Page 11 of Open Liner
I chewed my lower lip, the urge to bolt rising inside me. I couldn’t sit here and small talk, not right now. I’d planned on crashing their dinner, but I had somewhere else I could go.
“Do you mind if I take some time and think on all of this?” I asked, restraining my inner temper tantrum. “This is a lot to take in, and… yeah.”
Mom swallowed hard, her eyes going glassy. “Of course, sweet boy. I just need you to know nothing in our decision has anything to do with you.”
I struggled to wrap my brain around it. We’d been a unit for so long that getting cut out like this stung.
I pushed up from my seat and strode over to offer hugs to each of them, a tight but brief squeeze as my mind reigned with chaos. “I’ll talk to you guys soon,” I said before heading back out the way I came.
When I reached my car and glanced out at the house, my stomach gave a sour twist. All those soft, watercolor memories were going to be washed away when someone new bought the house. They’d move in and scrub every trace of my childhood from these walls.
Well, fuck. Apparently my parentshaddecided to break up with me. Sort of. Or at least wanted a long-distance relationship.
All that did was make my guts churn. My attempts at finding a partner of my own hadn’t gone so great over the years. Guys, girls, they all ended up wanting friendship rather than anything more. Eventually, it was impossible to avoid that I was the common denominator. The forever friend, too boring or chill or whatever was wrong with me that made everyone want something more with someone else.
I drove down the street and made a quick stop at Wawa for a hoagie before continuing my route to Owen’s. The plan had been to swing over to movie night after dinner with my folks, but I guess I’d be earlier than everyone else tonight.
Our boss had been hosting movie night at his place on a monthly basis for years, and I’d attended as many as I could. I wasn’t even a die-hard horror fan like Nyx, but I came for the camaraderie.
Owen’s rustic powder blue two-story came into view, and I slowed down to park behind another familiar car already parked along the front. The first pinpricks of relief fluttered through me at the sight. I hopped out of the car and headed for the side entrance Owen preferred us to use. Something about too many solicitors at the front door, but we didn’t question his reasons, just went with what he asked.
My mind still raced as I entered his house, the bag with my dinner in hand. My stomach rumbled, and I hoped maybe I could silence the turmoil in my head with that—even if it wasn’t likely.
Owen stood in his kitchen in just a muscle tee and some shorts, which showcased not only his ink but his impressive physique. I wished he were my type, or that I felt something beyond friendship, because whoever landed that silver fox would be the luckiest person on the planet. But like most of my exes, I couldn’t make friendship turn into something more, no matter how much I wished it could be.
“You’re here early,” he said, in the middle of slicing up some veggies for a platter.
“Ugh,” I commented, taking a seat at his kitchen table and setting my Italian hoagie out.
“That good, huh?” he said, making a quick detour to the fridge to get out a dip for the tray. He brought a few cheeses and cured meats as well, then began to assemble another platter. The man always had the best spreads, yet another reason I couldn’t fathom how Owen was single. And not for lack of trying either, since he dated on the regular.
“I was going to have dinner with my folks, but they dropped the bomb they’re planning a relocation to Florida.” I took a vengeful bite of my hoagie, a few shreds of lettuce fluttering to the wrapper.
Owen continued cutting the cheese and meats. “That sucks. Do you have a big family network up here?”
And that right there lay the heart of what bothered me so much. I had an aunt and uncle in another state on Dad’s side, but Mom was an only child, and with them leaving, I had… well, me.
All their announcement did was hammer home the reality that I wasn’t nearly where I wanted to be in my life. I took a few more vicious bites of hoagie, which helped with the churning in my stomach, at least. Food, the cure for everything.
“Nah,” I responded in the middle of chewing on some more of my hoagie.
“Trick question,” he said, coming over to sit at the kitchen table with me. “You’ve got all of us at Alchemy. Might not be blood, but we’re family.”
My heart squeezed tight. This was why the idea of starting over in Florida held no appeal. I could guarantee I’d never find a tattoo shop like this one, with the closeness I’d always craved. “What movie are we watching tonight?”
“Going for a classic withArmy of Darkness,” he said, passing me the small stack of cheese and meat he’d brought over. “Here.”
I lifted my brow. “Look like I need more meat?”
He let out a bark of a laugh. “Boy, it looks like you’re desperate for it.”
I pouted and leaned back in my seat. “You’d think being bisexual I’d have so many more options, but the guys, girls, and nonbinary babes aren’t interested.”
“Their loss,” Owen said, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “You’re one of a kind, August Jones.”
Warmth filtered through me at Owen’s words, even with everything else still in disarray.
“Need any help?” I asked, the urge to distract myself strong. It was that or cry in Owen’s kitchen.
