Page 13 of Landon & Shay: Part One

“You can do whatever you want. Monica is a free agent,” I muttered. I doubted she’d be interested in someone like Reggie, though. He was a bit too young and strait-laced for her. Monica preferred men with children, or at least guys with damage that somewhat matched her own.

Reggie was none of the above.

He rubbed his hands together like a fool needing his next fix. “Come on, man. Give me some tips.”

“I really don’t know,” I said.

“Land is being humble. If you’re looking for a guy who can get any girl, it’s him,” Eric said, and it sounded so cocky even though the words didn’t come from my own mouth.

“Except for Shay,” Reggie spat out, making me raise an eyebrow.

Wait, what?

“Excuse me?”

“Stacey-Tracey was telling me how the two of you hate each other’s guts. Which is crazy, because Shay is fucking hot. Too bad you can’t get that.”

Fucking hot.

Of course he’d call her fucking hot, because he had a brain the size of a lima bean, but beside that, what the actual hell? Who was he to tell me who I could and couldn’t have?

“If I wanted Shay, I’d have her,” I stated nonchalantly. The douchebag was making my alpha douchebag side come out.

“Word? You’re that much of a baller?” Reggie asked, cocking his other eyebrow.

Every time he used a cliché slang word, I wanted to vomit. “Yeah, word, playa. If I wanted a dime, I could get a dime. You know wassup, dawg,” I mocked, using every annoying word I could think of, but he didn’t even pick up on it.

Idiot.

Greyson snickered under his breath but didn’t add to the conversation. He had a way of staying out of drama of any kind. He had enough shit going on at home, and I understood him not wanting to be involved in anything that wasn’t basketball.

“That’s wild that you think that, my guy, because the way Stacey-Tracey made it sound, Shay would never give you the time of day,” Reggie pushed. I swore he was really trying to get under my skin.

“I could without question. I could even get her to fall in love with me if I wanted to,” I declared, and it sounded a lot more asshole-like than I wanted it to, but there I was, sounding like a jerk because I couldn’t stand the guy standing next to me, challenging me.

“Uh, hey, you guys…” Eric tried to cut in, but I wasn’t interested in being interrupted. This guy really thought he could come into my town, into my house, intomybedroom, and sit onmyItalian sheets, and tell me what I was a wasn’t capable of doing.

“Okay, so let’s get a nice friendly bet going,” Reggie said, standing taller. “I bet you can’t get Shay to fall in love with you.”

“You guys,” Greyson said, clearing his throat. We ignored him, too.

“I one hundred percent can,” I said, holding my hand out to him. “Bet.” Dammit, now I was out here saying things like “Bet” sounding just as stupid as the Southern charmer.

We shook hands.

“Really, boys, if you want to bet on me falling in love with someone, maybe you should include me in the bet,” Shay said, snapping my stare away from Reggie and to the doorway. Her arms were crossed, and she was sporting her normal level of sass. Her left hip was popped out, and she had an annoyed smirk on her lips.

“Geez, guys, a little warning wouldn’t have hurt,” I barked at my friends.

Eric tossed his hands up in the air. “Whatever, I quit.”

“It was nothing,” I argued to Shay, shrugging it all off. “Just stupid guy talk.”

“Oh, please, don’t go limp so quickly because you got caught, Satan. If you think you could make me fall in love with you, then by all means, do it—but do understand that I want to play now, too.”

“Play? What do you mean?” Reggie asked.

“I mean exactly that. I bet I can make Landon fall in love with me first.”

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