Series: The Laws of Opposite Attract Series by Vi Keeland
Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 105253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
As I went to the door, Brayden came after me.
“You’re leaving so soon?”
“I am, yeah.”
“You can’t leave yet.” He practically pouted, batting his lashes—sinfully long for a man. “Just stay for one drink. You don’t have to drive to get to four-ten, right?” Before I could say anything, Brayden grabbed a glass. “What’s your poison? Wine? Tequila?”
I didn’t want to seem like an antisocial bitch, so I caved. I had a little while before the kids would be back. “Okay, just one quick drink. Tequila and seltzer with lime would be great.”
“Comin’ right up.”
The moment Brayden handed me the glass, I turned to find that someone else had entered the apartment.
My body quivered as I gulped. Owen.
I should’ve known he might show up. He was dressed to the nines, looking like he’d just come from work, even though it was Saturday.
He flashed Brayden a dirty look and turned to me. “What are you doing here? You stalking me or something?”
I probably deserved that. “I’m not staying for the photoshoot,” I told him. “I met Lala outside, and she invited me to come over to meet Billie. I didn’t realize it was going to be a party.”
Owen looked down at my glass. “Looks like you’re partaking, though.”
“Brayden convinced me to stay for one drink before I have to leave.”
His eyes moved to Brayden. “He did, did he?”
“What’s up, dude? You come from work?” Brayden asked.
Owen fidgeted with his expensive watch. “Well, my showing got canceled, so I came back. I wasn’t originally going to be here.”
“I thought you were just late as usual,” Brayden teased.
“Looks like you’re getting a nice early start on things as usual,” Owen snapped.
There was tension between these two. It hit me that Brayden likely knew nothing about my history with Owen, as he was making a play for me right in his friend’s face. I respected the fact that it seemed Owen wasn’t someone to kiss and tell.
“Just getting to know our new neighbor—being neighborly,” Brayden said, looking between Owen and me. “I didn’t realize you two had met, though.”
“Yeah, actually, we’ve spoken a couple times,” Owen answered. “Right, Devyn?”
I cleared my throat. “Owen helped me with a situation concerning my brother and sister,” I finally said. “They’d gotten into trouble. Owen got his dad to pull some strings.”
Brayden chuckled. “Well, that was really nice of you, Owen. I’m sure your intentions were pure as could be.”
Owen looked like he wanted to kill him. The testosterone in the air was noxious, and Owen looked particularly jealous. All the more reason I needed to create a boundary between him and me. Although a bigger reason was perhaps the way my body reacted to Owen every time he was near.
I took a long swallow of my drink until it was nearly empty. I set the glass on an end table.
“I really do have to get back. My brother and sister will be home soon, and I need to get dinner started. It was wonderful meeting you, Brayden.” I turned to Owen. “And it’s always good seeing you. I hope you guys have an amazing rest of the day.”
I turned and practically ran out of the place—once again running away from Owen. He didn’t try to stop me, and for that I was grateful.
Back inside the apartment, I busied myself with some dinner prep. But as I stirred tomato sauce on the stove, I couldn’t stop thinking about the party at Billie’s. They were such a tight-knit crew. I’d never been part of a group of friends like that—never had a sense of family, either, because of my mother’s decisions and being separated from Heath and Hannah for so many years. I’d always had to fend for myself, so I knew having people to lean on was an amazing gift. Mia was probably my one true friend. And of course, she was back in Cali. I was overdue in catching up with her after the night I’d met Owen... The sooner I could get back to my life in L.A., the better. But with my mother nowhere to be found, I wondered if anything would ever be the same again. It seemed more and more like I’d need to take my siblings back to California with me.
The door opened, interrupting my thoughts, and Heath and Hannah blew in like a storm.
“How was the Y?” I asked them.
“Lame,” Heath answered as he kicked off his sneakers. “I was the oldest kid there.”
“Lame is better than getting into trouble again.” I turned to Hannah. “How was the art class?”
“I painted a giraffe, and it looked like a big, hairy penis.”
“Where is it?” I chuckled.
“I dropped it off in front of Owen’s door—as a thank you for him helping Heath.”
Great. I didn’t have a response for that one. “Go get washed up for dinner. It’s almost ready.”