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He stops mixing the drink he’s making and looks at me with intensity. There’s something else inside those eyes of his, something I’ve never seen before.
Admiration? Amusement? What?
I can’t quite figure it out, but I push it out of my mind for now. I need a picture stat. “Okay, snap a quick one with me. She’s going to lose her shit when I send it to her.”
I walk around to his side of the island and bring up the camera app on my phone. He steps in close and my nose fills with his cologne, a scent I’ll never tire of. When his arm wraps around my shoulders and his fingers graze my bare skin, my knees buckle.
Ignore it.
Lifting the phone up, I position it in place and we both smile as if on cue. With a click of a button, my phone snaps the pic. I click it again like I always do, so I can pick the best shot out of them. But Landon’s no longer looking at the camera.
He’s looking at me.
Click.
In a way he never has before.
Click click.
Without warning, he presses his nose against my cheek and inhales. “Fuck,” He mutters and then he steps away, instant cold replacing his warmth.
I pretend to laugh, it comes out more of a grunt, and I quickly scamper back to my drink while trying to hide the fact that my heart is suddenly racing and my breathing has picked up in speed.
“Shit, I’m sorry, pookie. I got caught up in the moment and—”
“Don’t worry about it.” I flick my hair back and shrug my shoulders, in a way that I hope shows I don’t care.
My insides are another story. They’re currently all short circuiting.
“No, I shouldn’t have crossed the boundaries we set. I’m sorry. Send that pic to your mom though. There’s no way you're going on a date with whatever loser she’s trying to set you up with. I need to deliver these drinks. Be right back.”
I watch as he walks away and I’m left feeling like a tornado just smacked me sideways. How does he manage to do that every time?
With a swipe of my finger, I open the photo apps and inspect each one. The first one, where we’re both smiling at the camera, is the one I’m sending to my mom. Maybe I’ll even prank Bella with it.
My thumb swipes to the next one, both of us still smiling, but Landon in mid turn towards me. The next is him looking at me, and then us looking at each other.
It’s plain as day something is happening between us.
This picture shows it all.
I don’t like how it makes me feel, my insides all twisting and turning together.
It’s stirring up things I’ve pushed way down and kept hidden. Need to keep hidden.
I hit delete on all of them except the one I sent to my mom.
Problem solved.
Chapter 14
Landon
After I bring Everleigh home from the Christmas party, I drive down to the place I like to park overlooking the shore. The same spot I brought Everleigh to before the Halloween party.
I stare at the stars in the sky and listen to the waves crash on the shore. I try to make sense of the chaos in my head but it seems useless at this point.
The arrangement with Everleigh…well, let’s just say that even though it's working out great, it’s getting more and more complicated. How do you stop being attracted to someone? Especially seeing how I acted on it already. It’s nearly impossible.
