19. Bay
NINETEEN
bay
“Why is she like this? What the fuck did you do? What happened at that dinner?”
Levi never understood the term ‘indoor voice’ or speaking at a lower volume when you’re talking shit about someone who’s currently in the same house as you.
I hate that he noticed.
I loathe that I haven’t left my bedroom for over twenty-four hours since last night’s dinner. That the girls have been spending time with me here, watching movies and cuddling with me under the covers as if I’m sick and in need of some comfort.
I do.
It’s just that I also need some space from my own head, too.
I don’t hear Ozzy’s response, which isn’t a total surprise as I nestle deeper into my pillow and close my eyes.
But it doesn’t help.
I’ve never been that close to death before since Judah, and it’s worse because it was Torin. I was younger, maybe more naive and brave. But I have responsibilities now, and I can’t leave Levi and the girls alone.
It’ll devastate Levi.
And I need to leave this room before he loses his shit.
Pushing myself up to sit, the door opens at the same time, and Ozzy slowly slips inside my bedroom but freezes when he notices I’m up.
Sneaking inside my bedroom with Levi in the house.
Bold.
“What can I do for you?” I prompt, throwing my comforter off my body and swinging my legs around the edge of the bed.
His blue eyes lock on me, and he promptly closes the door with a soft click but remains close by it. My eyes flick down to black tattoos that I can’t make out from here, watching his fingers curl and extend in tandem. As if he’s contemplating whether to move deeper into my room or not.
If he’s welcome in here or not.
This is my sanctuary, and he’s in it, cloaking it with his standoffish vibes and lack of commentary.
It doesn’t bother me much anymore. I don’t need to know anything from him. It’s not like he’d tell me if he knew Torin’s next move.
However, I need to know the nature of this surprise visit so I can decide if I’m staying in it or not.
“Well?” I press. “Out with it.”
He tightens his fingers into fists, as though it’s giving him power to speak when he says, “What did he do?”
He.
Torin.
Huh.
To rat or not to rat, that is the question.
Though, I’ve never been one. If I tell Ozzy, he might run off to Levi, and I’ve decided against the idea. There’s no point in causing more planning or bullshit when all Levi and I have to do is sneak out of here and leave.
“Who?” I ask nonchalantly, rising to my feet and reaching for my sweatshirt at the end of the bed.
“Torin.”
I lift my shoulders. “Noth—” Ozzy glowers at me when I turn back to him and, I mean, really glowers.
Holy fuck.
There’s scorching heat behind those eyes, and while I know—or thought I did—how Torin and Reeve would react.
This guy…not so much.
“I don’t know what you want me to say,” I vouch simply, hoping my voice doesn’t crack. “We’re not in a good place.”
Ozzy vacantly looks at me some more, and I attempt not to fidget under his scrutiny.
“Can I get something to eat now?”
He moves from the door, and I slowly push myself forward. Midway, I smell frankincense and nicotine. His messy black hair drapes over most of his right eye, almost touching his full lips. It only creates a trail for me to notice the black ink on his neck and the picture-perfect edge of his jawline.
He’s beautiful.
Like a broken, hopeless beauty where he doesn’t know where he’s going, just taking it day by day and fighting the overcast thoughts in his head.
Ozzy appears tortured.
Except, I can’t help but wonder what Emilio had to do or threaten him with to get him to stand in my bedroom with me as my husband.
“Are you okay?” His brow knits slightly at my question, but he’s kind enough to give me a nod after a few seconds. “Are you going to come eat?”
He rocks his head back and forth, then lifts his chin.
“I want you to.”
He shifts his weight, all black jeans and tee, simple yet complicated underneath. I get the sense that he wants to ask me something else but doesn’t. He wants to inquire more about what happened yesterday at dinner and why he had to change spots with me.
“Then don’t,” I hedge, gripping the doorknob. “But don’t come into my bedroom again if you’re not going to hang out or decide to ignore me in my own space.”
I go to pull at the door, when Ozzy’s palm suddenly slams into the hard surface, causing me to jolt back and drop my hold.
I connect with darker blue eyes than mine—a bit surprised—and you’d think after the ordeal I’ve had with his cousin, I’d be terrified of him.
But I’m not.
He sensed that something was up, and made a move to correct it. Levi would be proud as fuck.
“If he did something, you’ll tell me.”
I’m awestruck that he just said more than three words to me. That gravelly and delicious tone of his is why I appreciate when I do hear his voice.
Because goddamn, it’s sexy.
It’s thick and dark like the color of his clothes. I can only stupidly imagine how it’d sound in my ear with his inked fingers latched onto any part of my body.
I almost shiver, but his full lips are set in a fine line of piqued irritation, and if I didn’t already know he wasn’t a mind reader, I’d believe he read my thoughts.
The first real emotion I’ve seen him show.
“Okay,” I reply slowly. “Anything else?”
He averts his gaze for the first time and ambles away from the door. He must’ve gotten a piece of his mind out, and now he’s through.
So, am I.