Page 87 of Saving You

‘Rough,’ Oz admitted. ‘Just got out of therapy.’

Frey looked startled. ‘Do you want to postpone?’

Oz waved him off. ‘It wasn’t a bad session. We talked a lot about friendship today, and I realized I owe you and everyone an apology.’

Frey looked entirely confused. ‘Why?’

‘Because it wasn’t fair of me to try and end friendships before they started because I was afraid.’

Frey rolled his eyes as he sat back in his chair. ‘You didn’t know we wouldn’t be like everyone else in your life. I don’t think anyone took it personally.’

‘Ridge,’ Oz couldn’t help but sign.

Bursting into laughter, Frey leaned forward, pressing his chest against the table. ‘That’s because he was in love with you,andhe thought you were straight and that you hated him.’

It was the hated him part that bothered Oz. Almost everyone assumed he was straight, and he had no regrets about that. He hadn’t been ready to come out. He’d never begrudge himself the time it took to be ready for that.

But the fact that he made the people in his life think he didn’t want them around hurt.

‘I also want to clear the air about the car accident,’ Oz said, diving right into his list of amends he had decided to make.

Frey went pale. ‘Right. Yeah. I figured you’d be working through that?—’

‘I need you to please accept my responsibility in not watching Rex as close as I should have. I knew he was wound up that day. I should not have let him go. I shouldn’t have looked down at my phone for even a second. That text could have waited. And while none of us knew he had ADHD, we knew how he could get. But I was distracted, and I’m sorry.’

Frey swallowed heavily, glancing off to the side for a beat. When he looked back at Oz, his face was…different. More accepting, maybe, than it had been when they’d tried to talk about this before. ‘Do you think I’m a terrible father?’

Oz blinked. ‘What?’

‘There were so many signs, Oz. So many signs. I missed all of them.’ Frey’s hands were shaking. ‘I’m a nurse. My husband is a doctor. But we missed everything. We thought he was kindof a wild kid. We thought his hyperfixation was him being passionate. Now they want to evaluate him for autism too, and the moment his therapist said that, I realized I could see all the signs.’

Oz reached out and took both of Frey’s hands into his, holding them gently for a long beat. When he saw Frey’s shoulders relax a fraction, he pulled back. ‘I think you are one of the best dads I have ever met. And not only because you’re my friend,’ he added before Frey could try and justify that. ‘I haven’t been teaching long, but I have seen parents who are like my own. Parents who are in willing denial about their children. I was raised in that kind of home. You didn’t see those signs because you loved and accepted Rex for who he is.’

Frey swallowed thickly. “Oh,” Oz read off his lips.

He smiled. ‘It’s good to know now. Now he can get whatever help he needs to make his daily life easy, but you’re not going into this to fix him because you never thought he was broken.’

Frey’s eyes went red and shiny. ‘No. He’s not broken. No one is broken. Well, maybe your parents.’

Oz laughed, his throat a little thick. ‘Maybe them. But I’m unlearning to think that about myself, and it makes me happy that Rex will never have to do that. I don’t think you’re a bad father. And I’m sorry if I made that harder.’

‘You’ve made everything so much easier. You gave him a connection to his community that I couldn’t. You’re family.’

Oz watched his hands, both shaped into an F, starting together, then circling around to meet again. It was one of the most fitting signs there was. A complete circle. And he had one now. ‘I should get some coffee.’

‘Yeah. Give me a minute to process all these feelings. I did not come here today for this,’ Frey accused.

Oz laughed. ‘Sorry. But I have no regrets.’

Frey grinned at him as he stood. ‘Don’t worry. Me either.’

Oz was late getting home. Home meaning Ridge’s place. They hadn’t yet decided what they wanted to do when it came to their living situation. Both of them had enough room for Ina if they decided to make the move-in official, but neither of them was in a hurry either.

They spent most nights together in one place or another. His own had started to collect toys and clothes that didn’t belong to him, and Ridge’s had half a closet and a few drawers full of Oz’s work and weekend stuff. He had a pair of house shoes at each door and running shoes at Ridge’s so they could go on evening walks with Ina to let her burn off some of her energy.

It felt good. It felt like he belonged anywhere he went.

Ina was going with Adele and Gage that night though. They were hosting a sleepover at Lane’s for all the little ones, which meant that Oz and Ridge would have time for themselves. Of course, they weren’t lacking in the sex department.

---