17. Oz
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
OZ
It felt weird that life went back to normal—whatever normal was. For weeks, Oz couldn’t help but look around every corner. He kept expecting something bad to happen.
The other shoe to drop right on his head when he was least expecting it.
He was happy, and happiness led to dropping his guard, and that was always dangerous. But eventually, he did let himself breathe. He let himself enjoy the time he got with Ridge and Ina. He let himself settle back into work and to stop thinking so much about Darcy and his family.
Which was what the universe had been waiting for, apparently. He’d gone for an after-work coffee with Myles so they could grade papers together while spending too much on luxury drinks, and after Myles left, he stayed for one more scone since Frey was on his way over with Rex.
Oz was doing movie night with Rex since the theater up the road had finally started doing open-caption movies and Rex was currently struggling with his English comprehension. Oz figured it was a great way to help him out since it was an older movie Rex had seen about three dozen times at home, and his dad usually interpreted the dialogue for him.
He glanced at the text from Frey letting him know they were heading to the café, and then he switched over to his text thread with Ridge and couldn’t stop himself from smiling. It was getting harder and harder to keep the reality of their relationship a secret. Oz was in love with him. He hadn’t used those words yet—not in English or in ASL—but he wanted to.
He found them dancing at the tip of his tongue and tingling at the edge of his fingers every time Ridge had him spread out and begging for more. Which happened a lot. The begging. Oz found it came easily, especially because Ridge didn’t ever torment him for long.
He seemed to know the exact moment Oz couldn’t take it anymore, and he always gave in right before Oz tipped from frustrated to angry. And the orgasms were so fucking much better that way. They hadn’t done more than fingering yet, but Oz was planning to bring it up to Ridge that weekend. He had a rare Saturday and Sunday off, and he arranged for Ina to be at Adele’s house since he was having baby fever cravings, and Gage was home to help babysit.
Oz loved having her around, but he also liked having the house to the two of them so they could fuck in whatever room they wanted. Oz’s place wasn’t that big, but Ridge was creative.
God, if he wasn’t careful, he was going to get hard right there in the café.
He glanced up and shoved his phone face down a little too quickly when he saw a hand waving in his periphery. Frey shot him a knowing look.
‘Who was that?’
‘Nothing.’
Frey’s brows furrowed, and he spelled, ‘Nothing?’ like he thought maybe he was getting the sign wrong.
He hadn’t. Oz was too in his head, and he was going to give himself away. ‘Nobody,’ he clarified. ‘Don’t worry about it.’ He turned his attention to Rex, who had bright blue all around his mouth. ‘Cotton candy?’
‘I had a whole bag!’
Oz looked at Frey, who rolled his eyes. ‘There was a little carnival thing at the park and some’—he hid his hand—‘dickhead’—he brought it up again—‘decided to give it away to kids for free. I think he’s a child hater.’
Oz burst into laughter. ‘I see. Well, we can stick with something less sugary.’
‘Please do. See if they have some baby carrots or something. One tiny vitamin is all I ask.’
‘Gross,’ Rex signed, pulling a disgusted face as he bounced from one foot to the other. He seemed particularly hyped up and edgy.
Frey grabbed him by the front of his shirt, lifting him into the air as he giggled and kicked his feet, and he kissed his cheeks. ‘I love you,’ he signed after he set him down. ‘Behave.’
Rex nodded solemnly. The one thing he always did was behave for Oz. He saved all his obnoxious acting out for Frey and Renato, which Oz appreciated. He was starting to come around more and more to the idea of having kids.
He had no clue whatsoever if that was something Ridge would want, and considering they hadn’t discussed the future of their relationship and what it might look like, he didn’t think it was right to ask. Not yet.
But the longer he was in it, the more he was starting to see himself behind a white picket fence with a dog and a couple more ankle-biters running around. The thought was…nice.
‘You okay?’
Oz realized he’d zoned out again, and he smiled, his cheeks going warm. He couldn’t tell Frey the truth yet. Not without talking to Ridge first. ‘Long day and too many papers to grade. See you in a few hours?’
Frey gave him a dubious look, but after a beat, he nodded and yanked Rex in for one more hug before letting him go. They said their quick goodbyes, then headed out the door and up the street toward the cinema.
‘Can I drive your car?’ Rex asked.
Oz almost choked on his own tongue. ‘You have about six years before you can drive a car. And I’m going to let your dad teach you that.’
Rex pouted as he bounced up and down. ‘I want to get a job and drive and make a lot of money so I can be rich like Papa.’
Papa was an initialized sign that Rex had given Renato.
‘You will. But you have to be patient and finish being a little kid first.’
‘Hate,’ Rex signed, stomping his foot several times.
Oh, good. The sugar was clearly getting to him. Oz sighed and gave his shoulder a tiny shake. ‘Why are you in a rush to grow up?’
‘No one wants me to help,’ Rex signed, picking up enough speed that Oz had to widen his steps. ‘Did you know that Gage was going to get married, but his boyfriend didn’t want to marry him?’
Oz hadn’t known, but it made sense why this breakup had hit him so hard. ‘He must be sad.’
‘Angry,’ Rex corrected. ‘Me too. He was going to let me do his wedding, and I was going to wear a suit.’
Oz held back a laugh. Rex looked so furious, which would probably be intimidating someday. But his face was barely the size of a large grapefruit. He ruffled the boy’s hair. ‘You’ll get to wear a suit soon, I’m sure. There are lots of people who want to get married.’
‘You?’ Rex asked, bouncing higher on the balls of his feet. ‘You get married?’
Oz lifted his hands to protest but realized that it felt like a lie for the first time. He didn’t know for sure if it would ever happen for him. He didn’t know if this thing with Ridge would last more than a few months, let alone the rest of their lives. But he was hopeful.
‘Maybe,’ he answered.
Rex seemed satisfied with that and stopped talking, electing to grab Oz’s hand instead, and he swung them between their bodies with a childlike joy Oz had long since forgotten how to feel.
Oz wasn’t surprised that the open-caption movie was empty apart from him and Rex. It made things easier when he had to explain what was going on. He didn’t worry about distracting anyone, and no one got irritated when Rex’s enthusiasm had him bouncing out of his seat and shuffling around.
He hadn’t been in the mood to eat when they got to the snack bar, but right as the credits were starting to roll, Rex began to fuss. ‘I want pizza.’
Oz smiled at him. ‘Your dad wants you to have at least one vegetable tonight.’
‘Gross!’ Rex’s mouth formed an O, and Oz had a feeling he was being very loud. He ran up and down the aisle until Oz managed to catch him and spin him. He was normally an amazing kid, but when he got like this, he tended to run off, and it was the one thing Oz realized was harder about a Deaf child: you couldn’t call after them.
Not that he’d seen hearing kids listen any better, but there was a small spark of anxiety in his chest every time they were in a big crowd and Rex got a burst of energy.
So far, there’d been no incidents. He only hoped he could keep it that way.
‘Let’s go find something to eat at a restaurant. You can practice your sight words.’
Rex pulled a face but eventually nodded since he loved eating out. Hyper as he could get, he also liked to feel very grown-up, and he loved when Oz let him order off the adult menu and use a big glass for his drink instead of the plastic ones with the bendy straws.
Of course, Oz would have taken the bendy straw in a heartbeat, but that was mostly because he hadn’t been allowed to enjoy his childhood the way he’d wanted. He promised himself if he ever had kids, he wouldn’t encourage them to grow up so fast.
They exited out of the theater, and Oz looked up and down the street. There were a handful of restaurants—one of them a little hole-in-the-wall pizza joint that would probably have fried zucchini on their menu. It wasn’t the healthiest option, but at least under the batter would be something green.
He tugged on Rex’s hand a hundred feet from the crosswalk. ‘Stop. I need to text your dad. Stand right here for a second, and then we’ll go get pizza.’
Rex nodded solemnly. But right as Oz bowed his head to his phone, he saw Rex sign, ‘Dog!’
He thought nothing of it for a brief second. On the phone, he typed out, ‘Hey, we’re…’ before he realized Rex had taken off running and that the dog was on the other side of the street. His phone hit the ground in what was probably a loud clatter, and his feet hit the pavement as fast as he could run.
But it had been years since he was athletic, and his thighs burned as he watched in horror as Rex darted into the street without stopping or looking. Oz somehow managed another burst of energy as he saw a car come around the corner, going too fast to stop.
He had no idea how he managed it. Maybe his will alone teleported him. The only thing he remembered was jumping forward, his hands hitting Rex’s body to send him flying. And then something hard and blunt and painful went crashing into his side. It felt like his ribs and lungs exploded. He was in the air, and then the unforgiving pavement met his shoulder on the fall.
He felt the crash in every atom of his being, and then suddenly, there was numbness. The edges of his vision went white, and then, between one blink and the next, it all went black.
Oz came to at the touch of a rough, familiar hand. He smelled asphalt and exhaust and, beneath that, something soothing. Something like home. He blinked and saw stars. He was on his back, staring up at the sky. He attempted to turn his head, but he realized he was strapped down, so he moved his eyes as far to the left as he could manage, chasing the touch.
His heart beat hard in his chest when he recognized the face staring at him. Ridge looked terrified, though he was smiling, which made his expression even more unsettling.
“Not dead,” he asked aloud. His voice felt raspy in his throat.
Ridge laughed and rolled his eyes. ‘Not dead. You with me?’
Oz tried to nod and realized he couldn’t. He tried to lift his right arm, but it wouldn’t budge. “Paralyzed?”
‘Are you numb?’
No. He most definitely wasn’t numb anywhere. Every limb felt like it was on fire. “No.” He tried to lift his left hand, and it obeyed without resistance. ‘Right arm broken?’
Ridge shook his head. ‘I don’t think so. Dislocated shoulder. You need an X-ray before someone can set it. Don’t try to move, okay? I’m riding with you in the ambulance.’
Oz felt a sudden rush of panic. “Rex!”
Ridge touched his cheek again, his palm warm and heavy, and it allowed Oz to draw a full breath. ‘Frey has him. He was at Rosa’s for dinner.’
Rosa’s. Rosa’s…oh. Yes. The mom-and-pop Mexican place that the guys loved. It was right up the street.
‘Is Rex hurt?’ he managed to sign with one aching hand.
Ridge shrugged. ‘A few scrapes from where he fell. Witnesses said you saved him.’
He had. Of course he had. He would have done it again and again. He felt like a complete fucking failure for the fact that Rex had managed to run off on him like that. Fuck’s sake, he should have kept his hand. This was the second time Rex was hurt on his watch. How could he keep doing this?
How irresponsible was he that?—
A kiss on his forehead startled him out of his spiraling thoughts, and he blinked up to see it wasn’t Ridge. It was Frey.
‘Stop,’ Frey signed. ‘I can see that look on your face.’
Oz swallowed thickly. ‘I’m sorry?—’
‘No.’ Frey had tears dripping down his cheeks. He shook his head hard. ‘No. You saved him.’
‘I let him go.’
‘You saved him,’ Frey repeated. ‘Thank you.’
Oz had no idea what to say, so he said nothing at all. Maybe he’d feel better about the situation later, who knew. Right now, he was in too much pain to focus.
‘We’ll see you at the hospital. Renato’s already there,’ Frey told him, and then he was gone, and Oz couldn’t move his head to follow.
Ridge appeared again and stroked his fingers along Oz’s jawline. It was the only soothing thing he felt in that moment. ‘Ready to go?’
Oz nodded his fist, then held up his fingers and wiggled them. ‘Wait. My CIs.’
Ridge frowned.
‘I’d like them on so I can talk to the doctors and it won’t get weird.’
Ridge’s face shifted into understanding, and he carefully dug his hands into Oz’s pockets for his case. He held his breath and released it only when Ridge held it up to show it was undamaged. He closed his eyes and braced himself for sound.
Being able to hear seemed to make the pain worse, but he breathed through it as the EMTs got the stretcher moving, and it wasn’t long before he was in the back of the ambulance with Ridge holding his right hand. He could barely feel it, but it was still a comforting weight.
And luckily, the inside of the ambulance dulled the sound of the sirens.
“Concussion?” he asked.
Ridge bit his lip, then shook his head. “Can you understand me?”
Oz frowned. “Yeah. Why? Am I not making sense?”
“I was just checking, baby,” Ridge said quietly, then pinked. “Sorry. Uh?—”
“No. I…it’s fine,” Oz stammered. It was fine. He hadn’t realized how much he needed to hear something like that.
Ridge’s mouth softened into a smile. “I think you were in shock. From the witness accounts, the car hit you on the left side, and you hit the ground with your right shoulder. You were talking for a bit, but by the time Carl was on scene, you were pretty out of it.”
Carl? Right, the EMT because Ridge was a firefighter, and he knew all those guys. “How did you get here?” he rasped.
Ridge looked a little embarrassed. “I’d just gotten off work. Adele and I were at the market grabbing a few things when his radio went off. I knew it was you and Rex when they described a little Deaf boy running into traffic.”
Oz started to laugh, but the pain was too intense, and he choked. “Shit.”
“Yeah. That would be the bruised ribs.” He glanced down. “Wiggle your feet for me.”
Oz did.
“Bend your knees slightly.”
Oz obeyed again.
Ridge leaned in very close, then signed, ‘Good boy.’
Oz didn’t feel the familiar, lust-filled flush he would have in bed, but something similar coursed through him—a sort of all-encompassing heat. He was more than grateful for the momentary distraction. “Not here,” he whispered.
Ridge laughed. “I was only making sure you could move. You couldn’t stand up when Carl tried to get you on your feet, but that was also probably the shock.” He stroked a touch over Oz’s wrist. “You scared the shit out of me.”
Oz choked back another laugh. “I scared me too. And Rex…fuck. I shouldn’t have let him go. He saw a dog, and?—”
“We know. He was telling everyone what happened,” Ridge said, cutting him off. “He cried so hard he threw up.”
Oz felt a pang in his chest. “That poor baby.”
“I don’t think he’ll ever do that again.” Ridge reached for Oz’s left hand and kissed his palm. “Cat might be out of the bag, by the way.”
“About you two?” came another voice, and Oz suddenly remembered they weren’t alone. “You were not subtle at all, man.”
Ridge flipped him off. “Fuck off.”
Oz snorted, then winced. “I don’t care. I’m glad you’re here. I don’t want to be alone when it hurts this much.”
Ridge kissed his hand again. “You’re not. I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here.”
It was those words alone that allowed Oz to relax back into the stretcher and believe that things were going to be okay.