Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Adam

Listen to Hanging

by a Moment by Lifehouse

I waited for Landon and thought over my conversation with Max.

His crazy-ass vow to do some type of vigilante stalking to Landon’s current boyfriend threw me off. I was still processing the fact Landon hadn’t told me about being attacked at Red, and that Max had taken care of her while I was in Brooklyn.

The rage burned hot in my blood but I needed to tamp it down to get through the rest of the meeting at the diner, and keep calm until I spoke directly with Landon. The way Max bragged about being in bed with her almost had me launching from the booth to beat the crap out of him. I had to remind myself no one knew about us yet, and I had no rights. Until I went public, my relationship with Landon was still a dirty secret. Instead, I had to sit there like a mute while Coop and Noah counseled Max with a bunch of platitudes.

“I’m sure it’s nothing but sex—Landon still has feelings for you, dude.”

“Maybe if you keep chill, she’ll come back. After all, she didn’t call that guy to help her. She turned to you.”

“You saved her from a trauma. I bet Landon could forgive you for the cheating now that she sees you as a hero.”

I couldn’t stand the bullshit remarks all pointing to evidence Landon was going to get back together with Max.

When Max asked what I thought, his sharp gaze shredding my stone face expression apart, I mumbled something and agreed with the others.

Because I was a pussy.

I should’ve had the balls to tell Max and the others Landon was not only fucking me, but I was in love with her. I should’ve taken the leap and trusted Landon would leap with me. Instead, I ate my eggs and drank my coffee in a state of half shock, half fury, waiting until I could get the hell out of there and call Landon.

Max ranted on about killing the random dude, and stalking Landon until he could figure out who she was seeing. Thank God, Coop and Noah did the job for me and calmed him down, convincing Max to stay the course of superhero friend/supporter. Coop was charged with getting the dirt from Elle, and Noah swore he’d ask Daisy if she knew anything. Max asked if I could text Gabby, who seemed to know everything, because she wasn’t giving him shit. I think I nodded and agreed. I don’t even remember.

I never called Landon afterward. Some things needed to be done in person. This was one of them.

Finally, the door opened and she came in. My heart gave a jump as my gaze devoured her, not caring if she’d hurt me or had Max in her bed. I didn’t give a fuck once she was in my orbit. I’d tear her apart, punish her, fuck her, and then forgive her.

That’s how screwed I was.

She was wearing tiny denim shorts, a white t-shirt, and sneakers. Her hair was in a ponytail, showing off the elegant features of her face. Her lips were painted a bright pink. Those sea-blue eyes snapped to mine, probing, as if wondering why I was standing in the shadowed corner of the room instead of walking over to greet her.

“Adam?”

Her voice was tentative. I watched without speaking, and her tongue flicked out to wet her lower lip. She looked like a teen cheerleader in her outfit, a wholesome, sweet, sexy innocent who secretly wanted to be dirtied up.

But last night someone else had touched her without my permission. And I needed to find out every detail.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

The energy in the room heightened. She took a step back, as if retreating, then squared her shoulders. “How did you find out?”

Her answer pissed me off. Another part of me admired her grit. Landon didn’t surrender or bow to anyone. Even me. Only when she wanted to, on her terms. It was part of my obsession with her. “Max.”

Her eyes widened. A curse blistered from her lips and she walked further into the room, closing the space between us. “Okay, that’s unfortunate. I planned to tell you everything tonight. Want to step into the light with me, or continue to be a sulky vampire?”

My muscles tightened and it took all my ability not to drag her into my arms and brand her with my lips and tongue and teeth. To take all the fight out of her and fuck her so senseless, she begged and pleaded for release, promising to do anything I wanted. But the payoff was too big for this conversation and I wasn’t about to use sex to get my answers.

At least, not yet.

“Don’t push me, princess. My patience is razor thin. Unless you want to be forcibly stripped naked, tied up, and ignored for hours while I sexually torture you?”

The lust in her eyes told me I’d do exactly that another time. Eventually, I’d unearth and explore all of Landon’s darkest fantasies. Unfortunately, tonight wasn’t about play. She pretended I didn’t see her reaction and sneered. “Sounds like a real party, but I’m thinking we could have a grown-up conversation about what happened yesterday.”

I kept my tone mild even though I wanted to explode. “Not sure. I thought we could, until you deliberately cut me out and replaced me with Max.”

She let out a blast of breath, threw her purse on the bed, and faced me with feminine temper. “I did not replace you with Max! I’m not sure what you heard, but shit went down at 4am at Red. You were in Brooklyn. I planned on telling you what happened in the morning, once you got back, but when you texted, I figured it was better waiting until we were face to face. Max insisted on following me home to make sure I was okay.”

“Yeah, Max told me over breakfast this morning. How’d he get in your bed, Landon?”

Her entire body tightened. I watched her carefully, seeking any type of sign she was trying to hide something important from me—namely lingering emotions for Max. She groaned and shook her head, all the snark draining from her in a rush. “Ah, fuck.”

I waited, refusing to say another word. I wanted her truth, even if I dreaded hearing it.

“Adam, it’s not what you think. I was working the late shift at Red—Max asked me to do it because the money is sick—and things got out of hand. I went outside and when I came back in, this guy in a mask pushed me against the door and tried to… assault me.” The way she stumbled over the word made a red sheen blur my sight. My fingers curled into fists at the idea of someone touching her to bring pain that wasn’t mine. I ached to hold her and reassure myself she was okay, but I kept still, needing her to finish.

“I fought but then Max ripped him away and hit him. The guy hit Max back and then took off. Max ran after him but wasn’t able to find him. We told Rock, who asked if I wanted the police but I just wanted to leave. I knew we wouldn’t find him.”

“What about cameras?” I asked.

“There were none from that angle in the doorway. If he had gone anywhere else, we may have caught him.”

A bell rang in my head, adding to my suspicions, but I concentrated on Landon. She continued. “I wanted to go home, but Max insisted he didn’t want to leave me alone in case I freaked out later. When we got there, we had a drink, and then I went to bed. He was going to sleep on the couch. But when I got up this morning, he was in my bed. Said I cried out having a nightmare and asked him to stay, but I don’t remember any of it. It was a blur.” I grit my teeth so hard it was a miracle they didn’t shatter. “I swear to God, Adam, I want nothing to do with Max. He didn’t try anything at all—my clothes were all on and when I told him it wasn’t cool, he immediately backed off. Then I told him I was seeing someone.”

I waited a few beats. “Was that before or after he cooked you breakfast?”

Her face fell, but I didn’t see the guilt I was searching for. Guilt would tell me if she had unresolved feelings. I only spotted frustration at the situation and her rush to explain. “During. He offered and I felt funny about kicking him out when he was trying to be there for me. We ate, and he left. That’s it.”

It wasn’t it but at least she’d told me her version. “Why didn’t you call me? Did you really believe I wouldn’t have left Brooklyn immediately to come to you?”

“I knew that’s exactly what you’d do,” she said calmly. “And I didn’t want that. I was okay, and just craved sleep. There was no reason to have you rush back for nothing.”

“But you let Max stay?”

“Yeah. I’m not sure if this is going to come out right, but having Max there wasn’t a big deal. We share a long history. And though he cheated and I’d never look at him romantically again, he’s still someone I cared about as a friend. He’s part of our group. When he pushed hard to stay, it was easier to let him. It was about having another person around—it didn’t matter who it was.”

“You didn’t want to call Elle?”

“Adam, I only wanted to go home, sleep, and forget about the whole thing. I simply wasn’t thinking clearly. Can you believe that?”

I did. I may not like it, or the way she still cared about Max, but I also understood. If Gabby insisted on staying, would I say no? Even if we never slept together, anyone part of our crew was safe. Landon simply wasn’t a liar. She’d tell the hard truth whether I liked it or not, just like now. She wasn’t going to apologize for letting Max stay. She was going to apologize that she kept me out of the loop and that having Max there made me uncomfortable.

I could live with that. And I didn’t want any type of abnormal jealous relationship. Trust was key.

I trusted Landon.

I did not trust Max. Especially now that I put the pieces together.

Because now I knew that Landon had been set up and the game had completely changed.