Page 5 of Bella And Her Secret Crush

"Of course. Got the best guy picked out for Belle," Landon answered, taking a huge gulp of his coffee. He winked at me as he put the cup down.

"What's he like?" Mandy asked, leaning into her boyfriend as everyone's eyes turned to Landon. He grinned, shaking his head.

"Where is the fun in that? Not saying a word," He answered. Groans of frustration sounded around the table, but not one came from me. I knew he would do this, and I'd prepared.

"What about you?" Cooper turned to me expectantly.

"Nope, nope, nope. I'm not spilling either." I shrugged, knowing I couldn't say a word even though I wanted to. More than anything, I wanted to tell everyone—except Landon—what I'd planned for him on Friday. But I couldn't because they would probably tell Landon.

I don't know why I did it, but it was almost as if I didn't have another option. My fingers just naturally went for her name on my phone and before I thought about it too much, I'd set Landon up with a girl from my fitness class.

Knowing Landon as well as I did, I knew he had a thing for girls with big asses. And so that's who I found for him—a girl in my class who had worked very hard for her voluptuous backside and loved to show it off. Jessica.

Except there was a caveat. Landon also hated women who only talked about themselves and were conceited. And if there was one thing that Jessica was, it was totally and completely wrapped up in herself. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I'd ever had a conversation with her where she didn't make it about how good she looked, how her body was superior to mine, or how great of a person she was.

Landon would love her.

Why I didn't take the first week seriously? I wasn't sure. There was a part of me that knew I wasn't playing fair, but

I also wanted to see Landon squirm a little bit. Maybe I was a terrible friend, or maybe I was just showing him how bad it could be before I set him up with a girl that could be his future wife. Maybe I was just a hero.

"You two are no fun," Leslie pouted, crossing her arms as though we'd taken candy away from her, and she was a sugar-depraved child. I rolled my eyes again.

"Everyone will get the full rundown after both dates. Patience, friends," I said, grinning.

"We'll both fall in love with our respective dates, obviously," Landon said, winking at me. I wasn't sure what that meant, but I knew there would be no falling in love this weekend for me. It just didn't work like that. Love didn't work like that, if it even existed.

I smiled, knowing that love was certainly not on the table for Landon this Friday, but he would find that out for himself once he met his lovely date.

"Why do I feel like this game is going to last forever?" Mandy asked, looking at Leslie. The two shared a look that somehow held an entire conversation in it, then both of them grinned.

"It won't. I picked a real winner for Belle," Landon told everyone, puffing out his large, muscular chest with pride. "Wouldn't be surprised if wedding bells are around the corner."

I groaned, standing up. The suspense of waiting for this blind date and for Landon's blind date, along with my general disinterest in doing this at all, had me ready to leave. "I'll see you guys next week." I grabbed my purse and headed for the door.

I had to turn around and give my friends a quick middle finger when they started vocalizing their own rendition of Here Comes the Bride.

4

Landon

"Dude,youcan'twearthat," she told me, her eyes narrowing at the overly casual outfit I had picked out. "You're going to Tidewater."

"What's your point? This is fine," I shrugged my broad shoulders, running my hands over the cotton t-shirt with a skateboarding logo on it. I wasn't really one to get dressy unless it was when my parents forced me to go to bougie social events with them, so she shouldn't be surprised that this was what I'd chosen.

Huffing, Belle pushed past me and entered my room, going straight for the closet. "The point," she said over my shoulder, shoving my clothes around on the rack, looking for something, "is that your date is literally in the Ritz. You can't wear something you'd wear to the gym."

"I wouldn't wear this to the gym," I defended, and she turned around to glare at me.

"Landon," she leveled her gaze at my shirt, "you wore that shirt to the gym last week. I was there."

"Okay, but I didn't wear the shorts," I gestured to my Volcom khaki shorts. She was right. I loved wearing this shirt to the gym. Maybe that was why I'd chosen it.

"You're changing," she finally found what she was looking for, yanking it from the far back of the closet and hanging it on the door handle as she moved to the other side of the closet to find some pants. I closed the distance between us, grabbing the absurd shirt. It was black with ridiculous flora designs all over it, and even though the designs were barely noticeable, I still hated the shirt.

"I'm not wearing that," I told her, grabbing the shirt and reaching around her to shove it back into the closet. My chest pressed against her back as I leaned forward to put it back into the mix of all the clothes. I couldn't say it was unintentional.

"Landon!" she screeched, snatching it from my hand before I could fully seat the hanger on the rack. She turned around, holding the garment in the tiny amount of space she'd gained between us when she'd turned. She pushed it against my chest, but I didn't take a single step back. Didn't want to. I towered over her and was nearly twice as broad as her. She shoved me again, a little bit harder this time, frustration evident on her face. "You have to. This restaurant is super nice, and your date will be dressed well. You have to at least look like you're trying."

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