Page 103 of Wish You Were Mine
At that thought, my gaze drifted across the lab. Owen was a few rows away, bent over a table, deep in discussion with another pair of students. He didn’t seem to be paying attention to us.
Which was probably good. (Even if I secretly wanted him to always be checking in on me the way I was checking in on him.)
“You’re having a pretty good season this year, too, right?” Brody asked, pulling my focus back.
“Pretty good.” I nodded. “I tied for second at the meet last weekend. Tied with Nora, actually.”
“That’s awesome.” He smiled. “Does it ever get weird? Competing against your best friend and living with her, too?”
“It does sometimes,” I admitted. “We both work really hard. And we both want each other to do our best. But…we also both want to win.”
“At least they allow ties,” he said. “Sounds like that worked out for you both.”
“Last week it did, at least,” I said with a soft laugh, turning back to our beaker. “You think it’s doing what it’s supposed to?”
“I’m not sure,” Brody said. “Think we should ask the professor?”
“Maybe.”
“Professor Park?” Brody raised his hand. “Can we get some help over here?”
Owen looked in our direction and nodded, then after giving the students he was with one last instruction, he made his way over.
“What can I help you with?” he asked, his gaze going to Brody first before peeking at me.
“We’re wondering if it looks like this is reacting correctly,” Brody said, gesturing to the beaker on the hot plate.
Owen bent slightly to inspect the setup. His shoulder bumped gently against mine with the movement, and I had to force myself to keep my eyes on the experiment and not on him.
“Looks good,” he said after a beat. “You’ll want to heat it foranother couple minutes. Just until the color stabilizes. Then record your final observation.”
“Got it,” Brody said. “Thanks.”
“Of course.” Owen gave a nod and turned away, but not before his eyes lingered on mine just a second too long.
It was barely a second.
But it was enough to short-circuit my brain.
Because Owen in professor mode was so freaking hot.
The calm authority.
The quiet confidence in his explanations.
The way he commanded the room without even raising his voice.
There was something steady about him.
Safe.
And that was what drew me in the most.
After years of walking on eggshells with Josh—never knowing which version of him I’d get—being around someone so stable felt like breathing clean air for the first time.
I blinked and turned back to the flask, trying to focus.
But of course, all I could think about was how ridiculous I probably looked in my safety goggles.
