Page 15 of Fear of Love (Falling #3)

My lips twitched at his words. Funny how he was warning his friends, yet he did exactly that when it was just him.

“I could take them.”

I glanced over my shoulder to see one of his friends puffing his chest out while looking at Trevor, Wyatt, and Bryton in the living room. It was cute he thought so. He had nothing on the three of them, even if he was a little bulky from playing football.

“Dude, they’re professional hockey players. You’d be toast,” another guy said, shoving the one who made the comment.

“The only single one is Lydia.”

I quickly turned my head back around as my name was said, the feel of eyes on my back.

“She’d tear you apart.” Mateo laughed, to which I almost nodded. He wasn’t wrong.

“I like a challenge.” I could hear the cockiness in his friend’s voice and feel the way his eyes were roaming my backside. Loving a good tease, I grabbed the beer I came for and shut the fridge before I turned to face all five boys standing in Evelyn’s dining room.

With their eyes glued in my direction, I purposely headed their way, adding an extra sway to my hips as I went. I already knew the table behind them had a bottle opener, and I saw my opening.

“Excuse me, boys.” I touched the shoulder of one as I squeezed through to grab it. I didn’t miss the way they went quiet. The one I touched going as far as gulping. I knew teasing them was wrong, but I couldn’t help myself.

“Sorry to interrupt.” With the opener in hand, I stepped back, my arm grazing the one closest to me. “Great game, by the way.” I sent him a smile, secretly loving the way he seemed to freeze at the attention.

“T-thanks,” he stuttered slightly.

With a flick of my wrist, I popped the lid off my beer before bringing it to my lips. I fought the urge to smile as they, Mateo included, watched in fascination. It was probably cruel but at least it would give them all something to think about later.

“See you later, boys.” I gave them a wink before I turned on my heel and left, walking to the living room where the others were at, hushed whispers coming from behind me. A quick glance over my shoulder told me Mateo was shaking his head at me, his eyes flashing in amusement.

A wide grin graced my face as I made my way toward Josie and Tasha.

“That was mean,” Josie teased when I came to her side.

“I didn’t do anything.” I gave them an innocent look to which they both just snorted.

“Well, someone doesn’t look too thrilled,” Tasha said around the rim of her glass. Following her gaze, I found Landon leaning against the doorway, beer in hand, as his eyes narrowed in my direction.

We hadn’t said a single word to each other since Mateo’s game. After our little moment was ruined, a moment I could almost convince myself didn’t happen, we all got so focused on getting out of the stadium and driving over to Evelyn’s that there was no time to talk.

I wouldn’t say Landon was actively avoiding me, but we also hadn’t been left alone to even have a conversation about what happened at the stadium.

First with him flirting with me—something I was still trying to wrap my head around.

Then the way my stomach clenched when I thought about it.

It was enough for me to wonder if I was having a stroke of some kind.

I, Lydia Ellis, didn’t get all gooey over a man. Let alone Landon Boone.

And then Mateo won. The way he held me paired with the look on his face…

It was like he was finally going to kiss me.

The crazy part was I would have kissed him back if our friends hadn’t been right there to ruin it.

That alone scared me because Landon had the knack of peeling back my layers and embedding himself in them.

“Landon doesn’t care,” I said, although a part of me wished he did.

Tasha snorted. “Oh, he cares.”

“Don’t think we didn’t see your little moment at the game.” Josie gave me a smirk.

“Cause we did,” Tasha added.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I shrugged, taking a sip of my beer, and looked around the living room.

“Okay, fine we’ll let it go,” Josie relented. “But just know,” she leaned in to whisper, “he’s jealous.”

The two dropped the topic and started talking about something else, but my mind lingered on the thought of Landon. My eyes found him, looking him up and down as he talked to Bryton. Heat curled in my belly as my mind replayed what it felt like to kiss him in Australia.

I remembered the way his lips felt against mine, and goddamn it, I wanted to feel them again. This time, when I was completely sober. I craved that same spark from earlier, the way his flirting had made my skin warm.

I knew if we crossed that line things could get awkward.

We had a tight friend group, and the last thing I wanted was to ruin that.

Because if things did get weird between the two of us, it wasn’t like we could just ignore it and go our separate ways.

He was Wyatt’s brother, future brother-in-law to Josie, who was my best friend.

But even as I thought of all the roadblocks, I couldn’t deny I felt a pull toward Landon. If he felt the same, would it really be that bad if something were to happen between us? Did he even want that?