Kaitlyn’s going to say before she says it. “You were
trying to get me and Jacob back together?”
Owen and Kaitlyn both crane their necks when they hear a knock on the bedroom door.
“You guys okay in there?” Jacob’s voice is soft and unsure.
Crossing the room in just a few steps, Owen swings the bedroom door open to find Jacob standing there, waiting for them. And
behind him stand Abigail and Kevin, just as nosy.
“Did you know?” Owen asks.
Jacob’s brows furrow together. “Know what?”
He can tell in an instant that Jacob had no clue about any of this.
“Apparently, the actual reason any of us are here”—Owen turns to face Kaitlyn—“is because Kaitlyn was trying to get us back together.”
“What?” Jacob’s attention shifts to his sister.
“Wait, huh?” Abigail forces laughter, slipping past Jacob to get into the room. “What is Owen talking about, baby?”
And suddenly, Kaitlyn is faced with four sets of eyes staring back at her. Owen watches her throat bob. “I promise you both,
I was only trying to help.”
“It’s true?” Abigail questions. “You told me that you wanted this to be a family thing.”
“It was! It is!” Kaitlyn insists. “I swear to all of you that this didn’t start as some scheme, back when we booked it, I just . . .” She turns to Owen. “I thought that this might be the only way to get the two of you in the same place, force you to work things out. And I was right!”
“You’ve got to be joking.” Owen groans and Abigail throws her head back.
“Dude . . .” is all Kevin has to add.
Fair enough.
“I just . . . Owen’s right,” Kaitlyn starts to explain. “Everything is changing, we’re all moving on and we’re spreading apart
and I just . . . I thought this was one thing that I could control. Hailey and Ravi already wouldn’t be able to make it, and
I couldn’t stand the idea of Owen and Jacob hating each other—”
“So you decided to manipulate us?” Jacob interrupts, blinking a few times in quick succession. “You decided that you’d make
us your little project?”
“Well, if the two of you would’ve just sat down and talked to each other!” Kaitlyn stands. “I mean seriously, y’all didn’t even try to work things out.” In her frustration, the drawl of her accent starts to slip out.
“I can’t believe the money we spent for this,” Abigail says, mostly to herself, it seems.
“How selfish can you be, Kait?” Jacob steps closer to her. “How Owen and I worked through things, if we worked through them, that wasn’t something you had a say in.”
“But you told me that you still loved him,” Kaitlyn argues. “You told me that you wanted to reach out, that you just wanted
to call and hear his voice one more time. You made it so clear that you loved him. Both of you did. And I was sick of you
both not doing anything about your feelings. You bought a ring, Jacob!”
“Stop it,” Jacob says, his face darkening. “You don’t get to make these kinds of choices for other people.”
“Well, it’s not like the two of you were going to do anything about it,” Kaitlyn almost shouts. It’s the loudest her voice
ever gets. “When you love someone you fight for them, you fight to stick together because you know the other person is worth
it.”
She glances to Abigail before she turns back to Jacob.
“But you just gave up on each other. You didn’t even try—”
Owen picks that moment to leave the room. It’s easy, only Kevin notices, being the sole person standing between Owen and the
door, and he’s kind enough to let Owen slip out without a word, bro code and all that.
“Owen!” Jacob calls out, finally realizing that Owen’s disappeared just as he reaches the front door to the suite. Owen keeps
moving; he can’t break out into a full run, but he can certainly speed walk as quickly as he can out of the private lounge
and down the hallway that leads to an outer deck of the ship.
He needs to breathe, just needs to keep moving.
Owen’s not looking to get off the boat, not at first, but as he gets closer to one of the exits and sees the gangway still
extended, he makes his way toward land.
Blinking back the tears that sting the corners of his eyes, Owen takes several deep breaths, the salty air filling his lungs
before he lets it all out through his mouth. He wants to scream, shout into the endless stretch of ocean in front of him.
He wants to keep running. He wants to sprint to the closest airport and find the quickest way back home. He wants Jacob. He
wants those strong arms around him, he wants to breathe the scent of him in, he just wants Jacob.
So he finally stops.
And he lets Jacob catch him.
“Owen?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Owen says, barely turning to face him.
“Okay” is all Jacob has to say as he steps closer, resting his hand on Owen’s shoulder.
Owen wishes he knew what he was supposed to feel. Wishes that it was something more than this careful numbness that settles
over him.
“Is there something wrong with me?” Owen asks Jacob, voice soft, strained. Broken.
“Why would you think that?” Jacob answers.
“Because all my life, all anyone has told me is that I’ve been doing the wrong thing. First it was my parents.” The breath
that he takes is shaky, uneven. “Then it was my teachers, then it was you, and now it’s Kaitlyn.”
“Nothing is wrong with you, Owen.” Jacob’s hand comes up to cup Owen’s cheek tenderly, his thumb brushing at the corner of
Owen’s eye.
“Really?” He can’t help but laugh. “’Cause it’s getting harder to feel that way.”
“Owen . . .”
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Owen tells him, fearing that the floodgates are now wide open. “I’m living on a pull-out couch
in a guest room—that I’ve got for maybe five months more max—and I’m trying to become a business owner now?
Why the fuck did I ever think that I could do that?
It’s fucking hard, and I don’t even know if I want to do it.
And I gave up one of the only stable relationships I’ve ever known all because I was too afraid to try something new, to go somewhere different.
All my friends are leaving, living their own lives.
” Owen can barely face Jacob, looking away deliberately.
“I don’t know what I’m doing because I never thought I’d ever make it this far in life.
And now, I’m scared, Jacob . . . I’m supposed to be an adult, I’m supposed to know what I want and what I’m doing and I don’t know what to do to fix it. ”
Owen doesn’t utter a single objection as Jacob wraps his arms around him, pulling him in as close as he can, the pressure
he exerts comforting Owen. It feels the same as when Jacob would crawl on top of Owen in bed or on the couch, all 280 pounds
of the man nearly suffocating Owen. But, Lord, does it feel nice to be this close again. Jacob’s hand comes to cradle the
back of Owen’s head, letting him melt under Jacob’s touch. He’s just grateful that the sounds of his crying are muffled by
Jacob’s hoodie.
He doesn’t say a word, just lets Owen stand there, lets him sob quietly into his chest for as long as he needs.
“I’m sorry,” Owen says after what must be minutes but feels like an eternity.