Page 99 of Ship Happens

“He said he was going to quit his job?” She leans in, voice quieter now. “For you?”

Owen nods.

“Well, shit . . .” Her expression shifts, like she can’t believe what Owen is telling her. “Did you say yes?”

Owen swallows. “I told him it’d be a mistake to come back.”

“What?” Kaitlyn’s voice goes up an octave. “You’re serious?”

“I am,” Owen says to her, growing more and more irritated with this conversation. “He wanted me to make the choice for him, and I told him I couldn’t. I can’t be the reason he leaves, he’ll only resent me for it.” Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually. Owen would always be the one who took Jacob away from the research that’d made him feel fulfilled, feel whole.

Kaitlyn sighs, shaking her head. “I don’t get you, dude.”

“That’s okay.” Owen’s voice is barely audible. “You don’t have to.”

He wishes it was that simple. He wishes, more than anything, that he could just accept Jacob’s offer to come back to San Francisco. But it’s not that easy. No matter how badly Owen wishes that it was.

“We’re different now, the both of us,” Owen starts to say. “I didn’t recognize it when this trip started, but we’ve changed over the last year. And I still love him, that’s never going to change. And I told him that.”

“And he still loves you,” Kaitlyn protests, like it’s information that’ll change Owen’s mind. “Trust me, he’s told me so.”

“I know.” Owen nods. He told me too.

“And you’re just willing to let all of this go?”

“No, I’m not willing to let him go,” Owen tells her. “But I have to.”

“Is that genuinely what you believe?”

Owen rolls his eyes. “Why do you care so much about this? Why can’t you just believe us?”

“Because he’s my brother, and you’re my best friend, and I . . . If there’s the chance for the two of you to get back together, then I think it’s something worth working out.”

“Well, we’re both adults, and we’re figuring this out on our own terms.” Owen feels his frustration beginning to boil over. “We don’t know what we’re calling it, okay? We just know that we want to be a part of each other’s lives still, and that doesn’t mean it has to be romantic.”

Kaitlyn lets out a deep sigh, hanging her head low. “I’m sorry, I . . . I just wanted the two of you to be happy again.”

Owen feels himself unclench, the wind knocked right out of him as his fists uncurl and his nerves begin to settle. In a few careful steps, he walks over to join Kaitlyn on the edge of the bed. “Jacob and I don’t have to be in a relationship to be happy. We can just be, and that’s okay.”

“You’re right, you’re right.” She sighs, covering her eyes.

“I’m not angry with you,” he says to her. And it’s the truth. “And I’m not asking you to understand my choice, I just want you to trust that I think we’re doing the right thing for ourselves.”

“Think, or know?” Kaitlyn pesters.

“Think,” Owen confirms. “I don’t know what the future holds, and the thought of that always used to terrify me. But . . . I guess I’m choosing to believe that we’ll find each other again. That he’s still my person, but that we just need to live our lives first.”

Jacob’s the right person, he always will be. Maybe they just got the timing a bit off.

“I hate how mature you can be sometimes,” Kaitlyn tells him. “It really ruins my fun.”

“Sorry to rain on your parade.” Owen laughs, easing the tension.

Before he can fully stand, a hand wraps around Owen’s wrist, pulling him back toward the bed. He can’t help the little oof that slips out as he hits the mattress.

“What are you doing?” Owen asks, looking down at where Kaitlyn’s hand is gripping him.

“So . . . you can’t be mad at me,” Kaitlyn says to him.