Page 81 of Saving You

Ridge smiled and leaned in. “I love you.”

Oz felt like someone had pulled the breath straight from his lungs. Ridge had taken the words dancing on his tongue and offered them out first. They hovered between them. He swallowed thickly and realized he needed to do this in his own language.

He leaned back just enough to put space between them, and then he raised his hand and curled his middle and ring finger in toward his palm. ‘I love you.’

Ridge’s smile widened. He took Oz’s hand by the wrist and kissed those two bent fingers. When he let go, he offered the same sign in return. ‘I love you.’

Oz let out a long, slow breath. His lungs ached. Everything ached. But it was for a different reason now. ‘We should finish the email,’ he signed.

Ridge nodded and let him go, pulling the laptop back. Oz dictated the rest, watching Ridge’s painfully slow typing, but it got done. Oz read it through three times, changed a handful of words, and then hit Send before he could second-guess himself.

There was every chance his boss would sympathize, just like there was every chance he’d get fired. He had no idea, to be honest. He was new. He was still in his probationary period. He tried not to bring drama to work, but sometimes it followed him.

“If they fire me?—”

Ridge touched his jaw, quieting his words. “If they fire you—which would be a wild thing to do after what happened to you—then you’ll be okay. You have a whole family of people who will make sure you’re okay.”

It hit Oz how real that was now. That as much as he’d tried to fight it, he’d been brought into this little circle. He could breathe. He could reach out. He could let the people trying to care about him just do it.

“Tell me you love me again.”

“Words or sign?”

“Both,” Oz said. He wanted it in both of his languages. In that moment, they felt entirely equal.

Ridge leaned in and let his lips rest against Oz’s. “I love you,” he murmured right as his three-fingered sign pressed against Oz’s palm.

Oz closed his eyes and, for that moment, simply basked before he finally whispered back, “I love you too.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

RIDGE

He knewthe second he saw Grady at the bar, he was going to be given the third degree. He’d spent the week with Oz after the man had been given the okay to take time off to recover. That had been a relief in itself for him. The moment he knew his job wasn’t in jeopardy and that he was somewhere safe that his parents couldn’t get to him, he relaxed in ways Ridge had never seen in him.

He was still in pain, but he smiled a lot and laughed a little. He spent time with Ina the moment she was home. He helped cook and did what cleaning he could while making sure not to aggravate his shoulder.

In short, he’d made Ridge’s house feel even more like a home than it already did. Ridge got used to him there. He got comfortable. He let himself picture a future with Oz, and while it was very soon into their relationship, there was hope.

But Oz had to go home that Saturday so he could prep for his return to school. He was on light duty with his shoulder, but he was out of the sling, and his signing wasn’t causing nearly as much pain as it had been. He and Ridge were still having the occasional nightmare, but neither of them wanted to talk about it.

Ridge had been avoiding the topic altogether—including the hollow pit in his stomach after dropping Oz off at his place and leaving him there—but his luck had run out. Grady was going to want answers.

“Pop a squat,” Grady said, giving him a sharp look. “I know what happened.”

“Uh…”

“Alora has been up my ass trying to guilt me into playing spy for her and her mom. She’s telling people you are keeping Oz against his will.”

Ridge stared at him. “If you believe that bullshit?—”

“No,” Grady said firmly. “All of this is making me terrified that there’s something medically wrong with her. It’s like, she’s jumping down these conspiracy theory holes, and it’s getting worse.”

Ridge winced. “I’m assuming her parents aren’t willing to look into it.”

“Her mom is as off the wall as she is, and her dad doesn’t give a shit so long as it doesn’t interrupt his tee time.”

Ridge felt a little sick to his stomach. “What about the girls?”

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