She simply laughed, tucked her arm through Kyle’s and threaded through the tables to the exit.

Philip cleared his throat softly. “I should probably be on my way as well,” he said, also dropping money to cover his share. I was pretty sure he didn’t have anywhere he needed to be, but he was gracious enough to recognize his third wheel status. “I’ll catch you later, Angel,” he said. I responded with something similar, and after giving Marcus a parting guy-nod thing, he departed.

Since people were waiting for tables, Marcus and I didn’t linger much longer—only enough to scarf down pie, pay the bill, and overtip the waitress with the excess the others had left. By the time we stepped outside the sun had dropped below the buildings, and the western sky glowed with orange and purple. The temperature had dropped as well, and I hugged my arms around myself.

“Sorry that turned out kind of weird,” I said as we walked down the street to where my car was parked.

“It’s okay.” His expression was a mix of tired and resigned, but he dropped his arm over my shoulders and pulled me close in reassurance. “It helped me clear out some doubts.”

I gave him a puzzled look. “What do you mean? Doubts about what?”

He took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. “I’m quitting the sheriff’s office.”

That stopped me in my tracks, but once I had a second or two to process his statement, I realized it wasn’t all that surprising. “Okay,” I said, walking again. “I know you didn’t want to be a cop forever, but do you have something else planned?”

A smile touched his mouth. “I got accepted into law school.”

Squealing, I threw my arms around him. “Oh my god! Law school? Marcus, that’s fantastic!” I knew he’d wanted to go to law school close to a decade ago, but he put that on hold and became a cop when his mother developed breast cancer.

He hugged me close. “I probably should’ve gone that direction a few years ago, but then I’d have missed getting together with you.”

“I didn’t even know you were applying.” I grinned up at him. “I’m so happy for you! Wow, law school!”

“It’s only in New Orleans, which means we don’t have to move a long distance away,” he continued, smiling. “I know you’d hate to be far from your dad and friends.”

The fuck? My grin disintegrated, and I pulled back. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I sent it to voicemail without even looking at it. “Wait. Marcus, don’t you think we should discuss moving?” Hell, we weren’t even officially living together. There’d been some preliminary “wouldn’t it be cool if” discussion, but that was about it.

“Okay, I guess I jumped the gun on that, but I figured since it was just to New Orleans . . .” He sighed. “Sorry.”

My dismay climbed higher. New Orleans was over two hours away. This wasn’t as if he’d suggested a move across town. “Marcus, I love you,” I said, “but I don’t want to move. I’m just starting to get my life figured out.”

Exhaling, he pulled me close again. “Okay, okay. Sorry. We’ll make it work. I don’t think two hours even qualifies as a long distance relationship.”

I hugged him back, but suddenly it was as if he’d left a box of bait open and all the thoughts and worries and uncertainties began to worm their way out. Law school was a big deal, yet he’d never even told me he was applying. And for him to simply assume we’d move in together—in a different city, no less—with zero warning or discussion . . .

A weird fatigue settled on me. The same relationship problems kept popping up, over and over. We were in a rut, and while it was usually a pleasant one, the banks only seemed to be getting steeper. I’d been in a rut with my ex-boyfriend, Randy, as well, one I’d stayed in for

almost four years before being turned into a zombie shocked me out of it. The nature of that rut had been different, consisting more of the habit of being together and a lack of desire to change what worked well enough most of the time. Yet, weirdly enough, even though my time with Randy had been unhealthy on a number of levels, I knew there was no way in hell he’d have ever made a big decision for me like this.

“I don’t want a long distance relationship,” I heard myself say as my thoughts finally settled.

“It wouldn’t be,” he insisted. “Sure, we wouldn’t see each other as often, but . . .” He trailed off, and it was obvious he didn’t want a long distance relationship either. “Angel,” he said, obviously torn. “I need to do this, but I don’t want to lose you.”

“I know,” I said, “and I want you to go to law school and kick all the ass. But I think that if we try and do the long distance thing, it’ll fall apart. Us, I mean.” I kissed him lightly. “I think we would do better being the absolute best of friends than we would being long distance boyfriend and girlfriend.” Bizarre relief bloomed within me. A way out of the rut?

Shock spread over his face. “Angel—”

“Marcus,” I said quietly, “I don’t ever want us to get to the point where we break up and never want to see each other again. I don’t ever want to not be around you. Does that make sense?”

“I wish to hell it didn’t.” He let out a heavy breath and tightened his arms around me. “I think I’ve just been dumped,” he murmured.

Hugging him close, I leaned my head against his chest. “No. You’ve been gently placed on a soft cushion so that you’ll still be all shiny and pretty when it’s time to play with you again.”

Marcus snorted. “Better be a damn nice pillow.”

“It’s an awesome pillow,” I assured him.

“I believe you.” He hugged me tighter before releasing me. “You still want a ride home, or do you want to try and get your car fixed now?”

Tags: Diana Rowland White Trash Zombie Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net