Page 81 of Ozzie

“She is.”

He stops. “Did she bring anyone with her? A husband? Kids?”

Ozzie shakes his head. “She’s single. No kids.”

I can’t say I’ve ever seen this look on my cousin. If I had to guess, he seems nervous.

“All right. I’ll go see her at lunch. Noon.”

“I’ll let her know.”

Durango gives us both a nod as he retreats to his office.

Ozzie turns his gaze to me as he stands up.

“What’s going on?” I ask. “Why did you bring her back here?”

“I believe she and Durango have a lot to talk about. She admitted to me that she may have exaggerated how upset she was to your cousin. I’m hoping once he learns the truth, he won’t think I’m such a bad guy.”

I jump up and hug him. “You really are trying to fix this, aren’t you?” I lean back to find him grinning.

“Of course I am. I’ve tried staying away from you, and it doesn’t work.”

I prop myself up against his desk. “But what if Durango hears the truth and still is against us being together?”

He runs his hand through his hair. “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”

Yeah, I get it. There isn’t much more we could do.

I return to my desk and work the rest of the day. Ozzie bought me lunch from a nearby deli and then had a long meeting with Reed. Durango left for lunch and was gone for two hours before he returned without a word and locked himself in his office again.

At the end of the day, he comes up to my desk. “Ready to go?”

“Sure.” I grab my things and follow my cousin to his car. We ride home in silence.

Once we are inside, he calls in an order for pizza delivery without even asking me about it. That’s not like him.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

He’s leaning against the counter, staring at his phone. He sets it down and turns to face me. “No, I’m not. I just found out a lot of things I thought were true weren’t, and I’m having trouble figuring out what to do with that.”

This must be something Willow said. “Did Willow lie to you?”

“Lie, exaggerate, change the facts—it’s all the same.”

“Did she tell you why she lied?”

Durango finally looks me in the eye. “Yeah, she did. And if only she had told me the truth all those years ago, things would be different.” He pushes off the counter and walks into the living room, so I follow him.

“Different, how?”

“I really liked her. And if she hadn’t played games… I don’t know.” He flops onto the couch and leans his head back.

I sit on the other end. “Maybe she played games because she was young.”

He lifts his head. “You’re young. What would be the reason you might act interested in one guy when you wanted another?”

Wait, she dated Ozzie when she wanted Durango? That is messed up. “Well, if I couldn’t tell the guy I really liked what I was feeling, I might flirt with someone else to see if he gets jealous.”

---