Page 36 of Saving You

Which was a ridiculous thing to fantasize about. Really. It was.

He cleared his throat, then held out his hands, and Ridge passed over a paper plate heavy with pita, chicken, rice, and hummus.

‘Sorry,’ Ridge signed after he set his food on his thighs, ‘I didn’t know what you liked, so I went for simple.’

‘Simple is exactly what I need tonight. My stomach doesn’t feel great.’

Ridge shot him a look of sympathy. ‘I wish I could help more than just kissing you.’

‘I think the kissing worked great,’ Oz couldn’t help but tell him, and then he grabbed the pita and the plate to shut his hands up because, goddamn it, he didn’t need to give himself away like that.

Ridge’s shoulders shook with a laugh. ‘It was nice.’

Did he mean that? Oz was too afraid to ask. Instead, he shoveled a huge bite into his mouth, then swiped his hands on his sweats before asking, ‘What’s going on with Grady and Alora?’

Ridge mouthed the names as Oz spelled them, and his shoulder slumped. ‘I came here tonight to tell you that Grady is on your side. I know you don’t trust him, but I think he means it.’

‘He doesn’t stand up to her,’ Oz argued. When Ridge frowned, Oz repeated himself, mouthing the words until he was sure Ridge got it. ‘He lets her do and say whatever she wants.’

‘I know. That’s something you’ll have to work out with him, but I think he’s being sincere. He’s a good guy.’

Oz wanted to argue, but he knew that was true. Deep down, Grady was the only thing good about his sister anymore. She wasn’t always like that, but he had no idea what changed. It couldn’t have been Darcy, and he didn’t think her fear of having a deaf child was really that intense.

It had to be something else.

The truth was, he didn’t want to believe that she was like their mom—head so far up her own ass that no one else mattered except herself. He and Alora had been friends once. She’d been something like an ally when they were kids, and damn it, he thought he’d get to keep that as they grew up. But maybe she had never been that person and he’d just refused to see it all this time.

It was a hard pill to swallow, admitting that someone was unkind just because. But it was time he admitted it. Enough was enough.

His throat felt tight, and he swallowed thickly. ‘Tell him I’ll send him a text. Is he okay?’

Ridge made the face he always did when he snort-laughed. ‘They’re sleeping in separate rooms. Alora asked him to pretend like everything was okay so no one would find out they were fighting.’

Oz didn’t know what to think about that. He wanted to forget this mess was happening. He wasn’t hungry anymore. The few bites he’d taken were sitting like a stone at the pit of his stomach.

He set his plate on the coffee table, then turned to Ridge. ‘Sorry.’

Ridge frowned, and then his brows shot up when he realized what Oz was apologizing for. ‘Don’t. It’s fine. It tastes better the next day anyway.’ He set his plate next to Oz’s and settled back, turning to mirror Oz’s position. He bit his lip and let go a few times, and Oz could tell he was working through something.

So he waited.

And he waited.

‘You like me, right?’

Oz blinked. His chest burned with a flush that crept up his neck, into his cheeks, ending at the tips of his ears. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Don’t play COY,’ Ridge signed as best he could.

Oz glanced away for a beat, but he was too exhausted to lie. And he cared too much about Ridge too. ‘Would it bother you if I do?’

‘No.’ Ridge dropped his hands, then lifted them again. ‘Do you want to date me?’

‘No!’ The hurt look on Ridge’s face pierced Oz in the chest. ‘I don’t mean it like that. It’s not you,’ Oz started.

‘I know that one,’ Ridge said. ‘It’s not you, it’s me?’

Oz lunged forward and grabbed Ridge’s hands, then cleared his throat to speak aloud. He rarely did this without his processors on, but Ridge deserved to hear this in his own language. “It really is me. I’m a mess right now. I just admitted that I was bisexual out loud for the first time, and the one guy I kissed was this gorgeous man at my niece’s birthday party after my mom tried to bully me into proposing to my ex. If that’s not fucked-up, I don’t know what is.”

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