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“He’s your dad. He’s supposed to.”

Nick rolled his eyes as he went to grab the last of the dishes. “I’ll keep that in mind. Look, this has been—”

Owen tapped his fingers on the counter. “Heard from Seth?”

That made Nick pause. “What? Why?”

“Gibby said Seth didn’t show up yesterday either.”

Another traitor. “Yeah.” He dumped the bowls into the sink. “I need new friends.”

“Aw, Nicky. Don’t make that face at me. I feel real bad about it. Honest.”

“No, you don’t. He texted me last night. Said something came up, and he’d explain later.”

“Wow,” Owen said, sounding rather gleeful. “That seems to be happening a lot lately. I wonder why that is?”

“I don’t know,” Nick admitted, as he flipped on the faucet and picked up a bowl. “It’s… complicated, I guess. Or so he says.”

“Are you two still ridiculously in love?”

Nick dropped the bowl into the sink. It clattered loudly. He froze, waiting to hear movement from upstairs. Nothing came. He turned off the faucet before whirling around, glaring at Owen. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Owen snorted. “Like I need to tell you.”

“Try.”

“Seth’s always had a crush on you,” Owen said, hoisting himself up onto the counter like he belonged there. “Everyone can see it.”

Self-awareness, or the complete lack thereof, was a bitch of a thing. “They can? I didn’t see anything!”

“That’s because you’re adorably clueless about most things.” Owen grinned at him. “I think it’s cute.”

“How long has he had a crush on me?” Nick demanded. “And why didn’t you tell me?”

Owen laughed, flashing those perfect teeth. “Because I had a crush on you too. Why would I tell you about it, when I wanted you for myself?”

Nick grimaced. “Dude, that’s gross. You’re gross.”

“Eh. I never claimed to be a saint. And it’s been going on forever. Maybe you don’t see the way he looks at you, but the rest of us do. And it’s not exactly one way, you know. When we were dating, it was alwaysSeth did thisorSeth said that.Honestly, it got really annoying after the first few days.”

“We were together for three months.” Sort of.Togetherwas a bit of a misnomer.

“I know,” Owen said. “Imagine how I felt by the end.” He batted his eyes. “Why, I even began to doubt my worth.”

“Oh, that’s crap. You’re the most conceited person I know.”

Owen pressed a hand against his chest. “That hurt. Right here. And it did upset me, I think. Everything was Seth, Seth, Seth. Always has been.”

“This is a little life changing for me,” Nick said, feeling numb. “Do I need to apologize? I don’t know if I need to apologize.”

Owen waved him away. “Nah, I got over it a long time ago.”

“Still. I’m sorry.”

“You could make it up to me, you know.”

Nick didn’t like the sound of that. “How?”