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“Which one? The one where I got detention for leading the walkout over no pizza on Fridays? Or when I got pulled over for driving with paper flying out of my truck windows?”
Hailey grinned. “That one.”
Landon squeezed her hand. “Okay, so we were in a prank war with my group of friends. It wasn’t really a back and forth war, like you got someone and they pranked you in revenge. It was more like when somebody pranked you, you just moved on to the next person who hadn’t been pranked. Except I was usually the one coming up with ideas, so I pranked more than one person. Anyway, this group of girls pranked me pretty good. Three of them worked in the office at school for extra credit or community hours or something like that. They had this paper shredder and they shredded all kinds of paper. So instead of throwing it in the dumpster, they bagged it up and took it to their cars. It must have taken them a long time, but they built up a stash. One Friday night after a football game, they went to my house. I had a reputation for leaving my truck unlocked.” He shrugged. “I didn’t keep anything valuable in it. So they got in and poured that shredded paper from the floorboards to the top of the windows.”
Hailey put her hand over her mouth to quiet her laughter.
“On Saturday morning, I had soccer practice, so I came out of the house, walked to my truck, and saw all the paper stuffed in there. I was running late, so I shoved out enough of it to get in my seat, cranked it up, and drove off.”
Hailey couldn’t hold her laughter anymore and she doubled over. “So you’re just driving down the road with paper flying?”
Landon laughed and threw his arms in the air. “Yep. Everywhere. I had the windows open, and paper is just flying out in these little tiny pieces. Next thing I know, I hear a siren behind me, so I pull over. At first I thought he was going to write me a ticket for driving with an obstructed view or something.”
“No?” Hailey asked.
“Nope. Littering.”
Hailey. “That’s the best. So you just had to pay the ticket?”
“That was only half of it. The officer knew my dad, so I had to pay the ticket. That afternoon, I had to don that lovely orange vest and sweep shreds of paper off the side of the road. Oh, and I was late to practice, of course, and I had to run twenty laps, one for every minute I was late.”
“And did you learn your lesson?”
“Depends on what you mean by that. Did I ever drive my truck full of paper? No. Did I stop pulling pranks, absolutely not.”
Hailey shook her head as her laughter died out. “I would expect nothing less.”
Landon grinned. “What can I say? I am who I am.” He grew quiet as he stared at their hands linked together on the couch. With a contented sigh, he said, “Isn’t it weird to know somebody the way we do and still feel like we’re just getting to know each other all over again?”
Hailey nodded. “It’s nice, though. It feels comforting that we have a background and we’re not starting from scratch, but there’s also new things to learn.”
“I agree,” he said, holding her gaze for a long moment.
“Mom,” came the sound of a tired voice from down the hall.
Hailey jumped up and moved to check on Carter.
Landon stared after her and rubbed his hands together. It had been a long time since he’d even been on a date with someone, and while this wasn’t a date, he’d certainly never been interrupted on a date by a kid calling from the other room.
Knowing it was time, and that it was the wise decision, he stood and went to the kitchen. With only his and Hailey’s bowls in the sink, there wasn’t much to clean up. In two minutes, he had them washed and sitting on the drying rack when Hailey came walking back into the living room.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she said.
“It’s no trouble. How’s Carter?”
“He’s fine,” she said. “He doesn’t feel like he has a fever. I was afraid he was going to be sick again, but he actually asked if he could have some crackers and Gatorade.”
“That’s a good sign.”
She nodded.
As much as he hated to, he spoke the words. “I think I need to go.”
Hailey’s disappointment showed in her eyes but nodded in agreement. “I had a good time tonight,” she said.
“I did too.” He reached for her hand again, feeling like it was the most normal thing in the world. “I’d like to spend more time with you. But I want to be careful.”
“I do too. Honestly, I’m not sure where this is going.” Hailey bit her lip.
