Only Oscar (Wattys 2022 Shortlist!)

Chapter Seven

"This is better," his deep voice rumbled as they stepped onto the balcony.

It was hot and humid outside. So, while Oscar slid the door shut and muted the sounds from the party, Callie moved closer to the railing, hoping it would be cooler there. But she'd never been good with heights and when she glanced tentatively over the edge, her vertigo kicked in and she got dizzy and swayed.

"Back up a bit," Oscar said. Releasing her hand, he set his palm on the side of her waist and guided her closer to the sliding doors. "Better now?"

She nodded and tossed a small smile his way. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He stepped back as she leaned against the door frame. "I'm sorry about Jasper."

"Don't be. Not your fault." Her voice sounded a little husky. A symptom of the fact they had been shouting their conversations up until a few minutes ago, most likely. "And if anyone should be apologizing, it's me."

"What for?"

She grimaced. "I'm afraid if I think about that for a while, it could turn into a really long list."

"No," he said softly, the word accompanied by a slight shake of his head. "That's not true. But if you've decided you need to apologize for something, making me sweat for the last five days would do."

"That's not what I was aiming for..."

"You just needed some space to work things out."

"Yes."

He moved away and settled into the corner of the balcony, his back against the railing, one ankle casually thrown across the other. "How's that going?"

"Still working on it," she admitted without mentioning how much more she had to figure out since the thought of kissing him popped in her head.

"Right," Oscar said flatly. He lifted his beer bottle to his mouth and turned his profile to her.

Callie watched his throat convulse as he swallowed, saw him roll the tip of his tongue over his lips before pressing them together. Then she studied the brush of thick, dark lashes against his skin while he blinked and narrowed his eyes to focus on the skyline. Such normal, everyday things she'd seen him do hundreds of times.

But they'd never been so fascinating to her before.

"I have missed you, you know," she said quietly.

There was a somewhat wry tug at the corner of his mouth. "That's a start." He took a half breath and looked at her. "But you need to talk to me, Cal. I can't fix this if you don't."

The emotionless edge to his deep, rumbling voice made her heart twist. He was so distant, felt much further away than the width of the balcony, and she hated that.

"Fixing it isn't your responsibility." She might have let him think it was in the past but, "Not this time." He was right about the other part, though. She owed him a better explanation than the one he'd been given. "The irony is, part of the reason I came up with this -"

"Great plan?" he inquired with a quirk of his brows.

The tension between them was so thick she had to resist the urge to squirm to loosen its grip.

"I'm scared of losing you," she blurted out before she had time to think about the repercussions.

Oscar's brow furrowed. "What makes you think you're gonna lose me? I'm not going anywhere."

Callie shrugged a shoulder. "When you were with Princess Perky you were distant... distracted... and I thought... well, you know..."

"Jesus, Callie." He looked startled. "That's what this is about? What on earth made you think -"