Page 57 of The Perfect Deal

“Could he do that?” Joshua asked, but I wasn’t sure he was asking me so much as just thinking aloud.

“Most people wouldn’t, but Landon would. He’d say he never told us we could date each other or that he didn’t think it through and we just have to stop dating.” I rolled my eyes, fed up with my brother, who hadn’t even done anything yet.

“Well, one thing is for damn sure,” Joshua said as I snuck in the back way to our neighborhood, away from our house so Landon wouldn’t see me dropping Joshua off. “Landon can never know that we’ve already hooked up.”

I pulled to a stop in his driveway and turned to look at him. Taking a deep breath I nodded. He was absolutely right about that. “He would kill us both.”

“He would killme,” he clarified. “You, he’d be angry with but eventually forgive. You are his sister, after all.”

I shrugged, thinking he wasn’t quite right on that, but Landon would definitely be madder at Joshua than me.

“Thanks for the ride home. I’ll see you soon.” Joshua squeezed my hand as I leaned toward him, but he didn’t lean down and kiss my cheek as I’d hoped he would, probably because we were in our neighborhood now, and even though Landon couldn’t see us, someone else might.

“Bye,” I told him. He grabbed his suitcase from the trip out of the trunk and headed inside.

The drive home should’ve taken less than two minutes, but I didn’t hurry. Winding my way through the neighborhood, I thought about Joshua and how badly I wanted him to be my boyfriend. The scent of his cologne, leather and the ocean, lingered in my car. What I wouldn’t have given to bask in that fragrance all the time.

At home, I parked in my usual spot and dragged myself in through the kitchen door. I wasn’t in any mood to talk to Landon, so I hoped he’d be in the other room, but as I walked inside, the whir of the blender told me it wasn’t my lucky day.

Landon flipped the switch to stop making his drink and looked at me, his piercing eyes seeming to stare through my soul. I stopped midstride, my mouth dropping open.

Before I could say a word, Landon stated, “I know about you and Joshua.”

My hands started to tremble as my heart thundered in my chest. What? How could he possibly know? We’d been so careful. Had Poppy told him? She would never do that to me. But if she did, I’d kill her.

“Wh-what do you mean?” I stammered, praying that I could lie my way out of this. Landon would grab a knife from the drawer and end me right now. No, he’d do it with his bare hands.

“You and Joshua,” he said again. “I know that you like one another.”

I blinked a few times, wondering if that was all he knew. “Oh?” I asked, taking a tentative step toward him. “What makes you say that?”

“Come on, Liberty,” he said, waving a hand at me as he went back to his smoothie. Shouting over the blender, he said, “Anyone can see it. I’m not blind or stupid, you know.”

I kind of thought maybe he was a little stupid that it had taken him this long to see how Joshua and I felt about one another, and the fact that we’d managed to have sex twice without him having a clue also didn’t win him any IQ points. But he was right—he wasn’t stupid. “Okay,” I said with a shrug. “I like him. He’s really nice, as you know. Successful and handsome. What’s your point, bro?”

Landon turned the blender off and let out a loud sigh. “Listen, Liberty, I know that the situation with you and Grady was rough. I never should’ve let you date a guy like him. We were friends, so I thought he’d treat you right, but obviously, he didn’t. Ever since then, I’ve been overly cautious, trying to protect you from anyone and everyone I think might break your heart. It’s been silly of me to think that Joshua would ever treat you that way. Obviously, he’s a completely different sort of person than Grady, and I’ve been wrong to keep you from him.”

I didn’t know what to say. My older brother was finally telling me exactly what I’d been longing to hear him say for as long as I could remember. “Thank you, Landon. I appreciate that. Grady hurt me pretty badly, but I never thought he was the one. I never thought the two of us were going to get married or anything like that. Still, it would’ve been nice if he hadn’t treated me like trash.”

Landon cringed. Just thinking about the way that Grady had discarded me still stung him, probably more than it did me. I knew my brother felt responsible for having introduced us to begin with. “Well, Joshua would never do that,” Landon assured me.

I nodded, knowing that was the truth. “We’ll talk about it and see what happens,” I said with a smile. “I appreciate you giving us your blessing.”

“Of course,” Landon said, though his lips were drawn into a tight line, like he wasn’t quite sure what he thought about my choice of words.

I started to walk past him, headed toward the stairs. I needed to pack for camp. It seemed like I was always packing for one thing or another these days.

I only made it a few steps before Landon called my name. “Oh, and Liberty,” he said, causing me to stop in my steps again and turn to look at him, arching an eyebrow. “Just so you know, if the two of you end up sleeping together too soon, I am gonna be pissed. I know it seems like it’s not my business, but you need to get to know each other on a deeper level before you trust him—or anyone—like that.”

I stared at him for a long moment, wanting to tell him off. Since when did he get to dictate who I let into my bed? But he’d just been so nice in giving his blessing to us to date that I didn’t want to make him mad. I could erase the progress we’d just made with just one angry comment. “Okay,” I said. “I understand.”

Landon took a step toward me, and I could see the concern creasing his forehead. The anger I’d felt before melted away as I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around him.

I prayed he never found out the truth that I’d already lied to him.

35

JOSHUA