Page 167 of Contempt

I sit there for a moment, simmering over the implications.

My skin is so hot, I need to go jump in the fucking pool.

But I don’t know how long I have until Landon gets here, so I don’t waste time.

I go back to Hayden’s office and knock on the door before entering.

Hayden looks up at me.

I flash him a smile, hoping I don’t resemble a freckled tomato. “Can I have Landon’s phone number? I just realized I need to ask him if he could pick up something on his way home, and we never actually exchanged numbers.”

“Of course.” He takes his phone out of his suit pocket and holds it out for me.

I hurry over to grab it, then I open a new message and type in the number.

And sure enough, Idohave Landon’s number.

Saved in my phone as Javi.

Chapter Forty-Five

Landon

I intended to head straight home after I left Hannah’s house, but after I got those texts, I had to pull the car over.

Now, I look down at the destroyed muffins I threw against the ground and think I probably should have saved at least one to take home to her, but fuck it.

I don’t care if Hannah asks her about them tomorrow and she’s confused, wondering what the hell she’s talking about and what happened to the muffins.

Same fucking thing that happened to them last time. I destroyed them.

Well, last time I only destroyed one of them.

I never told Parker, of course, but when I was sitting in that lonely fucking house, suddenly devoid of all the love and laughter in the world, I did eat the muffins. And they were fucking delicious.

But it wasn’t about the recipe. It was the love Parker put into them for some asshole kid she didn’t even know.

I was enraged when I slammed the baked goods against the road, but I just feel fucking sad now as I bend down to pick up the muffin container. It’s the same one Parker delivered them in when we were in middle school. I thought she’d get a kick out of me still having it.

I’m tempted to hurl the goddamn thing off the side of the cliff now, but I settle for knocking the fallen sugar and crumbs out of it, then I toss it on the floorboard on the passenger side.

I drive around for a while.

I consider going to Malek’s, but he’d want to know what happened. Considering he’s been telling me I needed to stop pretending to be the fucking valet and just tell her the truth, I know how fucking smug he’d be, and I can’t handle that right now.

You’re looking for trouble, and I’m telling you now… you look long enough, and you’re going to find it.

Of all the fucking things for him to be right about.

Malek has trust issues so I understood him not trusting Parker, but I knew better.

At least, I fucking thought I did.

For a while, I’m just fucking mad at her.

But the longer I drive, the more time I have to think, and the more time I have to think, the more I realize this is my fucking fault.

So, I drive over to Brittany’s.

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