He struggles with touch. She struggles with trust. How could these two, afraid of necessities of love, ever come to need each other?
* * *
Ulyssa Miller, a proud college student in psychology, strives to become the best therapist she can be in o...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
♛ ♛ ♛
I grabbed my purse and rushed down to Ziad's workout room, seeing him unload duel pistols on yet another Vincent dummy.
"Dad!" I yelled.
He grabbed yet another clip from the back of his weapon belt, shooting five bullets through the center of the dummy's head.
Would he ever give it a break?!
"Dad!!!" I yelled again.
Ziad froze and turned to look at me, suddenly losing the serious expression on his face. "Oh. Hi, sweetheart."
"I'm going out," I told him.
He rose an eyebrow, "Where?"
I shrugged, "Maybe the mall or Remeré's."
He placed the guns on a long silver table that had other countless weapons. "Hm," is all he could manage to get out. He didn't know if I was going to try to see that mayor.
She'd never forgive me if she saw what I did to Vincent, Ziad thought.
"What?" I laughed, looking at my stepfather's miserable face.
"You can go," he said sadly and sat on the edge of the table, polishing a dagger with a white rag.
I looked at him for a moment, then shrugged, turning to leave until he spoke again.
"No hug?" he asked my turned back.
"Nope," I giggled and did my best to run away, but before I could even jog, he had scooped me up in his embrace. "Put me down!!!"
Ziad gave me one long big squeeze.
He knew I hated hugs, but he felt like it was necessary for my survival, due to recent scientific studies. "Hugs are good for you."
I cringed and he laughed, putting me down. "I love you. Go have fun kiddo."
I could feel my face heat up when he petted my head. "I will. Bye bye!"
Ziad watched me run off, before looking at his watch, seeing a red dot along the map of the city. The tracker was working.
Good.
• • •
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
