Page 75 of Out of Place

CHAPTER 30

Landon

“Landon, you wanna go out tonight? We can drink at my place if you don’t want to do Cowboy’s,” Cam says as he runs up behind me. We’re just finishing up for the day, and even though we’re creeping into November, it’s still hot. I wipe the sweat off my forehead with my arm before answering.

“Nah, not tonight, man.” I brace myself for the guilt trip he’s about to give me.

“Come on, man. You haven’t gone out in weeks. And we don’t have work tomorrow,” he tells me like I don’t already know this. Like I don’t know I’ve been secluding myself from everything and everyone. I just haven’t been up to it. They’ve all understood and left me alone. Until now. I guess they’re getting sick of my shit. It’s been over a month, and I know I need to snap out of it, but that’s easier said than done.

“I know,” I tell him. Sighing, I concede. “Alright. I’ll come.”

“Hell yes, man. You need to get out. Stop thinking about it. This’ll be good for you.”

“Yeah,” I agree, but I don’t know if I believe that.

We walk back to the house to let Ms. Dottie know we’re heading out for the day. I hope she doesn’t ask me to stay for dinner again tonight. I hate declining, but I still can’t bring myself to do it. I know we’ll end up talking about Olivia, and I’m still not ready for that yet. I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready for that.

“Hey,” Cam starts, but his voice sounds strange. He grabs my arm. I look to see if he’s alright, but he’s staring at the house. “Is that. . .?”

My head whips toward the house, and someone is standing on the back porch. It’s far enough away that I have to squint, but the hot pink sweater is pretty hard to miss.

“Olivia,” I breathe so quietly that I’m not sure a sound comes out.

My legs move progressively faster until I’m jogging, which then turns into a full-on run. She’s running toward me, too, her hair flying behind her in the wind. Her arms are outstretched, and, in a few heartbeats, we collide into each other. I hoist her up so her arms and legs wrap around me and hold her as close as possible.

In that moment, all is right with the world again.

“You’re here,” I say into her hair.

“I’m here,” she confirms.

I don’t know how long we stand like that, but it’s long enough for Cam to catch up and stop beside us. He lets out a small laugh. “Guess that means you’re not coming out tonight.” He’s not actually expecting a response, so I don’t give one. “It’s good to see you again, Olivia.”

She mumbles, “You too,” and he walks past us into the house.

“What are you doing here?” I finally ask, setting her down in front of me.

“You stopped answering my texts,” she states plainly, making me wince slightly. I feel bad about it, but I just. . . couldn’t.

“It was too hard,” I admit. Every time her name popped up on my phone, it felt like my heart was breaking all over again. I figured if I stopped responding, she’d get mad and stop trying. It was shitty of me, but it was the best I could come up with.

“Well, you ghosted me, Landon Bowen, and I don’t take that lightly.” She puts her hands on her hips and purses her lips. It’s so cute I have to bite back a smile.

“I’m sorry, Olivia.”

“Well, too bad for you because now you’re stuck with me forever,” she says.

I’m about to launch into an even more heartfelt apology when I register her words. Forever? Did I hear that right?

“What?” I choke out.

“Yep. I’m moving to Thundersville permanently, so you’re stuck with me,” she explains like she’s proud of herself.

“You’re moving here?” I repeat. “To Thundersville?” I have to make sure I heard her correctly.

She steps forward and puts her hands on my cheeks to look into my eyes. She doesn’t even cringe from touching the dirt.

“Landon, I’m here. I’m staying. Forever. I want you. I choose you.”