Chapter 24

Charlie’s leg brushed against his and the man gestured to Nathan, whose eyes were closed. “A couple more minutes and he’ll be out.” Charlie whispered.

Owen smiled and patted Charlie’s thigh, then pulled back his hand, but Charlie grabbed it and laced their fingers together.

“Been wanting to do that all evening,” Charlie admitted.

Hope surged through Owen and he squeezed Charlie’s hand. “Me, too.”

“I wasn’t sure if you would be comfortable…showing affection…in front of others.”

Owen’s mouth dropped open. “What? You can hold my hand anytime! I thought…”

“What?”

“I thought maybe you didn’t want to in front of you nephew.”

Charlie grinned. “Nah. He’d be fine with it.” He chuckled. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to. Guess we just wasted a whole evening…”

Owen shook his head. “No time spent with you is wasted, Charlie,” he whispered. “I…I really like you. I feel—”

“Connected?”