Page 69 of Landon & Shay: Part One

“But maybe it will. Maybe this tree is part of some kind of curse or something, maybe…maybe…maybe…” She dropped her keys and began sobbing into my arms. I couldn’t think of anything to say. I couldn’t think of how to make her feel better, so I stood there and held her as she fell apart.

For so long, I’d hated her because I thought she was Little Miss Perfect. I’d hated her happiness. I’d hated her because I had scars and she had none, and now I felt like a damn idiot for ever thinking such a thing. It turned out everyone in the world had scars. Everyone had cracks and cuts that bled into their soul each night. Some people were simply better at hiding them.

She pulled on my shirt and cried, losing herself against my white long-sleeved T-shirt, and I held her like I was planning on never letting her go. As she lay there in my arms, my heart melted a little for her, for her hurts, for her pain and suffering. When she was finished falling apart, she pulled away, a bit embarrassed. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand and sniffled repeatedly, turning away from me.

“Sorry,” she muttered, wiping at her eyes. “I’m snotty and a complete mess.”

Her eyes were red and puffy, and tears were still falling from her eyes, and she was right—she looked like a complete wreck. Broken, raw, and—

“Beautiful,” I truthfully told her. “You look beautiful.” Honestly, I wasn’t sure Shay had ever looked so beautiful and real. Her pain had the kind of beauty that made you want to protect her from the world. I wanted to hold her again, soothe her, and let her know her emotions were what made her real.

“We should get going.” She sniffled some more with her rosy cheeks and her exhausted eyes.

“Yeah, we should.”

I bent down to pick up her keys, and before handing them back over to Shay, I walked over to the tree and scratched out the rest of the initials of her parents. If said tree was a curse, I wanted to end it for her. I wanted to break the spell of jaded love that affected her family line. I wanted to free her so that somewhere down the line, she could have a real love.

She released a weighted sigh and took the keys from my hand. Her fingers brushed against my palm, and a part of my soul I hadn’t known existed lit up. What was that? What was that feeling, and how had she unlocked it?

“Thank you, Landon,” she whispered.

“Always,” I replied.

I think I meant that, too.

I think I meant always.

We drove back to her cousin’s house, and as I put the car in park, I turned to say good night to her, and that was when I found her lips.

Her lips.

Pressed against…

Mine.

Her hands rested against my cheeks as she pulled me in toward her. She tasted like salty tears and peach Chapstick, and oddly enough, that was my new favorite taste. At first I didn’t kiss her back. At first I stayed frozen, thinking if I moved, the moment would disappear and I’d never be able to return to it.

“Landon,” she whispered, her eyes closed as her forehead rested against mine. I loved that. I loved when she said my name. Not Satan. Not asshole. But Landon.

I loved when those two syllables rolled off her tongue.

It made me feel seen. I didn’t know the last time someone had been able to see me so clearly.

“Yeah?” I breathed out, my breaths brushing against her lips, her full, plump lips.

“Kiss me back,” she ordered, and so I did.

My lips.

Pressed against…

Hers.

I kissed her gently at first, trying to ignore the way my jeans were tightening as my cock registered the fact that I was kissing a girl—and not just any girl,thegirl. I was kissing Shay Gable, and every time our lips touched, she stole a piece of me.

I kissed her harder, deeper, next, parting her lips slightly to slide my tongue into her mouth. I wanted to kiss her so hard her moans were all that would feed me for the rest of my existence. I wanted to tangle my tongue with hers, wanted to allow my hands to wander across her body, feeling every inch of her being. I wanted her.

I wanted her so bad it hurt.

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