Page 30 of Fear of Love
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I shrugged, taking a sip of my beer, and looked around the living room.
“Okay, fine we’ll let it go,” Josie relented. “But just know,” she leaned in to whisper, “he’s jealous.”
The two dropped the topic and started talking about something else, but my mind lingered on the thought of Landon. My eyes found him, looking him up and down as he talked to Bryton. Heat curled in my belly as my mind replayed what it felt like to kiss him in Australia.
I remembered the way his lips felt against mine, and goddamn it, I wanted to feel them again. This time, when I was completely sober. I craved that same spark from earlier, the way his flirting had made my skin warm.
I knew if we crossed that line things could get awkward. We had a tight friend group, and the last thing I wanted was to ruin that. Because if things did get weird between the two of us, it wasn’t like we could just ignore it and go our separate ways. Hewas Wyatt’s brother, future brother-in-law to Josie, who was my best friend.
But even as I thought of all the roadblocks, I couldn’t deny I felt a pull toward Landon. If he felt the same, would it really be that bad if something were to happen between us? Did he even want that?
9
LANDON
“We need to do something fun for Wy’s bachelor party,” Trevor said next to me.
“We could go to some bar and just have a boy’s night,” Bryton suggested. “Strip clubs are definitely out.”
“I like my balls attached to my body.” I would have laughed at Trevor’s words if I were paying attention, but my gaze was focused elsewhere.
Across the living room, Lydia was talking to the girls, her head thrown back in laughter. I clenched the beer in my hand at the sight. Fuck, why did she have such a hold on me? I had been with my fair share of women, but none of them had the same effect on me that Lydia Ellis did. And I didn’t even know why.
She loved to get under my skin, and I knew for a fact she knew what she was doing. That little smirk she got, the way her green eyes sparked when she got a reaction out of me. Yeah, I liked that a little too much.
Although, none of those compared to the look on her face earlier at the game when I proved I did, in fact, know how to flirt. Granted, it wasn’t my best work, but it was enough to see that Lydia did feel something under that wall of hers.
Seeing her standing there made me want to go over and kiss her. I already knew what her lips felt like from when we kissed in Australia months ago, but that was barely a kiss, and she was drunk. I had wanted nothing more than to press her against the hotel door and brand her with my mouth, but I knew she had one too many drinks. The last thing I would ever do was take advantage of a woman when she was under the influence.
I also knew she’d regret it in the morning, and I wasn’t about to put her in that position. But that didn’t mean I didn’t think about that kiss daily. The urge to do it again and make her mine grew with each passing day I saw her.
The worst part about it, though… She didn’t belong to me. Lydia wasn’t mine.
“Landon.”
“Hm?”
“Game to rob a bank?” Trevor asked.
“Sure.” My eyes remained glued to Lydia. I didn’t pay attention to a single word he said.
“We’re going to dress up as the Powerpuff Girls,” Bryton added.
“Fine with me.”
“Trevor has a crush on you,” Bryton continued.
“Mmhmm.”
“Dude.” A punch to my arm snapped me out of staring. I looked over at Trevor and Bryton, whose eyebrows were raised in question.
“Did you hear anything we just said?” Trevor asked.
“Uh, bachelor party?”
“You just basically agreed that Trevor is gay.” Bryton said which earned him a look from Trevor. “Which would be totally fine if you were. No judgement here.” Bryton put his hands up.
“I have a girlfriend, you asshole.” Trevor glared.
