Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 118332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 473(@250wpm)___ 394(@300wpm)
“This thing between you and him.”
“Him… Do you mean Crash?”
He took another long drag on his hand-rolled. “Gonna make me work for it?”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Yes, Ozzy, I am. Do you blame me?”
“Fuck no.”
She dropped her arms, a soft smile crossed her face and her whole defensive demeanor disappeared. She must have thought he’d been spoiling for a fight.
He was, but not with her.
“I’m glad you get it.” Her smile widened as she stepped between his extended legs and pressed her hand to his gut.
He was surprised as fuck when her touch didn’t do the same as Shay’s did to him.
“It also proves we weren’t meant to be, Oz. I knew it. You did, too. You just didn’t like the idea of losing.”
“Thought you belonged to me. Realize now you didn’t and never did.”
“Is that because of Shay?”
Ozzy nodded and took another drag on his hand-rolled. He blew the smoke up and away from her.
“You finally found the one.” She poked him gently in the chest. When he didn’t confirm that, Liz continued. “And when I say the one, I mean the one that makes your heart flutter when you see her. The one that makes you feel fortunate as hell to wake up next to her. The one you would do anything for. Even die.”
Yeah. All of that.
Fuck.
“And if she left, it wouldn’t just sting, it would cut you off at the knees.”
Now he was fucking sorry he called out to her. He didn’t need Liz to spell out what he was feeling.
Even though all of what she said was true.
It hurt when Liz left him. When Shay left, it destroyed him.
He no longer felt whole. A piece of him was now missing.
How the fuck did he let that happen?
“So, Ozzy…” Even though it was dark out, the large halogen light on the front of The Barn gave her eyes a gleam. “You’re in love with her, huh?”
He turned his head and scratched at his ear, not wanting to admit it. Because if that truth was out there, out in the universe, then he’d have to admit the truth to himself.
But, yeah, he now knew the difference between loving someone and being in love. Loving someone was easy, being in love…
Made him much more vulnerable.
“You gettin’ off on this shit? You happy ‘cause this karma bitch has sunk her teeth into my fuckin’ ass?”
Liz pressed her lips together and stared at him for a second. She eventually shook her head. “No. No matter what you think, I love you, Ozzy. Not in the same way I love Crash and not in the same way you now love Shay. Even so, I only want the best for you. I don’t want to see you hurting like this. And, truthfully, I like her. Do I think she’s the right one for you?” She shrugged. “I don’t know. Will she make you a better person? I don’t know that answer, either. But I do know you better than anyone else and she’s the last person I would have ever seen you finally falling for. She’s sweet, gentle and, even though she’s older than me, I can tell she still has an innocence about her that you could easily crush if you’re not careful.” Liz shook her head. “But—and this is a big but—I also know we can’t help who we fall in love with.”
“Didn’t say I was in love with her.”
Liz leaned in closer and patted his chest, her wide smile brighter than the damn moon. “You didn’t have to.”
All the breath escaped him. He quickly filled his lungs with another draw on his cigarette to hide his growing panic. “It that obvious?”
She gave him another soft, but knowing, smile. “Yes.”
Fuck.
If he was going to talk about what happened with Shay to anyone, if anyone might be able to help him, it would be Liz.
She was so damn right. No one else knew him better.
That was one reason why she never asked for or expected him to claim her. Because she knew he never would.
He flicked what was left of the hand-rolled out into the dark and raked his fingers through his hair. “Don’t know what the fuck to do, Liz.”
“You know what to do. You don’t need me to tell you.”
He shook his head. “It’s too late. I fucked up.” He fucked up before he even knew that he was fucking up. How could he fix something that happened before he ever met Shay? How could he make it right?
He couldn’t.
And even if he could… He wasn’t sure he’d ever take back what he did.
“It’s never too late, Oz. Never.”
“She’ll never forgive me for what I did. So, yeah, it’s too late.”
Liz stepped back, giving them some space. A frown furrowed her brow. “What did you do?”
Nobody knew. No one except for him, Ham and now Shay.