Page 65 of Wish You Were Mine (Kings of Eden Falls #3)

OWEN

The next few weeks were what could’ve easily passed for normal as the semester wound down.

I showed up to teach my lectures. Held office hours. Graded the usual stack of labs.

I even got the official notice from Dean Harris that the grant we’d applied for had been approved and I’d be promoted to research professor.

I should’ve felt proud. Excited, at least.

But I didn’t feel much of anything.

Just…numb. Like I was moving through my life in grayscale again.

Sure, I smiled when I was supposed to. Chatted with students and colleagues. Answered questions in the lab the same way I always had.

But underneath it, I was completely miserable.

And like clockwork, every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, Lucy was there in my classes—sitting in her usual spot.

On the surface, we probably seemed fine. Normal. Since throughout the semester, we’d become experts at hiding the feelings we had for each other from everyone else.

But even if no one else could see it, we knew each other better than that.

Every brief flicker of eye contact was a silent reminder of everything we weren’t allowed to feel anymore.

There was a cloud hanging over us now. A heaviness that hadn’t existed before.

And the sparkle in her eyes—that bright, hypnotic energy that used to light me up from the inside out—was gone.

How was she holding up?

Was she sleeping okay?

Eating enough?

Keeping her strength up for training?

I knew it wasn’t my place to worry about her anymore. But I couldn’t help it.

Because unlike chemistry—where you could balance an equation and watch everything cancel out—feelings didn’t dissolve that cleanly.

They lingered.

Burned.

Made you do reckless things.

Which was exactly why I’d driven to Pennsylvania the first weekend in April to watch the NCAA Regional Gymnastics Championships Lucy had qualified for.

Was it smart? Probably not. Especially with the chance her parents might see me in the crowd.

But I couldn’t not show up.

Because even if Lucy and I weren’t speaking—if there was even the slightest chance things could still work out between us someday—it would’ve been a shame not to witness this moment.

To not be there for her, cheering her on .

Even if it had to be from the shadows.

And while Lucy was a force on the floor, the competition that weekend was brutal. Gymnasts from all over the region were trading near-perfect scores like punches and every decimal point mattered.

So by the time the final rotation ended, I was practically holding my breath.

And when they announced the all-around results, my heart was pounding like I was the one being judged.

“And in second place, Lucy Archibald from Eden Falls University.”

So close to first. Just a tenth of a point behind the leader.

Still, it was good enough to continue to the finals in Texas.

“Good job, Lucy,” I whispered under my breath as she accepted her medal and waved at the crowd. “I’m proud of you.”

I pulled out my phone, wondering if I could text her. Just to let her know I’d seen her. A little sign that I still cared.

But I didn’t know if I had the right to even text her anymore—we hadn’t shared a single message since our breakup a month ago.

In fact, the only real personal interaction between us had come on the last Thursday of March when she’d walked past me at the end of her lab and quietly said, “Happy birthday, Owen,” before slipping out the door with Brody by her side.

It had happened so quickly I hadn’t even had a chance to thank her before she was gone.

I sighed and opened my messaging app to look at my previous text thread with Lucy.

The last message from her still sat there: Can I come over to talk?

I stared at it for a long moment, thumb hovering before I typed out a new message: You did amazing today. Only to backspace every word.

I shook my head and slid my phone back into my pocket. Then, before the crowd could get too thick, I made my way toward the exit.

I was just rounding the corner near the bathrooms when a familiar voice stopped me.

“Owen? Is that you?”

I froze, my heart jumping before I turned to find Theo approaching, his expression unreadable.

“Hey,” I said, trying not to look guilty. “Didn’t expect to run into you.”

“Yeah, same.” He studied me for a second, and I briefly wondered if he was going to get after me for showing up where I wasn’t wanted. But instead, he asked, “You doing okay?”

“About as good as I can be, I guess,” I said, pushing my hands into my pockets. “Not fired yet, at least.”

Theo chuckled, then threw an arm around my shoulder. “You’re a good guy. I know my dad’s a bit hotheaded, but he knows it, too. Even if the age thing makes him nervous.”

“I get it,” I said quietly.

“Lucy’s his baby girl. Always has been.” Theo looked away for a beat, then added, “And after hearing what Josh did to her…my dad’s just feeling a lot. Guilt. Fear. Helplessness. He’s in full-on protective mode.”

“I know.” I nodded slowly, the ache in my chest tightening again. “And I would never purposely hurt Lucy. That’s the last thing I’d ever want. Maybe I am too old for her… I don’t know. I don’t really know the rules anymore.”

Theo gave me a look. “You’re not too old. I mean…sure, seven years is a lot. But it’s not unheard of. At least you two are in the same decade of life. That’s more than I can say for Al isha’s grandpa who had a thing for twenty-somethings when he was seventy.”

“Well, at least I can’t say I’m trying to be a sugar daddy.” A breath of laughter escaped me before I could stop it. “Hard to do that on a chemistry professor’s salary, anyway.”

Theo snorted. “Seriously.”

We both chuckled, a lightness threading between us, and for a moment, I felt…almost okay. But then I scrubbed a hand over my face, the weight of it all catching up again. “Man, I sure made a mess of things, didn’t I?”

“Not too big of a mess,” Theo said, a slow smile tugging at his mouth. “I mean, at least you didn’t get her pregnant. Unlike another science teacher we know.”

“Go me!” I lifted a hand in a mock cheer as I remembered exactly who Theo was referring to—a previous science teacher at Eden Falls Academy. The one I’d been hired to replace.

Yeah. At least I hadn’t crossed that line.

Though…waiting to be a professor in a college setting before I fell for a student hadn’t exactly turned out much better.

“It’s good to see you here, though.” Theo clapped me on the back, his voice gentler now. “I don’t know if Lucy noticed you in the crowd, but…I’ll tell her I saw you. Anything you want me to tell her?”

“Just that…” I hesitated, my throat tightening since there were about a hundred things I wanted to say. “I’m so proud of her.” I cleared my throat. “And that…she’s incredible.”

Our eyes met again, and when I saw the shift of understanding in his expression, I knew that Theo knew.

He knew I was a goner for his sister.

“I’ll tell her,” he said quietly, patting me on the back.

“Thanks,” I managed to say, suddenly feeling choked up for some reason .

Which was kind of ridiculous.

But I guess not being able to be with the person you love in their biggest moments just kind of sucked.