Page 4 of Fear of Love (Falling #3)

His blond hair was longer, the edges curling around his ears, but it suited him.

It matched the beard he grew out, giving him that rugged look.

His nose was a bit crooked from having been broken playing hockey in school, but even with the slight imperfection, he was still attractive.

No surprise there. He was a Boone after all.

All three Boone brothers were insanely attractive. Unfair they all managed to look like GQ models and be some of the nicest guys. Their mom, Evelyn, raised them to be respectful and kind, which only added to their appeal.

However, I wouldn’t have said Landon Boone was the nicest of the three. No, he was a dick. The guy was stubborn as hell and always found some way to get under my skin. Even when he gave me that unimpressed look, it was enough to grind my teeth.

“Blondie,” Landon greeted, finally looking in my direction. His hazel eyes flashed in amusement. He knew how I felt about that nickname.

“Didn’t know we were allowed to bring trash to the party.” I tilted my head to the side, eyeing his six-two frame up and down.

“Obviously, if you’re here,” he retorted.

Try as I might, I couldn’t stop the flare of satisfaction in my belly that Landon could take a dig and give one back without being offended. I would never admit it, but some days, I looked forward to our verbal sparring.

We continued to stare at one another, neither breaking, as the others shifted on their feet awkwardly.

“So… food?” Mila broke the tension a moment later. I looked away, giving my attention to Mila. “We decided we should make pizzas and use the new oven.”

“We get to make our own?” Mateo asked.

“Yep. We have tons of toppings and plenty of dough for everyone to make their own.” Mila gestured to the row of pizza doughs Bryton took out of the fridge.

“We should make things interesting.” Trevor looked at all of us with a grin. “Everyone makes their own pizza, and we vote on which is the best.”

Tasha leaned back and gave her boyfriend a look. “You’ll cheat and vote for your own.”

“Either Mila or Lydia can have final say,” Josie said, forever the voice of reason.

“Lydia it is, then.” Mila shot me a grin.

Rolling my eyes, I agreed. “Fine, better make them good.”

Mateo leaned down and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Vote for mine.”

“You can’t bribe me.” I elbowed him in the ribs before stepping out from under his arm, rounding the side of the counter.

“Let’s do this.” Wyatt rubbed his hands together. “Ready to out pizza all of you.”

With that, everyone chimed in, starting yet another argument.

Doing anything competition wise with this group was bound to result in controversy.

We’d had countless disputes about the stupidest shit, and we even had a competition to see if us girls could beat the guys in a hockey game.

We won—granted, Mila and I were no help and had to recruit Mateo, but still.

As everyone moved around the counter to get their pizza doughs, I dared a glance at Landon, who was already watching me. There was something in his expression that gave me pause. He held my gaze for another second before he turned to talk to Bryton.

I didn’t know what that was all about, but I wasn’t about to think too hard on it. The last person I should have been lusting after was Landon. Especially when the guy couldn’t seem to stand me, and I despised him. Or at least that was the lie I told myself.

The next fifteen minutes was a flurry of everyone claiming their spot at the giant island to make their pizzas. Mila really went all out with every kind of topping you could want. She even had the ingredients to make a dessert pizza.

I stood next to Mateo at the end of the island, grabbing a handful of flour that was being passed around.

I tried not to wince at the mess Mateo made beside me.

I wasn’t the biggest clean freak, but as someone who grew up knowing bad things happened when you made messes, I tried to keep things neat and tidy. My office. My apartment. My life.

“Our first game of the playoffs is Friday. You guys are coming, right?” Mateo asked after a few minutes.

“Of course we are.” Josie was the first to respond.

Across the island, she gave Mateo a reassuring smile.

Mateo might have loved to flirt with Josie and mess with his brother, but the two of them had a close bond.

He was the little brother Josie never had, and she was the sister he never knew he wanted.

“We’ll be there.” Wyatt gave his brother a nod, along with Landon.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Trevor added. “Think you guys will make it to the championships this year?”

“You guys seem to be playing really well,” Bryton added.

It was sweet how everyone supported Mateo and his love for football. He may not have followed in his brother’s footsteps with hockey, but he was doing just as great in his sport, already the star quarterback at his university.

“Our team’s really clicking this year. We’ve only lost a few games, which isn’t bad.” Mateo shrugged as he kneaded his dough, trying to downplay it.

“Are we allowed to bring signs?” Tasha asked. “Because I wanna bring a sign.”

“Yeah, do we get jerseys, too?” Mila butted in.

“We should make jerseys!” Josie added, an excited gleam in her eye.

“I do like the thought of my name on your back,” Mateo mused, a smirk playing on his lips.

“Oh, here we go,” Wyatt muttered, slapping his dough a little too hard on the counter.

“Not my fault she’ll have my name before yours,” Mateo joked.

“She’s marrying me, dumbass.” The glare Wyatt gave his brother only made him smile that much harder.

Before one of them threw pizza dough at the other, I interjected, an idea quickly forming. “Hey, Mateo.”

“Yeah?”

I glanced up at him. “How do you feel doing an interview for the magazine?” I asked. I grinned at the way his eyes widened.

“Seriously?”

“Why not? We could highlight you and the team. If Josie doesn’t mind, she can take pictures at the game.”

“Hell yes.” Mateo quickly nodded. The words barely left his mouth before Landon cut him off.

“No.”

I turned to face Landon, eyebrow raised as he sent me a glare. “No?”

“He isn’t some prized mare you can showcase in your magazine.” Landon’s voice was hard and unforgiving.

“I have no problem being a prized mare,” Mateo offered before his brother brushed his response to the side.

“What’s the harm? It’s good publicity for him and the university.”

“He’s a kid,” Landon snapped. “He doesn’t need to be paraded around just for you to get some money.”

“Lan—” Wyatt tried to say, but I was already talking.

“He’s nineteen and can make decisions for himself.” I narrowed my eyes at Landon, anger starting to burn in my chest. “And I’m not using him for money. It’s to help get his name out there.”

“It puts another target on his back. You’re basically telling everyone about Wyatt Boone’s younger brother.”

“They already know he’s Wyatt’s brother.”

“They’ll start to question his talent and if he got where he is today without any help. Any scouts that want him will start looking at others who are ‘more deserving.’ All you’ll be doing is making it twice as hard for Mateo to succeed.”

Landon’s words hit my chest like an arrow. When I thought of the idea of Mateo being in the magazine, I hadn’t thought about it like that. I just wanted to help. I opened my mouth to apologize but Landon kept going.

“You may be money hungry but the rest of us are not.”

His words hit me square in the stomach, more brutal than the last. The room was silent as Landon’s words echoed in the air. Everyone stood around staring as if they weren’t sure what to say.

I held Landon’s gaze for another moment before looking down at my hands embedded in my pizza dough. My chest ached from his words, but I forced my face to remain blank, the emotionless mask I perfected sliding into place.

Awkwardness grew with each passing second, the others shifting on their feet. I felt Mateo move before I saw it. In a matter of seconds, he ripped off a piece of his dough and lobbed it across the island, hitting Trevor in the face.

Just like that, the tension lifted as Trevor wasted no time throwing a piece of dough back. I didn’t have it in me to laugh with everyone else when it slid down Mateo’s face.

A half an hour later, the pizzas were ready to be baked. Despite Mateo lightening the mood, there was still an air of tension lingering. I was actively ignoring Landon, and everyone knew it.

Landon’s words were harsh and ate away at me. Did he really think I was money hungry? Was I in the wrong for offering Mateo a spot in the magazine? I didn’t mean for it to come off that way but maybe it did. Even so, Landon didn’t need to be an absolute asshole about it. Then again when wasn’t he?

With the guys cooking the pizzas in the outdoor pizza oven, and the girls inside setting the table, I slipped outside, making my way toward the covered pool.

The air was cold, and I hugged my arms around my middle.

I should have been inside helping, but I needed a moment, even if that meant freezing my ass off outside.

Though it was early in the afternoon, the sun was partially blocked by clouds.

I took a seat on the edge of one of the pool recliners. Letting out a sigh, I closed my eyes before I felt the presence of someone behind me.

“You’re sulking.” A tall, lean body plopped down in the recliner next to me.

“I just needed a breather.”

“That could be classified as sulking,” Mateo pointed out.

I didn’t answer, not wanting to admit that he was right.

Mateo nudged his foot against mine. “Don’t listen to Landon. He’s an asshole.”

“Yeah.” My voice came out soft.

“He’s protective, overly so, but he means well.”

“You’re his baby brother. I get it.” I shrugged.

“He’s been through a lot.” Mateo’s voice went soft, causing me to glance over at him in surprise at the seriousness of his tone.

“I was only a few months old when my dad left us. The only real father figure I’ve ever had was Landon.

He was a kid himself when he took over that fatherly role for Wyatt and me. Taught me everything I know.”

My heart squeezed at the way Mateo was speaking about his older brother. Mateo might’ve joked a lot, but when it came to his family, he’d take a bullet for them. He was as fiercely protective of his brothers as they were of him.

I only knew a little bit about Landon and his family. Most of what I learned came from Josie, who briefly touched on their father leaving when Mateo was only a few months old, leaving their mom, Evelyn, to raise three young boys.

Landon being protective of Mateo made sense. I couldn’t fault him for being concerned. He was only looking out for his family, even if it came off as harsh. If I had a younger sibling, I probably would’ve acted the same way. Didn’t mean his words hurt any less, though.

“Sometimes I think he forgets that Wyatt and I don’t need a father anymore. We just need a brother.” Glancing over at me, I met his gaze. “Landon comes across as a dick, but he’s only looking out for us. I can guarantee he feels like shit for what he said.”

“Doubt that,” I mumbled. “It’s probably best if you’re not in the magazine.”

“Robbing the people of seeing this gorgeous face.” Mateo gestured to his head.

The corner of my lips tilted up. “Such a shame.”

“It truly is.” Mateo grinned at me. “But I promise when my team wins the championship this year, you can get an exclusive interview.” He nudged me with his foot again.

“I’ll hold you to that.” I nudged him back with a smile.

Hearing Josie calling our names, I let out a sigh.

Time to get back. Mateo easily got to his feet, holding out his hand for me and pulling me to my feet in one smooth motion.

Standing next to him, I realized just how much he had grown since I first met him.

Crazy to think he could almost rival his brothers in height and muscle now.

“So, where’s my kiss?” Mateo asked the second I stood tall.

“Your kiss?”

“Yeah, I helped cheer you up. So, a kiss is my reward.” He looked quite proud of himself for saying that. He tapped his lips with a finger while grinning. Lifting onto my toes, I leaned toward him, his eyes widening as his lips parted.

I got close to his mouth, my lips threatening to break out into a grin, as Mateo held perfectly still waiting for his kiss.

“In your dreams kid,” I whispered before pressing a quick peck to his cheek. I stepped around him with a smirk, heading back toward the house.

“Oh, you will be!” Mateo yelled, making me laugh under my breath.