Page 32 of Saving You

Oz was finally brave enough to look at his phone when he parked in his usual spot a few feet away from his walkway. He thumbed through all the messages his mom sent and a few that his sister had. He had two from Grady, but both of them were asking if he was okay.

The last one startled him the most. It had come through right before Oz had pulled into his condo complex.

Ridge: Can I see you tonight?

Oz: I just got off work. Is there something wrong?

Ridge: Not wrong. I’m clocking out right now. I promise I won’t take up too much of your time.

Oz: I owe you. You can have a whole evening if you need it.

Fuck, was that flirting? No, that wasn’t flirting.

Was it?

He’d been out of the game for so long, and he’d never been brave enough to flirt with a man before, so…shit. He had no idea. But that wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was that he didn’t know if he wanted to.

He liked Ridge. A lot. The man had starred in several of his one-handed late-night fantasies. But he’d never given it much thought beyond that. Only now he knew what Ridge tasted like. What he felt like pressed all up against him. He knew therumble of his soft moan under his fingers and the way he leaned in like kissing Oz meant everything.

Even when it didn’t because there was no way it had.

He swallowed thickly and looked back down at his phone screen.

Ridge: You’re sweet. How about I bring some food over and we can chat. Ina’s at a playdate with Briar and they’re doing a whole Chuck E Cheese thing.

Say no. Say no. Say no.

Oz: Sounds good.

Fuck.

Oz: Come over whenever. I’m going to hop in the shower but I’ll leave the door unlocked.

Ridge: See you soon.

Throwing his phone into his bag so he wasn’t tempted into any more dipshittery, Oz grabbed the rest of his things and headed inside. He had a handful of papers to grade and some parent emails to return, plus two IEP student surveys he needed to finish before the end of the week. But nothing was pressing.

Nothing would be ruined if he took a night to himself to enjoy a little peace and stillness. Or maybe to enjoy the company. At the very least, he wouldn’t mind exploring this tentative friendship with Ridge. He’d been fooling himself into thinking it was better to keep his distance from him.

He preferred his social circle to be people within his own community, but he couldn’t help liking the guy. More than justwanting to climb him like a tree and see if Ridge’s dick felt any different in his hand than his own. Ridge was genuinely kind, and that was a hard find these days.

The only thing he didn’t want was to think about his family or what they’d done.

Or what he did.

He didn’t want to think about the fact that he was going to have to look into Ridge’s face and pretend like it had all been an accident. Which it was, but he wasn’t ready to admit how much he’d liked it. Or how much he wanted to do it again.

He shoved all those thoughts aside, made sure his front door was unlocked like he promised, then headed into the bedroom to strip down. He tossed the case and processors on the nightstand, then moved to the bathroom.

The thing he loved most about his condo was the tankless water heater. In less than a minute, he was under a heavy, hot stream, letting it beat down on his back muscles in a sorry attempt to get them to unknot before he was tense again.

He needed a massage.

Or maybe a Xanax.

Or even a good orgasm might do it. He was tempted to take his dick in his hand now. He was already half-hard remembering the kiss and the way Ridge had felt all pressed up against him. Before that moment, he’d only ever been able to imagine what it would be like to touch another man that way.

It was everything and nothing like his fantasies. Ridge had been so…soreal. He was tall and muscular and warm and hard and somehow also so damned soft. His five-o’clock shadow had scratched over Oz’s jaw, and the sensation had been fucking delicious.

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