“Wow, really?” she asked, beaming up at him. “You must have had some horrible exes.”
Oz shrugged. “I’m not thelet’s stay friendstype.”
When Oz loved someone, he loved them with everything he had. Getting his heart broken always felt like the end of the world. He had trouble staying on good terms with people who’d hurt him like that.
Maybe it was a character flaw, but everyone had those. It wasn’t the worst response he could have to heartbreak.
“So I guess this is…” She peeked around Oz’s shoulder to look right at Seth, who’d been hovering a step behind him.
Oz didn’t get the impression that he was shy or anything. Just that he was hanging back because he knew he was an outsider here. Even more than he had been at the last wedding they’d been at.
“This is Seth,” Oz said, stepping aside so Ashley could shake his hand. “He’s my, uh. Guest,” he finished, wishing he could have come up with a better way to describe Seth.
He knew they weren’t boyfriends. But it seemed like an understatement to call him a guest, all the same, as though they were only casual acquaintances.
They were, but it didn’t feel like that. Not to Oz.
The look on Ashley’s face told him he’d made a mistake, but it was gone a moment later.
“This is a beautiful wedding,” Seth said. Oz glanced at him to see the most charming smile he’d ever witnessed plastered on Seth’s face. It didn’t look fake, exactly, but maybe a little exaggerated.
If he’d been miserable, Oz had no doubt he would have said something. Not to Ashley, but in private. He just wasn’t as enthusiastic as he was pretending to be.
“Thank you.” Ashley smiled brightly at him. “Between you and me, I’m glad it’s nearly over. Weddings are hard work.”
Seth smiled wryly. “Believe me, I know. My sister just got married. To Oz’s brother.”
“Mason?” Ashley asked, looking to Oz again. “Aww, he’s all grown up! I remember him as a little kid.”
There were only three years between Oz and Mason, but Oz didn’t need the reminder that his younger brother had gotten his life figured out and settled down with a good partner before Oz had even found someone he’d consider settling down with.
If he didn’t want it so much, he would have resigned himself to being alone forever by now. Maybe he had impossibly high standards or he was being too picky, but every time he thought he’d found someone he could love forever, something went wrong.
Probably because the way he was choosing them was so focused on the long-term that he ignored things like basic compatibility.
“Yeah, all grown up. Running the family business and everything.”
“Shouldn’t you be… oh.” Ashley’s face fell as she realized what that meant. Oz had told her he was afraid of being kicked out, or at the least disowned. That was why they’d been together in the first place. “Oh, honey. I’m sorry.”
Oz shrugged. “Ancient history. I’m over it.”
“You take care of him,” she said to Seth. “He needs it. I have to go mingle, but I’d love to catch up later.”
“Me too,” Oz agreed. “But if I don’t see you again, I’m so happy for you.”
Ashley deserved this. She’d gotten out and made her own way in the world, and she deserved everything that entailed. Oz hoped she’d married exactly the right person for her, and that they’d be happy together until they both died at a hundred and ten.
It just made his heart hurt a little to know that everyone around him was settling down, and he wasn’t. He was only twenty-nine, so he had plenty of time, but it didn’t feel like it right now.
“And I promise to take care of him,” Seth added, to Oz’s surprise. The response seemed to satisfy Ashley, who smiled again and then brushed past him to talk to the rest of her guests.
She’d inherited her mother’s flair for hospitality, based on the way this wedding had been planned.
“You didn’t have to say that just to keep her happy,” Oz said once Ashley was gone, keeping his voice low.
Seth shrugged. “I am gonna take care of you. Tonight. A couple of times, if you behave.”
“What constitutes behaving?” Oz asked.
