She turns back.
“You’re going to be okay. I promise.”
Biting her bottom lip to keep from crying, she nods and then moves on. I hug myself, aching for her. I remember.Oh, I remember.
Landon finds me a bit later. “Everything okay?”
I step into him, wrapping my arms around his middle. “Yeah.”
He sets one hand on my back and runs the other down my hair. “You positive? Because I’m pretty sure you’re crying.”
And he’s right, but these few escaped tears aren’t for Thomas. Though all of this has dredged up a slew of memories I’d rather stayed buried, my tears are for Paige—because her pain is a mirror of mine a year ago. I can identify with it too easily, feel it, even taste the betrayal. I hate that Tanner did this to her.
“Why do people cheat?” I ask, looking up to meet Landon’s eyes.
His face softens, and I know he’s put the pieces together and figured out why Paige was so upset. “Because they’re selfish.”
Our situations were different. His girlfriend cheated on him, and Paige and I were used. But it’s all the same really.
“Hey, Lacey?” he says after a moment.
I look back at him.
His hand slowly moves on my back, rubbing gentle circles. “You know that if we were together—really, truly together, even if we were states apart, I would never do that to you, right?”
My heart swells, and I give him a watery smile. “Hypothetically speaking?”
His solemn expression softens. “Yeah.”
I set my cheek on his chest, listening to the steady thrum of his heart. “Yes, I do know that.”
And I mean it. The problem is, we’re not really, truly together, are we?
It’s just getting dusky,and we’ve found the perfect spot to park. Mom and Mrs. Tillman pass out sodas and snacks, and Caleb and McKenna run around Uncle Mark’s truck, waving glow sticks that it’s not quite dark enough for.
Landon sits next to me in the bed of the truck. Everyone else is in lawn chairs, but we’re on Mark’s diamond plate toolbox next to the back window.
We’re sitting here, laughing at Caleb and McKenna, when Landon’s phone rings. Surprised to see he has service, he pulls it out of his pocket and then sighs when he sees the number. Immediately, he silences it.
I don’t even have to ask to know who it is.
Without a word, Landon sets his arm around my shoulders, drawing me to his side.
Then his phone rings again. This time, he dismisses the call and turns the phone off.
“I’m sorry,” he says.
I shrug, not knowing how I feel. He and Evie were together for three years after all—he must still care for her, at least a little bit. Even if he doesn’t want to. Even ifIdon’t want him to.
When Mrs. Tillman’s phone rings, I get the first premonition that something is amiss. She frowns and turns to Landon. “Any idea why Evie is calling me?”
Landon holds his hands out, wordlessly telling her he has no idea and doesn’t really want to know.
Mrs. Tillman looks down at the number, conflicted. “Do you think everything’s all right with her parents? It seems strange she’d call me if it wasn’t an emergency.”
And then, because she’s a mom and she just can’t help herself, she answers the phone. “Hi, Evie,” she says in a warm but cautious tone—one that makes me realize she knew Landon’s ex pretty well.
“Oh,” Mrs. Tillman says, her eyes getting huge. “I…well.”
