Page 174 of In at the Deep End

“Then don’t.”

Owen let out a sigh. “That’s easier said than done.”

“Maybe.” Jeff leaned back in his chair. “But I’m not asking you to promise me you’ll end it.”

Owen frowned.

Jeff suddenly seemed exhausted. “I don’t want you making a decision about my son’s life because I told you to. That’s not my place. And it certainly isn’t yours.”

Owen stared at him.

“But if you’re going to keep seeing him,” Jeff continued, “then you need to know what you’re doing. Because if he’s already as far gone as I think he is, this stopped being casual a while ago.”

Owen glanced towards the closed hatch. “He hasn’t said he loves me.”

“Would that make a difference?”

He opened his mouth, but no words came. Again.

Jeff gave a sad smile. “Exactly.”

Silence settled between them.

“I would never deliberately lead him on,” Owen said at last.

“I know.”

“I’ve always been honest with him.”

“Then keep being honest.”

Owen nodded.

Jeff stood, but didn’t immediately move towards the door. “One more thing. If you decide you can’t give him what he wants, don’t start pulling away and convince yourself you’re doing him a favour.”

Owen’s stomach tightened.

“Tell him.”

“I will.”

“Not what you think he wants to hear. The truth.”

Owen nodded again.

Jeff sighed. “I can live with you loving Matt. What I can’t live with is you deciding for him that he’s better off without you. That’s his choice.”

Then he walked out.

Owen remained at the kitchen table long after the front door closed. For several seconds, he didn’t move.

The house was quiet again, but it didn’t feel peaceful.

One moment, I was sitting on the couch with Matt, trying desperately to convince myself distance was the sensible thing to do.

The next, Jeff walked in and somehow saw straight through every carefully constructed argument I’d been hiding behind.

And all of that without really seeing anything. He hadn’t caught them in a kiss, he hadn’t overheard them in the throes of sex the way Callum had… He hadn’t even witnessed some grand declaration that could be dismissed as a misunderstanding.