Page 17 of Oz
Laura
“Where are we going?”Showered and dressed, I stood in the rain outside my apartment, my head down so I didn’t have to blink the water out of my eyes, while Oz rummaged in his pockets for his car keys.
“Got them.” The key appeared with a flourish, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the look on his face. “Mmmm.” Licking at his lips, Oz stepped into my space. The way he was looking at me made me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world. Almost like I wasn’t standing in front of him in jeans and a hoodie but in the sexiest of lingerie. Oz had been looking at me like he wanted to feast on me since we had been intimate. And strangely, I was ok with that. I liked him looking at me. Much more than I expected I would.
“What?” My arms wrapped around his neck as he slid his arms around my waist, drawing me into the warmth of his body.
“I was just admiring how hot you look when wet. It kind of makes me wish I had joined you in the shower.”
I laughed before I could help myself. He had mentioned that earlier as well. But the plan had been dead in the water since there was no room in my tiny shower. I could barely fit, Oz with his hulking frame had no chance.
“You know we wouldn’t have fit.”
A tiny line appeared between his eyebrows. “You’re right, ok then, how about I was imagining fucking you bent over the bonnet of my truck.”
Shaking my head, I hid my face against his chest for a second, sucking in a great lungful of his clean, manly smell. There was something insanely addictive about him. It was more than just his good looks and skilled love making,
I liked him, I realised with a start.
Maybe even more than liked him. I didn’t believe in love at first sight. The thought was alien to me, but there was something between us I couldn’t pinpoint. “So where are we going?” I repeated myself.
“Breakfast. I want you to meet the rest of my troop. I’ve told them about you and they are eager to meet you, plus I’m starving and…” He trailed off as I wrangled my way out of his arms. “What is it now?” There was a note of impatience in his voice. I couldn’t blame him for that, not really.
“I’m not hungry. I just remembered I have an early shift in work so I can't.”
“Laura.” He groaned. “I don’t get you. We had fun didn’t we? Why are you freaking out over breakfast?”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I half turned away from him. “That’s exactly why, because we had fun.”
Oz frowned. “You don’t want to have breakfast with me because we had great sex? That makes no sense, Laura.”
Several people going about their morning business glanced in our direction and smirked. I blushed scarlet.
“It was meant to be fun, Oz and it was. But that’s all it was meant to be. Fun. No exchanging numbers, no meeting your friends. You will leave in a few days or weeks or whatever and this is where I live. Why can't we just part on a happy note and…”
Oz’s fingers gripped my hip, squeezing almost painfully. “I told you that I’m not going to let you go, Laura. I thought I made myself perfectly clear about that.”
He was saying all the right things and yet they just made me angry. I had a hollow feeling in my gut because I didn’t want him to let me go either. I just didn’t have a choice. My life was for better or worse here. I had responsibilities. Ones that I could never share with him.
Gathering my anger around me, I whirled on him. “And I’m pretty sure, I told you that I don’t date your kind.”
His eyes flashed that strange golden colour again. “My kind?” His voice dripped with something close to fury.
“Army guys.” I waved his words away. “Don’t contact me again, Oz, forget where I live. In fact, forget you ever met me.”
* * *
I swappedmy shift with one of the other waitresses five minutes after I watched Oz roar away in his massive car. There was no way I could go to work, not when he knew where I worked. There was no doubt in my mind that he would show up.
Hell, he would probably show up back at mine once he realised I wasn’t at work. And I was weak. If he did that then I would fall naked and ready into his arms.
Gathering up my phone, I typed out a quick message to one of my only friends in town. One of the other waitresses. We weren’t exactly besties, but she often asked me to go for drinks with her. Tonight I was going to return the favour. I wanted to drown my sorrows and forget for a little bit the mess that was my life.
Her message came back almost instantly — a very excited yes followed by lots of emojis. Smiling to myself, I tossed my phone back on the bed. This was what normal girls did when they said goodbye to a boyfriend wasn’t it? They went out with their girlfriends.
Not that Oz had been my boyfriend. Not even close. One night together wasn’t a relationship.
So why did it feel like it could have been? I’d had one night stands before and I had never felt like this. It was distracting as hell.
A few drinks and some girly company was just what I needed. Shrugging out of my hoody, I turned my attention to the one nice top I owned. It wasn’t exactly sexy, but it was nice.
And it would do.
After all, it wasn’t like I was going out to impress a guy.
