Page 86 of Desolation

Chapter Twenty-Four

Landon

I wake up and look at the clock. It’s past six in the evening. My heart clenches in my chest as I remember confessing everything to Mari. I expected her to turn on me like everyone else seems to. To tell me I need help. But she just sat there and listened.

I’ve never cried in front of anyone before.

Not Aubrey when Sam died.

Not Mr. Cartwell when I talk about my past.

But with Mari, I let down my walls. She is the only one I will let in the fortress I’ve built around my heart.

I groan as I get out of my bed. My back stiff from the tension I’ve been storing in it.

I walk out of my room and find the living room cleaned up. I flinch when I think about the violent side Mari saw. It was a fluke. I never act that way. I let my anger out at the gym.

The smell of sautéed vegetables fills my nose as I turn to the kitchen. I watch her as she cooks, dancing around with her headphones in.

She is beautiful. Inside and out. This feisty Latina who carries the world on her shoulders.

I walk up behind her and she squeals as my hands grip her hips.

“Landon!”

I kiss her neck and pull out her earbud to see what she’s listening to. The sounds of Biggie flood my ears and I smile. “Nineties hip hop? I would have taken you for a classical woman, you know since you socialize with the upper class of Boston.”

She rolls her eyes. “Please. I hate those people. I take their money for the good of others but that’s it. I hate going to all those stuffy parties full of fake women and powerful men. Boston is awful but Wash—New York is even worse.”

I ignore her slip up. I know she still has secrets she is keeping but I will find them out soon. “I bet.”

She turns in my arms, pulling out her other earbud and resting her hands on my chest. “I made you dinner. Who knows when the last time you ate was?”

I lick my lips as my hand slides down her ass, my fingers slipping between her legs, grazing the sensitive spot between her thighs. “Mmm, I am hungry.”

She clicks her tongue at me before swatting away my hand. “I made some salmon, veggies, and mashed potatoes.”

“Why are you so good to me?” I ask because for the life of me I still can’t figure out why she likes me. I know she says we have a connection and I feel that too but I’m a dick. Yet she keeps coming back.

“Because you are a good man. And you deserve to feel like it.”

I grab the back of my neck, rubbing out the tension. “No, I’m not.”

“You are, Landon. I knew it from the day I met you. That cocky attitude you used to cover up your pain. There you were acting like a player but volunteering at a VA hospital. I knew you weren’t as bad as you pretend to be.”

“I’m an asshole, Mar.”

“That doesn’t mean you are a bad person.”

I squint at her. “Wait, did you just agree that I was an asshole?”

She nods, the slightest smile on her face. “Ugh, yeah. You walk away from me all the time when things get serious. You are cocky as hell. You act like a dick to most people.”

“But you like me?”

She throws her hands up and turns to the stove to stir the vegetables. “For some odd reason.”

My arms wrap back around her, my lips to her ear. “You mean a lot more to me than I let on.”

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