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Sighing heavily, I shove at him again with renewed annoyance. It’s just as useless as all the other shoves, and more frustrating because if he won’t let me go and Javi sees what an ass he’s being, there’s a risk of more people being brought into this. If other people get involved, I lose control.
I know Javi is just doing his job, but I really need him not to right now.
Since he’s no help at all, I fish Landon’s phone out of his pocket. Of course, it’s locked, so I hold the screen up to his face. “Put in your passcode.”
Instead, he places his thumb on the screen, his moody green stare locked on me. “You gonna go through it? Bet you’ve been wanting to, huh? Make sure you steer clear of the messages from Brittany.” Leaning close, he stage whispers, “She likes to send nudes.”
“You’re disgusting,” I bite out, but I’m not really focused on him being a moron right now. I’m swiping through his contacts, trying to find Malek before the valet reaches us.
I don’t want to risk taking Landon inside. We’re seated out back with a view of the water, but the whole back wall of the restaurant is floor to ceiling windows to provide that view for the most patrons. If I take him inside, the odds of one of our parents spotting him go way up.
The moment I dread approaches when Javi stops beside us, glancing from Landon to me, and then asking, “You’re sure everything’s all right?”
Sighing, I tell him, “If our parents find him this way, he’s going to get in so much trouble.”
Javi’s eyes widen. “This is your brother?”
“No! God, no. Ew.”
“Sorry,” he says, holding his hands up. “You said…”
“He’s my…” I find I can’t quite get the word out of my mouth. “My mom and his dad are getting married,” I say instead.
Landon finally lets go of me, but only so he can turn toward Javi.
Before he can summon any horrible words to say, I intervene. “Please go,” I tell Javi. “I’ve got this under control.”
He doesn’t appear convinced, but when I literally shoo him away while putting the phone to my ear, he reluctantly starts walking back to the valet stand.
“What a fucknut,” Landon mutters.
“What? For leaving me alone withyou?” I ask dryly as the phone rings. “Maybehe’snot the fucknut.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know what you see in that guy.”
“Oh my god, I don’t see anything in him. I don’tknowhim. This is the second time in my life I have been near him.” The call goes to voicemail, and I mutter a curse under my breath.
Ending the call, I think who I should call next.
Arden, but despite being Landon’s friend, I’m not sure he’s the one to call in a crisis. If I had to put money on it, I’d guesshewas the one who made the call to abandon Landon the night he broke into my house. Arden may have been enjoying the ride, but he wasn’t about to go down for it.
I do have a moment of lucidity when that thought clashes with my present reality of trying to cover Landon’s ass so he doesn’t get in trouble—again—but it’s shut down just as quickly.
The stakes are too high. I know Hayden is fed up with Landon’s antics, and I don’t know him well enough to know if this would be enough for him to boot Landon out of the house. As tense as things are between them, he could be looking for a reason for all I know.
This can’t be it.
Right now, I don’t feel unsafe. I am in control of the situation, and Landon is being obnoxious but not dangerous.
I’ll buy him a little more time to adjust if I can.
“If any of your goddamn friends would pick up the phone,” I mutter to myself as I press Arden’s number and put the phone to my ear.
“You could take me home,” he suggests. “The fucknut knows who you came with. I bet he’d give you the keys. Not like we live far.”
I shake my head before I even have time to process my refusal.
After all the shit he said to me the night he broke into my house, he’s out of his mind if he thinks I’m going anywhere alone with him when he’s been drinking.
