Page 38 of Love Limits

He watches you all the time, Marco continued. I thought it was a game you two were playing at first.

He watches me? Dustin seemed astonished.

Marco and Ash both nodded. Just then, Landon turned back to them, holding his plate victoriously like he’d won some sort of prize. His smile was cracking, though, like he was barely keeping it together.

I’m sorry. I have to go. Dustin said suddenly. Without another word, he turned and left.

Landon just watched him go, apparently not even remembering that he had a whole plate of eggs and salad in his hands.

Stunned, he finally turned and set it down on the table. Did he just leave?

Again, Marco stepped in to answer. I think you hurt his feelings. He seemed to have a lot of empathy for both of them.

Landon took one look around, headed for the door, and then ran back to grab Dustin’s sweater. He held it to his chest while he ran out of the room.

Are they usually that dramatic? Marco asked.

Never. Landon’s usually low-key and completely in control. And I don’t know Dustin yet, but my friend tells me he’s also pretty dependable. I think it’s just the new relationship.

I hope they can sort it out.

Yeah, me too, Ash agreed fervently. They wanted Landon to be happy. And they wanted Zhong to be happy, which he obviously wouldn’t be if Dustin was upset.

And somewhere in there, they were secretly hoping that there was a place for themself in the midst of everything.

They wanted more game nights cuddled up in Zhong’s lap, throwing popcorn at Landon while he laughed because he knew how much Dustin cared.

What a disaster.

Chapter 9

Zhong

Zhong’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out with a smile. He knew that Ash was busy today, but they messaged enough that any notification was probably from them.

Ash: u should probably msg dustin

Ash: not sure what i’m allowed to say, but i’m hanging out with landon

Zhong felt his heart drop. That didn’t sound good at all.

He knew that today was the day of the munch. It was part of why Ash was busy and he knew Dustin’s plans to stay with Landon last night and go to the munch together this morning.

So if Ash was texting him…Dammit.

If Landon was still screwing Dustin over, Zhong was going to be pissed. Dustin didn’t deserve that type of shit. Even though Ash idolized him, that didn’t mean he was a good match for Dustin.

Zhong had enjoyed hanging out with Landon on game night. He seemed kind and funny, truly dedicated to his students. He seemed like a good person. But even good people could be wrong for each other.

Zhong knew Dustin well enough to know that when he fell for someone, he gave it everything he had. Zhong had experienced it first hand, even if he hadn’t understood it at the time. So if Landon didn’t deserve it, Zhong wanted him out of the way before he hurt Dustin any more.

Zhong debated a Skype call, but really he just needed to be with his best friend.

Zhong: Mind if I come over?

There was a very long wait. The little dots bubbled up. They disappeared. They came again, and eventually faded away.

Alright, that was it. He grabbed his coat and headed out the door.