Page 33 of Yearn

She shrugged. “I was being nice.”

I was surprised by the bolt of tenderness that speared me. Knowing she’d tried for me. “Miss me, baby?” I teased with a grin.

She blew out an annoyed breath. “I thought you’d be hungry after your long drive last night.”

I ignored the guilt and reminded myself it would never happen again. The girl meant nothing and was in my past. Landon was my future. Closing the distance, I took her in my arms and kissed her long and deep. She allowed it, and my insides zinged to life.

She stepped back and threw out her arms. “You need to eat now. I didn’t do all this awful work for you to get another type of appetite.”

I laughed and sat down. She actually served me a plate, and I swore I’d eat every last bite even though I was positive it sucked. “Thanks, baby. If you move in with me, I’ll cook breakfast. I’ll spoil you so good.”

“You’d be moving in with me,” she said absently, slapping a mug of coffee on the table. I loved that Landon was sweet but sassy. I’d never get bored with her.

“Doesn’t matter, as long as I make you happy, right?” I grinned and forked up the eggs. Ah, hell, they were worse than I thought. I chewed. “Damn, these are good.”

“Really?” She perked up and sat down next to me. “How are your parents? Did you have fun?”

“I had a blast. They said hello and hoped you’d come with me next time.”

“Maybe I will. Here, have bacon.”

The cold fat almost stuck in my throat but I managed to swallow. “Delicious. Thank you.”

“Welcome.”

“So, how did Adam do? Tell me about it.”

Her gaze dropped and she sipped her own coffee. “It was fun. Gabriella was there.”

Damn, Adam worked fast. Not that I was surprised. There had been a definite connection with me and Gabriella, but Landon had sniffed that out right away. I had to back off and I didn’t care. God knows, I didn’t need any more drama, but knowing how fast she’d gone to Adam pricked my ego.

Adam and I were tight, but not like me and Coop. Coop didn’t worry me. He was in his own world with his photography, loved Elle, and never seemed interested in competing with anything I wanted. Adam was different. My crew looked up to me and followed my lead. With Adam, I got the feeling he was humoring me. He was completely self-reliant. Sure, he partied hard, had my back, and was a pisser to hang with. Everyone loved him, and he was crazy talented with his music. I’d never been jealous of a guy in my life, but Adam came close. He had an innate confidence, even with his crap childhood.

But there was a strange feeling that hummed in my gut when I was around him. An instinct to watch out, because I’d never see him coming if he decided to turn.

It made no sense, so I pushed the voice out of my head.

“Are you pissed off he’s hooking up with her?” I asked carefully, forking up another bite of eggs. I figured Landon would lose her shit to have Gabby in our circle, especially theway she hated Adam. Those two were always at each other and I had to play mediator. I imagined things had not gone smoothly since I hadn’t been there to referee.

She shrugged again. “Whatever. Adam can do what he wants. If he doesn’t care about whoring himself out, why should I?”

I tried not to wince, happy that at least she’d let me off the hook.

Her voice held a faint, accusatory tone. “She already plastered him all over her TikTok. He’s going viral.”

I stared at her, surprised. “Damn, I didn’t think she had such a big audience.”

Landon glared. Her blue eyes filled with fire. “If Adam wants to hang with Gabriella, he’ll have to do it without us. Let them go off and be happy with each other. I’ve had enough of his shit.”

She got up from the table and began slamming dishes around. Fuck. I’d messed up. Of course, she was jealous of Gabriella’s fan base, especially since she’d been trying so hard to grow her own media accounts. I’d told her it was stupid—she was a kick-ass model and should focus on that—but telling Landon what to do was useless.

I got up and stood behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist. She stilled, and her body stiffened. “Baby, I’m sorry. She can never be you no matter how many followers she has. I’ll talk to Adam, okay? Tell him we need some space if Gabby will be around.”

“You’d do that? You never take my side over Adam’s.”

I turned her around. Gazing into her gorgeous baby blues, I saw a gleam of emotion I’d never spotted before. Almost like regret. But it must be just the light. “Maybe it’s time I start showing you how much you mean to me. I pick you, baby. Every time.”

She closed her eyes. I studied her curiously, watching some type of struggle play over her face. When she opened them, her gaze was clear and sharp.

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