OWEN'S POV
I wasn’t expecting her to say yes.
When I asked her out yesterday I had been bracing myself for rejection—gentle, respectful but rejection all the same. There were too many complications between us. And with everything she was going through… Jamie, Austin, Chloe still out there—why would she want me in the middle of all that?
But she surprised me.
She met my gaze and said “Let's do it. Let’s see where it goes.”
I left her door stunned, heart hammering like I’d just sprinted a mile. I’d held my feelings back for so long—pushed them down, convinced myself it was too soon, too fragile. But the moment she said yes, it felt like something real had opened up between us. A quiet door I didn’t even realize I’d been waiting to see unlocked.
And now here I am.
The restaurant was b
