Page 17 of Saving You

‘I got the text.’ It was the first thing Frey said when he walked in through Oz’s office door. He was one of the few teachers at the school who had his own private space since he was one of the Deaf mentors.

It was nothing more than a closet with a poor excuse for a laptop desk, two chairs, and an ancient cabinet made out of green metal he swore he remembered from his days in elementary school. But it was nice.

It washis, and that felt like something.

He rolled his eyes and glanced over at Rex, who was absorbed in his current grammar lesson. ‘I wasn’t going to tell him what happened,’ Oz confessed, ‘but he asked me if she was being mean.’

Frey’s expression mimicked the feeling Oz had in his chest. ‘I hate this.’ He sauntered over and flopped into the chair across from Oz. ‘When you were a kid…’

‘No,’ Oz interrupted, shaking his head before Frey could finish the question. ‘It wasn’t the same as what Rex goes through. I was hearing-passing. Even when they thought I talked funny, strangers assumed I had a speech impediment, and they never recognized what my CIs were back then.’

Frey nodded. Oz had shown him a few old photos of the contraptions he had to wear. ‘I know. But you still went through stuff.’

Oz couldn’t argue with that. But he didn’t feel very qualified to give Frey the advice he was looking for other than never stop fighting for your son to be treated the way he deserves. But Frey already had that part down. ‘Did you call the shop?’

Frey’s eyes blazed. ‘I spoke to Beth Ann. She wasn’t as understanding as I expected her to be.’

That was a surprise. Oz knew her now that Rex had been dragging him into the shop for a couple of years. She’d always been accommodating and always made space for Rex to explore. ‘Can I do anything?’

‘You’ve done enough,’ Frey told him. Those words weren’t as ominous in ASL as they were in spoken English. He understood Frey meant what he said in a good way. ‘I should get going. We have dinner with the guys tonight. A little celebration that Gage is back.’

Oz’s brows flew up. ‘He’s back? For good?’

Frey nodded right as Rex dropped the iPad and ran over, slipping into Frey’s arms. He wrapped them around his son and held him tight for a long beat before answering Oz with one hand. ‘Yeah. Long story.’

Oz leaned closer. ‘Is he okay?’

Frey pulled a face. ‘He will be.’

His heart hurt for the kid—who wasn’t really a kid anymore. He was an adult with a job who’d gone out on his own to make his living. But he had no place asking for more details than what Frey had given him. Oz had pushed the guys out of his personal life since he’d come into theirs. It was only fair.

‘Tell him I said hello,’ Oz said.

Frey smiled and eased Rex off his lap. ‘I will. Now,’ he added to his son, ‘go say bye to Oz.’

Rex hurtled around the desk and threw himself into Oz’s arms. This was not how most of his students said goodbye. There was something different about the kids who were raised by that little found family.

Something profoundly…healing. And accepting.

Oz felt that bubble of hot resentment in the back of his throat again. The feeling that told him he’d been cheated out of loveand joy when he was growing up. But he wasn’t going to ever let Rex know he felt that way.

He squeezed back, then ruffled his hair. ‘See you in a couple weeks?’

Rex nodded with a grin, then grabbed Frey’s hand and tugged him toward the door. When they were gone, Oz sat back, feeling like all the life had been drained out of him. He glanced at the date on his computer, feeling an impending sense of dread because in twenty-four hours, he’d have to spend another afternoon with his family.

Another day of being made to feel wrong. Broken. Not enough.

But there was one tiny bright spot, even if it was only temporary. Ridge was coming. Oz wasn’t about to look too closely into how that made him feel because it didn’t matter. He was too messy for anyone real right now. But he could pretend, just for a moment, that Ridge was there for him and only him.

His hero.

His knight with his shining, fire-truck-red armor.

CHAPTER FIVE

RIDGE

In the past,Ridge liked to show up at parties early. Not before all the guests but within minutes of the intended start time. Grady didn’t give Ridge a solid answer on what time everything was getting started though, and he was too nervous to be the only dipshit who was there before close family.

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