He didn’t deserve Oz, but then, all the best things in life were undeserved. That was what made them so good. They justhappened.
The loudspeaker announced that Seth’s flight was boarding, and the words curled around his heart and stomach like icy tendrils, squeezing his lungs, making it hard to breathe.
This was it. This was the end of his life as he knew it.
Seth stood, straightening his shoulders, and braced himself.
This was it.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
On the way home from the airport, Oz had promised himself he wasn’t going to crawl into a bottle over this. He didn’t do that anymore, he didn’tneedto do that anymore, and it’d only leave him even more miserable in the morning.
Once he locked the door behind him, that had lasted about two minutes.
In the time since then, he’d progressed to sitting on the couch in his underwear, drinking bourbon from the bottle because he’d left his glass in the kitchen. The kitchen seemed way too far to go for the sake of appearing civilized while he was alone.
Right now, he couldn’t imagine getting over Seth.
Oz had been chasing The One since he’d left home, knowing that if he could just find someone to belong with, it would mean he hadn’t left for nothing. In theory, it was a reasonable reaction to his circumstances.
In reality, it had meant pursuing relationships that were never going to work, that were neverright, and clinging to them long after they’d failed, drawing out the pain and suffering of everyone involved.
He’d been cheated on more times than he could count, but he’d never once expected Seth to cheat on him. He’d never expected Seth to lie, or pretend he was enjoying himself when he wasn’t. Seth was, if nothing else, brutally honest when it came to what he did and didn’t like.
Oz had given up looking for the right person, and then the right person had landed in his lap. Only to be snatched away again by forces he couldn’t control, couldn’t fight, couldn’t do anything about.
Maybe he was destined to be miserable. Maybe his whole purpose in life was to serve as a warning to others. Don’t be that guy.
A knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts.
Whoever it was, he didn’t want to deal with them right now. Unless the building was on fire, he really didn’t care.
Another knock.
Oz hesitated. It might have been important. He might have regretted not answering later.
His phone vibrated at the same moment. Someone who knew him, then.
Open the goddamn door.
Oz stared at the sender’s name.
Seth.
Seth was at the door. Knocking. Here.
Not halfway to New York.
He tripped over the couch as he got up to answer it, stumbling and struggling to catch his balance before crashing directly into the door, hard enough to make it shudder.
“Oz?”
That was Seth’s voice. He really was right there. Just on the other side of the door.
Oz fumbled with the lock and pulled the door open eagerly, staring at the man on the other side of it.
