A Kiss For You

The passenger door opened. My gaze darted to it in surprise. Then, Emery stepped out, and my hands shook in disbelief.

Emery had been with Landon all night?

Kimber had said she was with Heidi. But it was right in front of my face. Landon was stepping out of the driver’s side. He sprinted around to Emery’s side and wrapped an arm around her waist. She turned her body into his and held on to his shoulder.

I felt like I was going to be sick. I didn’t think I could watch any more of this. If I had thought half-hearted that Landon still had feelings for Emery before, it was now confirmed. He’d run out on me to go see my girlfriend. And here they were, together.

They walked arm in arm up to the front door.

As much as I wanted to look away, I couldn’t seem to. Landon definitely still had feelings for Emery. And the way Emery was acting—leaning against him, holding on to him, practically gluing herself to his body—showed that not everything was gone from her either.

Emery rested back against the brick wall next to the door that I had walked out of only minutes before. She was staring up at Landon’s face, and I didn’t even need to hear what they were saying. The picture was clear enough to me.

I put the truck into drive and zoomed away from the sight before me. I couldn’t watch any more.

I’d thought that there was nothing that would keep me from Emery.

But I would not compete with Landon.

Not in this lifetime.

Not in any lifetime.

Chapter 25

Emery

My back was against the brick wall to Kimber’s place, and my head felt like I’d blown up a balloon inside it. Landon was hovering. Little hoverer. But I should be thankful because I wouldn’t have made it to the front door without his help.

Somehow, I’d gone from a three-drink max to, like, ten drinks. I didn’t even know how it had happened. At one point, I had been standing, and the next, I had proclaimed to the bar that I was definitely not drunk before suddenly wanting to make out with Heidi. Sure signs that I was a drunky-drunk face.

“Are you going to be okay? You look like you might throw up,” Landon said.

“Just go check on Heidi. If she vomits in that Mercedes, Jensen is going to be sooooo pissed.”

Landon grinned and shook his head. “Man, you’re so fucked up.”

“This is all. Your. Fault,” I said, punctuating each word with a smack to his chest. It might have been some stupid girlie hit, but I felt fierce while doing it.

“Where is your key? Do you still not carry a purse?”

“As if the key would magically appear in a purse,” I said, patting down my pockets in a half-assed effort. “It’d be full of other junk I didn’t need. I’d never find it.”

“You can’t find it now, and it’s in your pocket.”

“Judgy McJudgerson doesn’t find pockets acceptable. You only have pockets,” I slurred, poking at his pocket and giggling.

“Do not make me look through your pockets for you,” Landon said with a sigh. “God, if my wife saw me right now.”

“Her head would explode,” I crooned. Then, I made the boom sound for an explosion.

“Something like that,” he conceded. “So, hurry up, so I can get home and incur her wrath.”

I giggled again and then finally dug out the missing key.

Landon plucked it out of my hand and unlocked the door for me. He shoved the door open. “Here you go. Inside with you,” he said, helping me blunder inside.

A light flickered on, and Kimber appeared around the corner. She stopped short, her mouth hanging open and her eyes darting between the two of us.

“Hey, Kimmy,” I said happily.

“Landon?” Kimber asked softly.

“Hey, Kimber,” he said with a short wave.

“That is not the Wright brother I was expecting,” she confessed.

Landon’s cheeks turned pink, and I giggled at his embarrassment. Man, I am loaded.

“Just wanted to make sure she got home safe. Caught her at Flips with Heidi, and they needed a ride home,” he told her.

“I see.” She crossed her arms over the top of her pregnant belly. “Don’t you have a wife to get home to?”

She was using her mom voice, and I wanted to tell her to stop. But Landon seemed to take a cue from her and backed off. I stumbled onto the couch and watched the ceiling spin.

“Good seeing you again, Kimber. Good night,” Landon said.

“Good night,” she said, closing the door behind him. She turned back to face me with a sigh. “What have you gotten yourself into?”

“Clouds.”

“Clouds?”

“They’re twirling on the ceiling.”

“Oh God, you’re so drunk. Why didn’t you answer Jensen’s calls?”

“He didn’t call,” I said, trying to sit up. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and tried three times to light up the screen before realizing it was dead. I sheepishly glanced up at her. “Um…it’s dead.”