Page 76 of Ship Happens

All at once, he loves and loathes it.

Owen starts to close the distance between them first. It’s almost instinctive as he leans in, closing his eyes and tilting his head so that he can finally get what he wants.

Just once. Just for one night.

Then the door to the suite swings open so quickly that the doorknob would’ve certainly left a gaping hole in the wall were it not for the stopper.

“Helloooooooooooo, homos!” Kaitlyn sings.

Owen flinches as he pulls away, eyes wide as he takes in the shocked expression on Jacob’s face.

Shit, Owen thinks.

“Where are you guys?” Abigail asks loudly as she stumbles into the suite behind Kaitlyn, obviously drunk. “Oh! There you are!”

Kevin comes in behind them, carrying a half-empty wineglass between his fingers, his shirt untucked and wrinkled. Owen steps away, forgetting his cane before he doubles back for it.

“Hi, hello!” Owen greets them, surprised to see everyone back so early. “How was the rest of the party?”

What was he thinking?

“Good. They brought the DJ back out after you guys left. He played a lot of LMFAO and Sean Kingston?” Kaitlyn says with a confused expression, but Owen, knowing Kaitlyn’s music taste, doubts that she minded. “Abby got drunk enough for the both of us.”

“Open bars are dangerous,” she slurs. “I’m gonna go to bed.”

Kaitlyn leaves her purse on the couch, taking in the scene in front of her. “What did the two of you get up to?”

“Oh, nothing,” Owen tells her, hoping that his nerves aren’t obvious. They are. “Watched a movie.”

“Did each other’s hair?” she says, eyeing the hair-care products that they left out and the small pile of Jacob’s knots still on the table.

“Owen gave me a hand with some grooming,” Jacob says, finally following him back into the living room. “Apparently I needed it.”

“Did you guys see the lights? Aren’t they stunning?” Kevin downs the rest of his wine, filling the glass with water from the tap before he gulps that down too.

“Yeah, yeah. They were something.” Owen stumbles through the words awkwardly. “I’m pretty tired. I’m going to go to bed, I think.”

“Oh!” Kaitlyn and Jacob both seem surprised. “Okay,” Kaitlyn continues. “I should probably get in there and make sure Abby doesn’t fall asleep in her pants.”

“Yeah,” Jacob says. Owen can tell how nervous he is. “I’m gonna pass out too.”

Without realizing it, Owen’s fallen in step behind Jacob. And since their bedrooms are right next door to each other, there’s no other choice for Owen except to follow Jacob down the hallway. They walk in silence for a few precious seconds, Owen reaching his bedroom door first. And just as his hand wraps around the doorknob, he says the words, unable to help himself.

“Happy New Year, Jacob.” The words sound so much sadder this time.

Jacob pauses at the door, barely turning to face Owen. “Happy New Year.”

Owen shuts the door behind him, and he falls against it, staring at the darkness of the room, wondering just how he could be so fucking stupid.

Chapter Twelve

Back Where We Started

Owen’s body still aches as he comes to the following morning, his eyes heavy with exhaustion from a night spent restlessly wrestling with the sheets. First, he’d been too hot and had thrown the comforter over onto Kevin. Then he’d been too cold and had to steal the sheets back.

At least Kevin was too drunk to notice.

Sprinkle in the worst headache he’s had in a while and the dryness in his mouth from the edible, and Owen’s concocted quite the mess of a morning for himself.