Page 43 of Landon & Shay: Part One

“So, you’re going to play hard to get?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I’m not playing at all. Iamhard to get. I’m busy, Landon, and I refuse to change my life to let someone I despise into it.”

“How do you plan to win the bet if you never see me, though? How can you make me fall in love with you if we never talk?”

“I couldn’t care less about you falling in love with me. As far as I’m concerned, if you lose, that’s a win for me.”

“So, you’re throwing the game by avoiding me?”

“Yup. Pretty much.”

He smiled again, and this time, it was a bit sinister. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but the bet’s not going to go down like that.”

“Oh? And how do you plan to get around this issue?”

“I don’t know yet, but don’t worry, I love a good challenge. I’ll figure it out.”

“You do that, Landon. I’ll be waiting.” I started walking off, and he called after me one last time.

“Chick.”

“Yeah?”

“The ass comment?” His eyes danced across my body, moving up, down, and all around. “It wasn’t an insult.”

My heart…

It skipped. It flipped. It vomited.

“Satan?”

“Yeah?”

“My Dumbo comment?” I combed my hair behind my ears. “It was an insult.”

I turned away as his lips curved up one more time.

That made three.

Three smiles from Landon all in the span of five minutes.

Three smiles. Three breathtakingly beautiful smiles.

* * *

“Guess who’s goingout with Reggie this weekend?” Tracey gleamed, bouncing over to my locker. She pointed her thumbs to her chest. “This girl.”

I frowned a little, kind of disappointed in that fact. After a few weeks of observing Reggie, I knew he was not the best person in the world. I was secretly hoping Tracey’s infatuation with him would’ve disappeared sooner rather than later.

“Oh?” I said, not sure what else I could’ve pushed out.

“What’s that?”

“What’s what?”

“That tone in the way you said, ‘Oh’?” She cocked an eyebrow. “Aren’t you happy for me?”

“I am. It’s just…Reggie’s kind of a jerk, Tracey.”

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