Chapter 17
OWEN
It’s hours later, and I still can’t get that moment with Thea out of my head. The way she arched into me. Her husky moan when she felt me against her. The brush of her lips against mine and her cinnamon scent wafting around me.
I also can’t stop hearing her words, the insistence that she’ll ruin everything for Addy. That she’s broken somehow. That she wants me, too, but doesn’t trust herself to have me. As much as I want to fight it, she’s made her wishes clear, so I respect them.
I made the test cake alone, then avoided any overlapping tasks on Dawn’s afternoon to-do list—helping Harrison with the seating chart while Thea finished up the place cards.
When the family grabbed dinner, I sat on the opposite end of the table.
And I determinedly kept my eyes away from her every time we passed.
The limits of my control only reach so far, and my best shot at success is complete and total distance.
Now we’re going to the movie in the park down in Elk Ridge, and I’m supposed to spend the night pretending like I’m not itching to speak to her.
I’m up in my room, grabbing the last few things I need before heading to the lobby when the door beeps and slides open.
“I have my hands over my eyes. Please tell me you’re dressed so I can look where I’m going and not break a hip,” Nana calls from the door.
I laugh. “Most people would just knock.”
“Most people’s grandsons haven’t been avoiding them for the past twenty-four hours like a slippery little eel. Now answer the damn question.”
“Yes, Nana, I’m dressed. You can drop your hand.” She lowers it with a sigh, letting the door swing closed behind her. “And I haven’t been avoiding you.”
One of her manicured eyebrows lifts toward her gray hair. “You’ve turned on your heel at least three times when you’ve seen me. Had to make sure you didn’t slither under the bed and pretend not to be here when I knocked.”
I plop down on the mattress with a sigh while she takes a seat at the desk across from me. “It wasn’t that—”
“Yes, yes, you weren’t avoiding me. It was all coincidental and you’re sorry and all the other bullshit. Can we skip that and get to the point? Why did you lie about Thea?”
She looks almost hurt—as hurt as Cece Ellis would ever let herself be—and I feel a surge of regret. I don’t know how to explain this to her.
“I just…” I start, knowing she won’t let me off the hook. “I just wanted a break.”
“From?” she prompts, like she doesn’t know just how pushy Mom’s been.
“From the setups. From Mom, always trying to get me to the next stage of life. Having me carry on the Hayes legacy. Do you know how many times she set me up before Cami’s wedding?
Over a dozen. Half of them I didn’t even know were setups.
I got wherever she asked me to meet her and was met by some woman instead.
I started developing a Pavlovian response to seeing her name on my phone. ”
“What did she say when you asked her to stop?”
I laugh pessimistically. “Either she got one of her headaches for a week or lectured me about how I wasn’t taking my future seriously.”
“Has it gotten that bad?” Nana asks, her brows pulling together, and I realize that she doesn’t know just how intense Mom has been.
“Yes,” I say, deciding not to mince words. “And it’s not new. It’s been this bad since Dad died. I know how important it is for her that I keep his memory alive, but this isn’t something I can give her. My career is one thing, but my partner in life?”
“You shouldn’t have to give her anything,” Nana says, then rolls her lips together like she’s trying to trap in the sound. “I’ll talk to her. You should have the freedom to make the choices you want in life, not the ones she wants for you.”
“No,” I say, the words forceful enough to make Nana jump in her seat. The last thing we need is Nana talking to Mom and setting her off before the wedding.
“Owe—”
“I’m a thirty-two-year-old man. I don’t need my grandmother talking to my mother on my behalf.
I’m happy with my life.” Mostly. “Maintaining Dad’s legacy is an honor.
Bringing a fake girlfriend was a spur-of-the-moment, terrible idea that’s come back to bite me, but there’s nothing that needs to be done. ”
She looks like she wants to argue, but for once in her life, she lets someone else win. “We should get downstairs to meet everyone for the movie.”
“Thank you, Nana.”
She nods. “I’ll keep my mouth shut, but I want you to think about it. You shouldn’t have to live a certain way just to keep her happy.”
Nana’s words echo in my head as we head downstairs to meet everyone.
The whole family is coming out this time, and all the aunts, uncles, and cousins have gathered into little groups to catch up while they wait.
I spot Thea standing with Camila and force myself to walk the other way, joining another group of cousins.
A few seconds later, my cousin Lynne—who works as Aunt Dawn’s second-in-command—calls out.
She tosses me the keys to the bus, the giant yellow key chain catching the light as they land in my hands.
“Anyone else want to drive tonight?” I ask the group of five around me as casually as I can. I don’t know why my heart is thudding. This is my family. I love them, and they love me. So why does the idea of not doing what they want make me so jittery?
Tommy claps me on the shoulder. “We don’t mind. You love driving.”
I almost nod and let it drop, but then I catch sight of Thea, her head thrown back in laughter. Something about knowing she’s in the room gives me a surge of confidence, even if her attention isn’t directed at me.
“I’ll drive,” I say, “but it’s not like I like it.”
Everyone in the group tilts their head at the same angle—a move I’ve seen from Nana thousands of times—and I’m reminded of how weird it is to be around so many people who grew up with the same mannerisms.
My cousin Jourdan is the first to recover. “Since when? You always drive.”
I laugh, trying to keep it light. “I always drive because y’all hand me the keys and say I’m driving.”
I flick the keys around my fingers, a nervous tick I can’t help whenever they end up in my hands, waiting for someone—anyone—to speak.
“Thea thought it was weird that you drive all the time when we went out to the bar,” Camila speaks from behind me and I jump, not realizing they’d come over to our group. Thea’s next to her with her bottom lip tucked between her teeth.
“Hi,” I say, unable to stop the smile spreading over my face.
Her answering smile sends tingles to my toes. “Hi.”
Camila’s eyes flick between us, but she holds her tongue in front of the others. “That’s why we came over here. Thea has an idea.”
Thea bounces a little on her toes. “You don’t want to drive tonight?”
I glance down at the keys and shrug. “I don’t mind driving.”
“That’s not what I asked. Do you, Owen Hayes, want to drive tonight?” she asks with a raised eyebrow.
I hide my chuckle by dipping my head. “No, Thea Pappas, I don’t want to drive.”
She snatches the keys from my grasp. “Perfect.”
I look over at my cousins who are eyeing her warily. Visitors always underestimate how dangerous these roads can be, and none of us is willing to die for Thea to prove a point.
“You don’t want to drive, either,” I say, reaching for the keys, but she pulls away, holding the keys behind her back.
I’m tempted to take the excuse to wrap my arms around her, but I won’t with everyone watching.
“These roads are tight and winding. They’re scary to drive in a regular car.
It should be someone who knows them well. ”
Her eyebrows bounce a few times. “I agree.”
Then she looks at the little clumps of the family, chatting about the latest gossip.
Her gaze lands on the closest group to us, and she calls out, “Gabriel, catch.”
He turns and she lets the keys fly. His hands come up on instinct, closing around the cool metal and looking at them in confusion.
She spins in a circle as she says, “New game. Last person to touch the keys for the bus has to drive.”
Everyone breaks out in cheers and laughter as Gabriel balks. “That’s not fair!”
She shrugs. “Then get someone else to touch them before we leave.”
He drops them down the back of Lynne’s dress, who wiggles and shakes until the keys clang to the floor.
“Lynne has to drive,” Gabriel calls out to the room. “She touched them last.”
“Nope,” Thea calls out, loud enough to reach the entire lobby. “Gotta be hands. Get creative, Gabe.”
He swipes the keys up from the ground as half our cousins dig out their phones to text anyone not here so Gabriel can’t trick them when they arrive.
“Owen, catch,” Gabriel yells as he sends the keys back our way.
My hands lift on instinct, like my body can’t stop itself from being helpful.
Thea spins in front of me, and instead of catching the keys, my hands land on her hips.
Her lips part on a gasp I’m desperate to swallow as the keys hit her back and fall to the floor with a satisfying thud.
I look down at her, and god, we’re so close.
It’d take nothing for me to close the distance.
She narrows her eyes at me. “Don’t you fucking dare touch those keys.”
My lips twitch. “Sorry. Habit.”
“Well, break it.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I whisper.
Her dark eyes dilate in response, and everything inside me goes taut.
Her body radiates heat, and I swear the noise in the room fades, leaving nothing but the two of us.
Someone coughs, and I realize the noise did fade because everyone’s stopped talking and is now openly staring at the two of us.
Thea’s eyes jump straight to Addy, who’s watching us with wide-eyed terror.
I yank myself away, kicking the keys back across the lobby to Gabriel. “Sorry, Gabriel. Gotta work harder than that!”
Cousins left and right start throwing out jabs at Gabriel, and Thea wanders away with Camila and Addy without so much as a glance back to me. Which is good. Distance and all that. Jourdan claps me on the back and passes over her flask while Tommy eyes me.