What happened to that, by the way?
Now that he had me right in front of him, something was stopping him. He was sexually active before we connected; I knew that from the moment I first drunk dialed him, when he’d had Valeria there. And last night, I’d peeked into his end table drawer to find a half-empty box of condoms. It wasn’t like he didn’t have sex before me. So, why not with me? It was almost like now that he could actually have it, he had to think twice.
Ace’s comment from earlier stuck with me. He’d implied that Landon might have had his heart broken by someone. Maybe Landon saw me as someone else who might hurt him. Maybe that was why he was treading so carefully.
“Did someone hurt you…a woman?”
He seemed surprised by my question. “Why are you asking that?”
“Ace mentioned something to me at the bar…it was vague…but he said you deserve to be happy with someone who’s not using you. Did someone break your heart, or am I just reading into things?”
Landon looked really taken aback. “I told you, he’s mouthy when he’s drunk, doesn’t always know what he’s saying.”
I nodded, even though he hadn’t exactly answered my question. “Okay.”
I didn’t want to push the issue, because truly opening up to each other was going to have to be a two-way street, one I wasn’t ready to visit.
Landon didn’t delve any further into my inquisition.
“When did you tell them you’d be going back again?” he asked.
“I left it vague, but my boss only agreed to the one week off without pay. I assume he’d have to find a replacement for anything longer than that.”
“We need more time. I don’t know how I’m supposed to let you go.”
“I don’t want to leave. But I’m pretty much stuck in Michigan right now. And you’re in Cali to stay, right? I mean, why would you ever want to leave this place?”
He gave me a look like the answer was obvious. “I can think of one big reason.”
My heart filled with a mixture of hope and fear. “You’d move to Michigan?”
“I wouldn’t want to go back there. But I don’t know if I could be apart from you if this…if things work out between us. You said you won’t leave your dad, so…” He must have noticed the slightly freaked out look on my face when he suddenly changed his tune. “Okay, enough about the serious stuff. I slipped. I wasn’t supposed to be talking about the future. Let’s not worry about all that right now. We made a deal to just have fun and get to know each other while you’re here. I think we need to stick to that.”
Relieved, I sighed. “You’re right.”
That night, I slept alone in Landon’s bed again, wishing he were lying next to me. Despite how close we’d come, it seemed he’d made a conscious decision not to have sex with me during this trip. As much as I didn’t fully understand why, I needed to respect his decision and trust that it was in my best interest.
My breasts were still tingling from arousal, longing to be sucked again. I practically could still feel the wetness of his mouth on them. The physical need mixed with my apprehension about leaving California was slowly killing me.
Needing release, I slid my hand between my legs and began to massage my clit with my index and middle finger. Gripping Landon’s sheets with the opposite hand, I bucked my hips to keep up with the movement of my fingers.
An intense orgasm rolled through me within a few minutes.
Down the hall, I could hear the shower turn on and laughed to myself, wondering if he was about to partake in the same thing I just did.
DETOUR
The intensity of the previous night had been replaced by the sunshine of a brand new day in southern California.
Landon thought it would be cool if we both worked the lunch truck for a bit that afternoon. He knew how much I’d wanted to see him in action, and even though he wasn’t supposed to technically be working, he was eager to show me what his typical workday was like.
Venice was really interesting. Blended into the beautiful beach were guys hawking their CDs and a few medical centers for pot prescriptions. It was the perfect place to people watch.
We’d stopped by the skate park on the way to the truck so that Landon could show me where he spent a good majority of his down time.
We finally arrived at Landon’s Lunch Box, which was parked at the beach. Melanie was on shift when we got there. She was a cute, petite brunette with short hair and an athletic body. Jealousy immediately started creeping in. I’d always wondered what she looked like and was secretly hoping she was unattractive, considering she was spending every single day with him.
Landon introduced us. “Mel, this is Rana.”
“No way!” Her eyes lit up. “It’s you. Rana’s Feta Sandwich!”
It felt odd to be referred to as food. “Hi.” I grinned.
“You know…people loved that one. We’d always run out.”
“What exactly did it have in it?” I asked.
“Feta, shredded lettuce, calamata olives, red onions, and Greek dressing in a pita pocket.”
“Tomatoes,” Landon added, not missing a beat.
“Ah!” She snapped her fingers. “Tomatoes!”
“Mel, why don’t you take the afternoon off. I’ll work the rest of the day and close up. Rana’s gonna be my helper.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool, man. You’re not gonna hear me complain about that.”
Melanie took off her smock and quickly washed her hands.
“Rana, it was really rad meeting you,” she said before bolting out of the truck.
After watching her disappear toward the water, I turned to Landon. “She seems really nice. How did you meet her?”
“I met her at the skating park, actually. She’s an awesome skateboarder—unlike me apparently who nearly cracked my head open.”
I couldn’t help myself. “She’s cute, too.”
Landon seemed to know where my mind was. He just smiled at me for a bit before saying, “She’s gay.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Thank God.
One less thing to worry about.
“You never told me that in all the times you’ve mentioned her.”
“Well, your jealousy is kind of cute, so I neglected to mention it. Figured it might get you out here to California faster if you felt threatened.” He winked. “But apparently all I had to do was nearly die, and that did the trick.”
“Jerk.”
“Let me tell you a secret, though.”
“Yeah?”
He leaned in and spoke into my ear, “You don’t need to worry about anyone. I haven’t been able to think of anyone but you in ages, and when you leave, it’s only going to get ten times worse.”
The idea of leaving him was making me ill. “Let’s not think about that,” I said as he kissed my neck.
My eyes wandered to the counter by the window. A line was starting to form, signaling the start of the busy lunch hour. He had to get to work.