Page 29 of Protecting his Heart

Instead of waiting to see if he noticed, Evan charged in, headfirst. When Owen came through the door, but after he’d greeted him properly with a game of tonsil hockey, he said, “I did something stupid.”

Owen frowned. “What?”

“You might hate me.”

“What did you do?”

Evan sighed. “I took the notes and calendar to Brett for fingerprints.”

Owen stared at home for a long moment and then burst out laughing. “You are so jealous you’re turning green,” he said between laughs.

“Are you mad?”

Owen shook his head. “Not even a little.” He kissed him. “Did they find anything?”

“Nope. I don’t know if I feel better or worse about that, though.”

Owen smiled. “It’ll be fine. I promise. It’s just an admirer. No one we need to worry about.” He pulled away. “Shall we get some dinner? I’m starving.”

And just like that, Owen let it slide that Evan was a possessive asshole who went behind his back. How he ever deserved this man was something he’d never understand.

****

Chapter 9

Owen

Owen couldn’t contain his glee at Evan’s possessiveness, and he reminded the man of it every chance he got. Neither of them had heard anything from Brett or Felix about the fingerprints, and he didn’t expect to. Whoever it was would show up eventually, and if Owen got gifts in the process… Well, why not?

Evan went back to the hospital a week after the incident to get his stitches removed and get everything checked. Evan wasn’t worried; he was, after all, a nurse and tended to the changing of the bandages throughout the week, but Owen didn’t want him overexerting and hurting himself further. It wasn’t his choice, though. He did, however, put his foot down a little about the man who did it. Evan was ready to let it go and not press charges, but Owen wasn’t happy with that. They’d compromised with getting the guy into rehab instead of getting him arrested. Owen wasn’t sure how much it would help, but it was better than nothing. People couldn’t go around doing things like that and expecting no consequences. The police were still interviewing him on his more lucid days about the event, but from what they’d told them so far, it was just a guy who wanted drugs. A freak accident, so to speak. And Owen hated it. It wasn’t that he wanted there to be a nefarious reason for the incident, but it would make him feel better that it wasn’t just a “he was there” thing.

As much as he loved the Sutcliffes and downtime, he also hated the downtime. Taking turns to sit in the corridors of Windsor wasn’t his favourite pastime, but it was his job, and he wouldn’t want to change it. One thing he enjoyed most was the closeness of the family. When he’d first started working for the royal family, there had been a few who left something to be desired, but most were kind souls. Then, with the incidents from the past few years, where members of the royal family had turned on the LGBT+ people in their own family with attempted assassinations and kidnapping, those bad eggs were slowly killed, imprisoned or disowned. It made for a more settled time, and that closeness of the remaining family members was a joy to behold.

Owen had enjoyed what some people might call a normal childhood, though he hated that word. He started school with a mum and a dad, and he’d found friends immediately in Dominic and Evan. Then things had declined into chaos. His parents divorced—to this day he didn’t know the real reason, though he assumed it was because of what happened to Amy—and life became a balance of when his father would see him, until his father decided he’d had enough and disappeared. Never to be heard from again.

His mother had been amazing through it all, but he’d found himself visiting Dominic’s house more often, wanting the normalcy back. After he’d grown up a bit more, he realised he’d feared his mother leaving, rejecting him like his father had. But she’d stayed, and when Evan’s parents had thrown him out, she hadn’t hesitated to take him in and give him a home, even if it was for only a few months.

With the job he was in now, he could easily have found his father, but he didn’t want to. If he wasn’t good enough for the man as a child, he wasn’t going to find out he wasn’t good enough as an adult.

But those experiences had moulded him into the person he was, and he couldn’t say he was a bad person. Even with what happened with Evan, it was more that he didn’t want to lose their friendship and get “rejected” again when he didn’t have to.

Owen glanced up and down the corridor before shaking his head. He was feeling melancholy that day, apparently. This was what downtime did to him.

His phone chimed, and he checked the messages, smiling when he saw Evan’s name. Apparently, they were the kind of people who messaged through the day, after all.

EVAN: I’m fine. Stop worrying. I know you’ll pretend you’re not, but you are. I’ll see you at home later. I’m in a mood. X

Owen cleared his throat, his dick already interested in what “mood” his boyfriend was in, but even if it meant being woken up at one o’clock in the morning, he wasn’t going to complain. Especially if it involved their cocks touching.

They’d not had intercourse since their second “first” time, but they’d fooled around, and Owen had cherished every second. He’d never thought he would get the chance to have Evan in his arms or his bed again, so to be able to kiss and hold him whenever he wanted was…exquisite.

OWEN: Looking forward to it. Do I need to ‘prepare?’ X

EVAN: Yes. X

Owen’s mouth went dry. Okay, then.

“Owen!” His gaze darted up at his name.

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