“Hey.” A smile lights Landon’s face when he sees me. “What are you doing here?”
I hold the book out in front of me. “My mom wanted me to drop this by, but I wasn’t sure if you were here. I didn’t want to disturb the dogs.”
Landon retracts the stick, turns off the recorder, and heads my way. He must have had his hair cut in the last few days. It looks a little trimmer on the sides and shorter on top, though there’s still plenty of it to run your fingers through.
I blinkthatdistracting thought away.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” he says, smile firmly affixed on his face. He walks my way, advancing on me like a panther.
Shaking my head, I take a step back. “No…”
“Why?” He’s close now, just a couple feet away.
“Why what?” My eyes fall to his chest. His T-shirt is faded navy with a weathered twenty-four on it. As far as I know, it’s just a meaningless, random number, but my eyes zero in on it.
“Why are you avoiding me, Lacey?”
I rip my gaze from his shirt, making myself meet his eyes. “I don’t have…” I trail off, not wanting to make a fool of myself by saying,I don’t have flings with summer boys, because that would be me assuming he’s interestedin me. And I don’t know—maybe he’s just indulging in some casual flirting to pass the time. Maybe it doesn’t mean anything at all.
Maybe I’m reading too much into it.
He raises a sandy brow. “Friends?”
I bark out a laugh. “Yes, Landon, I don’t have friends. That’s exactly what I was going to say.”
“Well, if you weren’t going to say that, you were going to say something else.” He gives me a sly grin. “Which means you’re okay with us being friends.”
“Are we six now?” I tease, and then I make my voice a higher pitch. “Will you be my friend, Landon?”
“Whyyes, Lacey, I will be your friend.” His voice deepens, taking on an almost sultry tone. I realize I foolishly stumbled into a game without learning the rules first.
I set my hands on my hips, biting back a smile.
“I guess that means you’re going to stop avoiding me, right?” he asks. “And we should go to lunch because that’s whatfriendsdo whenfriendsare starving. And Lacey” —he leans down, meeting me at eye level— “I’m starving.”
I can’t help it; I laugh, finally giving in—not to the crush, but to the boy. It’s not like I’m going to fall head over heels for him just because he’s hot. That’s ridiculous. I’m made of stronger stuff than that…at least I’d like to think I am.
“We have one tiny problem,” I say. “My mom took my Jeep, and you appear to be car-less.”
Landon sets his hands on my shoulders, stepping close enough my mouth goes dry. “Do you have a bike?”
“Yes…”
“What a coincidence. So do I.”
“You want to ride our bikes into town?”
Paige and I used to do it all the time—before we got our licenses. Now it seems juvenile.
“Unless you can magically produce a vehicle,” he says. “In which case, I will be most impressed.”
I shake my head, smiling. There’s something different about Landon, something I like. He doesn’t care what people think—after all, he’ll walk around the campground talking to his camera. Maybe there’s freedom in wandering the country, not trying to please the people you see day in and day out.
Landon glances at his video recorder. “Just let me plug this in before we go.”
He walks to the door and waves me in. I follow him, hesitant, not wanting to invade his family’s space.
“Excuse the mess,” he says. “It’s somewhat difficult to coexist in such a tight area. Everything tends to go everywhere.”
