Page 175 of In at the Deep End

All he’d seen was a hand, a touch, a glance, and apparently that had been enough.

Maybe the truth had been that obvious all along.

He’d wanted Jeff to tell him what to do. Instead, he’d given Owen something much worse.

A choice.

And for the first time since Matt had walked into his life, Owen couldn’t convince himself that keeping things simple was the safest option.

If Jeff was right—if Matt really was falling in love with him—then Owen had to decide whether loving him meant holding on…

Or letting him go.

“Owen?”

He turned.

Matt stood in the doorway from the hall, his laptop tucked under one arm, a frown creasing his forehead. “You okay?”

The genuine concern in Matt’s voice almost undid him. Owen wanted to close the distance between them, pull him close, and forget every word Jeff had said.

Instead, he went with a smile. “I’m fine.”

Matt studied him for a moment.

It was terrifying how easily Matt read him now.

“You don’t look fine.”

Owen forced a laugh. “Your dad came over with cake. He just caught me by surprise. That’s all.”

“Everything’s okay?”

“Yes.” The answer came too quickly, and Owen softened it. “Yeah. Everything’s fine.”

Matt accepted it, but Owen saw the small hesitation before he nodded.

He hated that too.

He hated that Matt had already learned the difference between his real smiles and the ones he used to reassure people.

“My supervisor thinks the final chapter is stronger than I do, which means either he’s right or he’s trying to be nice.”

Owen smiled properly this time. “Having read some of it, I’m voting for him.”

Matt grinned. “Traitor.”

“Realist.”

That was Matt all over. The easy warmth, the ability to make everything lighter without even trying.

Owen watched him walk across the room and had the strangest, most painful thought.

I could get used to this.

And that was exactly why he couldn’t.

This wasn’t some brief summer affair that would fade when the weather changed. Matt was already woven into the everyday parts of his life. Not deliberately. Not because Owen had asked him to be.