Page 16 of Law Of Love

Zach smiled, grinding his teeth together, looking slightly agitated. “So, what were you doing then? Did you fall asleep early or something?”

I cocked my head at him. “Um, no, I was just busy studying. I really don't want to fall behind.”

Zach hummed, opening his mouth to say something else, but our server interrupted him. I wasn't the best liar, and I was concerned that Zach would see straight through me, but if he suspected me of fibbing, he didn’t say anything. However, suspicion pooled in his dazzling eyes.

“Any update on your dad?” he questioned, and I shrugged, sighing, my breath hitching when I felt him touch my thigh from under the table. I could tell he was trying to comfort me, but his gaze held a glint of something else that made me want to push him away. What had got into him lately?

He'd been so sweet when we first met, but something had changed. It seemed he only ever wanted to see me when he wanted some.

“No, I haven't spoken to my mom since yesterday morning, so I don't know if she's had a response from him. She's been away with work."

“Do you know where he went?”

I bit down on my lip. I actually didn't. He travelled so much that it was hard to keep track of when he was in and out of the state—or country. “I know he visits New York often, but I don't know where he went this time.”

Our food came quickly, and we talked about a few things related to college, but like most of our conversations, it was all surface-level.

A part of me wondered if I was obligated to tell Zach about the small kiss Brent and I had shared. It had only been part of a game, but I couldn’t help but worry that he would find out and accuse me of messing him around.He'd been the one to tell me we weren’t tied down to each other, though, and the more I thought about it, the more I realised Zach was morphing into a bright red flag kind of shade.

“Freya, are you alright?” he asked as he finished his food. “You haven't eaten much.”

I'd been drifting in and out of my daydreams and hadn't even realised how little I'd eaten. “Yeah. I'm just not overly hungry.”

We finished quickly, and Zach slipped his cash out of his wallet, holding his hand out to stop me from doing the same. “Nope, I asked you out, so I pay.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. Do you need a ride home? Or we can go back to mine? My mom isn't home.”

There it was.

We exited the diner, the rain still trickling from the cloudy sky.

I knew what Zach was suggesting, and I cleared my throat. “I have a lot of college work to do. Would it be okay to drop me at Jackie's house?”

I wasn’t opposed to sleeping with him. Girls had needs, too, but there was something inside of me that screamed at me not to. If that wasn’t a sign that this wasn’t going to work out, I didn’t know what was.

Zach kicked at the ground, shoved his hands into his pockets, and nodded after a long pause. His frustration was evident as he hopped into the car.

I directed him to Jackie's house, picking at my cuticles as he pulled to a stop. “Thank you for today. It was a good distraction from everything.” I smiled as I clambered out of the car, Zach following the action.

“So I'm just a distraction?” he teased, laughing as he placed his hands on my waist, moving his face closer to mine. We’d kissed several times, but they were never long or meaningful and were usually followed by Zach suggesting we head somewhere 'quieter'. It appeared he had some kind of strange fantasy to fuck in the college locker rooms.

“No, obviously not.” My breath hitched as he suddenly pressed his lips to mine, but once he tried to deepen it, I dropped my head.

“I guess you're not going to invite me in?” he wondered aloud, knitting his eyebrows together as he stared at my lips, his hands wandering a little lower than my waist. “That's usually what people do on dates.”

I stepped away from him. “Thank you for the food, Zach. I'll see you on Monday.”

Kicking the front door shut behind me, I ran a hand down my face. I was having serious doubts about where things were going with Zach and me, and I knew I was going to have to let him know I didn’t see us working out. I wasn’t sure he’d take it too well, though.

My eyes wandered to the living room coffee table, and they widened when I spotted a black handgun sitting on top of it, the metal shiny and inviting.

I hadn’t enjoyed shooting, but ‌it had been a rush, causing my adrenaline to spike. I’d never considered myself to be an adrenaline junkie, but perhaps this was my awakening. Kaleb had watched me so intently. There was something about his eyes. They drew me in, and I found myself continuously drowning in them.

Without thinking, I made my way over to the gun and picked it up. I turned it around, thinking back to how Kaleb's hands had felt on mine when he’d been adjusting my grip. I tried to remember how he'd manoeuvred my fingers into the correct form, lifting my arm to aim as if I were going to shoot.

“What the hell are you doing?” demanded Kaleb loudly as he entered the living room, his eyebrows collapsing in on one another as he moved over to me and snatched the gun from my hands. “This thing is loaded, Freya. You'll kill yourself. Don't fucking touch it.”

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