Page 119 of From Nowhere

I grin. “Let’s just say it was an interesting meeting with my parents in the principal’s office. I’m sure I should have been embarrassed, but all I remember is my dad sweating through his shirt, and my mom’s cheeks looked like two shiny red apples.”

Ozzy rolls onto his back and throws an arm over his face while he continues to laugh.

“You’re welcome,” I say, gathering my shorts and underwear before disappearing into my bathroom.

When I emerge with the girl parts all cleaned up and my clothes in place, I find Ozzy in the kitchen with the fridge door open.

So much for making it to the bedroom.

“Maren, you have no food. How am I supposed to refuel for round two?”

“I’ll get groceries tomorrow. It might just be a one-round night. I assume you’re going home before Lola or her grandparents wake.”

Ozzy shuts the fridge door and leans his back against it. “Yes. I might have one of Lola’s ZBARs in the inner pocket of my rain jacket to get me by.”

“Since I’m sharing embarrassing things, I might as well let you in on another secret,” I say.

He lifts his eyebrows.

I get a glass of water. “After our weekend sexcapade at your house, I had a killer UTI the following week. I think you deposited six gallons of sperm into me.”

While narrowing his eyes, he corkscrews his lips. “You didn’t hydrate enough.”

I pause my glass ofhydrationat my lips. “Uh.” I cough. “Okay. Sure. It was all on me.”

Ozzy tries to offer a guilty grin, but it looks far more cocky than regretful or apologetic. “You want me to wear lucky condoms.” He nods several times.

“Orwe could space things out a little more.”

“So lots of sex with condoms, or less sex but no condoms?” He scratches his chin.

“I feel like I’m talking to a sixteen-year-old boy, not a grown man.” I laugh.

“Maren.” He steals my glass and refills it with water, taking a few gulps before handing me the rest. “When it comes to sex, all men are boys. When we’re not having it, we’re thinking about it.”

“Can I ask you a question about Lola?”

He buckles over, stumbling back a few steps. “No, no, no. You can’t say my daughter’s name directly after I tell you I think about sex a lot.”

I finish the glass of water like a good girl and smile.

“And what have I said about you asking me if you can ask me a question?” Ozzy stands straight and rolls his shoulders back with a hard sigh.

“What do you do when Lola gets sick, and you have to take her to the doctor, or she gets sick at school and needs to come home early? Do you make her ride her bike?”

“I’ve walked to her school and carried her home. A friend picks up her bike and brings it home. And I have a family doctor who makes house calls, but thankfully, Lola rarely gets sick.”

“A family doctor who makes house calls?” I ask.

“For Lola, yes.”

“You’ve carried her home from school?”

He nods.

It seems silly to say you can fall in love with someone over and over without falling out of love first, but I fall in love with Ozzy every time we’re together. Or maybe I just fall deeper. I’m starting to think there’s an infinite depth to which I can fall for this man.

“What?” he asks with a funny grin.

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