Landon & Shay: Part Two (L&S Duet #2)(81)

“The world needs more people like you.”

“I never expected to hear you say that, after everything that went down between us.”

I chuckled. “Trust me, I didn’t expect it either. But I mean it. You’re doing a lot of good for this world. We’re lucky to have you here.”

He frowned for a split second and looked down at the ground. “There were a lot of times when I thought I wouldn’t have made it this far.”

“How lucky are we all that you did?”

He brushed his hand against the back of his neck and looked up. “I’m sorry that I hurt you.”

The words were so painfully truthful as they fell from his lips, and the way he stared at me made me want to cry into his arms to forgive him.

“We don’t have to talk about that right now.”

“But we should at some point. We should talk about what happened. I’m in a place where I’m ready and willing to try to explain to you what went down with me all those years ago. If you’re willing to hear me, I’ll show you my scars.”

I nodded slowly. “Of course.”

We’d approached my car and I began digging around in my purse to search for my keys. “Well, this was fun. Maybe we can do it next week, too,” I offered.

“I’d love that.”

I kept looking in my bag.

“Shay?”

“Yes?”

He stood there with his hands stuffed deep into his pockets and he tilted his head toward me. “How’s your heart?”

Those words knocked the air out of me. My hand fell from my purse, and I moved in closer to him. I took his hands into mine and placed them against my chest, against my heart, against my soul. “Still beating.”

He lightly squeezed my hands into his and looked down at our embrace. “I know I probably have no right to say this, and I’ll probably kick myself for putting myself out there like this, but I have to do it. If there is ever a moment where you begin to believe in second chances,” he said, his voice low and controlled. “Please give one to me.”

Before I could reply, a camera flashed in both of our faces.

Flash.

Followed by another.

Flash, flash!

Just like that, the gentle moment was ruined, because in the world we lived in, Landon wasn’t allowed to have stolen moments away from the limelight.





31





Shay





Landon had flown out for some charity event in California, and we’d hadn’t been able to talk since he’d opened up and asked me to give him another chance.

My mind hadn’t stopped swirling since he said that. I didn’t know how to handle those words coming from his mouth. To me, a second chance at love meant a second chance at heartbreak. I wasn’t sure I was ready for that. The last time my heart was crushed, it took forever for me to put the pieces back together, and I swore it never beat the same again.

All my thoughts on that subject were put on hold when I received a phone call from Eleanor early one morning, and she was sobbing into the phone receiver.

“Ellie, what’s going on?” I asked, panic falling into my chest as I sat up in bed. My cousin’s cries were heavy, and just from hearing the sound, I felt as if I were going to fall apart, too. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“It’s Karla,” she pushed out, her words coarse and rough.

That made me sit up even more. “What about her? What happened?”

“There was an accident. She went to a party last night, and people were bullying her to an extreme. They dumped trash all over her and rubbed fish guts across her body.”

“Oh my gosh. Is she okay?” What in the hell…?

My chest ached with panic as Eleanor told me what was done to Karla. At a party…the party I’d told her she should’ve gone to. Guilt shot through me as I listened to Eleanor fall apart.

“No, she’s not okay. I stayed with Greyson that night to comfort him, because he was breaking down over what happened, and the next morning, Karla found me in his bed. She went off, about how he was betraying her mother, and oh my gosh, Shay,” she cried, unable to continue her words.

“Breathe, Ellie. Please, breathe. Everything’s going to be okay.”

“It’s not, though. Nothing is going to be okay,” she said, sounding more and more wrecked with every passing second. “She ran away, and Greyson found her at her mother’s gravestone. S-she had a bottle of pills with her, Shay. She was going to overdose.”

Oh my gosh.

I couldn’t breathe.

The tears officially began falling down my cheeks.

The first thing that came to mind was Landon.

I had to call Landon, because even though we weren’t who we used to be, I still remembered how heavy situations affected his soul. Especially when it came to things like a person overdosing and trying to take their life.

I scrambled to dial his phone number, and when he answered, he knew exactly what I was calling about.

“Hey. Grey already called me. I’m heading to the airport right now to get home,” he said. I could hear the panic in his voice, the fear sitting in his throat.

“Okay. If you need anything…” I started.

“Thanks,” he replied. “Are you all right?” he asked.