Page 176 of Only With You

Once we’re in, the kids bombard Landon with questions.

“Can we please, please,pleasetake pictures?”

“Can you sign my shirt? I promise I’ll never wash it.”

“Do you think you’ll make it to the Final Four again?”

“You’re so tall. How do you fit anywhere?”

“Why do you have so many tattoos?”

Many more questions are asked, but I have to clap again to get them to stop.

“One at a time, guys.” I grin.

“One at a time. I can only answer one at a time,” Landon says, and I swear their eyes sparkle and their faces light up.

“You sound like Peppa Pig.” Kasey giggles.

Landon’s brows furrow and he mouths, “What the hell is a Peppa Pig?”

I have to look away to stop myself from laughing.

“Is Miss Julianna your girlfriend?”

My throat goes dry and my face heats. “Why don’t we save the questions till the end? We don’t want to overwhelm Mr. Taylor with thousands of questions.”

Landon’s cheek twitches. “Miss Sparks tells me you’re all learning how to play the xylophone. Why don’t you all show me what you’ve learned?”

They all scurry off, put up their stuff in the cubbies designated for them, and sit behind their xylophones.

“Miss Julianna, is Landon going to teach us how to play, too?”

“No, he’ll just?—”

“It depends,” he replies.

I smile at him when I hear someone say, “This is the best day ever.”

“You play the xylophone, Mr. Taylor?”

“Never touched one in my life, Miss Sparks.”

“You’re going to be good at that too, huh?”

His lips crack a smidge. He winks at me and I swear my heart leaps in my chest.

Of course he’d make a wink look hot.

Fuck my life and my vagina.

Breathe. It’ll be okay.I tell myself for what seems like the thousandth time since I woke up this morning.

I was able to ignore the nerves yesterday when I was with Landon and the kids, but I can’t do that today.

I can’t even talk to Landon or use him as a distraction, because he’s currently in Portland, Oregon for the Phil Knight Invitational. It’s one of the few tournaments they have during the week of Thanksgiving every year, and during those tournaments, only eight Division I universities get invited to play.

Last year, they played in Las Vegas, and the year before in the Bahamas. I had no idea that was a thing, but I also didn’t care about basketball until now. Well, it’s not the sport I care about, but a certain player.

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