Page 90 of Single Girl in the City
Owen’s posture dropped as he considered what his brothers were saying. Maybe they were right. Maybe he was backing off because he was scared. What had Abi really done? Gone out of her way to make him smile? To make his life a little better?
Hell, she’d made his life a whole lot better. Just thinking about her made his heart skip a beat.
“What are you so scared about, man?” Rhett asked.
“Isn’t it obvious from his face?” Josh asked.
Owen shot him a look that would have had most men wetting their pants. Josh just laughed. “What does that mean?”
Rhett leaned in. “Think about it, bro. Why are so you set off by one little omission? And before we go through this again, it was a harmless, from-the-heart omission.”
On paper it seemed harmless, so then why did it feel anything but. His stomach was in knots, his gut was swimming with all the things he should have said, and his head was filled with the tears she’d worked hard to hold back. Even at that moment, he’d wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her that she wasn’t in this alone.
“You said you love her, was that the truth?” Clay asked.
“Yes.” He did love her, more than anything. That’s why this was all so confusing.
“You’ve said the three words, which is the hardest part. And If I understand correctly, she said it back.”
He looked up. “So?”
“So, love isn’t concrete, it’s always changing and moving. Either you change with it, or you lose it,” Rhett said. “I wasn’t willing to change and I lost my shot. How is your story going to end?”
“Not like this.” Owen pushed out of the booth and stood.
Not only did he love her, she owned his heart. She had from the moment he’d seen her in those clown shoes. And he couldn’t imagine not having her in his life. She was his life.
“I blew it.”
“No shit,” Clay said.
“I gotta go.”
‘Yeah, you better before she realizes what an idiot you are.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Happy Things:
Love
Knowing that a single sob would release the floodgates, Abi hurried through the back door of the bar and up the steps to the apartment. She clutched a hand over her heart to make sure it stayed in one piece while she packed up her belongings.
In a daze, she left the key by the front door with a note scribbled on the back a coaster:
For me, it was all real.
Especially the love part.
~Abi
She secured her bag to her basket and went on autopilot until she found herself pedaling up to her sister’s house. She raced through the pouring rain, up the steps and banged on the front door. Only instead of finding Dotti in her usual outfit of leggings and an inspirational T-shirt, she was dressed in a pink silky dress.
“Are you going to prom?” she asked.
“It’s date night. And you’re the one wearing a corsage,” Dotti said, her eyes turning hard. “Are you standing in the rain in my save-for-an-important-event, back-of-the-closet, when-I-lose-the-baby-weight, red designer dress?”
“I’ll buy you a new one.” Which would clean her out she was sure, but money didn’t matter when one died of acute onset heartbreak.
