Page 108 of Fear of Love
“Good, because I’m pretty sure I fell for you when you called me an asshole the first time we met.”
I smiled up at him, heart swelling as if it might burst.
“Will you kiss me? It’s been days since—” I didn’t get to finish before his lips covered mine. I let out a quiet sigh, melting into him.
It was soft and sweet, and all the hurt from the last few days faded away. Kissing Landon was like finally finding where I belonged. I never wanted it to end.
Pulling back, Landon pressed his forehead against mine, his thumbs caressing my cheeks. My tears had stopped, but I knew my makeup was smeared everywhere.
“As much as I’d love to lift up this gorgeous dress of yours and see what you have underneath, I don’t think we have time,” Landon spoke. I wanted nothing more than to feel him against me, in me, but it wasn’t the best time. My best friend and his brother were about to get married.
“We should probably go,” I said but made no motion to move.
With a soft sigh, Landon pulled away, as if reluctantly letting go. The way he gazed at me made my whole body come alive. He looked at me like no one ever had before.
“I was never mad at you.” His eyes searched mine. “I only left because I wanted you to figure out what you really wanted, and if that included me.”
“I only want you.” I reached up and gripped his wrist. “I just had to get out of my own way.” I hoped he could see just how much I cared about him. How I was tired of fighting what I felt.
“I’m glad you did.” He gave me a soft smile.
Knowing that we both needed to get back, I leaned forward, pecking his lips once, twice, three times before forcing myself to detangle from him and stood.
I straightened my dress and wiped my face with my good hand. It was good enough until I got upstairs to get it fixed. Stepping toward Landon, I reached up and fixed his tie the best I could, smoothing the fabric of his tux.
“You clean up well,” I remarked.
“This dress looks incredible on you.” His eyes raked my form, eyes lighting up as he did so. “It's going to be hard keeping my hands off of you.”
With my hand on his chest, I peered up at him.
“Then don’t.” His eyebrow raised at that. “I’m not going to hide us anymore.” All of our friends knew, and if they didn’t, they were about to. Landon was mine, and everyone was going to know that.
“No more hiding,” he agreed.
Before Landon opened the door, he kissed me one last time. A kiss that made my toes curl in my heels. When he pulled away, I had to put my hands behind my back to stop from pulling him into another.
My face felt like it was going to break from how wide my smile was. I wasn’t sure how this conversation would go, but I think part of me thought he would flat-out reject me. Instead, I was now heading to a wedding with a boyfriend.
“I’ll see you in a bit,” I promised. As much as I didn’t want to leave him, I knew if I wasn’t back to Josie’s room soon, Tasha would start freaking out.
Unable to help myself, I pressed up to my toes and kissed Landon one more time. When I pulled back, his lips had a pink hue from my lipstick. I laughed as I gently wiped them. He just kept smiling down at me. That grin had the power to turn my entire world upside down.
Before I could step away, Landon carefully grabbed my injured hand. He brought it up to his mouth, pressing a soft kiss to the fingertips peeking out of the cast. “See you soon.”
I further ruined my lipstick by biting my lip as I forced myself to step away. With one last smile at each other, I turned and headed back down the hall. I only made it a few steps when he called out to me.
“Blondie.”
I preened at the nickname. Just a few months ago, I hated it, but now I ached to hear it. I glanced over my shoulder and found him standing there, hands in his pockets again, a smirk on his face. “Your ass looks phenomenal in that dress.”
All I could do was shake my head, Landon laughing behind me as I headed back upstairs.
31
LYDIA
“Where the hell have you been?” was the first thing out of Josie’s mouth the moment I stepped back into the room. A quick glance at the clock on the wall told me I was gone for almost an hour.
