Fool for You (Southern Bride 7)

“Now, remember how your body felt when Landon kissed you. Either kiss. The one on the dance floor or the one y’all shared in the limo. How did that make your body feel?”

“Hot,” I answered without thinking.

“Was it the kiss that made you feel hot, or Landon who made you feel hot?”

My eyes snapped open, and I met her gaze.

She waggled her brows and asked, “Well?”

“It was…it was Landon.”

“There you go. Stop thinking of him as Landon, your best friend, and think of him as Landon, the guy you want to have hot sex with.” She frowned. “Eww, I think I might gag.”

Laughing, I stood and pulled her into a hug. “Thank you, Hail. I’d be lost without you.”

“That’s what best friends are for.”

Her phone rang, and she smiled. “That’s my mom. She’s asking when we’re heading down to the bar; they’re waiting on us.”

I nodded and reached for my phone to send Landon a text that I was nearly ready. Hailey texted Mike as well.

Walking over to my bag, I pulled out my sneakers and socks and sat down to put them on. A knock on the door had Hailey heading over to answer it. I looked up to see Mike and Landon standing there.

“Hey, my mom wants us to get down there,” Hailey told Mike.

“We’ll see you down there then, Landon,” he said.

Landon and Hailey walked past one another, switching places. She and I exchanged another look, and she smiled as Landon told them to let our folks know we would be right down.

When the door shut, he turned and then leaned against it. God, he was so handsome. I’d always thought he was, truth be told. I had just never wanted to explore that thought process too much.

After tying my sneaker, I dropped my foot to the floor and glanced around the room, really taking it in for the first time. The large, floor-to-ceiling windows took up one whole side, with the bed, a dresser, and a desk filling the rest of the room. It was elegant, but nothing too fancy.

“So, Mike thinks we should keep what happened between us in the limo to ourselves.”

I nodded. “So does Hailey.”

Landon walked over and pulled the desk chair out, swung it around, and sat down on it. He had changed into a long-sleeve black shirt and jeans. He had on sneakers and a baseball cap with the number of the car he owned on the front. Lord, he looked so yummy sitting there.

“What do you think?” I asked as I twisted my hands together in my lap.

Landon looked out the window and stared for a few moments before he faced me again. “I think first we need to be honest with one another.”

My heart felt like it dropped to my stomach. Why did those words create both panic and excitement? I nodded. “Okay.”

“Emme, my feelings for you are not platonic, and they haven’t been for some time.”

His words made my eyes widen. “How long have you felt this way?”

He swallowed hard. “Years.”

“Years!” I nearly shouted. “How many years, Landon? One, two, five?”

With a shrug, he said, “Since middle school.”

If I wasn’t already sitting down, I was positive my legs would have given out. “Why…why did you never say anything?” I brought my hand up to my mouth as I gasped. “All those times I shared my breakups and…and…and more with you. Oh my God, and you felt that way about me, and I had been talking about other men?”

“It’s okay, Emme. The only thing I’ve ever wanted is for you to be happy. For you to find the person who makes you happy.”

“Yet, you didn’t think it was important to tell me you had feelings for me? Romantic feelings?”

“I didn’t think you felt the same, and if I said something and things didn’t work out, where would that leave us?”

I could feel the anger building inside of me. “Friends still. I would hope that we would always stay friends no matter what, Landon.”

He looked away again. “I never want to hurt you, Emme. Never.”

My mouth fell open, and I stared at him. “And you think telling me how you truly feel would have hurt me?”

“I’m not sure. I’m not sure about anything other than the fact that tonight I went through a gamut of different emotions in a very short period of time.”

“Such as?”

“Lust, anger, jealousy, desire. And it all revolved around you, Emmerson.”

I felt my breathing pick up, and I opened my mouth to say something but then promptly shut it. I had felt the same swing of emotions in the same amount of time.

We sat there in silence for a few moments before I cleared my throat. It was time for me to be honest as well. With myself and with Landon. “Do you know why I’ve never been able to make any of my relationships work?”