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“You wouldn’t,” Owen said, voice barely above a whisper. “You need me.”

Mr. Burke scoffed. “Try me. I promise you won’t like what I do. Know your place. Don’t make me remind you of it. I have plans for Nova City, and I won’t see them derailed. It’s the principle of causation. Everything you do affects me. Think, Owen, before you act. Are we clear?”

“Crystal,” Owen said bitterly.

“Good.” He looked over his son’s shoulder up at the school, his mouth twisting in disdain. “I don’t know why you insist on this place. There’s a private school much closer to home that would do more for someone of your station.”

“I like it here.”

Mr. Burke nodded slowly. “Good to know. Because this too can be taken away. Remember that.”

Owen looked like he was going to argue more, but instead, he deflated. “And my medicine? I need it.”

“Not right now,” Mr. Burke said. “You’ve had enough for the time being. Go. You’ve already made me late as it is.”

With that, he climbed back into the limo, slamming the door behind him. A moment later, the limo pulled out into traffic.

Owen watched it disappear.

Nick waited.

And then Owen turned and looked directly at Nick.

Dammit. He thought he’d been so careful not hiding behind anything and staring at the two of them.

“Enjoy the show?” Owen asked, though his tone wasn’t as harsh as it’d been with his father.

Nick sputtered. “I didn’t—I wasn’t trying—man, what happened to yourface?”

There was a splotchy bruise on Owen’s jaw, spreading up toward his right ear. Owen reached up and pressed into it, hissing slightly and pulling his hand away, leaving the skin white until it turned back to purple. “Got punched.”

“Who punched you?”

Owen smirked at him. “Careful, Nicky. You’re beginning to sound like you care, and we can’t have that, can we? I already broke your heart once. Don’t think we need to do it again.”

Nick scowled at him. “You didn’t break my heart. I was barely invested. It was a fling.”

Owen reached up and patted Nick’s cheek. “Sure it was. I know I’m hard to get over. Don’t you worry your pretty little face over me. You should see the other guy.”

“Does this have anything to do with why you didn’t come to my house and help us with my plan?”

Owen shrugged. “That, and your plan sounded terrible. You want to get it right, you come talk to me. Otherwise, you can keep on doing what you’re doing.”

“I can do it by myself.”

Owen studied him, a strange look on his face. Nick felt like squirming. “I bet you can. We’ll see, won’t we? Any chance you wanna ditch the rest of the day? I don’t know that I want to be here right now. Whaddya say? For old time’s sake.”

Nick shook his head. “I can’t. I’m already late, and I promised my dad that—”

“Right, right. Dear ol’ Dad. You’re supposed to be a good boy this year, aren’t you? Well, far be it from me to aid in the corruption of Nicholas Bell even more than I already have. Run along, Nicky. Go be a good boy. Time waits for no blah, blah, blah.”

Nick started to turn toward doors of the school, but then he hesitated. “What about you?”

Owen looked surprised, and his face softened slightly. Gone was the cocky swagger he wore like a shield. This unmasking was something Nick had only seen a handful of times before, mostly when it was just the two of them, hands roaming to dangerous territories, lips chapped and swollen, and Nick could have sworn that Owen was almost fond of him. “You worried about me, Nicky?”

“I worry about all my friends.”

“Yeah. You do, don’t you? I’m fine. Just need ameday, I think. Some self-care.” Owen reached up and squeezed the back of Nick’s neck. And then the mask slid firmly back in place, a cocky twist to his lips. “Get inside, Nicky. Before I think you’re waiting for me to take you away from this place.”