Page 111 of Law Of Love

“Show me,” I said, and Kaleb gripped his steering wheel tightly, running his tongue along the front of his teeth at an agonisingly slow speed.

“Baby, I don’t think—“

“I want to go, Kaleb.” My tone was low. “I’m serious. If I freak out, we can leave, but the only way I’m going to get past my issues is to work on them. Ignoring them won’t benefit me.”

He hummed, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel as we stopped at a red light. His biceps were tense. “If that’s what you want.”

It looked as if he wanted to put up a fight, but he clicked his teeth shut, turning the radio on and setting the volume to high. Loud music interrupted intense thoughts, and I gathered it was some psychological trick to get me to remain calm. Kaleb had done his research on trauma, and it warmed my soul.

The journey wasn’t too long, and the new shooting range was nothing like Will’s shady, run-down building. This one was clean and professional-looking, and we'd received the necessary checks before we were allowed in.

Anxiety was riddling my body, the sound of guns being fired causing my muscles to cramp and my head to spin, but I elbowed it aside. Kaleb comfortingly placed his hand on my lower back, leaning down to whisper, “if you need a distraction, all I need is the word,” in my ear.

I smiled to myself. I hadn’t immediately legged it for the exit after hearing gunfire and smelling the muskiness of hot metal, and that was a win in itself.

Murderer.

Kill—

I forced the voice from my head, imagining the words disappearing into nothingness, taking Kaleb’s hand and pulling him towards an open spot. The target hung from the far wall in the shape of a person, and Kaleb furrowed his eyebrows, gazing around the room.

“Let’s pick a different spot. There are circular targets over there.” He pointed to the far corner of the room.

I took a deep breath. “No. This one is fine.” I gestured for him to begin, and he moved past me slowly, his hand grazing my ass, causing me to stiffen. It made him chuckle, and he sent the bullets flying straight into the centre of the target with ease.

Watching him do something so easily—it was a massive turn-on. This was something Kaleb could do blindfolded. Or in his sleep. Or even blindfolded while asleep.

I placed my sweat-covered hand on his gun when he was done, and he moved behind me, pressing his torso to my back. Images of our first encounter at Will’s shooting range flashed before my eyes, remembering how distracted by him I’d been when he’d been manoeuvring my fingers with his own.

We had come full circle.

My instincts were screaming at me. They wanted me to throw the weapon across the room and pelt out of the building, but I remained grounded, imagining that my shoes were glued to the floor and there was nothing I could do but face the music.

“Ready?” Kaleb muttered huskily into my ear. “All you have to do is fire when you’re ready.”

I nodded, attempting to steady my shaking digits, and I took a deep breath. My eyes closed for a few seconds before I fired the gun, realising that Kaleb had released me and was standing back with a small smile.

The bullet hadn’t gone remotely near the target, but it wasn’t about that. I’d actually managed to fire a gun after not even being able to even think about one for months without spiralling.

“That’s my girl,” Kaleb said with a grin, spinning me around and planting a soft kiss on my lips, lowering my hand and prying the gun from my fingers. “You did it.”

I nodded. My throat was dry, and my body was shaky, but I had done it. Was I going to pick up shooting as a new hobby? Not a chance. But knowing that the last bullet I’d fired hadn’t been one to lodge itself into someone’s skull—it felt like I was moving on.

Moving on from the girl who loathed herself because of what she’d done.

Moving on from the girl who constantly wondered why her father cared about his job more than her.

Moving on from the girl who was floating through life without much of a purpose—whose future was uncertain.

Kaleb Evans was my new future, and I was a much better and braver person because of it.

“What if she hates me for it?” I asked with concern as we hovered in front of the door to Kaleb’s house.

My comment caused him to chuckle. “Hate you for making her son happy? Freya, that’s not going to happen.”

This was what I’d been dreading—admitting to Jackie and my mother that Kaleb and I were in a relationship and that it'd been going on for a while. They were going to have a million and one questions, and I couldn’t get the image of their shocked and confused faces out of my mind. I loved this man, though, and I was hoping they wouldn't be offended that we hadn't told them sooner.

Jackie and my mother were seated on the couch, and Kaleb clutched my palm in his as he cleared his throat to gain their attention, causing their eyes to dart to our linked hands.

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