Page 16 of The Space Between Heartbeats
But her eyes find mine first. It’s nothing. Just a normal look, but I feel it in every cell of my body. She looks away quickly.
Once she’s back in the booth next to Owen, he slings his arm around her and presses his mouth against her temple. “So what did I miss?”
After Owen’s big reveal,I’m too sick to my stomach to eat another bite. Plus, this lunch is dragging on now. I need to move, to get some space. Not from her, but from everyone else.
Owen eventually pays the check, like the kiss ass he is. It’s his thing, and he always makes a show of refusing when anyone else reaches for the bill or tries to hand him cash.
Whatever.
We’re back out in the heat, and it’s louder now after being inside the restaurant. Kids are shrieking from every direction, game bells dinging one after another.
Owen’s all over Sawyer, to the point of obnoxiousness. He gets like that sometimes, where it seems like he’s overflowing with emotion he doesn’t know what to do with, so he fixates it on her. I’m sure today it has to do with the ring burning a hole in his pocket. I wish he’d go back to staring at the park map on his phone.
He turns to face me, one arm around Sawyer. “Hey, so…what do you think about splitting up for a bit? Meet back around six?”
Sawyer looks up at him. Then at me. Ella stills beside me.
“Sure,” I say, trying not to sound pissed.
Owen grins. “Perfect.” He turns Sawyer gently by the shoulders, already steering her into the crowd. “Come on, Sunny. I want to win you something tacky and overpriced.”
“You’re terrible at these games,” she teases him.
“I have hidden talents.”
Their voices fade as they move off through the crowd. I watch until they round a row of game booths and disappear between the bright canvas awnings.
Ella is quiet for a couple seconds.
“He didn’t even ask if I minded,” she says. “Kinda rude.”
“He asked.”
“He told us.” She crosses her arms, watching the space where they vanished. “There’s a difference.”
I start walking and she follows. We stay in the same general stretch of the park for a long time, riding a few smaller rides, and wasting money on some claw machines. Close enough that Sawyer and Owen are never out of sight, far enough that they won’t spot me watching. It’s practical. Keeps me less on edge. It’s a crowded park and splitting up completely is how you end up separated for hours.
It’s not because I want to keep my eyes on Sawyer. Not at all.
Ella is still talking when I get in line for a soda. She hasn’t stopped since we separated from them.
“It’s just…don’t you think it’s a little soon? They’ve been off all day. I noticed it at lunch. Did you notice it at lunch? Something’s been weird between them and he decides today is the day he?—”
“Ella.”
“I’m just saying it’s a lot of pressure to put on her in front of your parents. It’s not?—”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“But—”
“I said I don’t want to talk about it.” I say it slow and even, hoping she’ll get the message. I hate having to repeat myself to her.
She bites her lip and finally goes quiet. Thank Jesus. Fuck. Why the hell does she care so much? Yeah, she knows Owen. They met when we did—through that business dinner with her father. And Sawyer’s practically a stranger to her. I don’t know what her deal is.
Through the game booths, I catch a flash of Sawyer’s hair swinging as she laughs. Her head tips back, showing off her neck with that fucking hickey.
I look away.
