Page 64 of Landon & Shay: Part One

“Oh.” It was all I could think to say.

“Are you okay? Are you falling for him?”

“No, not at all.” Just a few heart skips every now and then, nothing I didn’t have under control.

“But you could,” Eleanor offered up. “You have a loving kind of heart. You could love monsters if they could be loved.”

I snickered. “Tracey called it a sensitive heart.”

“Yes, that’s it. I don’t mean it in a bad way. All I mean is, I think you feel things more than most people do. You love harder and deeper, and I just worry if Landon hurts you—”

“He won’t,” I cut in. “I won’t let him.”

“But what if he does? What if you fall for him and he breaks your heart?”

“I don’t know,” I confessed. I didn’t have a clue what I’d do if Landon caused cracks that would slice into my soul. Each day that passed, I worried a little more and more about that possibility.

“Just be careful.” Eleanor yawned before rolling onto her side and hugging her pillow. “I don’t want to kick a popular guy’s ass, but I will if I have to.”

What would happen if Landon did manage to make me fall in love with him? What would happen if he then broke my heart?

I played with those thoughts for a while before coming up with my final thoughts on the subject.

My lips parted slightly, and I felt the tremble of my body as I spoke my newest truth. “If he breaks my heart, I hope the cracks tell a good story.”

Eleanor was half asleep as she responded, muttering so low, “If he breaks your heart, I’ll break his spine.”

Eleanor Gable, my savior, my hero.

She fell asleep before me, her snores low and gentle.

I stayed up, thinking about Landon and how he so effortlessly kept crossing my mind. I stayed up, thinking about my dad, wondering if he’d fallen off the wagon again. I stayed up thinking about two men who shouldn’t have been keeping me up at night.

Around midnight, my phone dinged, and I opened it to see a text message from an unknown number.

Unknown:We should rehearse the kiss.

I read the words over and over again, confused. Just as I was about to put my phone down, it dinged again.

Unknown:Isn’t that a big part of this stuff? Romeo kissing Juliet.

Landon. Of course.

Me:How did you get my number?

Landon:I have ways of finding out things I want to know.

Raine.

Obviously.

Landon:So what do you say? The kiss? You skip over it every day at rehearsal, so if you want to practice on our own, I’m fine with that.

Me:I’m good, actually.

Landon:You can show me just how good you are. With your tongue, your lips, your hips, your lips…

Me:You said lips twice.

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