Page 62 of Love, Just In

But please do, I’ll be home soon.

ZAC:If you’re with Davide, I’ll break his balls that he insists on showing everyone.

A laugh flies through my lips.

ME:Did you have to remind me about Davide’s balls? I just ate.

ZAC:Not meatballs, I hope. Or sausages. OK, next guess is Lindsay.

ME:

ZAC:Now I’m the one wishing I hadn’t just eaten.

My stomach flips strangely, but before I can type anything, another message appears.

ZAC:Sorry, bit harsh.

If you guys are drinking, do you need a ride home?

ME:Thanks, but I’m good.

I’m a big girl these days. :D

ZAC:Fake news.

You’re still a little baby sunbeam.

A stupid smile eclipses my face as I type my reply.

ME:Just about to leave. Will be home soon. x

ZAC:Would be lying if I said I wasn’t happy to hear that. x

The way I stare at Zac’s message for far too long sends the unsettling truth crashing into me. Spending the evening with Lindsay hasn’t fixed anything. In fact, it’s made everything worse.

Because figuring out what I don’t want has made what I do want even clearer.

And as much as I wish I could hack into my own brain and delete the feelings I’d give anything to change, Mission: Get Romantic Thoughts About Zac Jameson Out Of My Head is officially failing.

Lindsay stumbles on the footpath on the way to his car, and when I chuckle, he grabs my waist and tugs me hard against him, closing his mouth over mine. I let him kiss me for a few seconds as a sort of consolation prize for not going home with him before gently untying his hands from my waist.

We climb into his Tesla, and he cranks up the volume on a retro rap hit.

When he tailgates the white Honda in front of us that’s driving a little slowly, I give his arm a light whack. ‘You’re not one of those road-ragers, are you?’

He scowls at the yellow sign stuck to the car’s rear window. ‘I fucking hate those Baby On Board signs.’

I lift a brow. ‘You hate Baby On Board signs.’

‘Why is a baby’s life more valuable than mine?’ His tongue gets caught on the word ‘valuable’.

I just stare at his profile.

Do I even bother explaining that babies are much more likely to be seriously hurt in an accident?

Lindsay makes an irritated grunt and turns his wheel to overtake the car, flying past it on the wrong side of the road. Half a second later, the world whirls around me in a fierce spin, and my neck snaps painfully to the left. My palms slam against the glove box and cling on to stop myself from falling, like I’m on a rollercoaster without a seatbelt. Tyres squeal in my ears, and the window beside me explodes. I swing my head towards it, but a loud bang hits my ears, chased by a hissing sound. Two heartbeats pass before a thunderous noise clangs in my skull from behind, and everything collapses into blackness.

CHAPTER 21

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