Page 95 of Unforgettable

Even if it doesn’t work out with Oz and for whatever reason we’re not on the same page after talking, this has been a turning point for me.

What happened with Oz has reminded me to prioritize happiness, no matter how hard it feels to make it happen.

“When are you going to see him?” Murph asks.

I check the time on my phone. “In a few hours,” I reply. “I’ll unpack and shower and then it’s go time.”

“Want to come with me to work?” he asks excitedly.

“If you can make sure Oz isn’t working, yeah, I’ll come. I need to beg Harrison for my job back.”

* * *

After killing a few hours at V and V, where everybody was happy to see me, albeit a little bit mad I left without saying goodbye, I was welcomed back to my job with open arms from Harrison.

With one item ticked off my to-do list, I prepare to embark on the most important one. Standing outside Oz’s parents’ house, I rub my clammy hands on my thighs and ring the doorbell.

It’s family dinner night, and the Oz I know and love wouldn’t miss it.

The door opens, and a smug looking Bethany Walker smiles almost knowingly at me.

“Is there room for one more at the dinner table?” I ask half jokingly.

Mrs. Walker straightens her spine and holds her hand out to me. “There’s always room for you at our dinner table, Reeve.”

Oz’s family is close, and there’s no doubt he’s told them what’s happened between us, and it would be stupid to think otherwise. It’s actually the main reason I came here to get him back.

Because his family is part of him, part of the reason we fell into one another. And maybe, just maybe, they can help me convince him to forgive me.

I follow Bethany into the house and try to calm down my frantic heart. While there is no other place I’d rather be and people I’d rather be in front of right now, it doesn’t change that every nerve ending in my body is on high alert.

Stepping into view, I brace myself for the rejection or the dismissal from Oz, but it doesn’t come.

Instead, when my eyes land on him, sitting there at the table between his sisters, I have to fight the urge to both smile and cry, because I’m so damn happy to see him.

He’s finally within my reach.

He looks the same but different. He’s still the same Oz with his commanding presence and unrelenting confidence, but it’s the dull look in his eyes that makes me want to cry.

I did that to him. And if he lets me, I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure they never look like that again.

Oz watches me.

Shyly, I raise a hand and do a quick glance over every member of his family, returning my focus to Oz. “Hey.”

“Hey,” he croaks, clearly caught off guard. We stare at one another, almost like we’re relieved to be in the same room, his big blue eyes taking me in, making sure I don’t disappear.

“Here, let me move the kids over,” Maddy says. “I’ll get a plate for you too.”

One by one, I watch each of them shuffle, Summer and Tommy staring at me, almost like they’ve been wondering where I’ve been.

Lowering my head, I walk to the empty seat and try to hide my nervousness as I sit down next to Oz.

The air isn’t cold between us, but it’s impossible to ignore that our connection has been tampered with. However motivated by my endgame, I push through the fear and awkwardness I feel sitting with Oz’s family at their dinner table, waiting for the right time to talk to Oz.

Maddy brings over the empty plate, placing it in front of me, and my stomach rolls at the thought of eating right now.

“Oz,” his mother says. “Fill Reeve’s plate up for him.”

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