Page 85 of Dirty Little Mistake

"True." I swallowed hard. "I actually came because I wanted to see you."

"Uh," he glanced back at his teammates, who were very obviously pretending not to watch us. "I'm kind of busy this morning. We're running some drills."

Each word widened the invisible gap between us. "Okay," I said slowly. "What's going on, Owen?"

"What?" He feigned confusion.

"You've stood me up twice. I've hardly talked to you at all since Jax's bachelor party. You're avoiding my texts, my calls..."

"Cam, I'm just really busy right now. School and hockey, plus Jax's wedding." He shook his head, eyes darting everywhere but my face. "It's nothing.

I wasn't convinced, but I decided to let it go. "So, do you want to go out to dinner with me tonight?"

"Yeah." He smiled, but it seemed forced. "Why don't we go to Harry's for seafood?" My face split into a grin. I loved seafood, and tonight was all-you-can-eat crab legs. "And we can figure out driving arrangements to the beach house for the wedding this weekend."

"Okay." I nodded. "I have to get to practice."

"I'll see you tonight." He shifted to leave, but I grabbed his wrist, tugging him gently.

"Do I have to ask for a kiss?"

"Oh." He shook his head and leaned in, pressing his lips to mine so quickly before disappearing that I wasn't actually sure our lips met.

I stood silent for a long moment, trying to figure out if this was in my head or if there really was something going on.

Sitting at the bar, I impatiently waited for Owen. The hostess refused to seat me until my entire party was here.

I checked my phone again. He was seventeen minutes late. I clicked on my contacts and hit his name.

Camryn: Are you running late?

Nothing…

I clicked on his name and brought the phone to my ear, but it went to voicemail after the second ring.

"What the fuck is going on?" I mumbled.

My phone vibrated.

Owen: I'm so sorry I can't make it. Practice ran late.

I pressed my lips into a tight line as I thought carefully about how to respond.

Camryn: I can wait for you. We still have plenty of time to eat.

Owen: Sorry, Cam. I'm exhausted. I'll pick you up tomorrow, and we'll ride together to the beach house.

Camryn: Okay. Good night.

I waited a long moment for a ‘good night’ response back but it never came.

As I strolled out of the restaurant disappointed, I couldn’t help but overanalyze everything. And then it hit me.

Did he know that I'd talked to Trystan the night of the bachelor party? Did he know about the deal I'd made with him? Because I'd never intended to go through with that deal. I just wanted him to leave me alone.

How would he have known?

I shook my head but honestly couldn't figure out what else was going on. We'd gone from being best friends to two people who were friendly when they ran into each other in public.

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