AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He caged her in. “No, they most definitely were not normal lollipops. They had micro-doses of psilocybin—you know, the chemical in magic mushrooms that makes people hallucinate.”
“Shrooms?”
“Uh-huh. Move over Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and make way for Harper in the Kitchen Baking Penis Cookies,” he teased, moving in closer.
This man.
She sighed, trying to hold it together as she savored the heat of his body. “I should have known better than to snack on anything left by a guy with High AFembroidered on his beanie. And that explains the taste, too, and why I thought my hands had names and why I wanted to eat buildings.”
“Just ceilings,” he corrected, then took her hand in his. “Did you see the bonbons on the coffee table?”
“I did.”
“Are there any left?”
She scoffed. “You really think I’d eat a whole box?”
Damn, she would. There was surveillance video proof.
“Don’t answer that,” she added. “And yes, quite a few are left in the box.”
“Aria had the idea to put the notes on them,” he said, leading her downstairs.
“Did you stop by the bakery after school?”
“No, Schuman brought them over. He stayed with you while I went to pick up Aria from Whitmore.”
“Schuman Sweet?” she repeated as they entered the kitchen.
“The one and only.”
She retrieved the box of chocolates and returned to the kitchen. “I hope he doesn’t tell my grandma I got high as a kite. Babs is nonjudgmental when it comes to an artist’s process, but I think she’d draw the line at tripping while being broadcast across the globe.”
Landon took a bonbon from the box. “I doubt he’ll do that.”
She joined him in indulging and popped one into her mouth. “True, the lollipops belonged to his nephew.”
Landon drank her in. “I think it’s more than that. You won him over.”
She froze mid-chew. “How? By gorging on lollipops and baking cookies that resembled the male anatomy?”
“No, when you sang with the choir. The guy got emotional.”
Her memories of the competition were more akin to spending a few hours in a funhouse rather than putting on a performance.
“He did?”
“Yeah, I think I saw him wipe a tear from his cheek.”
She leaned against the counter. “Do you know why?”
“He didn’t say anything, but your performance was breathtaking. Nobody in the entire auditorium could take their eyes off you. Not even Vance.”
An odd sensation overtook her. Usually, any mention of Vance got her hot under the collar and ready to spit nails. But not anymore. It wasn’t like she’d forgiven him. What he’d done was unforgivable. But under the influence of the psychedelic candy, she’d seen the small, jealous man within. He knew he was a fraud but didn’t see any other way forward.
Still, something else softened the blow of competing against her ex.
She rubbed her temples. “Everything about the contest felt surreal.”
