Page 9 of King of Justice

“Running in the street?”

“Yeah.” He softly chuckled.

This weed must have been good indeed, since I was starting to genuinely enjoy Nathan Wright’s company. “My problem is that it’s easy to romanticize something to audiences, who are light-years away from it. To tell you the truth, I’d be terrified if everyone around me suddenly froze.”

“What if they all disappeared instead?”

“Was it a zombie apocalypse?”

His laugh shook his whole body and wrinkled three curved lines at the corners of his eyes. In the faint light, his blue irises seemed darker and more inviting. His brown hair, messy at the junction where his head met the couch, made me want to run my fingers through it. “Are you always thinking of the worst scenario?” he whispered.

“That’s because it’s always there.”

“In the back of your head?”

“In the realm of possibility.”

“It’s possible that we die in here.”

“There are worse ways to go.” I didn’t intend for it to sound romantic, but the smile on his face let me know, without a doubt, that I had missed the mark. In an attempt to change the subject, I turned to the growing sense of hunger stirring up within. “Are you hungry?”

His smile transformed into a boyish grin. “Starving. And before you think of the worst-case scenario, I’m not into human meat.”

I giggled, pushing myself up. “No, silly! There’s a storage closet next to the kitchenette.” Marching over there, I silently wished that he wouldn’t follow me.

“What’s in it?” he hollered without getting up, answering my prayer.

“Um…” I opened it and studied the shelves from the top down. “You have your classic crackers, string cheese, salted peanuts, dried fruit—”

“Oh, grab that!”

“Rice crispers, cheese puffs and… a box of cereal.”

“What kind?”

“Honey?”

“Yuck! Just the dried fruit for me.”

I started grabbing everything I could carry, causing the bags to crackle. “Want a soda with that? We have cherry, diet, root beer—”

“How are you so skinny?”

“Who you calling skinny?” I chuckled, grabbing a cherry soda. “Besides, I didn’t buy all of this.”

“From what I’m hearing, you’re eating all of it!”

I giggled, walking back toward him as I hugged my treasure close to my chest. “Damn right I am. It’s freezing, and I haven’t had any lunch.”

“What was for breakfast?”

Throwing my weight on the couch—which now felt like a cloud—I handed him the bag of fruit and pooled everything else in the space between us. “Uh—a bagel?”

“Too late for lies.” He tore the bag open, and it popped, spilling its contents all over his lap. “Uh-oh!” He chuckled. “I’m officially high.”

I studied him, stifling a laugh as he slowly started eating the sweet bits one by one. “Surprisingly.” Opening the can, I took a sip and reveled in the sweet-sour cherry flavor.

“What—Because I’m… like, tall?”

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