The Best Man Plan - Jaci Burton Page 0,99
Right now, Jason was enjoying a dark APA that was going down nicely.
“Define all the time,” Alice asked.
“It’s been two weeks, and as far as I know she’s been over there almost every night.”
“Huh,” Clay said. “You think they’re back together again?”
“I don’t know. She’s at his place as much as she can be, helping out with his laundry and feeding him meals and taking care of him. And I try to talk to her, but she’s been vague, saying she’s busy juggling things and she doesn’t have time to see me right now.”
Alice came over and rubbed his shoulder. “Do you think it’s because she feels some sense of responsibility for Owen? They were engaged.”
“Yeah. And Owen was the one to break it off.”
Alice gave him a sympathetic look. “Because he was sick. Because he didn’t want Erin to feel obligated to him. Her loyalties are divided right now, and she’s likely feeling confused and emotional. Give her some time to come to terms with how she feels, Jason.”
Clay leaned back against the chair and nodded. “Yeah, I agree with Alice. You pressuring her right now is only gonna get her riled up and make her push back. You don’t want that.”
No, he didn’t. He took another swallow of beer and let his conversation with Clay and Alice sink in.
Maybe they were right and he was worrying for nothing. Then again, maybe they didn’t know Erin like he did. When she went in, she went all in. It was the reason she’d ended up with Owen in the first place.
She’d always had blinders on with Owen.
But he’d back off and give her some time to figure out her own heart. Because if Jason wasn’t the guy she wanted to be with, Erin was the one who had to make that decision. He couldn’t make it for her.
And he couldn’t force her to love him, either, especially if she was still in love with Owen.
Just the thought of that stayed with him for the rest of the day as he made his way over to Owen’s. Owen had asked him to come over and hang out with him that night. Jason stopped at the store and picked up groceries for dinner. Owen answered.
“Hey. You look pretty good.”
Owen laughed. “So what you’re saying is I normally look like shit?”
“Yes. That’s exactly what I meant.”
They walked into the living room. Owen had the baseball game on, so Jason put the food in the fridge, then fixed himself a glass of ice water and came in to sit next to Owen.
“It’s my off week, treatment-wise, so I tend to build up strength and weight during this week.”
“So you’re feeling good this week.”
“Yeah, I feel great. Almost like normal again. Or my new normal, anyway.”
“Hey, you’ll be normal again as soon as you’re finished with treatment. Then you can go back to your life the way it was before.”
Owen looked over at him. “Ya think?”
Jason gave him an encouraging grin. “I don’t think. I know.”
“Yeah. That’s what I think, too.”
“So was Erin here today?”
“No, she had a wedding this afternoon that was going to last until late. She said she’d try to come by tomorrow after work.”
“That’s good.” They watched the game for a while.
“Do you think you and Erin will end up back together?”
Owen glanced at him. “Why?”
Jason tried to shrug nonchalantly. “Just curious.”
“Huh.” Owen slid off the couch. “Let’s cook some dinner.”
“Okay.”
Jason had brought chicken breasts to grill, along with vegetables and some fruit to make a salad. He wanted to make sure Owen ate healthy food, so he and Owen sliced and seasoned the zucchini and squash and put them on the grill pan. Owen started on chopping up the fruit while Jason went outside and fired up the grill and cooked the chicken and vegetables. By the time he brought the food inside, Owen had the fruit salad made and was popping grapes in his mouth while talking on his speakerphone.
“Yeah, Jason’s here and we’re grilling chicken and veggies.”
“Oh. Well, that sounds fun. Say hi to Jason for me.”
Jason recognized Erin’s voice. “I’m right here. Hey, Erin.”
“Hey. How’s it going?”
“Good. You?”
“Fine. Busy here. Well, I’ve gotta go. Talk to you later, Owen.”
Owen gave Jason a frown as he said, “Yeah, later, Erin. Bye.”
He tucked his phone into the pocket of his shorts. “That was weird.”
“What was weird?”
“You. And Erin. It was tense.”
“No, it wasn’t.” It had been tense as hell, but he didn’t want Owen to pick up on that.