Page 20 of Pick Me

“Oh, no way.”

I scooted my chair back from the table, like I needed to move away from the very idea of competing in a tournament.

“C’mon, it’ll be fun,” Owen cajoled. “Plus you need a goal.” He paused. “I mean, you already have the Kai goal, but it helps

to have something, uh, tangible that you’re working toward.”

“I love it,” Meredith said gleefully. “I’ll be in the front row, cheering you on.”

“As if I have the time to focus on something like a tournament,” I snipped back. “I have a pretty pressing deadline to worry about, you know.”

Owen stacked the dishes in front of him and put his elbows on the table like he was an attorney entering the negotiation phase.

“That’s just it; you don’t have to worry about it—you just do it. It’s nothing more than a way to push yourself and achieve

a goal. A deadline of sorts. Which you’re used to.”

Yeah, I was way too familiar with deadlines, particularly the missing them aspect.

Thankfully, before the argument could continue, our wan, disinterested waitress came back to see if we wanted dessert, which Meredith ordered for us without asking what we wanted like she was a douchey dude trying to impress a date.

She started gathering her things the moment the waitress turned to walk away.

“Fun night, guys. I need to head out.”

“Wha... why? You just ordered the entire dessert menu,” I sputtered at the thought of eating a chocolate bombe alone with

Owen in a romantic restaurant.

“Colton got out of his dinner meeting early. I’m going to his place, so text me how much I owe and I’ll Venmo you, Brookie.”

It was then I realized that she’d planned to duck out before the end of the meal, to give me time alone with Owen.

“Don’t forget to say yes to seconds. Byyeeeeee,” she sang as she stood up and tucked her Dog Eared bag under her arm.

I glowered at her as she flitted away.

“She’s a trip,” Owen said. “How long have you two been friends?”

“College. We hated each other at first. I thought she was a stuck-up Connecticut girl, and she thought I was a weird nerd.

Turns out, we were both right, and opposites do attract.”

“So you’re claiming nerd status?”

I snorted. “You’ve spent the last few weeks with me—what do you think?”

He leaned back in his chair and looked at me like he was seeing me for the first time. “I think you’re a puzzle,” he said

softly.

On paper, it wasn’t necessarily a compliment, but the way he said it sure made it feel that way.

The waitress came back and dropped off two cut glass tumblers filled with amber liquid. “Your friend ordered these on the

way out. Enjoy.”

We’d downed beer and sangria throughout the meal, and the last thing we needed was more alcohol, but Meredith clearly wanted us in an altered state as we finished the night together.

“Bottoms up, I guess,” Owen said as he raised his tumbler and leaned closer to me.

“Cheers,” I said as I clinked my glass to his.

Meredith and I had gone to a whiskey-tasting event together, and I had a feeling that she’d hooked us up with something top-shelf.

I didn’t love whiskey, but I wasn’t about to let it go to waste. I took a sip and watched as the hostess led another couple

to a table across the patio. The woman was petite, blond, and ridiculously pretty, with her hair slicked back in a low bun

and wearing a simple cropped black shirt and jeans in the unstyled-but-definitely-planned way of all great influencers.

I tried not to stare as she and her date took their seats because she looked really familiar. Did I follow her on Instagram? I took another sip of whiskey as I glanced at her date, then launched into a choking

fit of shock and horror.

It was Leo.

“Are you okay?” Owen asked as I tried not to make a spectacle of myself. He glanced over his shoulder to follow my gaze, then

back at me, his brow furrowed with concern. “Take my water.”

He handed his glass to me, and I gulped it down in between coughing fits that I tried to keep quiet, because the last thing I wanted was for Leo to spot me red-faced and runny-eyed.

I tried to formulate a plan as I collected myself. Dessert hadn’t arrived yet, but it wasn’t like I could remain at the table,

speed shoveling caramel mousse in my face, with my ex and his perfect girlfriend just a few feet away. Maybe I could slip

out, have the waitress box everything up, and meet Owen on the sidewalk?

“What’s going on?” Owen asked when I could finally breathe normally again. “Who are those people?”

Had I been that obvious, or was Owen just that perceptive?

We leaned toward each other at the same moment.

“My ex,” I whispered hoarsely. “That’s Leo.”

Owen’s face went stormy as he seemed to process that my backstory was invading our present. The ghosting, resulting writer’s

block, Kai, and our pickleball connection all stemmed from the handsome man across the patio.

I stole a glance at Leo, who was unfortunately positioned so he’d see us if he could tear his eyes away from Isodora. His

superpower was his ability to get away with extreme amounts of bullshit because he was so damn adorable . Dark hair, light eyes, and a mischievous smile that suggested all sorts of naughtiness. Old ladies thought he walked on

water.

“Is this the first time you’ve seen him since...?”

I nodded mutely.

“Well, you look amazing,” Owen said. “No matter what, you’ve got that going for you.”

It was the kindest thing he could’ve said, because my first reflex was a quick inventory of my outfit and hair. I’d fixed

myself up for Nia’s event in summery pink, and Owen had noticed.

“Is he watching us?”

Owen tried to surreptitiously peek over his shoulder, then opted to swing his chair over so that he was closer to me and had

a straight line of sight for easier spying.

“Not that I can tell.”

The waitress interrupted us again, this time to deliver a tray of desserts that had a hissing sparkler sticking out and “Happy Birthday” written in chocolate on the plate.

Flying under the radar was impossible now, because the stick of dynamite shooting fire on our mousse was the equivalent of a searchlight on the dim patio.

“What?” I gaped at Owen. “Is it your birthday?”

Then it hit me. Meredith.

“Happy birthday to both of you,” the waitress said in a louder voice than she’d used all night, which made a few people turn to look at us. A woman

at the next table clapped.

I couldn’t bear to check if Leo was looking over, but how could he not? It was a spectacle, and all we needed was for the

waitstaff to come out and sing to us. I doubted Leo would know that it wasn’t actually my birthday. He’d asked me about the

date and then recorded it in his phone, but we’d never shared a November.

“He’s watching,” Owen whispered to me through a smile. “I think it’s payback time.”

“Huh?”

The corner of his mouth kicked up. “You fake dated for me; now it’s my turn to do it for you. It’s only fair.”

I gripped the whiskey glass in my hands so tightly I worried it might shatter. “Oh, you don’t have to...”

“But I want to.”

There was subtext in those four words that I couldn’t decipher. I felt his eyes resting on me while I weighed what to do next.

“Kiss me,” Owen murmured.

“ What ?” I panic-whispered.

“I said kiss me. Now. ”

The directness in his voice sent a shiver through me. He was issuing a command like we were on the court, only a billion times sexier. Despite everything we’d discussed about broken hearts and love triangles, we were about to kiss.

Again.

I must’ve nodded, because the next thing I knew Owen was moving closer to gently palm my cheek. My stomach went into a free

fall at how damn convincing he was as he lovingly stared into my eyes.

“Happy fake birthday, B,” he murmured as he slid closer still, his thumb caressing my cheek.

So real. Heartfelt. Believable.

“Ha-happy fake birthday,” I whispered, frozen by his very convincing seduction.

Turns out Owen was ridiculously good at make-believe.

He placed his other hand on my face and drew me to him, his eyes on my mouth like I was the dessert that he couldn’t wait to taste. My breathing went shallow and my heart thudded as we relished the delicious

moment of before.

The noise around us blotted out. Owen moved closer in slow motion, and I held my breath.

Then his lips touched mine tentatively, like he wasn’t sure how far to take our performative PDA. A hint of a kiss, just a

gentle press of our mouths together, but it was enough to send a shock wave through my body. I started to pull back reluctantly,

but Owen slid his hand to the nape of my neck to gently hold me in place.

It was his way of conveying that I wasn’t going anywhere. Once again, our kiss wasn’t over until he decided it was. I was more than happy to relinquish control after what had happened the last time I kissed him.

His tongue traced along my bottom lip. Heat flooded my body as the sleeping need inside of me roared awake again thanks to Owen. I moved my hands to the tops of his solid thighs and squeezed. I felt him smile against my mouth.

Leo was just a few feet away, no doubt watching our little show since the sparkler was still illuminating the entire patio,

but all I could focus on was how fucking masterful Owen was at kissing me. He teased his tongue against mine as he slipped his fingertips through my hair.

I normally wasn’t one for PDA, but Owen had me ready to climb onto his lap and grind against him. We’d gone beyond a “look

how happy I am without you, Leo,” kiss to borderline exhibitionist. I wasn’t ready to stop, and based on the way Owen pulled

me closer, he wasn’t going anywhere either.

Unfortunately, the sparkler had other ideas. It fell onto the plate with a clank, and I could see the sideways trajectory

of the sparks from the corner of my eye.

Owen finally peeled himself away from me. “Whoops.” He laughed softly and righted it in the blob of frosting again.

The sparkler continued sparkling while Owen and I stared at each other. A little flushed, breathing heavy, and if it were

up to me, ready for more.

“He saw the whole thing,” Owen ventriloquized through a grin. “You won this match.”

I did feel strangely victorious, in addition to the horniness pulsing through me. I wanted to glance over at Leo, but I knew

it was better optics to pretend that I didn’t know he was there. Instead, I focused on Owen.

“Thank you. Once again, you went above and beyond.”

“Of course, it’s our joint fake birthday. We’re celebrating.” Owen’s eyes flicked past me; then he raised my hand to his lips,

flipped it over, and kissed the inside of my wrist. “Anything for you.”

My breath caught as his mouth grazed my skin. Suddenly I was a naive debutante in a Regency romance, nearly coming undone from a chaste kiss.

“FYI, he’s very interested in us.” Owen draped our clasped hands on the table, then picked up his fork with the other. He

sawed off a hunk of flourless chocolate torte that was next to the spent sparkler. “Let’s give him an absolutely sickening

show. Vile happiness. Open up, B.”

I went a little breathless at the command and did as I was told. Owen slid the too-big bite into my mouth, getting a little

bit of the frosting on the corner of my lip in the process. He leaned closer to me, dragged his finger through the remnants

ringing my mouth, then popped his finger in his mouth to suck it off, wearing a devilish grin.

“Mm.” He lounged back in his chair, his eyes mischievous. “You taste delicious.”

A shudder passed through me, because I’d written that very line after my cowboy Beau kneeled between Savanna’s legs for the

very first time. All I could do was nod as I chewed.

We managed to flirt and eat our way through nearly all the three desserts Meredith had ordered while I stole glances at Leo

and Isodora. It looked like they were enjoying a standard-issue dinner. Nothing like the lovefest Owen and I were putting

on.

The bill arrived and he reached for it before I had a chance to.

I forced myself not to look over at them on our way out, but I could feel him watching us leave, hand in hand.

Shockingly, I felt nothing other than hopeful that Owen would find an excuse to kiss me again. No maudlin feelings about seeing

Leo, just a fixation on the man beside me.

We wound up on the sidewalk right outside the patio and conveniently right in the line of sight of every person eating there.

Owen leaned close to me, and I caught another hit of his warm, sagy scent.

“Ready for the grand finale?” he asked.

I’d barely bobbed my head when he swept me into his arms, bent me over backward, and kissed me long and hard. I was so caught

off guard that my arms flopped limply behind me, until I finally found enough muscle tone to reach up and lock them behind

his neck.

My eyes were squeezed shut, but I felt like I could still see the sparkler going off. We kissed for, what, a half hour? A

minute? I lost track of time as we melted against each other. When Owen finally stood me up, I wobbled a few steps.

“Wow.”

“Yeah, I think that worked.” Owen reached for me. “Let’s leave as a united front.”

We walked down the block silently, holding hands like it was a normal, everyday thing to do. We’d already jogged together,

holding hands and cackling, but this was more reserved, like it was our go-to walking scenario. He let go once we reached

the subway station.

“Okay, so our next meeting is at Jimmie McDaniel Park, right? You ready?”

My mouth dropped open, because I expected us to go through some sort of play-by-play about what had just happened at the restaurant.

I at least wanted to laugh about the absurdity of our show, to vent some of the very real sexual tension that I was working

hard to ignore.

I finally found my voice. “Um, yeah. Sure.”

“Inaugural game play,” he said. “It’s going to be good for you, I promise.”

Lately, everything Owen did was good for me.

I could only nod, because how were we having a normal conversation about pickleball when he’d just kissed me like that?

Owen backed away from me, pointing at me. “You’ve got this, B. Next stop, signing you up for the tournament.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he’d already disappeared around the corner.