Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 155405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 777(@200wpm)___ 622(@250wpm)___ 518(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 777(@200wpm)___ 622(@250wpm)___ 518(@300wpm)
I’m expecting them to be different, so I’m utterly baffled when I see… they’re not. The number on this card is the number in my phone, and I don’t understand how that’s possible when I watched Javi write his name on the back of this card and hand it to me himself.
It would be much easier to imagine Landon somehow got his hands on my phone after I saved his number and I just didn’t notice, but then, I guess that wouldn’t make sense, either. As soon as I saved the number, I sent Javi a text to make sure I had saved it correctly before I tucked the card away. If I had been talking to him that night but Landon ever since a theoretical number change…
But it can’t be that. Landon’s phone number is written on the back of this business card.
I can’t figure it out. There’s no way it makes sense. The only plausible thing I can think is that somehow, Landon forced Javi to write his number on that card and give it to me, but going over that interaction, it just doesn’t make sense. Javi was relaxed and charismatic despite my awkwardness. Unless I was utterly wrong about him and he really is just an opportunistic creep, I can’t see him so easily going along with Landon’s plan to manipulate me.
Then again, he was making out with Anae Richards earlier tonight. I have a difficult time believing anyone who would go for her has an upstanding sense of morality.
Maybe Landon was right and he was just looking for a “rich girl” to mess around with.
Still doesn’t explain all this, though. Not to my satisfaction, anyway.
The bedroom door opens behind me and I turn, putting down the card. Poor Mom looks so emotionally spent, so I walk over and give her a big hug.
She wraps her arms around me and hugs me back. “I feel like I’ve failed you,” she murmurs, and that’s all it takes for the dam to break.
I can’t stand to see her cry.
“No,” I tell her fiercely, shaking my head. “You haven’t.” Pulling back to look at her so she can see I’m serious, I tell her, “This isn’t like before. I know he has done a lot of bad things in the past, but the kiss, this thing between us… it isn’t that anymore. He really likes me, and I really like him. I know how cliché this sounds, but there truly is a side of him you haven’t seen. And haven’t you noticed he has been nicer lately? I know ‘nicer’ for Landon isn’t exactly a high bar, but he has been more open to doing all the family stuff. He’s stopped being such a jerk to you.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better. Oh, my daughter wants to kiss the boy who has preyed on her for a good chunk of her life? Yay.”
I bite back a faint smile despite the stakes of the moment. “Well, sure, when you package it that way, it’s not great. But let me package it differently. You know how since before you even met Hayden, you started feeling anxious about losing me when I go away to college and start a chapter of my life that doesn’t include you as much? How you’ve literally lost sleep imagining me wanting to spend the holidays with my boyfriend’s family instead of you? You will never have to worry about that as long as I’m with Landon because… it’s the same family! And I understand that’s a little weird, but honestly, who cares? If it works for us, that’s all that matters, and this does work for us. I swear, Landon is being a good boyfriend so far, and if that changes, then I’ll end it. And sure, that could be a little awkward if we were exes and we still had to spend the holidays together, but more awkward than him being the asshole who tormented me at school and I have to do holidays with him? Probably not. There was always going to be some awkwardness here. Honestly, the only way the awkwardness leaves permanently is if Landon and I are together. Then we really can be one big happy family, and yes, as I’m saying that, I know how twisted it sounds, but… it really isn’t. And I know he doesn’t have a track record of treating girls well, but it’s different with me.” I roll my own eyes. “And I know that sounds idiotic, but in this case, I swear it’s true. I wouldn’t be with him if it weren’t. You just have to trust me. I’m not a kid anymore, Mom. It means so much to me that you want to protect me, it really does, but this isn’t something I need protecting from. Landon likes me and I like him, and Hayden loves you and you love him, and those two relationships do not need to interfere with each other.”