Page 29 of I Love You, I Hate You
Victoria might not look sick, but she was far more casual than he’d ever seen her, save the other night. Her grey sweatpants molded to her body as she walked and a black sports bra poked out from the baggy neckline of her loose teal sweatshirt, while her hair was piled into a messy knot on the very top of her head.
Meg Ryan was frozen mid-sentence on her television, and her laptop and phone were scattered across her coffee table. “So . . . not sick then?” he said, leaning a little awkwardly against her counter.
Victoria pulled down two bowls from a cabinet and shrugged. The movement sent her sweatshirt further down her shoulder and he couldn’t help but watch it intently. “Giving myself a mental health day to play hooky. Mom used to let me do it once a semester in school, and I kept it up. Sometimes she comes up and we go shopping, but today I just felt like doing absolutely nothing.”
She divided the soup between the bowls. Owen rubbed the back of his neck, skin still a little flushed with embarrassment. “You don’t—we don’t have to eat that, you know. It was dumb.”
She shrugged again, and she really needed to stop doing that because he was far too entranced by her collarbone to be healthy. “I was about to eat lunch anyway, and there’s plenty here. Do you have any particular objections toWhen Harry Met Sally?”
“Only that the movie is based on the fallacy that men and women can’t be friends when they demonstrably can.”
“Oh good, you’re pedantic. This’ll be fun,” she deadpanned. They pushed her electronics out of the way and set their bowls on the coffee table.
Owen stole a glance at her, wondering if he should just go with this—which was great, if weird—or ask what the hell was going on. In the end, his curiosity won out. “What, uh . . . what exactly is happening?”
Victoria crossed her legs and picked up her soup. “We’re watching a movie and eating the lunch you brought me,” she said drily. “What about that is confusing?”
“I mean, just that—well, you know—”
“We hate each other, except for when we’re fucking?”
“Yeah, that,” he laughed.
“You were the one bringing me soup,” she countered. “I figure, if you’re gonna do that, we can hang out. Why not, you know?”
“Why not,” he agreed, smiling broadly.
“Next up isWhile You Were Sleeping,” she announced, unfolding her legs. It was weird, sitting next to Owen on the couch like they were friends instead of . . . whatever it was they were, but when she’d seen him in the hallway, looking so goddamn embarrassed for having been caught caring about her, she couldn’t help herself.
Even weirder, as the day wore on, she had absolutely no inclination to kick him out. They had moved fromWhen Harry Met SallytoSleepless in Seattleand now she was feeling like a slight change of pace. As it turned out, Owen was surprisingly a lot of fun to hang out with, even when his sisters weren’t around. They were in their own little bubble, ignoring all of the outside world’s complications. Like the fact that they were on opposite sides of a major lawsuit.
“And here I thought it was a Meg Ryan day,” he said.
“It’s a whatever-movie-I-want-to-watch day, and I want to watch Sandra Bullock catfish an entire family.”
Owen wrinkled his nose. “That one’s kinda creepy when you think about the plot, you know,” he said from where he was lounging against the opposite side of her couch.
“So? Sandra Bullock is a goddamn gift to mankind, and her charm saves it,” she argued. “Also, my day, my rules.”
“Fine, but you’re paying for the pizza.”
But an hour later when the pizza arrived, he was just as into it as she was. “Peter Gallagher is a really underrated actor, you know,” he said. “Between this andThe OC, he really should be in more stuff. He’s hilarious.”
“And he was great inCenter Stage,” she agreed.
“I haven’t seen that one.”
“You’re missing out, then. I bet your sisters would like it too—it’s about ballet and finding yourself and god, it’s just so good.”
“I’ll schedule a viewing,” he said, putting the pizza on the counter.
Victoria scrounged up some plates and Owen pulled a couple of beers from her fridge. He paused closing it, frowning at the wedding invite she had stuck to the freezer door. “You know Andy and Cassie?” he asked.
“Went to law school with them, yeah. Are you going to their wedding?”
“Yep. You?”
Victoria sat down on her couch and picked up a slice of pizza. “Nah, I missed the RSVP deadline. How do you know them?” She adored Cassie but the wedding was up in Duluth, which meant paying for a hotel room and Victoria hadn’t felt she could justify the expense.