Landon & Shay: Part Two (L&S Duet #2)(95)

I took a step back, trying to interrupt the awkward yet delicious interaction between us. I guessed he could see how he made me feel, based on the redness of my cheeks.

His smile deepened, pleased by how flustered he left me.

He took a step back, and I took another two.

“Merry Christmas, Shay,” he whispered, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a banana Laffy Taffy.

I huffed and puffed and blew my nerves down as I snatched the candy from his grip. “Whatever, Landon. Merry Christmas.”

I hurried back into the kitchen to help Eleanor prepare food. She raised an eyebrow my way. “Are you okay?”

“Fine. Everything’s peachy,” I grumbled to myself, thinking about how odd Landon was acting. “You know what, I’m not peachy. You know what I hate most in this world?”

“What’s that?”

“Landon Harrison.” She laughed as if she didn’t believe me, because of course it was ridiculous, but I couldn’t get the unease out of my chest, so I kept going on. “I mean, can you believe that? When I showed up today, he had the nerve to say, ‘Merry Christmas,’ to me. Can you believe that asshole?” I spat out.

By asshole I meant I loved him.

She laughed. “How rude.”

“Exactly! It’s like he’s trying to play some mind games.”

“Or, he just meant Merry Christmas.”

I huffed and puffed. Maybe I was overthinking everything.

At least that was what I thought until he popped his head into the kitchen. “Need any help in here, ladies?” he asked.

“You cook?” I countered.

“Yeah, sometimes.”

“Why do I find that hard to believe?”

“I don’t know, but if you give me a few minutes, I’m sure I can bring some nice sausage into your life.” He winked my way.

He.

Winked.

My stomach rolled from his words. It was so out of character for him, and I hadn’t a clue what was going on. He was reminding me of the old Landon that I used to hate so much.

“You’re disgusting,” I bellowed, freaking confused by the person speaking to me. That wasn’t the man I loved. Not at all.

“I’m just saying, it will probably be the best meat you’ll had in a while. And if memory serves me right, which it does, you kind of already told me how much you loved my sausage.”

“Shut up, Landon,” I hissed as my cheeks heated up. “You’re so cocky.”

“I know, right?”

“Oh, fuck off, Landon,” I breathed out, completely flustered and embarrassed by the way he was talking.

The rest of the morning continued with the crude remarks, and odd looks from Landon, leaving me feeling completely uneased. It felt as if I stepped into the Twilight Zone and had no way of getting out.

When it was time for brunch, Eleanor asked me to go gather everyone up. “The guys are in Grey’s office. Just go on in and tell them to come.”

I agreed and hurried in their direction. As I went to open the closed door, I paused as I heard voices talking. “All I’m saying is, I could get Shay to fall in love with me all over again if I wanted to, but I don’t. I have better things to do with my time,” Landon remarked, sending a dagger straight through my heart.

“I doubt it, man. I bet you couldn’t do it. She’s over you,” Hank added to the conversation.

“I’m with Hank,” Greyson remarked. “She’s not going to come back to you.”

“Let’s put money on it,” Landon said. “Two thousand dollars says I can make Shay fall in love with me again in the next three months.”

“Whoa, whoa. Not everyone has a whiskey company or is a famous actor. Some of us are poor. I’ll bet fifty bucks. Nothing higher,” Hank added in, and I was beyond pissed off now.

They were truly betting on me as if we were back in high school. There was no way I was going to have any part of this again.

I barged into the room, ready to snap on the guys for their childish behavior, but I paused my steps when I walked inside and saw papers scattered all across the office space. Pieces of papers hung from the ceiling like stars filling the sky. Papers covered the floors and the bookshelves. Hundreds and hundreds of pages across the room.

I looked up at the three guys, who were cheesing too hard.

“What’s going on?” I asked, looking at them with their cheeky smiles.

“I think we’ll leave that for Landon to answer,” Greyson said as he and Hank hurried out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

My heart was pounding in my chest as if it was seconds away from leaping out of my body. “What is all of this?”

“It’s us,” he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He walked toward me and nodded toward the ceiling. “Well, at least it’s me speaking to you. There’s over three thousand pieces of paper. Three thousand letters that I’d written to you. Three thousand pages of my love for you.”

I picked up a piece of paper from the ground, completely confused by what he was talking about. My eyes skated across the words as tears began to form in my eyes.

January 8th, 2007



Chick,



Tonight is a hard one. I haven’t been able to sleep. I wanted to call you, but I doubt you still have my number. I wanted to hold you, but I knew I no longer had that right. My mind’s been heavy lately, and the only way I’d been able to slow it down is when I think of you.