Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 82508 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82508 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
I can’t stop feeling like he’s pulling away. He’s physically here but not really present.
It’s Wednesday morning, so I head for the cafeteria to meet Zach for our routine weekly breakfast we started doing this semester. I still can’t get a good read on him, but since Grant’s been gone, I’ve tried to reach out a little so he knows he’s not alone.
Well, alone other than the weird, angry chick who’s always around.
I fill my tray and head for a table in the corner where Zach is sitting, staring across the room and paying me zero attention. He’s cute in a little brother kinda way, but I have no idea what Grant sees in him. His small face is swamped by thick glasses, and his black hair is always a mess.
My tray thunking onto the table makes him jump.
“Hey.”
“Topher.” He leans a little toward me. “I’m trying to figure out if they’re flirting or fighting,” he says, nodding to two girls across the room from us.
“Why not both?”
His smile makes his eyes squinty. “Well, you and Teddy prove that’s possible.”
I sit down and start to dig into my lunch.
“You look annoyed about something.” Zach cocks his head. “Or constipated. I can’t work out which.”
“Eh. It’s nothing.”
“In my experience when people say it’s nothing it tends to be something.”
“You going all psych on me?”
“You’re frowning.” He’s concentrating really hard now. “It’s Teddy, isn’t it?”
I scoff around my mouthful. “Since when are you so perceptive?”
“I was right?”
He almost gets a laugh out of me. “Okay, so maybe he’s been a bit distant lately.”
Zach’s silent for a moment, and I assume that’s it, but he surprises me when he keeps talking. “You know, when Foster was captain last year, he got busy. Like, really busy. We didn’t see each other for a few weeks, and so I got busy trying not to notice, but because of the whole thing with Morris, his coach pushed him so hard he had no free time and, well, maybe that’s what’s happening?”
“Good point, except for one little detail.”
Zach looks like he’s trying to do algebra and can’t work out the equation.
“I’m also captain. If it was because of hockey, I’d know about it.”
“Oh.”
“Mmhmm.”
“Huh. Okay. Well, what’s he been doing?”
“He’s with me most nights, but during the day, he disappears. We have different classes, and it’s a super-busy year for him, but … I don’t know. I always find the time to send him a text to see how his day is going. Or, I did, until he stopped answering them about a week ago. And then when we are together, he’s distracted, like he’s constantly thinking about something else.”
“Are you sure he’s going to classes?”
I blink at him. “Of course he’s …” But then I really think about it. “Well, it’s not like I follow him, but I assume he’s going to his classes.” Although, ditching them and trying to catch up on the laptop at night would make sense. But why would he do that?
“When there’s secrecy in a relationship, there’s often a high probability of unfaithfulness,” Zach says casually.
I jerk back. “You think he’s cheating on me?”
Zach holds his hands up. “Shit, no. Well, I don’t know. I’m saying the probability is high—”
“Thanks for the help, but he’s not cheating.”
He couldn’t be. We’re still having mind-blowing sex. At least, I think it’s mind-blowing.
“Good, okay, fine.” Zach looks like he’s panicking. Like maybe he has offended me in some way. “I didn’t mean to accuse him—”
“Hey.” I set my hand on his shoulder. “It’s cool. Beck’s not cheating.”
“Can I ask how you know?”
“I don’t.” I shrug. “It’s called trust. But … he is hiding something. The thing is, I don’t know why.”
“Then … why don’t you find out?”
“Oh yeah, and how do I do that, genius?”
“Ask him.”
“He says nothing’s wrong. Or he’s vague and then changes the subject.”
“Then follow him?”
I look at Zach with new eyes, and he blinks back at me innocently. “Grant’s gotta keep an eye on you.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
I laugh at his innocence, still unable to tell if it’s all an act or not. Either way, once breakfast is over, his words are stuck in my brain. Beck’s last class is in the building opposite mine. There’s no reason why I can’t duck out a couple of minutes early, just to see where he’s going.
So I do.
No one in the lecture theater looks up as I grab my shit and leave. The hall outside is already busy, and it’s lucky I leave early because I’ve barely made it outside when I see Beck and two girls, I’m assuming from his class, leave the building opposite.
The second I see him though, I know this isn’t right.
Even with this weird distance, seeing his face makes me smile. And for someone I couldn’t stand a few months back, it’s incredible how quickly he’s become my everything. I won’t do anything to fuck with that.