Page 61 of Finding Fate

Landon

I open the back passenger side door at the drop off and pull out her suitcase as she gets out of the truck, setting it down on the sidewalk. Things get a little awkward, just like I thought they would, because we’re lost somewhere between a couple and a one-night stand, and I honestly can’t remember a time that I’ve been here.

I’ve always been on the cocky side. Among one of the popular ones in school, I was also an athlete. Then there was music. I guess I was sort of a Jack of all trades. I preferred to change things up or I got bored. In junior high and the beginning of high school, I dated girls, and the sex followed once I started down that road. After all the drama in my family, I wasn’t interested in girls but I still liked sex. What guy doesn’t? I didn’t have much to do with them if they weren’t interested in just hooking up for fun. It spiraled from there.

One part of me is ready to get back to my normal, but the other part isn’t ready for her to go. She pulls up the handle of her suitcase as she glances at her watch, and then looks up at me from beneath the bill of her cap. She’s fixed just like she was when we left the house, her long blonde ponytail hanging over her shoulder from the back. “I’m gonna go. This was fun. If you’re ever in California look me up.”

I nod, keeping to myself that the thought has crossed my mind and she’s not even gone yet. She starts to walk off toward the automatic doors, rolling her suitcase beside her. I watch her retreating backside, everything around me already feeling stale. I knew I shouldn’t have . . . I shake my head. I’m going to regret this. “Paxtyn.”

She stops and turns around, my legs already moving toward her. When I get close, I wrap my arms around her shoulders, pulling her in for a bye hug. After a second or so, she circles hers around my waist, her cheek pressed against my chest. She smells good. Looks phenomenal. “What’s this for?”

It comes out before I can stop it. “You’re lightning, girl. The beauty is in the danger. Even though the hit could kill you, you still find yourself looking up. Don’t let anyone steal your thunder. You’re a bigger threat when it’s present.”

She glances up, something unfamiliar in her eyes, and then she kisses me, quickly pulling away. She smiles. “I’ll always remember you, Miami. You got through my armor.”

When she makes it through the automatic doors, I shout, “It’s Scott,” remembering I’m notorious for being vague about myself, such as the fact that I like to stalk her on social media without her knowing. No way am I giving that secret away. I’m opening a door for her. She looks back. “My last name. It’s Scott, but if you’re going to call me anything else, I like country.”

She grins at me, mentally knocking me back. “Landon Scott. It suits you. Country does too. Drive safe, k?”

I nod, and in what seems like a blink, she’s gone.

Thirty-Five

Maddox

“Where is your head at?” I ask Landon as he shoves clean clothes into his duffle bag, getting ready to head to the airport. He thinks no one can tell he’s different since Paxtyn left in the middle of the night, but I can. Even when Riggan was strung out on drugs and gone all the damn time it was still me and him. He’s back to his normal, moody, quiet self since he woke up today. The temporary guy he was letting out in very short bursts—like when Konnor mentioned him talking more—was the old Landon. The guy he was before everything went to shit in his household.

“Where it always is before I have to go back to work,” he says, being short. Typical Landon. Keeps everything but superficial shit buried deep.

“You know what I mean. What about Paxtyn?”

“What about her?” He moves around, checking the room for any of his stuff he might have missed. When he pulls the comforter up to check the bed, he grabs something, and as soon as he realizes what it is, he shoves it into his jeans pocket like he doesn’t want me to see it. Too late. He looks at me, no expression present. “She’s just a girl I fucked.”

I smile. I’m not a fucking idiot. “Is that why you’re keeping her panties as a token of her visit instead of throwing them in the trash?”

His jaw hardens. “I’m not going to talk about it. You’re wasting your breath.”

He still didn’t throw them away . . . which is what I would have done had he called me out. I take a deep breath. “We’re your friends, Landon. We’d never roll on you. We used to talk about important stuff, and not just band stuff. Why do you have Rig and me locked out? Do you know how many nights I’ve sat on your porch and told you stuff I didn’t want to tell anyone? That’s what friends do. They confide in each other even when it’s hard. They give you another perspective to problems. What are you so afraid of? That you’ll screw up your playboy reputation if you have real feelings for a girl?”

It feels like he’s drilling a hole in my head. “Let’s pretend I do have feelings for her—I don’t. What do you propose I do? She lives in California. I live in Mississippi six months a year and on a rig the other six. Lately I’ve been here working on band shit. She’s still in high school, Maddox, and I’m not talking halfway through her senior year kind of shit. She’s a fucking junior. She has an entire year left once this one is over. I’m not wasting my time on a long-distance relationship. They never work. Trust or not, you can’t keep an eye on each other that far apart. If she wasn’t having sex before, she will be now. You and me both know once a girl gets a taste of dick she doesn’t stop. Then there is the age garbage. It wouldn’t be two high schoolers sneaking around like you and Gabby back then. I’m a grown-ass man. You think a girl’s parents are going to be okay with that? I’m too old to justify sneaking around when there are plenty of girls closer to my age that will spread their legs for a good time and then get out of my way. Just doesn’t seem worth it to me.”

I grin. It’s not in me to keep my damn mouth shut. “Yet to have such an argument you’ve thought about it.”

“Leave it alone, Maddox.” He grabs his duffel bag and throws it over his shoulder, already walking toward me. “I’ll meet you at the truck.”

I place my hand on his chest to stop him as he comes up beside me and look over at him, still smiling because I already know the answer, and in this one situation his method is warranted even though Presley is tender-hearted. She’s also oblivious to people not in her circle, which would primarily be the people living in this house and maybe a few outside of it. While she’s attentive to all of us, Landon included, the problem with that is you’re basically an asshole to everyone on the outside unintentionally, like her sister. Landon saw it, Gabby saw it, and I saw it. They’re idiots if the rest didn’t see it. I wouldn’t even be surprised if there was some jealousy there. While Presley is one of the most beautiful girls I’ve ever seen, Paxtyn is something else entirely. She’s up there with Blondie, but different somehow. I can’t put my finger on it. No guy in his right mind would have done anything different than Landon. I can say that because Gabby is on her own list. No girl will ever compare to her in my eyes. “You going to smooth things over with Presley over the asshole comment you made as to why she left early before you go? She thinks you’re mad at her over ‘Paxtyn being Paxtyn’ because now Paxtyn apparently won’t answer her phone.”

“Nothing to smooth over. I’m no different with her than I was before her sister got here. If I had been, Konnor would have said something about it. He may be a softy with her but he’s not a pussy. I respect that about him. Not my fight. They can hash it out. I have a plane to catch.”

I laugh over the Konnor comment, following him through the basement. “You ever gonna fill him in on that little tidbit? You’re the only one left to officially welcome him into the group for him to completely feel like he belongs. He was quite fond of the talkative Landon who was in a better mood because his dick was being serviced by a teenager.”

“Ugh, shut the fuck up,” he growls, making this so much more fun.

“Konnor’s little jailbait sister-in-law . . .”

“Maddox!” he barks, making me chuckle.

I remember something that Riggan said the night we were talking about it outside. It was covered the day Gabby and me walked in. “Tell me more about this panty tan line. Are we talking like porn star type shit?”