Page 16 of Fear of Love (Falling #3)

LANDON

“ W e need to do something fun for Wy’s bachelor party,” Trevor said next to me.

“We could go to some bar and just have a boy’s night,” Bryton suggested. “Strip clubs are definitely out.”

“I like my balls attached to my body.” I would have laughed at Trevor’s words if I were paying attention, but my gaze was focused elsewhere.

Across the living room, Lydia was talking to the girls, her head thrown back in laughter.

I clenched the beer in my hand at the sight.

Fuck, why did she have such a hold on me?

I had been with my fair share of women, but none of them had the same effect on me that Lydia Ellis did. And I didn’t even know why.

She loved to get under my skin, and I knew for a fact she knew what she was doing. That little smirk she got, the way her green eyes sparked when she got a reaction out of me. Yeah, I liked that a little too much.

Although, none of those compared to the look on her face earlier at the game when I proved I did, in fact, know how to flirt. Granted, it wasn’t my best work, but it was enough to see that Lydia did feel something under that wall of hers.

Seeing her standing there made me want to go over and kiss her.

I already knew what her lips felt like from when we kissed in Australia months ago, but that was barely a kiss, and she was drunk.

I had wanted nothing more than to press her against the hotel door and brand her with my mouth, but I knew she had one too many drinks.

The last thing I would ever do was take advantage of a woman when she was under the influence.

I also knew she’d regret it in the morning, and I wasn’t about to put her in that position. But that didn’t mean I didn’t think about that kiss daily. The urge to do it again and make her mine grew with each passing day I saw her.

The worst part about it, though… She didn’t belong to me. Lydia wasn’t mine.

“Landon.”

“Hm?”

“Game to rob a bank?” Trevor asked.

“Sure.” My eyes remained glued to Lydia. I didn’t pay attention to a single word he said.

“We’re going to dress up as the Powerpuff Girls,” Bryton added.

“Fine with me.”

“Trevor has a crush on you,” Bryton continued.

“Mmhmm.”

“Dude.” A punch to my arm snapped me out of staring. I looked over at Trevor and Bryton, whose eyebrows were raised in question.

“Did you hear anything we just said?” Trevor asked.

“Uh, bachelor party?”

“You just basically agreed that Trevor is gay.” Bryton said which earned him a look from Trevor. “Which would be totally fine if you were. No judgement here.” Bryton put his hands up.

“I have a girlfriend, you asshole.” Trevor glared.

“She might be mad at first, but she’d support you,” Bryton said with an earsplitting grin.

“Landon would be lucky to date me. I’m amazing.” Trevor shoved Bryton, making him stumble to the side as he laughed.

I rolled my eyes at the two grown ass men in front of me.

“Back to the conversation.” Trevor turned back to me. “You’re going to burn a hole in Lydia’s side from how hard you’re staring.”

“Seriously. What’s that about?” Bryton asked.

“Nothing.” Like hell I was going to say something to these two about Lydia and me.

“Yeah, right. You two have something going on. Don’t think we didn’t see the moment you guys had at Mateo’s game when he won.” Trevor gave me a look, daring me to disagree.

“It was…” Fuck, I didn’t even know what that was about.

Seeing my little brother win his game, getting him one step closer to the biggest game of his career thus far, made my chest swell with pride.

I didn’t think when I pulled Lydia into a hug.

For just a brief moment, I let my walls down for Lydia to see.

“You two have been skirting around whatever this is,” Bryton waved his hand between Lydia and me, “for what? A year? Why don’t you do something about it?”

“Because.” Because, what? Because I was scared to get hurt again? Scared that maybe it could be more if I let it?

“I almost lost Tasha because I was too chickenshit to go after her. You should give it a shot.” Since when did Trevor become a relationship expert? First Mateo and now him.

“Yeah, well, it’s not that simple,” I said, taking a pull of my beer.

“It is. You’re just standing in your own way.” Bryton slapped my arm before walking off to his girlfriend.

“He’s right, you know.” This time it wasn’t Trevor that spoke. I looked at Mateo as he wandered over. “For a guy who’s such a know-it-all, you really suck with women.”

“Did I forget the part where I asked?” I leveled my brother with a look.

“Not my fault I’m better with women than you.”

“Yeah, and that’s going to get your ass beat one day.”

“No pain, no gain.” Mateo smirked, making me roll my eyes.

“Did you come over here for a reason?” I switched the conversation away from me.

“I can’t talk to my favorite brother?”

“Favorite brother?” My eyebrow raised. “What do you want?” He was quiet for a minute before he gave me a sheepish grin.

“My friends and I want to go to Kawartha Lake tomorrow until Monday.” I knew where this was going. “Would it be possible for you to help with the cabin?” He turned on the puppy dog eyes that always worked on Mom.

“Would it be just you five?” I asked, glancing at his friends who stood behind him and acted like they weren’t listening. They weren’t even remotely sly about it.

“Yeah, just us.” I looked back and forth between him and them, trying to see if they were lying, which they probably were.

“Do you have a place picked out already?” I asked Mateo.

“Yeah, here.” Mateo pulled out his phone, flipping to a booking page for a cabin near Kawartha Lake. “We made sure it wasn’t too far and a decent price.” He listed off everything the cabin included as he scrolled through the pictures for me to see.

My protective side wanted to come out and ask a million more questions, but I knew I needed to start trusting Mateo. It was hard to come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t a little kid anymore.

It did make me feel better that Mateo was asking even though they were all adults. It made me feel important as my father- figure role was slowly disappearing. I’d been so used to being the man of the family since my father left that it was hard to step away from it.

I wasn’t worried about the money. While Mateo had his own to pay for the cabin I was happy to pay for it this time.

Wyatt and I set up a fund for him when he was ten that he was able to get access to at eighteen.

But when he started uni, we sat him down and had a serious conversation about being financially responsible.

It was there for his future, not for bullshitting and spending it on whatever he wanted.

Just because Wyatt and I had money, thanks to smart investments with Trevor, it didn’t mean Mateo had it, too.

Boones worked for what they wanted. They didn’t just get things handed to them. Something Mateo had to learn.

As Mateo continued talking, I looked him over, a pang going through my chest. It felt like just yesterday that I was teaching him how to ride a bike.

“I promise to let you know when we get there and what we’re doing and when we leave,” he said, a hopeful look in his eyes.

“Give me your phone.” I sighed, hand held out.

At my words, Mateo grinned. “Knew you were my favorite brother.”

“Uh huh.” A smile played on my lips as I grabbed his phone and started booking the cabin. He deserved to go and have fun. They won a hard game today, and he needed a break before the championships.

As I booked the cabin, Mateo turned around and gave his friends a thumbs-up, which earned a loud cheer and everyone’s attention.

“I expect you to let me know when you leave tomorrow and when you get there.” I shot him a firm look as I handed back his phone. No matter what, I was still going to worry about him and Wyatt.

“Thanks, Lan.” Mateo surprised me by pulling me into a tight hug. With a shake of my head, I hugged him back.

“You played great today. Go and have fun.”

His smile wobbled for a second before stretching wider. He slapped my arm before he turned on his heel and headed back to his friends.

As the boys talked, I looked back toward the living room, eyes immediately clashing with Lydia’s green ones. Hers lingered for half a second before she glanced away, but not before I saw the heat in her gaze.

Everyone’s words rang in my head. Maybe they were right. Maybe it was time I do something about Lydia and me.

“Out of everyone, I thought Wyatt would be the stripper,” my mom said a few hours later as we all sat around the dining room table.

Mateo’s friends left a bit ago, so it was just our usual group left.

“Never could keep his clothes on. You’d turn around, and there he was, running naked around the backyard. ”

“Wasn’t me,” Wyatt muttered.

“Of course not, babe.” Josie rubbed his arm, her lips curled in as if holding back a laugh.

“You and Landon used to have naked picnics,” my mom continued, making me choke. Hitting my chest, I looked at my mom with wide eyes. “ What ?”

“Actual picnics?” Lydia asked, leaning forward with a gleam in her eye.

“Don’t,” I hissed, but I knew that would just make her want to know even more.

“The two of them would ask to go sit outside on a blanket and have snacks. They’d sit out there for hours, naked and happy.” I groaned at the same time as Wyatt. These were not stories either of us wanted our friends to know, or anyone else, for that matter.

“Always knew they had a tight bond,” Trevor teased.

“Naked buddies,” Bryton added cackling.

“Please tell me you have pictures,” Lydia said, beaming so brightly her face could hardly contain it.

“Of course.” Evelyn gave the girls a wink. I had no doubt she would make good on that promise.

“Always knew you two were weird.” Mateo laughed. Wyatt and I narrowed our eyes at him

“We have plenty of embarrassing stories about you if you want to go there,” Wyatt said before I could.

Mateo shrugged. “I don’t care.”

“How about that time we went to the zoo and—” Wyatt started to say only for Mateo to interrupt.

“Anyone want dessert? Time for dessert,” Mateo said loudly before Wyatt could finish.

“Mateo was at the zoo—” Wyatt tried again.

“Let me help you with dessert, Mom.” He stood up, reaching for our mother while the others laughed.

“Don’t be mean to your brother.” Mom scolded both Wyatt and me, which made Mateo smirk. When she stood and turned toward the kitchen, Mateo wasted no time flipping us off. Looping his arm through hers, the two went into the kitchen before anything else could be said.

“You are so mean to him.” Josie hit Wyatt’s arm.

“After the shit he’s pulled over the years, he had it coming.” Wyatt shrugged. He wasn’t wrong. The kid loved to do things and then blame us, thinking he was the angel of the family when he was anything but.

She sent him a look. “Like you’re innocent.”

“Of course I am.” Wyatt retorted, looking offended at the insinuation.

“So…” Lydia suddenly said from across the table. Her lips quirked upward. “Naked picnics, huh?”

I narrowed my eyes at her as her smile seemed to grow, my voice low. “Don’t even go there.”

“Little Landon running around naked,” she cooed.

“I’m your ride home, Blondie. I’d be very careful of your next words.”

“If you drive me home naked, maybe bring a towel to cover up. Don’t want anyone to peek in and see things… Well, unless you want people to see.” My gaze narrowed even more, but she just sat there completely unfazed.

“Maybe you and Wyatt wanna get naked like old times,” she continued, seemingly wanting to poke the bear.

“Blondie,” I warned, but I loved the way her eyes flashed with defiance.

“Josie and I can sit in the back while you guys have a naked bonding moment.”

“That mouth is going to get you in trouble,” I said, leaning in. My jaw clenched as images of her on her knees looking up at me with that haughty expression on her face formed in my mind.

“There are ways to shut me up.” Her eyes widened at her own words, almost like they slipped free before she could stop them. The same images from before continued, but this time, my hands were tangled in her hair, hips thrusting as my cock sank deep into her mouth and caused her to gag.

The way she shifted in her chair had me raising an eyebrow at her. Lydia’s cheeks looked a little flush, which made my lip curl up in a smirk. She was clearly thinking something similar, and fuck, did it make me hard.

If I had it my way, I was going to find out just what went through that head of hers very soon.