"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

Cheeks damp and heart pounding so hard that I feared that it was trying to tear its way out of my chest, I bolted upright.

Darkness greeted me. It wrapped around me in eerie waves, stealing my breath and forcing a build-up of panic to fester in my gut. I fell out of the bed, dimly aware of the lamp being turned on and Deacon's voice calling to me. Dry heaves rode my body, hands curling in the carpet. Tears burned my eyes.

Arms found me. The solidness of his chest, the gentleness of his words in my ear, they seemed to break through the spell. The light that now pickaxed its way through the darkness seemed to reach me, and his eyes, widened with terror and concern, seemed to teach me how to breathe once more.

/"Baby boy,/" he whispered. /"What's wrong?/"

How could I answer that question when the answer was that I had no idea?

Chapter133