Page 26 of On the Line

He pushes himself off the wall, flicking his cigarette into the parking lot. “Everything okay? You seem a little …” He makes a vague gesture trying to convey my current emotional state.

My laugh is wry but somewhat genuine as if I’m tryingto make Ozzy feel at ease. Why is it that he seems to always find me in a state of emotional disarray lately?

“I’m fine,” I say distractedly. “It’s just.” Looking over to the door, I half-expect Zachary to burst outside and catch me talking to Ozzy. I meet his gaze. “It’s my birthday today, and my boyfriend decided to show up and I—”I don’t want him here.“I don’t know … I just wasn’t expecting him is all.” I finish my sad little explanation with a wobbly smile, waiting for Ozzy to roast me for my overreaction.

“It’s your birthday?” he says with a wistful grin, taking a step closer. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

Ozzy skirting around the elephant in the room somehow alleviates a bit of the tension. I latch on to it. “Yeah,” I answer with a timid smirk. “And … um,” I add with a shrug, “I just didn’t think it was worth mentioning.”

“You like keeping secrets, don’t you?” he says amused, his aqua eyes sparkling as he casually crosses his arms.

“No,” I blurt out a bit too seriously.

Ozzy chuckles. “Well, happy birthday, Jimbo.” Walking up to the door, he opens it before looking back at me, his lips tugging into a cocky smirk. His eyes narrow in mischief. “I’ll make sure to send out somethingextra specialto your boyfriend’s table.”

Hearing Ozzy acknowledge Zachary leaves me uneasy. It makes me want to scream as loud as I can just so I can try to let out some of the pressure behind my chest.

I feel like I’m spinning out of control.

And I can’t make it stop.

An hour later,Gustavo lets me know that Ozzy wants to see me in the kitchen and I jump on the opportunity toavoid my section—boyfriend included. Both Zachary and Spencer are getting more and more intoxicated as the night progresses and I’m terrified they’ll do something to embarrass me. I already had to tell Zachary to stop snapping his fingers at the busser.

“Yes, chef?” I say, entering the kitchen.

Ozzy’s busy cutting onions, but he points to a plate of nachos beside him with his knife.

“What’s this?” I ask innocently. “We don’t even sell nachos.”

“Thought you might be hungry. You weren’t at staff meal today,” he says, his gaze down while he continues chopping. “I made them with Doritos.”

I stare at the nachos, slightly stunned. The image of him running to a corner store to buy a bag of Doritos just to make me nachos has me feeling a whirl of conflicting emotions.

But my heart squeezes in gratitude nonetheless.

I blink up at him. “I love Doritos,” I mutter.

His eyes meet mine, his lips curling into a loaded grin. “I know.” Reaching up on the shelf above him, he grabs a small birthday candle, sticks it into the melted cheese, and uses a small torch to light up the tip. “Happy birthday, princess.”

“Thank you …” I say softly, my heart beginning to race as I stand beside his station, my hand toying with my skirt.

His smile makes his blue-green eyes crinkle and I can’t stop staring. I have a sneaking suspicion my feelings are written clear across my face—a mixture of joy and affection—but I make zero attempt to hide it from him. The moment feels ever-expanding like I could spend my whole life inside this bubble of time and not regret one second ofit. Ozzy juts his chin as if wordlessly telling me to blow out the candle, a smile still on his lips.

“Behind!” Alec yells out as he passes us, effectively snapping us out of whateverthatwas.

“Anyway,” I say hurriedly, blowing out the candle while Ozzy resumes his task. “I’ll take it to the server station. Thanks again. It looks delicious.”

“Enjoy,” he says.

His gaze returns to his work before I walk out of the kitchen.

Leaning against the bar,I repeatedly tap my check presenter on my thigh. I’m pretending to wait for my drink order but in reality, I’m watching Zachary and Spencer from across the bar. They barely notice me, having migrated to the bar half an hour ago when the kitchen closed. They’re damn near belligerent now.

I give Ji-min a sorrowful look, trying to wordlessly apologize while he serves Zachary a scotch with a side of water. My shift isn’t over for another hour but I can’t stomach another minute of this quiet embarrassment, so I let out a long sigh and head over to their seats.

Pretending to be nothing but smiles, I offer to meet them at a bar nearby, telling them I won’t be done for a while.

Zachary loudly objects, “We’re fine right here, honeybun!”

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