Page 184 of In at the Deep End

They’d spent the afternoon going through the final changes to his dissertation, with Owen reading the conclusion while Matt hovered nearby, waiting for him to find some devastating flaw.

Instead, Owen had glanced up and said, “Okay, I’m no expert in this field, but I think you’re done.”

Matt stared at him. “That’s it?”

“I think so.”

“You’re not going to find something?”

Owen smirked. “I could invent something if you’d like.”

“No, thank you.”

“Then congratulations.”

The smile Owen gave him was warm enough to make Matt ache inside.

“Thanks.”

Owen closed the laptop. “You’ve worked bloody hard.”

Matt gazed at him for a moment. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

He shook his head. “You did the work.”

“I know, but⁠—”

“No.” He smiled. “I gave you a garden to work in and somewhere quiet to sit. The rest was all you.”

Matt’s mouth curved. “You did give me a pretty good office.”

He beamed. “I’ve been told it has excellent views.”

“It does.” Mostly of you by the pool, occasionally naked, always a temptation.

Owen’s smile lingered for a moment before he looked away. “So take the credit. You earned it.”

The room fell quiet.

Matt realised how much he’d missed this.

Sure, he missed the physical intensity they’d shared that had blown every conception he’d had about sex to nothing but dust.

But this, the quiet moments when Owen gazed at him as though there was nowhere else he needed to be…

This was gold.

Matt leaned forward, settling his hand on Owen’s arm. It wasn’t a decision, more like an instinct as he closed the small distance between them.

Owen met him halfway.

The kiss was warm, familiar enough to make Matt’s chest tighten. Owen’s hand came to the back of his neck, his thumb brushing beneath Matt’s ear, and for a few seconds everything he’d been worrying about disappeared.

There you are.

The thought came unbidden.

This was the Owen he’d been missing.