Page 23 of Saving You

Oz reached out, seized his wrist, and pulled him close. “This is Ridge. He’s my boyfriend. He’s supportive of who I am. He’s fluent in ASL, has a wonderful daughter, and he’s been my rock whenever life gets difficult.”

Ridge was frozen to the spot as Oz turned to him, grabbed him around the back of the neck, and tugged him close.

‘I’m so sorry,’ Oz mouthed. ‘Kiss me? Please?’

Ridge knew that was going to be a mistake that could break his heart, but when was he ever going to be asked to do this again? He steeled his spine and told himself that this once—just for this moment—he was allowed to take this thing he’d wanted for so long.

So he lowered his eyes to Oz’s mouth, and then he nodded.

And between one breath and the next, Oz leaned in and touched their lips together.

Ridge’s eyes slammed shut as he let himself feel, as he let himself take. It wasn’t the deepest kiss, but it was everything he’d imagined it would be. And a little more. Oz kissed carefully, tenderly, sweetly. His body was stiff—he was scared, he was desperate, but he wasn’t kissing like a man who didn’t want to be doing this.

Was he just that good of an actor?

Oz’s fingers toyed with the short hair at the nape of Ridge’s neck, and he couldn’t help the smallest moan. And then Oz pulled back. Their gazes met, and he looked terrified. It was broken now—whatever had been between them before. There was no coming back from this.

But in that very second, Ridge couldn’t bring himself to care.

CHAPTER SIX

OZ

Oh fuck,oh fuck, oh fuck. Oh fuuuuuuck.

He’d fucked up. He’d massively and completely fucked up. His first kiss with a man was stolen without any sort of consent. And it was a lie. A bald-faced pile of bullshit. Well, mostly. He was bisexual, though that was the first time he’d said it aloud to anyone. Even himself.

And he definitely liked Ridge. The crush he had on this man was driving him wild.

But they weren’t in love. Oz didn’t even know if he was capable of falling in love. Any hint of romance he’d ever engaged in seemed to turn to shit. He and Darcy had been on and off again because she wanted him to be anything and everything he wasn’t.

She wanted him to be rich, successful, and hearing.

He was a broke-ass high school teacher who hated the little implants that lived in his head. He wanted to come home at the end of the day and bask in the absolute void of sound until he was forced to venture out into the world again.

But Darcy had never let him. Twice, he’d woken up to her attaching his CIs to his head while he was asleep because she didn’t want to deal with him “being deaf” when he first wokeup in the morning. The second time she’d done it was when he ended it with her for good.

He was reeling now because how had it come to this? How was this happening?

Even as his lips danced against Ridge’s, he didn’t get to enjoy it because his mind was consumed with the fact that his mother had pulled this stunt. Putting him on the spot, telling everyone he was proposing to a woman he never wanted to see again?

His stomach was roiling.

When he pulled back, he could see Darcy running through the crowd, Alora going after her. His mom looked furious. His dad was on the deck, looking bored and a little confused. Grady was by the grill, very clearly trying not to laugh.

And Ridge was standing like Oz had literally frozen him in place.

Fucking shit.

His lexicon of swear words wasn’t big or creative enough for how he was feeling inside. He rubbed his fist in a circle on his chest very quickly. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he said again.

Ridge seemed to snap out of it, and he gave a quick shake of his head, reaching for Oz’s hand. He linked their fingers together, and Oz almost fainted with relief. Whatever damage he’d done, at least Ridge wasn’t going to sell him out.

That just went to show Ridge was a better person than him because Oz wasn’t sure he would have done the same if the situations were reversed.

A warm hand around his wrist drew Oz back to the present. He looked up into Ridge’s face and saw a mixture of worry, sympathy, and understanding. He also looked a little dazed.

‘What do we do?’

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