Page 14 of Five Days

He studied my face with his beautiful brown eyes framed by long lashes a shade darker than his hair. “Why, Cal? Haven’t you already done enough for me?”

“Never enough, and because this part of your life should be settled once and for all. You need to be able to move on. I want—” I snapped my jaw shut to silence my runaway tongue.

Landon continued his steady perusal of my face that heated beneath his stare. “What?” he pushed.

I released a slow, steady exhale, only able to admit to a partial truth. “For you to be free of him.”

“You know I wish for the opposite.”

My heart stumbled inside my chest even though I was well aware of Landon’s deepest desire when it came to Zackary Briggs. “Then it’s my hope that he’ll eventually listen,” I forced myself to say. “That you find peace between you and what you’ve always longed for.”

Even if that meant I would have to live with unrequited love until I breathed my last.

“You hired him.” Landon didn’t voice a question, but I nodded anyway. He snickered. “Sly dog.” He laughed with more lightness than I’d ever heard grace his voice. “Have I ever told you how much I love you?”

All the time, just not in the way I wished for.

“He’s under contract and not going anywhere tonight,” Landon continued before I could utter a word.

My boss slash best friend slash roommate hadn’t hidden any part of his past from me, so I knew what he’d done when they had been kids. How he’d stalked Zack over the years afterward. He’d even shown me Zack’s profile on EEMM, which had led to my crazy plan to force them to face each other—and hopefully bring them together, making Landon’s dreams come true.

Or, I would be left picking up the pieces of Landon’s heart. But that’s not what I truly wished for. I wanted his happiness more than anything, and that meant having the man he’d been in love with since middle school.

“I say we let him sleep his pissiness off, and I’ll try again tomorrow,” Landon stated, his mind clearly made up and focused on getting what he’d wanted for the past fifteen years.

Landon’s buoyed spirits proved potent enough that I dragged myself from wallowing self-pity enough to see to his needs as I always did. “Are you hungry? I can order you a late dinner.”

“No—I’m fine. Let’s just go to our suite. I saw a basket of snacks and drinks. They’ll be good enough for tonight.”

“I’ll speak to Zack,” I promised as we meandered side by side back to the hotel, our shoulders brushing lightly. “Perhaps he’ll meet you for breakfast, and the rest of our vacation won’t be a waste of money.”

We stopped by the elevator, and I caught Landon nibbling on his lower lip, a promise of his anxiety, an action that made me wish to ease his mind by tasting his mouth. I shoved the desire deep inside where the thoughts wouldn’t cause heartache.

“Do you trust me?” I murmured, hands in my pockets so I wouldn’t reach for him.

Landon’s gaze jerked toward me. “Of course I do! You’ve never let me down.”

He spoke the truth. “So trust me with this, okay?”

“You’re too good to me,” he stated again.

“I would do anything for you.” I’d never meant the words more, even if helping him find the fulfillment of his heart’s desire shattered mine in the process. The idea alone of that outcome made me want to curl up and cry.

I put on a brave face, acting confident while we readied for bed, all the while my spirit sagged beneath the weight of selflessness. Had I made the right choice or only set Landon up for even deeper emotional pain?

I’d fucked up with my brother and feared doing the same with Landon.

Surely, if Zack knew the reasoning behind Landon’s behavior that night when they’d been innocent kids, he would offer forgiveness. Perhaps that would be enough for Landon to find peace and actually be ready to move on like I hoped for.

The minute Landon finished in the bathroom, he poked his head through my bedroom’s doorway I’d left open in invitation—same as I always did at home for whenever he needed me.

I pulled back the blankets, and he scooted forward, tossing himself onto the mattress. Pink flushed his cheeks, making him even more beautiful as he snuggled in, the sheet tucked beneath his chin where he lay on his side facing me.

We didn’t touch, nor had we ever crossed the platonic line between us. He’d made his stance against relationships outside his dream man clear at my first hint of flirting when we’d met. I’d kept my body in check along with any discussion beyond platonic love.

The unreturned feelings sucked, even more so when Landon put himself in my bed. But telling him the truth of how much I loved him would only tear us apart.

We also didn’t talk about the fact he slept with me more nights than not. And the mornings we woke wrapped up in each other, I reasoned his unconscious action away as seeking out comfort in his sleep.

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