Page 9

Landon

The door closes. I am utterly disgusted with myself. Coward. Kate stood there, giving me every chance to ask her not to go, to tell her how I feel. I could almost feel her fiery anger shooting flames out of her eyeballs when she realized I wasn’t going to do it. She is angry and rightfully so. Why the hell can I not just say it? Kate, I am crazy about you. Simple as that. I run my fingers through my hair and grab a beer from the fridge. It’s going to be a long night wondering if she’s enjoying herself with him.

Trevor... I growl. What a fuckwad. The past week has really changed how I look at him. I just thought he was a playboy, but no, he’s a territorial bastard, and he doesn’t want to settle for one girl. At practice today, I overheard him telling Jace that he and Kristy got it on last night after he left the bar.

Figures... I didn’t have the heart to say anything to Kate. I didn’t want to come off as “that guy” who picks at the other one out of what seems like jealousy. She’d likely say that I’m just saying that so she wouldn’t go out with him. He’s no good for her, and he is likely going to piss her off in spectacular fashion. I absolutely hate that he’s going to hurt her, but saying anything isn’t going to help. She’ll have to see it for herself, and I’ll do as I said and be here for her when it happens. Fucking Trevor... No promises that I won’t find a way to break his face with a baseball when it all goes down. I decide to turn on Sex/Life and catch up on a few more episodes while she’s out.

Kate

It’s eleven when I get home. Immediately, I’m greeted with lamplight, and the TV is on. Netflix’s “Are you still watching Sex/Life?” is posted in the middle of the screen. I snicker to myself and shake my head as I round the back of the couch to find a sleeping Landon. Aww, he watched my girly shit and fell asleep trying to wait up for me. He looks troubled in his sleep, and that bothers me. I stand there chewing on my thumbnail, pondering how to wake him up while enjoying the sight as his arm stretches up above his head, causing his shirt to ride up and give me a peek at those delectable abs and cut lines. I shiver at what this man’s body does to me.

I choose not to be creepy and rustle his shoulder to stir him.

“Landon, you passed out on the couch. Let’s get you in bed.” I nudge softly to wake him more.

He groans and rolls to his side, rubbing sleep from his eyes to really see me as I sit down on the empty space next to him.

“Did you have a nice time?” he whispers and looks around the room, unable to look me in the eye.

“Do you really want me to answer that?” I ask, lifting my brow.

“No, not really if it includes his lips touching any part of you.”

I smile at the gruffness of his voice, and my heart warms a little with the knowledge that he doesn’t want Trevor’s lips anywhere near my body.

“I’m not that kind of girl for just any guy,” I pointedly admit to him.

“I know that.” He smiles at me sleepily. “Doesn’t mean the fucker wouldn’t try.” He scowls at the idea, and it takes willpower not to giggle.

“So, did you enjoy my show?” I eye the TV then bat my eyelashes back at him. He blushes a bit, but then rolls with it.

“It’s actually pretty good.” He stands up and stretches and his ‘I just woke up’ boner is practically in my face. I gulp and clear my throat. That’s impressive.

“Shit, sorry.” He adjusts his cock and smirks knowingly at me, not really sorry at all, then strolls down the hall into his room, and I follow. I don’t know why.

He crawls into bed and lifts the cover for me, signaling it’s okay for me to come snuggle. I

say, “just a minute,” and go throw on my loose night shirt and shorts. I run my toothbrush through my mouth and use a makeup remover cloth to wipe off my makeup. I can’t do two nights in a row without washing it off before bed. I pause to look at myself in the mirror. I’m crawling into his bed. We’ve snuggled plenty of times over the years, but now that we’ve kind of been blurring that friendship line, I don’t know what to think.

I shyly walk back into his room, and he’s laying on his back on the pillow with his arm out in my spot. He left his shirt on, which is not his norm, but I guess he’s respecting me in a way. He peeks an eye open to see if I’m there and smirks, patting the spot next to him. I crawl in, and he scoops me over to him. I sigh as I lay my head on his chest and hear a rumble of contentment from him as he locks his arm around my waist.

“No funny business...” he mumbles, already half asleep, and I smile at old memories of Landon and I curled up in my bed at home, just like this. He would sneak through my window on nights his parents would argue and he just wanted to get away. I was his safe space. I’d always say “No funny business” before he’d drift right off to sleep. My sweet Landon.

I woke up around four this morning with him spooning me. His face was nuzzled into my hair, and he was lightly snoring. He didn’t even flinch when I slipped out and went pee. I didn’t want to disturb him by crawling back in, so I went back to my own bed. It felt good knowing that my presence helped him fall into a restful sleep.

I am restless as I lay there and think about my situation. Trevor seems nice and all, but he doesn’t make my heart race. His presence doesn’t make me stop and take notice like when Landon enters the room. When Trevor looks at me, I see interest and want, but it’s somehow not enough. I don’t feel like he wants me enough for it to consume him. I’ll give it a few more days, but I don’t have much hope for this, whatever this is. My alarm goes off at seven, and I never made it back to sleep.

Two weeks later, I am finishing up my current art project on my bed when my phone buzzes with an incoming text.

Landon: Hey, Tommy puked in my car last night, and I had to take it in to get detailed. He gave me a ride to school and practice, but would you mind picking me up after?

I roll my eyes because that sounds so like something Tommy would manage to do given the impression he’s made with me.

Me: Yuck. That sounds like a disgusting mess. He owes you a couple beers. And, yes, I can come get you.

Buzz .

Landon: Thanks. We should be done around 5:30. See you in a bit :).

I toss my phone back onto the bed and finish my sketch. Nothing has changed in the past two weeks since the night at the bar and my date with Trevor. Trevor and I have met up between classes for coffee, and he took me out for ice cream two nights ago, but nothing is really happening there either. We’ve kissed a couple of times, and it’s been nice. I mean, he still seems interested, but I get the feeling that I’m not the only pretty thing that is entertaining his interests. The only time he really makes a show of any affection is if Landon is around. He’ll toss an arm around my shoulder and pull me in to kiss my forehead or something light. Part of me wonders if he even really wants to court me or if he’s only doing it because he can and it pisses off Landon.

As I sit there and think about it, it becomes more clear that I have a valid theory. Ughhh...fucking men. Sometimes, I feel they are even more complicated than we are, especially when it comes to rivalry and measuring dicks.

I can’t sit in this room any longer. I grab my keys and check myself in the mirror. Today I’m sporting decently short denim shorts, nothing indecent by any means, and a light pink relaxed fit tee with a set of brown gladiator style sandals. Casual but comfy. I reapply my gloss and head out the door.

I arrive a little early toward the end of the boys’ practice. It looks like rain coming in, and I didn’t want him to have to wait on me. Sitting in the bleachers, I watch as Mason is taking cues from Landon at home, signaling for which throw Mason’s going to choose. Landon is crouched low in position and his baseball pants stretch so nicely around his firm thighs and tight baseball butt. Mmm mmm mmm. I can already hear all the things Melissa would be saying if she were here. One of the players is practicing his batting and is successful with his second swing, slamming it out to Jameson in center field. He quickly picks it up and lobs it to second, getting the other guy out before he can get there.

“Time!” Coach yells, and a few players pound their fists in their gloves as they head in for the dugout. Mason throws the ball back and forth with Landon another time before jogging toward him to walk and chat their way to the dugout. I hear a rumble in the distance and hope he hurries in the locker room. He raises his chin at me in acknowledgement and points his finger up in the universal “I’ll just be a minute” gesture. Mason waves at me and they take off for the locker room.

Five minutes later, he emerges looking up at the sky which is literally going to open up and dump on us any second. He grimaces and heads my way saying ‘bye’ to a couple of the guys who are looking at me. Trevor looks up from his phone and waves when he comes out, but he doesn’t look in the least bit of a hurry to catch up and say hi.

Whatever. I wave back, and Landon turns to check out the situation, seeing if Trevor is making his way to me. He frowns when he notices the same thing I did. He’s not impressed.

“So what’s going on there?” he carefully asks as we walk back toward the lot.

“A whole lot of nothing,” I answer honestly. He nods his head in an answer that really isn’t an answer but more of a “he’s a fucking idiot” sort of way. It’s actually pretty cute. The clouds choose that moment to not just spit on us but drown us. I squeal out in surprise and Landon “whoops” and takes off running with me not far behind.

He gets to my door and opens it fast for me to get in quickly, closing it right as my feet touch the carpet. Even when it’s freaking downpouring, he still opens my door. Considering his father, I’m surprised he’s the man he is today. I send up a silent ‘thank you’ to Dad for being there for him all those years as Landon rounds the car and pours into the seat.

“Shit!” he curses out in laughter while I giggle and start the car. He pulls off his fresh shirt and wipes his face and arms. It’s kind of pointless since it’s drenched too. I can’t help but glance over and take in his wet body. He notices and gulps.

“Kind of defeats that quick-ass run through the shower I just took.” He shakes the water out of his hair making me squeal again and him giggle some more.

He leans over with his shirt while I’m driving and wipes some of the water dripping off my arm and leg closest to him. He suddenly realizes what he's doing and pulls back but doesn’t say anything.

I snatch it from his hand and dab at my face. Mmmm, smells like manly soap and Landon. I love it. We pull into the apartment lot still laughing about the soppy mess we both are, and we’ll have to do it again in a second to get to our door.

“I frickin look like Alice Cooper!” I exclaim as I look into the rearview.

“Pretty much,” Landon giggles but grabs my face, wiping the mascara off from under my eyes with both thumbs, the smile turning soft when he looks at my lips. “Prettiest version of Alice Cooper that I’ve ever seen...” He runs a thumb across my bottom lip and looks up into my eyes. He’s going to kiss me. That exciting and terrifying thought is completely severed when we both jump in our seats as someone close by blares their horn, waiting for someone to run out of their apartment door.

He clears his throat and we both giggle and look at the rivulets of rain cascading my windshield.

“You ready?” he asks challengingly.

“I was born ready,” I answer with my most serious face, and we burst into laughter as he counts down.

“Three, two, one!” We launch from the car and race to our door.