Page 77 of Desolation

“No.”

I don’t miss the tick in his jaw.

His arm wraps around me. “It was nothing. Let’s eat.”

I glance down at the gun still in his hand.

“Precautionary measure,” he says.

I have no reason to not believe them even if my gut is telling me otherwise.

I follow Landon back into the main room. He gestures toward the kitchen island as he grabs the bag of food he brought earlier.

“We are both on edge over a case at work. Overreacted. Security cameras showed some kids loitering outside. Nothing to worry about.”

I exhale a deep breath as he opens the bag, bringing out to-go containers of tacos. “Since you weren’t responding to my messages I figured you were working and didn’t check your phone.”

I look at my phone on the counter. The battery is dead.

“I was going to ask you if you wanted to grab dinner but decided to get takeout instead.”

“Thank you,” I say as I stand, walking to the cabinet with plates.

“I didn’t mean to freak you out.”

“It's fine.”

“You hungry?” he asks, just as the smell of the tacos hits my nose and my stomach growls. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

He sets the to-go containers down and I dig into the spicy food. “What’s your case at work about? Don’t you deal with mostly overseas stuff?”

Landon wipes his mouth with a napkin. “Mostly. But we have other things too. Anyone can hire a security firm.”

His answer is vague but I guess that comes with the job. “So what are you guys working on that has you on edge?”

He raises a brow at me. “That’s classified.”

I elbow him. “Come on. You gotta tell me something.”

He laughs. “Nice try, Mar, but I ain’t telling you shit.”

I pout and he shakes his head at me before diving back in for another bite of a taco.

* * *

I wake up to my phone ringing. I try to reach for it on the nightstand but an arm is wrapped tight around my center. It took me hours to fall asleep last night. I was paranoid after whatever the thing was that happened. I tried to get more info out of Landon but his lips were sealed.

I manage to untangle myself from Landon’s arm and see Makayla's’s name pop up on the phone. I scramble out of bed answering the phone quietly while I grab Landon’s shirt off the ground. It’s only five in the morning here but it’s eight back home.

“Hi Mom,” she says sweetly into the phone.

“Hey sweetie.” I say as I walk into the kitchen.

“Can we FaceTime? I miss you.”

“Of course.” I look at my reflection on the microwave hoping I don’t look too crazy as I pull a Navy shirt over my head.

I smile as I see Makayla’s sweet face pop up on the phone. “Hi beautiful.”

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