"I think I finally get it."

"Get what?" There was something about the look in his eyes, the confidence, the surety, that had me swallowing hard.

"You." And as he smiled, it was almost smug. "I get you, Oz. You're a little, Aren't you?"

If only I had known at the time just how much those few little words were going to change my life.

The Little Of Oz Series

Why did you buy my brother a dog? WTF dude?

Ignoring the message, for as good an idea as it had seemed at the time, was only a short-term resolve. Like a stone in my pocket, the weight of the text had been with me all day, a sinking abyss that had been trying to pull me under.

And it had so very nearly succeeded.

The date with Oz, if I wanted to blow my own trumpet, had been a success; it had been as close to perfection as my imagination could stretch. Yet, it had almost been cancelled. Morals, the tricky little fuckers that they were, had whined at me, and my conscience had grown a voice and had been crooning doubts into my ear. After that text . . . damn, I had come so close to burying my head in the sand.

Hearts were tricky beasts, however, and mine had scoffed at the feeble attempts my mind had made to try and guilt me into submission.

Chapter27