Page 97 of Landon & Shay: Part One

She turned to me, seemingly surprised by my words. She placed her pizza down, wiped her hands on a napkin, and moved in closer to me. Her finger traced my lips as her eyes studied them as they parted. Then, she placed her forehead against mine and closed her eyes.

Her mind was moving, yet still, I couldn’t hear it.

“A penny for your thoughts,” I whispered. “A nickel for your time…a quarter for your heart…” I inhaled deeply. “A dollar to make you mine.”

“What are we doing, Landon?” she asked, her voice so low and shaky.

“I don’t know.”

“Is this still a game?”

“I don’t know…” That was true. I didn’t know if we were still doing this because of the bet, or if this was becoming something real for the both of us. I didn’t know if she was beginning to feel things the way I felt them, too. I didn’t know if she was falling, falling, falling…

“It scares me a little,” she confessed. “Whatever’s happening in my heart when I’m around you…it scares me.”

“It scares me too, but I know one thing for certain,” I said, placing my fingers beneath her chin and lifting it so we were looking into each other’s eyes.

“What’s that?”

“I am going to love loving you as much as I loved hating you.”

She kissed me, and the last sleeping part of my soul finally woke up as she fell against my lips.

I tasted her heaven as I fed her my sins.

“Can we go to your room?” she asked, and I tensed up a little.

“No good comes from us being in each other’s bedrooms, Chick, and if I take you up there, I’ll want to—”

“Break your headboard?” She smirked.

I chuckled. “Exactly. And—”

She cut me off again, this time placing her mouth against mine. Then she whispered her words against my lips. “Can we go to your room?” she repeated, giving me small kisses afterward.

I felt myself getting hard from her words, and I wrapped her in my arms. “Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yes,” she promised.

I lifted her up into my arms and headed upstairs to my bedroom. When we reached the room, I hurried and got Ham out of there, closing the door behind me. The bonus to living a life like the one I lived? I knew no one was going to barge in on us that night.

I placed her on my bed, and I stood in front of her. She looked up at me with doe eyes wide with wonder, and I watched as she studied my body, her eyes scanning up and down.

“Nervous?” I asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

“You still want to?”

She grasped the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head, tossing it to the side of the room. “Yes.”

Why the hell was I wearing jeans around her again? My bulge was going to explode out of my pants any second now. She went to move my shirt up, and I paused, tensing up. “Wait, Chick…” I hesitated. I shut my eyes. I took in a sharp inhale, and she stopped.

“What is it?”

“I, um…” I turned away from her and my hands formed fists. I could hear Monica in my head, shouting at me.Has she seen your scars? “It’s just…”

“Hey. It’s okay. You can talk to me,” she said, her voice so reassuring.

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