Page 50 of Saving You

Neither one of those was a surprise. Oz had gotten a glimpse of the bumper stickers on their cars, and he immediately categorized them into people he had no desire to get to know.

‘Cara,’ Anish added. She was in the art department with Myles, teaching calligraphy and sculpture. ‘She seems nice, but she’s said a few things that put Myles on edge.’

‘Do they all know you’re married?’

Anish laughed. ‘We don’t hide it. We also don’t advertise.’

So it was mostly that Oz hadn’t been paying attention. He couldn’t really blame himself, as much as he wanted to. Things had been a lot, and he was busy trying to make it work as a first-year teacher, on top of maintaining his job as a mentor.And Oz wasn’t the kind of guy who liked to get in other people’s business either.

‘I think you’ll be fine if other people find out. They won’t fire you. Myles was engaged to another man when he got hired here.’

Oz lifted a brow. ‘And then he saw you and fell in love?’

Anish rolled his eyes. ‘His ex cheated and kicked him out. He slept on my couch, and I waited a respectable six weeks before making my move.’

Oz burst into laughter. ‘A real hero.’

Anish shrugged, grinning widely, and he pinched his shirt and fanned himself with it. ‘What can I say? He couldn’t resist. But true-biz, I fell in love with him the first time he smiled at me.’

Oz’s chest ached. He wanted that. In all honesty, he might have actually had that. But it was entirely one-sided, and he didn’t think that there was going to be some heroic moment where Ridge was saved and realized that Oz was the one for him.

And even if he did, Oz wasn’t sure he could be good for the man. He was learning to stand up for himself and what he wanted, but could he condemn Ridge and Ina to family like his own? He wished he could trust himself to cut them off and be done with it, but every time he thought about making the silence permanent, he felt like his skin was trying to peel itself off.

‘You okay?’ Anish asked after waving a hand in his periphery.

Oz tried to nod, but his head wouldn’t obey. He was tired of lying to himself and everyone else. ‘No. My family is making my life miserable, and I met a great guy, but I’m scared everything I went through would make me a crappy boyfriend.’

‘Is he Deaf?’

Oz shook his head and pinched two fingers to his thumb. ‘No. Hearing, but he has a Deaf daughter and is an ASL-first home.’

Anish’s eyes widened. ‘Not usual.’

‘Nope. He’s different. And wonderful. But I don’t know how to be wonderful too.’

‘Does he know you like him?’

Before Sunday, Oz would have said no. But after their night in bed? ‘Maybe. But if he does, he didn’t say anything.’

‘Sounds like you two need to talk.’

Yeah, they probably did. But that was part of the problem. Oz was a coward, and his fear made him ready and willing to accept what Ridge was offering and never, ever ask for more.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

OZ

On the wayto his front door, Oz’s phone buzzed. He glanced down, hoping it was Ridge, but his stomach sank when he saw Grady’s name on his screen. He was the only one Oz hadn’t blocked, and for a moment, he considered deleting it without checking to see what he said, but he thought about Ridge and changed his mind.

Instead of unlocking his door, he leaned against the wall and swiped his phone open.

Grady: Hey. Any chance I can see you tonight?

Oz: I just got off work. What’s up?

Grady: I’m staying with Ridge for a bit. You come over here to do stuff with his kiddo, right? Can you pop by? I don’t have my car right now.

Oz’s stomach sank to his feet. Grady was staying with Ridge and didn’t have his car. That had his sister written all over it. His curiosity was too strong to turn him down.

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