Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
“It’s fucking beautiful,” I said, still in awe.
“I’ve never had a lot of money, but I’ve always wanted my room to feel like a peaceful place.”
“Better than peaceful,” I said. “A lot of rich people I’ve known don’t have bedrooms that feel anything close to this personalized.”
He nervously scratched at the back of his neck as I went to sit on the corner of his bed. “Thank you, Landry.”
“Why on Earth would you be afraid to show me this?” I asked as he came to sit next to me.
He shrugged a shoulder. “I know my room is okay. But you… you’re used to mansions. Penthouse lofts. Resorts. I didn’t even know if you’d ever stepped foot in a house this small.”
I shook my head, pulling him close and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “I’ve been to a lot of places. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bedroom that feels more like home than this.”
He squeezed a hand on my thigh. “You’re too nice to me.”
I breathed next to him for a moment, just enjoying the room, the utterly relaxed vibe it had, and the fact that the whole thing smelled like him.
“You won’t be with these roommates forever,” I assured him. “But even right now, you are living beautifully, Jamie.”
I pulled back to look him in the eye again, and he squeezed my hand.
“You make me feel like I’m worth something,” he said softly. “I haven’t really ever felt that before. Not like this.”
“I want you to feel that way all of the time.”
His blue eyes glimmered, gorgeous and hopeful. “I think I’m finally starting to.” One of his dimples appeared as he smiled, and I leaned in to press a kiss to that spot of soft skin.
I didn’t stop. I kissed him from his cheek to his jawline and down lower.
And in that moment, I knew I didn’t regret a single thing that had led me here.
21
JAMIE
I slammed my car into park, my back lurching against the driver’s seat a little as I stopped outside the store where Chase had been grabbing food.
I loved it when my brother visited California—but he always brought a little bit of chaos with him.
Beautiful, fun chaos, but chaos nonetheless.
“Get in, get in, we’re late,” I said, reaching over to pop open the door for him. He was rushing out the front doors, arms full of grocery bags and food containers.
I grabbed the stack of two pies and a box of pastries sitting on my passenger side seat, carefully placing them in the back of the car. Chase added his own stuff to the back before finally sitting down in the passenger seat, letting out a big breath of air.
“Okay, I’m in, let’s roll,” Chase said, leaning over to give me a quick side-hug before putting on his seat belt. “Landry is probably already at Mom’s. She’s probably already three stories deep into talking his ear off about the neighbor.”
I snorted, throwing the car into drive again and heading off. “She’s probably three tangents deep. Starting with a story about the neighbor, branching into a story about local birds, then branching into a story about how things used to be in 1992, or something.”
Chase laughed, settling in as we cruised down the street. “It’s been way too long since we had a proper dinner party at Mom’s, hasn’t it?”
“Years,” I said. “We’re too busy. I’m tired of being busy.”
“Tell me about it.”
I nervously tapped the steering wheel with my thumbs at a red light. For the last few days, I’d been in high gear planning out the dinner party. It was the first time Landry would be seeing Mom’s house, and I kept veering from excitement to nervousness and back again about twenty times a day.
It had been four weeks since the night at the beach. Chase and Adam had already gone on their honeymoon. Chase had decided to come out for a quick weekend trip to California to spend some quality time with me and Mom after the chaos that had been the wedding week.
I couldn’t believe it had all only been four weeks ago.
For me, it had been four weeks of cautious optimism, of opening myself to the possibility that someone—someone fucking amazing—might actually want me for real.
But as each week passed, I’d only found myself getting more hopeful about Landry. I kept waiting for something bad to happen, but only good things seemed to be happening with him in my life.
Landry’s life was colossally different from mine, but he found a way to make everything seem normal. He’d driven down to visit me multiple times, and I’d caved, letting him pay for my gas to drive up to his house twice in LA. He’d already had to make two short business trips back to his house in Denver, but each time, he showered me with a steady stream of photos, little videos, and texts throughout the day, showing me the little moments of his life even when I couldn’t be there. A picture of a pastry. A selfie of him in front of a museum. A selfie of him in front of tons of boring-looking paperwork. And each night, even when he couldn’t be in California, he made sure to have a video chat with me.