Page 39 of Love, Just In

‘Shit, sorry,’ Zac says, steadying her shoulders with both hands. He lets go right away.

‘It’s all good, Hatter,’ the girl replies, her pretty smile moving from him to me.

‘You know who I am?’ Zac says. The curls in his wig bounce when he smacks his palm to his chest.

‘They all think he’s Willy Wonka,’ I explain to the girl.

She laughs. ‘Ah, OK. Well, everyone keeps calling me Dorothy fromThe Wizard of Oz.’

‘As if,Alice,’ Zac replies, his lips curling up at the Alice in Wonderland costume that complements his Mad Hatter outfit. Anyone who didn’t know them would guess they came here as a couple.

They exchange shy smiles, and I swear I can see Zac’s schoolboy blush burning through his white face paint.

I step forward and stretch out a hand to the girl, the white cape clipped to my wrists moving with it. ‘I’m Josie, by the way. Second-year comms.’

Her fingers lightly shake mine. ‘Lovely to meet you; I’m Tara. I’m a second-year too. Nursing.’ Her dark eyes skip to Zac. ‘And you?’

‘Zac. Second-year paramedicine.’

Her smile expands. ‘Really? I can’t believe we haven’t met before; we’re travelling on the same wavelength. Similar courses, similar costumes.’ Her eyes slide to me. ‘You two are together?’

‘No,’ Zac answers right away.

‘Nooo,’ I reinforce for his benefit. ‘Are you here with friends?’ I ask Tara.

‘Yes, I was just coming back from the bar. You want to join us?’ She tips her head at a small group of students lazing on some rustic leather lounges in a low-lit corner.

‘Sure,’ Zac replies without even looking at me. His scuffed leather brogues trail after Tara like a beagle on a scent trail.

Ohh-kay, this is going to be one of those times where Zac becomes uber-focused on a girl, and I lose his attention for the entire evening. But Tara seems friendly and approachable, unlike the arts student Zac was dating recently, who hated him having a female best friend. I guess I don’t mind being relegated to wingwoman, even though I was hoping to revisit our mischievous conversation from the other night about The Back-Up Plan.

Zac squeezes in beside Tara on one of the couches, and I drop onto the adjacent couch between two girls in matching creepy twin costumes. A guy in a Jack Sparrow outfit jumps up to exclaim over Zac’s Willy Wonka costume, then offers him a fist bump because they’re both ‘Johnny Depp characters’.

When Zac passes me a subtle headshake over the guy’s shoulder, I smile and hold up four fingers at him. Warmth sparks in his eyes as they linger on mine before he turns to Tara.

CHAPTER 14

Today

Zac’s buttery-soft linen sheets envelop me like a cloud and his pillows must have been stolen off a bed from heaven. He wasn’t wrong about the street noise, but last night still delivered my soundest sleep in weeks.

A yearning for coffee eventually kicks me out of bed, and I wrap the king-sized quilt around my shoulders and stumble towards the coffee machine, scooping up Trouble and holding her twitchy body against my chest. Zac’s left out a mug for me, the sugar jar, and handwritten instructions on how to use the machine that are borderline formal. My smile travels from my heart to my face.

After a gloriously strong coffee and a bowl of toasted muesli, I reluctantly return Zac’s comfy quilt to his bed and venture into his bathroom on the hunt for a clean towel.

A strange excitement tingles through me as I poke through his things, sniffing his woody aftershave balm and sweeping the feathery bristles of his shaving brush across my jaw.

I slip into the spare-bathroom shower, and when I re-emerge with a fluffy white towel wrapped around my wet hair, my phone pings.

ZAC:Hope you slept OK? I don’t finish until 7, but after that, I’m happy to take you to pick up your car and stuff from asshat’s place if you like?

ME:That would be great, thank you. Sweet of you after such a long shift!

ZAC:Happy to

ME:Do you think I should ask Davide if he can be out at that time?

Would really rather not see him.

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