Landon & Shay: Part Two (L&S Duet #2)(44)

“Cooler than the flip side of a pillow,” I added in. What? Shut the hell up, Landon. You’re being awkward.

“Yeah, something like that.”

Before I could say anything else, Willow showed up, tapped me on the shoulder, and leaned in toward me. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but you’re supposed to do a welcome toast in five minutes. They are asking for you up front.”

Shay’s eyes danced over Willow, and then she looked at me. She tensed up and took a few steps backward. She frowned as she looked Willow’s way, and a knot formed in my gut as I realized what it probably looked like.

“Shay—” I started.

“We’ll catch up later. Go ahead.” She gave me a tiny smile. “Go be Mr. Hollywood.”

She walked away before I could reply. I knew I’d have to get a chance to find her to talk more later on. I couldn’t be in the same room after all these years and not want to be near her. I wanted to greedily take up as much of her time and energy as possible, because I missed her. I missed her, and her smile, and her laugh, and her heartbeats.

Fuck. This was harder than I thought it’d be.

I knew she wanted to keep things light and airy, but I wanted to have a chance to talk on a deeper level. To take some time to remember the two people we used to be.

But first, I had to be Landon Pace, because the people were waiting. As always, no matter how much I dreaded it somedays, the show had to go on.

At least I could rest a little easier, because Shay and I were as cool as a cucumber.





16





Landon





I’d been trying to get near Shay so we could talk on a deeper level, but we’d always be intermixed with groups of people. Plus, it almost seemed as if she’d go out of her way to avoid looking at me. We could be interacting with the same individuals, but she never looked my way. On top of that, whenever I’d say anything, she’d laugh with the crowd, and perhaps I was going crazy, but I swore she’d turn away and roll her eyes at every single thing that I said. I kid you not, at one point I thought I saw her make a gagging gesture.

A little while later, when I was able to track her down, I found her sneaking into a closed-off room with a security guard standing outside. She flashed him a pass that Greyson had given her and went inside.

I followed her toward the back room with my VIP pass in my pocket and showed it to the security guard. “Do you think you can make sure no one comes in here for a bit?” I asked, wanting to have a chance to have a real heart-to-heart with Shay for the first time.

The security guard cheesed ear to ear. “Hell yeah, she’s hot.”

“No, it’s not like that. I just want to talk to her in private.”

“Right.” He gave me a wink-wink and nudge-nudge. “Of course, Mr. Pace. Whatever you need.”

I thanked him, and he closed the door behind me as I walked inside.

“Hey,” I said, clearing my throat.

Shay’s back was to me, and she jumped a bit out of fright when I spoke. She turned to look at me, and for a split second I swore she frowned before turning her lips up into an easy smile.

“Hello,” she replied. “Following me?”

“A little.”

I stuffed my hands into my pockets and nodded. “So, earlier you said we were good, right?”

“Yup, yup! All is well.”

“I get the feeling that you don’t mean that.”

She released a dry chuckle and moved to the table with the bottles of whiskey, where she poured herself a glass, tossing in two ice cubes before chugging it. “Why wouldn’t I mean it? We’re good, Landon. We’re great.”

The way she said the world great with such emphasis made it clear as day that we weren’t great at all. “Then why have you been rolling your eyes at me all night?”

“You’re delusional. I haven’t been rolling my eyes at you all night.”

“Yes, you have. Even Greyson noticed it.”

She shook her head. “I hate to break it to you, but you’re wrong. It’s all in your head, and I’m sure you just put those thoughts in Greyson’s too. I told you, we’re good.”

“Yes, right. Cool as a cucumber, right?”

“Exactly,” she said, turning away from me slightly and giving the biggest eyeroll yet.

“See! That! Right there! Shay what the fuck is that?!”

“Oh my gosh, Landon.” She groaned. “Let it go.”

“I can’t, Shay. I can’t, because it’s clear that you’re irritated by me right now.”

She sighed and placed her glass down on the table. She tossed her hands in the air. “Okay, Landon what do you want? Obviously, you’re not okay with us keeping it simple, so what do you want from me? You want me to cry like a pathetic little girl, because you broke my heart all those years ago? You want me to fall apart and grovel at your expensive shoes and beg for you to love me again?” she barked, all the coolest of her cucumber completely gone. “Well, too bad, because I left you in my past, and I’m happy now, okay? I’m happy.”

My brows lowered. “I’m glad you’re happy, Shay.”

“No, you’re not,” she countered. Her brown eyes looked up to my blues, and she shook her head. “I bet you were hoping I wouldn’t be happy,” she murmured, her eyes glassy. I wasn’t sure if the glassiness came from the whiskey or from her emotions. Either way, there was nothing sarcastic and light about the situation in front of me.