Page 78 of On the Line

Balling my dress in his fists, he drags me into his body, his mouth as hungry as I still feel, even after all ofthis. My desire for Ozzy is insatiable and by the way he kisses me, he must feel the same.

Minutes later, we leave the bathroom, both our cheeks flushed and faces beaming.

And while we return to examining paintings, his hand squeezing mine any time something piques his interest, I realize quite unexpectedly … I’ve never been this happy before.

31

OZZY

By the time I get home after my shift, it’s way past midnight. I begrudgingly dropped James off at her place after the museum, when really I wished I could just keep her by my side at all times.

Orso was dead and time dragged on. James wasn’t working, which just made my shift feel even longer. My eyes continuously forgot that she wasn’t there and kept landing near the server station expecting to see her pink hair and perfect ass.

Closing the apartment door with a soft snick, I notice the light over the oven is on and realize Alec is home, sitting outside on the balcony. Haphazardly dropping my backpack somewhere in the hallway, I make my way to the kitchen and grab a beer out of the fridge before sliding the balcony door open.

“Thought you’d be out,” I say, sitting on the rusty metal chair facing him.

He gives me a non-commital grunt and takes a swig of beer before answering, “Felt like staying in for a change.”

Grabbing the half-smoked joint from the ashtray on the table between us, I hum in agreement and light up. “Yeah, me too.” Exhaling the smoke into the dark sky, I rub my eye. “It’s been a long week.”

Alec’s gaze slides to mine. “Is your dad back home yet?”

I nod, taking another hit of the joint. “Got home on Thursday,” I say, my voice straining against the smoke still in my lungs.

He shoots me an expression that’s a mix of pity and apprehension. “How’s that been?”

I laugh dryly, smoke curling around my lips. “Still kicking.” My grip on the beer can tightens. “I thought maybe this time he’d take it as a reality check.” I shake my head. “But he’s just meaner than ever. You’d think with my mom in jail, he would have hit rock bottom by now—but he just keeps digging himself deeper and deeper.”

Alec snorts and takes another sip of his beer, obviously agreeing with me. He falls silent, taking the joint out of my hand. “How long does she still have?”

I roll my eyes. “Two years. Maybe one, depending on ‘good behavior’,” I say, air-quoting the last two words.

Alec doesn’t answer immediately. Instead, he looks into the distance, tapping his finger on the table, joint still in hand. “Shit’s heavy, dude,” he finally says.

I answer with another disingenuous laugh. “Tell me about it.” I drink down a large gulp of beer, growing agitated with our current topic of conversation.

Alec seems to pick up on my irritation. Passing the joint back to me, he changes the subject, his tone a lot more jovial. “So?” he says. He smiles wide, mustache quirking and tonguing his cheek. His body hits the back of his chair, one foot over his thigh, and crosses his arms as if he’sgetting ready for a hell of a story. “Are you ever going to tell me about you and the new girl?”

I bark out of a laugh. “When have you ever been interested in who I’m fucking?”

“Please,” he chuckles, “you must think I’m an idiot.”

I act dumb, taking a sip of beer to hide my squirrelly expression. “What do you mean?”

He gives me a look and holds out his finger as if he’s about to list off his speaking points, and I groan internally. “You’ve never had any of them sleep over before, for one. You dated Liam for months and Isabelle for even longer and I never bumped into them in the mornings. Frankie was basically in love with you and they barely saw the interior of your bedroom.”

Rubbing the back of my neck, I grumble. “Okay, I get your fucking point. I guess James is different.”

But Alec isn’t finished, unfurling another long finger and leaning forward in his chair.

“Secondly, I’ve never seen you date anyone exclusively before either.” He waves a bored hand in the air. “Unless you’re still fucking random servers behind the dumpster.”

“I’m not fucking anyone else,” I bite out. Then add quickly, “And we’re not dating.”

He scoffs. “Okay,” he says laughing into his beer can. “All I’m saying is that when you’re not with Charlie and Soph, you’re spending most of your time with James. I’ve barely seen you in three weeks, don’t you fucking lie to me,” he says casually, followed by a cocky grin.

This time I groan out loud, my head falling into my hands, dragging them slowly over my face before looking back up at my best friend. I don’t know why I’m even attempting to lie to him.

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