CHAPTER NINETEEN
Quinn
game was interesting and I loved exploring the Mars scenery with Owen. I was bursting to tell him about my plans for the money I was earning. First, I wanted to see the worried furrow in the middle of his forehead ease. He was so wrapped up in his own problems that I was not sure the time was right.
"Watch out for that crater," I said. We both pulled our avatars back sharply.
"Thanks, saving me again," he said.
"I don't know when you think I saved your life," I said.
"Right now. All I could think about was who might be setting me up and what would happen. All the hypotheticals were killing me," Owen said.
"So a little imaginary exploration of Mars was just the right thing?" I asked.
Owen smiled and wrapped an arm around me. "Maybe it’s more than just the Mars game," he said.
"Like what?" I paused my player.
Owen turned to me and opened his mouth to say something. Then, he shook his head. Instead, he tugged my shoulders closer and pressed a light kiss against my lips. I did not pull back. Wrapped up close next to him on the couch was exactly where I wanted to be.
"You're okay with this?" he asked. Another trio of gentle kisses brushed my lips.
"Okay with what?"
"I know it has to feel a little strange. I don't want you to think I'm taking advantage of you. Or using you to ease some guilt. Or, I don't know, whatever other people say about us," Owen said.
I hovered a half an inch from his face. "I don't want to think. I just want to feel because this feels right to me."
Owen tossed aside his controller and brought his other hand up to cup my cheek. This time his kiss was light but did not brush past. The heat built between our searching mouths. He tangled his hand in my hair and tipped my head back to deepen the kiss.
I could not get close enough to him. I turned from cuddling against his side to sitting astride his lap. Owen's arms wrapped around my back and pulled me closer. This time was different, the heat building slower. It seemed to radiate gently from my chest. My heart beat long, throbbing pulses against him. I worried that I knew what that meant.
"It feels right to me too," Owen said. "So, absolutely right and I waited too long."
I felt his hand push gently against my side, asking permission. I moved in the direction he suggested and lay down on the couch. For the longest time, we enjoyed the warm friction, our bodies rubbing together as the kisses grew longer.
Soon, I was breathless, breathing from him as our lips could not part. His hands were hot on my body as he explored all the places we pressed together. We were too warm, but not close enough, longing to hold each other connected.
Owen undressed me slowly, the magnetic pull of his gaze heating every inch of skin he bared. He let me pull his shirt over his hard shoulders, then he slipped free of his jeans. He brought his body against me slowly, the warmth touching me like sunlight. His agate-blue eyes held mine as we came together and our gaze did not break even as our bodies took over.
For all the pulsing desire, it was slow, as if Owen needed to savor every small sensation. The pressure of him, the anticipation, the wild longing soothed by the possessive look in his eyes, brought me to shattering before him. He drank up my shuddering cries, brushed my hair off my neck. I felt him whispering there as he rode my aftershocks, words he could not yet say out loud. Words I understood anyway, saying things that made my heart sing and my body surge around him again as he poured himself into me.
We lay for a long time afterwards without moving. His lips stopped their soundless words and instead, kissed the curve of my neck. My hands drifted up and down the contours of his back.
And we both held on to each other. Every throbbing beat of my heart was answered by his and neither of us moved away.
When Owen finally leaned back on his arms, he gazed down and caught tears in the corners of my eyes. He kissed them away. I could not say anything and he did not try. Instead, we pulled each other up and got dressed.
Somewhere between balancing to put on socks and buttoning up shirts wrong, we started laughing. I had never felt so free or at ease. It was like the whole world was anchored securely beneath my feet.
"Wait, shhh. Do you hear something?" Owen asked. He was still struggling to put on his left sock.
I gave his shoulder a prod and giggled as he toppled back onto the couch. "No. Please tell me you are not paranoid the police are going to bust in the door again."
"No, sorry. I just thought I heard voices," he said.
"I mean, I know I'm good, but I didn't think I was that good," I said.
Owen snagged my waist and dragged me onto the couch where he tickled me mercilessly. I had just struggled free and ran for the kitchen when the apartment door sprang open. Jasper stumbled in with two overflowing grocery bags.
"Snacks and supplies. The alcohol's still in the trunk of my car," he said. He stopped and eyed the both of us. "But, never mind. You finished up whatever is going on and I'll get it." He dropped the groceries in the entryway and disappeared back down the hallway.
"Supplies?" I asked. "For what?"
"Who knows? He mentioned having a few beers with me and hashing out the whole police search problem," Owen said.
I brushed the tangles out of my hair with my fingers and fanned my red hot cheeks. "Boys' night or can I stay? I was thinking, you do have pasta here. I think there's enough stuff in your cupboards that I could make a sauce."
Owen came up behind me in the kitchen. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my neck. "That sounds perfect. I'll get rid of Jasper."
Unfortunately, Jasper returned with four friends. They carried more than just a six-pack of beer. Soon, an entire party spread was all over the kitchen island. Jasper turned on the apartment sound system and music took over.
"We can't let them see they've gotten to us, man," Jasper said to Owen. "Don't worry, I invited all the neighbors. Maybe we can find out who’s been sending the bad vibes our way."
"No. This is a terrible idea," Owen said. He turned the volume down. "This is the opposite of what we should be doing."
"Come on, man, let go a little. They didn't turn up anything during the searches, they've got nothing on us. A party is not illegal and frankly, I think you could use a little fun. Though, you do look remarkably looser than earlier," Jasper said. He winked at me.
I tried not to gag. Something about Owen's roommate had never felt right. He told big exciting stories with details that did not quite match up. From what Owen said, Jasper was a talented website designer with a promising freelance career, but I had never seen one scrap of evidence that he actually worked.
A group of five more people filed into the apartment. Two were friends of Jasper's, but the other three were local gamers. Owen greeted them with big hugs and smiles. Maybe Jasper was right. A night spent surrounded by friends would make Owen feel a lot more supported.
"Everyone's read the chatrooms and they have ideas for what we should do," Owen said. He brought me a beer and leaned against the kitchen counter next to me. "I hate to say it, but maybe Jasper is right. I'm worrying about things that haven't happened and probably won't."
"I'll drink to that," I said. I slipped an arm around Owen and was relieved when he did the same.
It was one thing to feel so connected to him when we were alone, but it was still hard for us to be together in front of people. Most of his friends had met Sienna and they knew who I was. It was just something we were going to have to get past together and Owen's arm around me helped.
The apartment started to fill up and Owen saw people he knew everywhere. I was content to stand back in the kitchen and observe while he made tracks back and forth through the growing crowd. His friends were there, but Jasper's eclectic guests soon outnumbered them. He claimed most were clients, but many did not strike me as flourishing business owners that had hired Jasper to design their websites. In fact, I recognized a few as regular burn-outs from my high school.
I was making my way towards them to ask how they knew Jasper when someone caused a scene in the doorway. Anya arrived in a skin tight green dress. The Dark Flag players applauded as they recognized her Ayaan costume, minus the green scaly skin. I wished she had done the makeup because without it, she was devastatingly beautiful. Every eye was drawn to her.
Even Owen looked. I watched as he accepted her kiss on the cheek and clinging hug. They talked closely for a minute and then Owen kissed her on the cheek. I was glad when he moved away from her and came directly over to me, but there was still a hard knot in my throat, and I could not speak.
"Anya is sorry about the whole mess with the chatrooms. She's going to help track down who started the rumor," Owen said.
"That's really nice of her," I said. I wanted to point out it was also a convenient way to cover up if she was the one who had started them in the first place. The jealous thought was hard to tamp down, but I swallowed hard.
Owen noticed and he put an arm around my shoulders. "Jasper invited her," he said.
"Jasper invited everyone."
"But I really only want to hang out with you," Owen said.
"Then how about we ditch the party and go somewhere? It’s a clear night. I bet the stars will be out on the trail."
"Everyone came over to help," Owen said. "It would be rude to leave now. Plus, I feel like I haven't partied in forever and I've never really partied with you. Don't you want to have a few drinks and a good time?"
"Yes, but this just doesn't feel like the best place to do it," I said.
"Now who’s the one being paranoid?" he asked. He hip-checked me.
I pushed him back and had to admit that I was looking at everyone as if they were suspects. "Fine. I'd love another beer."
Owen opened the refrigerator and handed me one before a few of Jasper's friends asked for drinks too.
"How do you know Jasper?" I asked as we all stood around the kitchen island.
"Um, through work?" one said.
"Really?" I asked. "He designed your website? Jasper's kind of secretive about his work. I'd love to see what he did for you."
"Website design? Isn't that like super brainy? That's what J does?" the other friend, a lanky heavy-lidded young man asked his friend. "That's cool."
Owen was too busy brainstorming a new mission with two of his clan members to notice the strange conversation.
"When did you meet Jasper?" I asked.
"A while back," the first one said. He was noticeably more sober than his friend.
"Yeah, like last week at the grocery store," the lanky one said.
#
took a few long conversations about Dark Flag and one awkward explanation of how we met before I was able to pull Owen aside for a private conversation.
"Have you ever seen any of Jasper's work?" I asked.
"Oh, Quinn, please. Do I have to think about this now?" He looked over to where Jasper was loudly entertaining a knot of women with his imitation of a Vegas showgirl he once met. "He's just one of those guys that talks himself up. So what if he doesn't want people to see his work? It’s probably all boring corporate stuff."
"Do any of these people look like corporate clients?"
Owen shook his head. "You don't invite those kind of clients to a party like this. These are probably the IT guys and computer geeks he met while on the job."
I hated to admit how much sense that made. "Alright, fine. But you have to admit something feels off about your roommate."
Owen slammed back the rest of his beer. "Oh my God, I think I know what it is," he said. "Jasper reminds you of Trent. Think about it. He's the life of the party, he's always meeting new people and bringing them along, and his stories are always just a bit over the top."
Again, it was impossible to admit how much sense that made. "What made you think of that wild theory?"
"They actually met the other day. Remember that awful dinner party at your parents’?" Owen asked. "Jasper met him out at the club that night. How's that for insane coincidence?"
"Sick is more like it," I said.
"I know a cure for that," Owen said. He gave me a smacking kiss and got us two more beers. He really was not kidding about wanting to drink and party.
My only consolation was that Anya appeared to be captivated by Jasper. Owen told me they had flirted very heavily the night she stayed over and it seemed like they were picking up right where they left off.
"Wouldn't that be a good couple? Then they could both go off to wherever his new job is and leave us in peace," Owen said.
"I like the sound of that. But I wouldn't want to break up your clan," I said.
"Quinn, it’s a game," he said. "I know it’s my job, but it’s also just a game. This is real life." He slipped his hand around my waist and squeezed.
"How drunk are you?"
He shook his head. "I can handle it. Sienna never liked me to drink."
I frowned. It was the most effective way to get me off his case, but I was disgusted that he had used it. "Well, you have fun with that and I'm going to go look up your roommate. Something still doesn't feel right."
Jasper had moved Owen's computer to a kitchen cupboard and I pulled it down and tucked myself into the corner. From there, I was not shocked to pull up scant results for Jasper Collins. He had a few social media accounts, but there was nothing about his work. No profile webpage, no advertising, no freelance hub connections.
I looked up and accidentally caught Jasper's eye. He was watching me with a steady look that belied his carefree partying facade. The look made a chill run up the back of my neck. It only got worse when I saw Anya shamelessly flirting with Jasper. She rubbed her tightly clad body along his, but her eyes were on Owen.
"Not in the mood to party?" Owen asked. He leaned heavily against the counter next to me.
"I guess I'm still wishing our quiet night together had stayed that way," I said.
I knew Owen needed to relax and I knew he was surrounded by friends. If anyone was allowed to cut loose and drink, it was him. He was home, he wasn't going anywhere, and he needed to blow off some steam. Still, I did not like the smell of alcohol on his breath or the semi-glaze creeping across his eyes.
"Can I make a confession?" he asked.
"Are you sure you want to do that now?"
"You mentioned earlier and earlier I couldn't really find the right thing to say." Owen took both of my hands. "I probably still can't figure out the right words, but I've got a better chance now that I've had a few beers."
"A boozy confession? How romantic," I said.
"Really, Quinn? I'm about to tell you that I think I've always loved you and all you can do is judge me for drinking a few beers?" He dropped my hands.
"You know that's not true. I'm not judging you. I just think maybe this isn't the time or the place. There are other things you should be worrying about," I said.
"I don't want to worry, that's the whole point," Owen said. His voice was getting too loud. "Sienna made me worry all the time. The only time I felt like I could be myself was with you."
"Please, Owen, can we at least go outside?" I asked.
"You know what she used to say about you? Sienna used to call you flighty. Said you weren't really that good at anything so you tried anything. She said you tried your whole life to find something you could do better than her. Is that the reason you're with me? Is that the reason you quit your nursing program and have been messing around with my profession?"
My chest hurt, but I took a deep breath. "You know better than anyone the hurtful things Sienna could say when she was on a downswing."
"What? You don't think I noticed?" he asked. "You don't think I asked if she wanted to get help?"
"I think maybe this conversation really has nothing to do with me," I said. I pushed out of the kitchen corner, but Owen grabbed my arm.
"I'm trying to tell you how much I care for you and you're walking away?" he asked.
"You're drunk and you're hurting me. I'm leaving," I said.
I yanked my arm free and dodged through the crowded apartment to the door. I thought the fresh air would help, but as soon as I got to the front steps and took a deep breath, I felt a sob rise up from my chest.
Owen had not meant any of it to come out that way. He had drunk a few beers, let his guard down, and his filter was gone. I knew if I just went home, I would probably hear drunken apology messages all night. It would be best to just wait and see him tomorrow.
I started down the sidewalk but turned around after two steps and jogged back inside Owen's apartment building. Trent was on his way up the driveway. The fact that Jasper had found out Trent's connection to Owen and myself and still invited him creeped me out. He had to be up to something. I decided I had to go back upstairs and try one more time to get Owen out of there.
I headed up the back staircase and almost laughed out loud at myself. I was being ridiculous and tiptoeing. Maybe Owen was right and I was acting paranoid. I was debating heading home again when I came around the corner and stopped dead in my tracks.
Jasper was standing at their downstairs neighbor's door. The old man that lived there had always been very friendly. He had lived there for eight years and was close friends with the landlord. Lately, I knew he had told Owen about his car breaking down. He was retired and on a fixed budget and had asked Owen and Jasper if they could help him shop for a cheap car online. Owen had been happy to help him out.
Jasper and the neighbor were whispering back and forth. The neighbor had his phone out and the two checked their watches as they talked. Then Jasper handed him an envelope. The neighbor tucked his phone back in his pocket and checked the cash contents of the envelope.
I slipped back around the corner and stood there with my heart pounding. What on earth had I just seen?
"Hiding from me?" a voice asked.
I stifled a scream. When I whirled around and saw it was Trent, I slapped his arm hard. "Why are you sneaking up on me? What are you doing here?"
"Jasper invited me. Didn't he tell you we met? How's that for a coincidence? Though, I'd like to think maybe it was fate," Trent said. His normally flamboyant energy was subdued and even his smile was a lower wattage than normal.
"Fate? What are you talking about?" My heart was still in my throat.
"I miss you, Quinn. I know you've moved on and you don't really want to forgive me, but I have to know we can at least be friends," Trent said.
I peeked around the corner and was relieved when Jasper was gone. The neighbor's door was shut tight. "Alright, friend, help me figure out something," I said. "Let's say I have this other friend who keeps getting his apartment searched by the cops. Then I see his roommate paying off a neighbor with an envelope of cash."
"So, the roommate's setting up your friend," Trent said.
"But why?"
"You know you're sounding crazy, right?" Trent asked.
I pushed my hair back. "Yeah, I know. How about you just tell me how you and Jasper met, instead?"
"It was the night of that awful dinner party at your parents' house," Trent said.
I stifled another scream, this one of frustration. "You mean the dinner party that you brought your 'boy toy' to? You are the one that made it awful."
Trent shrugged. "Well, anyway, my 'boy toy' as you call him wanted to go out clubbing. Then it turns out he likes to get high too. Before I know it, he's off dancing with this group of locals. Turns out one of them was Jasper. I mentioned Summerlin and he talked about living here with Owen. I put the rest together. Crazy, right?"
"Where did Nicky get the drugs?" I asked.
"Who?"
"Your 'boy toy,' Nicky? Where did he get the drugs?" I asked again more slowly.
"From the locals. Good stuff too. Maybe you should try some pot, it might mellow you out. Though I have to say you are looking really good."
"Do you think he got it from Jasper?" I asked.
"It wouldn't surprise me." Trent smiled, catching on. "Wait, is Owen your friend and Jasper the shady roommate that's paying off the neighbor? That makes so much sense."
"How does that make any sense?"
"If Jasper really is a drug dealer, then he has a built-in scapegoat with your boy Owen. It’s easy for people to believe a 'professional gamer' is a pothead that probably sells to his friends. So, when Jasper starts to feel a little heat, he moves on and leaves Owen to take the blame," Trent said.
"Oh my God, I have to find Owen," I said.
"Right behind you," Trent said. I waved him away, but he was never one to turn down a party invitation or the possibility of a scene.