Page 100 of On the Line

I can feel Ozzy’s thread snap as he drops his arms back down, his gaze slamming into mine.

“We’re a mistake, James. Don’t you get it?” he says with a cold laugh. “Don’t you see?”

My stomach sinks. Somehow, for some unexplainable and ludicrous reason, I didn’t expect Ozzy to say that. Inexplicably, I hoped that his distance was all in my head. I try not to let my past insecurities convince me he doesn’t care, but his words hurt nonetheless.

He circles around me and starts to pace while I turn slowly with him, the silence deafening.

“A mistake?” I say weakly.

“You should leave.” It’s forceful but desperate.

My mouth opens with a heated reply, but my gaze catches on something by the side of his bed, and I go silent.

It’s the painting I gave him.

And it’s … hanging on his wall.

He does care.

The realization is sudden: Whatever is happening is not about me.

Knowing that gives me the strength to stay and not turn around and leave. To not feel victimized by his stinging words. Tears form in my eyes but I blink them quickly back, my gaze back on him.

“No,” I say forcefully.

Ozzy takes a second before replying. “No?” he repeats with a shocked chuckle.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“James,” Ozzy says slowly as a warning.

Boiling tension rises as I simply stare at him, not budging.

His voice rises. “I told you to fuckinggo!”

He walks past me, heading for the door, seemingly trying to end this conversation.

My frustration boils over, tears springing back into my eyes.

I point a menacing finger toward him even with his back to me. “I know this isn’t about us, stop being such acowardand talk to me!”

He stops in his tracks, tilting his head over his shoulder, tension crackling almost audibly between us.

“What did you say?” he asks slowly.

There’s no hesitation in my voice. “I said stop being so weak, it’s pathetic!”

His back is still to me, the silence slowly settling around us, loud and menacing. I track his movements intensively. Taking a careful step forward, he quietly closes the bedroom door and locks it.

My heart begins to beat even faster. I’m somehowfeelingthat something new is brewing between us. I just don’t know what it is yet.

Finally, he turns to face me.

“Say it again,” he drawls, his voice low and gravelly.

My eyebrows raise up in surprise, an almost imperceptiblewhat?leaving my lips.

Ozzy takes a step closer toward me, his gaze turning dark and hooded as it trails up and down my body.

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