AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was the first time he’d ever seemed annoyed by her and the fairy tale Katie had been living in crumbled a little. Since she couldn’t seem to muster up any emotionally sane explanation, she marched over to her bed, picked up the file folder of women, then marched back to slap it into his chest.
He flipped through it. "What’s this?"
"Didn’t you hear, Landon? I might be the liaison between FAB-TV and the two Maverick players who will be on the next season ofLast First Kiss."
A stagnant pause hung in the air, and Katie searched his face for a reaction. Any reaction that might make her feel completely stupid. She welcomed being the fool. She welcomed feeling as silly as she’d felt in in the storage roo when she brought up Layla Lamar.
The “aha!” passed over his features, shredding her last bit of hope that this was some misunderstanding on Lori’s part. She punished him with another sarcasm laced rant.
"Oh, and the very best part, Landon, is that not only will you and I get to continue this tortourous working relationship for eight weeks in the off season, I’ll also get to watch you date—and let’s not forgetkiss—a whole slew of other girls. Oh, excuse me, women, because that’s what Lori has tasked me with finding you: a nice, wholesome, smart woman who will be just perfect for your new and improved reputation. No Instagram models or video girls, she said, maybe a school teacher or a nurse. There’s even a real live astronaut in there, Landon. Hmmm, do you think we still need to use condoms with those types of girls? Or am I just overthinking this?"
"Yes, you are," he said, shocking her with his directness.
He scrubbed his hands across his face then blinked back at her with red eyes. He seemed tired. Fair enough since he’d just played nine innings and it was well past midnight.
"Look Katie, you’re way overreacting to this whole thing. I don’t want to do the stupid show, I don’t plan to do it, it was just a weird situation and I couldn’t think of a good excuse to say no."
"How about that you’re already seeing someone? You didn’t have to say who."
Landon dropped the folder on the counter, then held up his palms in defense. "What was I supposed to do? We ran into Lori in the hallway with my dick still wet from fucking you and right off the bat she asked me if I was dating anyone. I said no, so she wouldn’t get suspicious about us, and then she springs the whole dating show on me. I couldn’t think of a good excuse right then so I figured agreeing might actually be a good cover for this secretive bullshit you and I have going on. This whole thing has got me so screwed up, I’m thinking in circles. And I sure as hell can’t seem to make the right decision to please you."
His irritation irritated her. He didn’t get to be irritated. He’d started this and pressed her to keep it going despite her telling him over and over not to.
"Good," she shot back, "then maybe this show is a good idea after all. Plenty of good options in there for you." She gestured to the folder on the counter.
He rolled his eyes. "Even if you weren’t in the picture, I wouldn’t take this shit seriously. It’s not real, and I wouldn’t seriously consider dating any girl who would sign up for something like that."
"You’re already more than considering it, Landon. You told Lori you’d do it."
"Because I was trying to throw her off getting curious about us! It’s not like I signed a fucking contract. I can go in there tomorrow and tell her I changed my mind."
"Well don’t do me any favors. Do whatever you want."
"What I want is for you to tell me why you’re so upset. It can’t be about this stupid TV show. To be honest, I’m actually kind of shocked that you care so much."
"What does that mean?"
"Considering all you do is make up excuses for usnotto be together, it even crossed my mind that you put Lori up to asking me to be on the show."
Katie’s eyes widened, indignant though she wasn’t entirely sure she had a right to be. "Are you kidding me right now? You’re actually trying to blame me for you taking the opportunity to fuck a whole bunch of women on national television?"
"I’m not blaming you for shit. I said the thought crossed my mind."
She couldn’t think of a valid argument so she went in a different direction. "And I’m not making up excuses. There are just a lot of really good reasons for us not to be together."
"Other than your job, what’s stopping us?"
"Oh I don’t know, how about the fact that I don’t fit into your life, Landon. I’m not TIFF or Layla Lamar or Sonja Darnel. I’m not made to be in the limelight. I’m not like...them."
"Like who? Those women who want to be on a reality dating show? The kind of women I just said two seconds ago I’m not interested in? I know you’re not like that. That’s why I like you."
Katie’s heart jumped for joy, but his words weren’t enough to compensate for the issue they always circled back to. She droppedher head into her hands and shook it back and forth.
"I just don’t know how long I can keep doing this. I’m getting zero sleep, I barely have the time or appetite to eat, and I can’t even speak to Lori without my blood pressure jumping all over the place. I won’t keep my job very long like this, even if we don’t get caught."
She could only see Landon’s feet as they took a tentative step in her direction.
"Baby, I don’t know why you’re doing this to yourself. You could quit your job tomorrow and you know I’ll take care of you. You could even move in with me if you want."
