Off Limits

Chapter 17: Adult Enough

Two years sounded short when Riley first said it.

It wasn’t.

The first few months passed in a blur of classes, assignments, unfamiliar faces and phone calls home.

Then the calls became less frequent.

Not because she loved them less.

Life simply became busy.

Riley learned how to manage her own money. She learned how to cook three meals without calling her mother halfway through. She learned which professor would accept late assignments and which one absolutely wouldn’t.

She learned how to be alone without feeling lonely.

That was the part that surprised her.

Back home, there had always been someone.

Ethan arguing.

Owen sitting quietly somewhere nearby.

Her mother calling from the kitchen.

Her father asking about school whenever he was home.

Here, nobody knew when she was having a bad day unless she told them.

Nobody knocked on her door.

Nobody stole her snacks.

Nobody reminded her to take an umbrella.

At first, it bothered her.

Eventually, she started liking it.

She wasn’t just Riley Parker anymore.

She was Riley.

And somehow, that felt important.

One afternoon, after class, she sat outside the library with her laptop open when her phone rang.

Ethan.

She answered.

“What’s wrong?”

He laughed.

“Why do you assume something is wrong?”

“Because you called during the day.”

“I’m allowed to call my sister.”

“You usually call at night.”

“Fine. I wanted to hear your voice.”

Riley smiled.

“That’s better.”

There was a pause.

“How are you?” Ethan asked.

“Good.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“What are you doing?”

“Studying.”

“Liar.”

She laughed.

“I’m actually studying.”

“Since when?”

“Since I became an adult.”

“Please. You still leave clothes on your chair.”

“You’ve been spying on my room?”

“It’s my job.”

“Your job?”

“As your twin.”

Riley shook her head.

Then another voice came through the phone.

“Give me that.”

“Owen?”

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

Ethan apparently handed him the phone.

Owen’s voice sounded deeper than she remembered.

Maybe it was the bad connection.

Maybe it was because she hadn’t heard him properly in weeks.

“How are things?” he asked.

“Good. Yours?”

“Fine.”

“Just fine?”

“Pretty much.”

She smiled.

“You sound different.”

There was a brief silence.

“So do you.”

Riley frowned slightly.

“How?”

“I don’t know.”

Neither of them said anything for a moment.

Then Ethan returned to the phone.

“Okay, enough. She’s supposed to be studying.”

“I am studying.”

“You’re talking to us.”

“Multitasking.”

“Go study.”

“Bossy.”

“Always.”

Riley laughed.

“Bye.”

“Bye, Ri.”

“Bye.”

The call ended.

She stared at her phone for a few seconds.

Something about Owen’s voice had stayed with her.

She didn’t know why.

She pushed the thought away and returned to her laptop.

She had more important things to think about.

She was halfway through her program.

And for the first time, she was starting to wonder what would happen when she went home.

Not whether home would still be there.

It would.

She wondered whether she would still fit into it.

Back home, Owen had changed too.

Not overnight.

It happened gradually.

His body became broader from training.

His temper became easier to manage.

He spoke less than Ethan but listened more.

He had started boxing seriously, and what began as a way to control his anger had become something he was genuinely good at.

One evening, after training, he sat on the edge of the ring while Ethan waited nearby.

“You’re getting better,” Ethan said.

Owen wiped sweat from his face.

“That’s the idea.”

“You ever think about competing?”

“Maybe.”

Ethan nodded.

“You could.”

Owen looked at him.

“You really think so?”

“Yeah.”

There was no joke in Ethan’s voice.

Owen looked down at his hands.

For most of his life, he’d measured himself by what he owed the Parker family.

Food.

School.

A home.

Every opportunity they gave him.

He had always carried the feeling that he needed to become something worthy of what they’d done.

But lately, something had started shifting.

Maybe he didn’t have to earn his place anymore.

Maybe it had already been given to him.

His phone buzzed.

A message from Riley.

Missed you guys today.

Owen smiled before he could stop himself.

Ethan noticed.

“Riley?”

“Yeah.”

“What did she say?”

“Nothing.”

Ethan reached for the phone.

Owen pulled it away.

“Don’t.”

Ethan laughed.

“Why are you acting suspicious?”

“I’m not.”

“You absolutely are.”

Owen shook his head.

“She said she missed us.”

Ethan’s expression softened.

“Yeah.”

He looked toward the empty space beside them.

For two years, they had learned how to live without Riley around.

But neither of them had stopped expecting her to come back.

And when she did, everything would probably go back to normal.

At least, that was what they believed.

Owen looked at Riley’s message again.

Missed you guys today.

He typed a reply.

Missed you too. Come home soon.

He hesitated.

Then sent it.

He didn’t know why his chest felt strangely tight afterward.

He didn’t know that two years could change more than distance.

And he definitely didn’t know that the girl who had left home at eighteen would not be the same girl who walked through the Parker front door again.

The following year changed Owen more than he expected.

Boxing became less about anger and more about discipline.

He started taking his training seriously. He watched what he ate, showed up when he didn’t feel like it, and learned to walk away from situations that would’ve once ended with a fight.

Ethan noticed the difference.

Their father noticed too.

During one of the rare evenings Mr. Parker was home, he watched Owen finish a conversation with one of the company’s managers.

“You’ve changed,” he said afterward.

Owen glanced at him.

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No.”

Mr. Parker smiled.

“You’re becoming a man who knows what he wants.”

Owen looked down.

“I don’t know if I know what I want.”

“You don’t have to have everything figured out at your age.”

Owen almost laughed.

His age.

Sometimes he still felt like the seven-year-old boy sitting in a police station, waiting for someone to decide what happened to him next.

Then his phone buzzed.

Riley.

I got my grades back.

Owen smiled.

And?

Three dots appeared.

I did really well.

I knew you would.

Another message came immediately.

You didn’t even ask how well.

Because I already know you did well.

You’re annoying.

He laughed quietly.

Ethan walked into the room.

“What’s funny?”

“Nothing.”

“Riley?”

Owen looked at him.

“Yeah.”

Ethan shook his head.

“She calls you more than she calls me now.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is.”

“You’re jealous.”

“Of my own sister? Never.”

Owen smirked.

“Sure.”

Ethan dropped onto the sofa beside him.

For a while, they sat without talking.

Then Ethan said, “She’s coming back next summer.”

Owen’s smile faded slightly.

“Yeah.”

“It’s crazy.”

“What?”

“Two years.”

Owen nodded.

“I know.”

Ethan leaned back.

“She’ll be twenty.”

Owen looked at him.

“She’s growing up.”

“So are we.”

The words stayed between them.

Neither knew exactly why.

Their childhood had always felt permanent.

Three bedrooms.

Three plates.

Three voices in the house.

Three people who somehow ended up together everywhere.

But adulthood was beginning to rearrange things.

Riley was building a life thousands of miles away.

Ethan was already preparing for his future.

Owen had boxing, work, and plans he hadn’t completely figured out.

They weren’t children anymore.

And pretending otherwise wouldn’t stop time.

Later that night, Owen stood outside beneath the same tree where they’d spent their last evening together before Riley left.

His phone buzzed again.

Riley:

Do you remember when we were kids and thought we’d always live together?

He stared at the message.

Then typed:

Owen:

Yeah.

A reply came.

Riley:

I miss that.

Owen looked up at the house.

He missed it too.

But something inside him had changed.

He couldn’t explain what.

Maybe it was simply growing up.

Maybe it was the distance.

Maybe it was the fact that Riley was no longer the little girl who used to steal his food and crawl into his bed when she had nightmares.

She was becoming someone he hadn’t met yet.

And somewhere in the back of his mind, a strange thought appeared.

What happens when she comes home?

Owen locked his phone.

He didn’t let himself think about it again.

Not yet.