27. Zane

27

ZANE

Owen takes one look at Daniel from across Cam's Cafe and his top lip curls.

"I told you I shouldn't have come," Daniel hisses.

"Don't be scared," I reassure him, nudging him into the restaurant. "He's old. You can take him."

Honestly, I'm not sure that's true. Owen's knees are made of fucking crabmeat, but he has a pull-up bar hanging from his bedroom door and does twenty reps before he even takes his morning piss. That, plus his surly attitude, might give him the advantage.

"Obviously, I could take him," Daniel snaps. "It's offensive that was even in doubt. But I shouldn't be here. I thought this was just dinner. I didn't know it was a meeting. These should be closed."

"It is just dinner. Relax." I clap Daniel on the back and weave my way through the cafe.

Owen watches us approach with narrowed eyes. When we're still far enough away that he shouldn't be talking to us yet, he slams his coffee down. "So scared you brought backup, Whitaker?"

The people at the tables close by eye us warily, especially when Daniel erupts in nervous laughter.

"I'm just here for the chicken fried steak." He holds his menu like a shield and slides into the booth. "Good to see you again, Owen."

"Wish I could say the same, lad." Owen arches a bushy brow at me. "How many times have you rescheduled on me?"

Five… maybe six? Owen and I were never out of touch, exactly, but we haven't sat down for our regular chat in a long time.

"I had a lot going on." I grab the carafe in the center of the table and pour myself some coffee. "How have you been?"

Owen ignores my question. "The times you have a lot going on are when we need these meetings the most."

What I mean to say is: You're right, Owen. I've missed our meetings, too. I'm sorry. Instead, it comes out as, "If you were really worried about me, you would've broken my door down by now."

"Is that what you want?" he growls. "I thought we were past that, but I can root through your drawers if that's what you want. Give me a spare key and I'll drop in unannounced. Maybe I'll get another peek of your bonnie lass in the bare scud."

"If you're talking about seeing my girlfriend naked, you'll be the one who needs a bodyguard," I growl.

Daniel whistles loudly and opens his menu. "Wow, what a menu. So many options. What are you both getting?"

"Naked or not, I'd like to see your girlfriend," Owen says, tossing an annoyed scowl at Daniel. "Since the lass showed up, you've disappeared. It makes me wonder…"

"I disappeared because she disappeared. Because I was so busy trying to get her home, I didn't have time to think about a drink or fall off any fucking trolleys."

Owen knows Mira was gone. He knows I was torn up about it. I expect this to be the end of his interrogation.

I should know better.

"And now, she's back and you have nothing but fookin' time," he says. "So, have you?"

Daniel is reading the menu under his breath, his finger sliding across each menu item like he's a first grader learning to read. I'm not sure why I thought he would be a good buffer for this conversation.

"Have I what?" I grit out.

Owen extends his thumb and pinky and tosses back a signed drink. "Have you found yourself some time to get sauced?"

"Fuck you."

"You sound mighty defensive for someone on the trolley."

First, my teammates don't trust me. Now, Owen.

I slide out of the booth and stand up. "It's been nice to catch up with you, too, O. I've been through a lot lately, but it's good to know you have unwavering faith in me."

Owen shakes his head, unfazed. "I stopped putting my faith in addicts a long time ago. I dinnae even have faith in myself. It's why I'm still in the program."

"So am I."

"Oh? When was your last meeting?" he fires back.

"Did you know they have steak and eggs?" Daniel asks no one in particular. "And dumplings! Man, this place has everything."

I roll my eyes and focus back on Owen. "It's been a while. Like I said, I've been busy."

"Okay, then you'll go this week."

"I'm fucking sober, goddammit!" The couple in the booth next to us glance over, and I give them a scowl. If they want to run off and tell some tabloid that Zane Whitaker is talking about sobriety in a shitty cafe downtown, they can go for it. I don't fucking care because—"I'm clean. I'm good. I'm… I'm better than ever, actually."

Owen's face softens. He's an asshole, but he just has a tougher brand of love than most people are used to. I think the weeks apart lowered my immunity.

"That'll be great for people in the program to hear. That there's life on the other side." He grabs his jacket and slides out of the booth. "Call me when you're taking your sobriety seriously again. In the meantime, I'd love to have the bairn over to my place again soon. It's been a wee bit since I've seen him, seeing as you've been so busy ."

Daniel doesn't say anything until Owen is out of the restaurant and halfway down the block. He leans across the table. "I hate you for bringing me here."

"You could've vouched for me. Told him I'm not drinking."

"I also could have put my balls on the table and handed him a mallet!" He shivers. "That man is scary. But… he's not wrong."

"Not wrong about what? I am sober. I wasn't?—"

Daniel waves me off. "I know that. I'm talking about a meeting. You used to go all the time."

Yeah, back when I spent countless hours alone with nothing but the devil on my shoulder for company. Some nights, the thought of going to a meeting first thing the next morning was the only thing that kept me from slipping down to the liquor store on the corner or hunting down the number of my old dealer.

"It's been a long time since I needed that."

"So go to a meeting before you need it." He shrugs. "You've finally got your wily ducks in a row. Now, you need to keep them that way."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about your bonnie lass ," he says in the world's worst Scottish accent. He leans in close. "Did Owen really see Mira naked?"

"Close enough," I growl. The day Owen burst into the house, Mira was practically comatose in bed. The only reason Owen didn't see her naked is because I threw a blanket over her. He was tearing through the house, and she was terrified.

I'd like to avoid that ever happening again.

"A meeting would keep him off my back," I admit. "It'll also keep him out of my house. The last thing I need is him destroying the place again."

"You should spend more time with him. If he could see you with Mira, he'd be less worried."

"Maybe. But they didn't get off to the best start."

Only because I didn't tell Owen about Mira until she was living in my house. He had every right to be on edge. If Mira was any other woman in the world, moving her in that fast would've been a disaster.

But she isn't any other woman in the world.

She's my woman.

Daniel lets off another low whistle. "God, you really do have it bad."

I turn to him and only then realize I'm smiling like an idiot. I quickly flip it upside down and scowl at him. "You have no room to say shit. Let any loud-mouthed blondes boss you around lately?"

Daniel puffs up, straightening his navy bomber jacket. "Yes, actually. She picked out this outfit for me."

I give him a look that lets him know I absolutely rest my case.

"But we aren't living together," he argues. "I like Taylor. She's fun. But if she up and left me tomorrow, I'd drink about it—maybe watch one sad movie about it—and then I'd move on."

"Bull-fucking-shit!" I scoff, earning me another glare from the older couple across the aisle. "You'd be a wreck."

"The same way you were?" He smirks, trying to corner me, but it won't work.

Because I'm not afraid of the truth.

"Yeah, the same way I was. Because you know you love her."

He huffs. "I never would have thought that, out of the two of us, you would turn into the sappier one."

"I'm not being sappy; I'm being realistic. Mira is the one."

"So when are you going to make it official?" He holds up his left hand and wags his ring finger.

"Soon."

At that, Daniel about falls out of the booth. "You're kidding. I was kidding. You're serious? Are you kidding?"

"Yes? Or… I don't know how to answer that, but I'm serious. It's going to be soon."

"Well, son of a bitch." He raises his coffee mug in a toast. "Nathan will be disappointed, but everyone else will be happy for you."

"Why does Nathan care?"

"He had a little crush when he first met her and has been secretly hoping things between you two weren't that serious." Daniel lifts one shoulder in a casual shrug, like he isn't telling me information that might get our good friend Nathan killed. "But Nathan has a crush on everyone."

I grind my molars together. "Yeah. I guess he does."

Daniel eyes my face and smirks. "You better lock her down real soon before someone else tries. Otherwise, you might lose your girl and be sent away for murder." Suddenly, Daniel grabs his knife and fork like he's a hungry cartoon character. "Our food is coming."

The waitress is making her way towards us, and I check the time on the red neon clock above the counter. It's later than I thought.

Just as the waitress stops next to our table, I hold out a hand. "Actually, can we get these in a to-go box? We need to get going."

"Of course," she says cheerfully, spinning away as Daniel's face falls in horror.

"No!" he cries out. "Why?"

"You can eat in the car."

"But why?" he bemoans, sinking down in the booth. "I'm starving."

"Because we're going shopping."