I didn’t turn away from the copier or outwardly acknowledge his presence. The last thing I wanted was to make Ossy aware of the effect he had on me.
But then he pressed in behind me, and our bodies lined up perfectly.
He held me around the waist, and his chin rested on my shoulder.
“This is our place of employment, Osiris Reaper. Fraternization isn’t appropriate.” Not to mention, I didn’t want to talk to him. It was easier to stay mad when he wasn’t holding me so gently.
“I love it when you say my whole name like that. My mother used to say it that way, too.” Ossy kissed my shoulder. “My last name wasn’t Reaper back then, though.”
“That’s hardly a compliment.” Being compared to his mother made me cringe. I was the guy he was fucking. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe we had a relationship in which I was constantly acting like his parent. The thought made me shudder.
Gods. Were we turning into the kind of couple with mommy-and-daddy issues? Please, for the love of the gods, no. Just no.
“It wasn’t meant as one.” That was another thing. Ossy said things like that, clearly intending to argue, yet everything he said sounded casual and nonchalant, as if he were talking about the weather. Sometimes I couldn’t tell when he was serious. “Good morning, Phinny.”
“Is it?”
“Every morning is good when I’m with you.” Then where was Ossy last night?
“I doubt that.” I squirmed, trying to get him to let me go.
“Why?” Ossy let me go.
I pressed the print button before turning. I folded my arms across my chest and narrowed my eyes. “If you found my company so pleasurable, you wouldn’t have stood me up last night.”
Ossy had enough sense to wince. “I’m sorry, Phinny. I got caught up in something else and lost track of time.”
“I’ll bet. What’s his name?” Asking the question aloud for the first time brought home the sense of betrayal I probably shouldn’t feel. Ossy had made it clear he wanted nothing more from me than something casual. While I was ready to take the relationship to the next level, I respected Ossy’s position. But I was ready for something deeper, something more. It was starting to become a source of contention, and one he wouldn’t be able to ignore or avoid for much longer.
Ossy drew his eyebrows together as if confused. “What?”
“I’m talking about the other guy, Ossy.”
“What other guy?” It seemed that just asking made Ossy realize what I was getting at. Understanding sparked, then anger. “There is no one else.”
He slid his arms around me and pulled me closer. I resisted as best I could, but with Ossy, I was easy. He knew it, too.
I sighed and let my arms drop to my sides. I probably looked like a rag doll in his arms.
“I’m only having sex with you, Phinny. That’s how it’s been since we’ve been fucking. I swear it.”
One thing I knew about Ossy was that he wouldn’t lie to me about it. If he were fucking someone else, he’d tell me as soon as I asked. Not that he’d volunteer the information, but he wouldn’t lie about it either. So I believed him.
“I was surfing. The waves were so good yesterday. You should have seen them.” Ossy was a water bug. He talked about catching waves all the time. He could really get into his experiences, too. He told great stories that made it sound like he was having the time of his life. “By the time I was done, all I wanted was a drink, so I went to The Greasy Shark. I got to talking to Kai, a surfer friend of mine, and lost track of time. That’s the truth.”
It sounded like Ossy. The only part I didn’t buy was his losing track of time. That was total bullshit. He avoided me on purpose.“You just didn’t want to talk about taking our relationship to the next level.”
Ossy kissed my temple. “Why does it have to change?”
It had to change because he held me as if I mattered. He kissed me as if he cared. Then he said he wanted to keep it casual. His actions and words didn’t match.
“I won’t wait forever, Ossy.”
“Phinny.” He didn’t like that statement, but he kissed me anyway. Ossy knew just how to wind me up and make me forget everything else.
The door handle jiggled, and then someone knocked.
Ossy stopped kissing to chuckle.