34. Chapter Thirty-Four #2
The memory of that kiss, the way he’d shoved out all rational thought—made me forget the outside world even existed—with his lips, his hands, the heat of his body…
My lips burned even now.
“Pretty hot. I see why you succumbed.”
I gasped, dropped the phone to my lap to hide the images. “I did not succumb.”
“Thank god. Imagine what those pictures would have looked like.” She grinned, unrepentant. “As it stands now, you’re Richland’s hottest new couple. Folks’re eating this up.”
“Wait, what?”I blinked. Her words battered away at the stupor in my brain even as I struggled to bring my thinking up to speed. “Where’s the outrage? The slut-shaming?”
“We need to find the original video, but so far, it’s not happening. Or not with any degree of success. What happened after this kiss?”
Heat crawled up my neck as memories flooded back. His strong thighs beneath me, his hands wandering while the others worked puzzles. We’d turned discretion into foreplay, each hidden caress and lingering look adding fuel to a fire we pretended we could control.
But more than his touch, his words had burrowed deep: “I’m in love with you, Merri Wylie.” Words now tainted by headlines and speculation.
Fresh tears burned behind my eyes. I sniffed hard, fighting back another crying jag. Nat bumped her shoulder against mine, and we swayed together in the quiet of my bedroom. The silence soothed my raw nerves. Thank god for my best friend.
“I like him, Nat.” The confession scraped my throat. “I really do.”
“Yep.”
“Sucks he’s a hockey player. Sucks worse he works for the same team.”
“Could be worse.”
“How?” I planted my bare feet on the floor, shoved up, and crossed the bedroom to my dresser. “How could it possibly be worse?”
“He could be another Lettuce.”
A laugh burst from my lips. Thank god for my best friend. “True. Very true.”
As I dug out a pair of thick navy stockings and finished getting dressed, Nat gave a run down of what she’d discovered while I’d moped.
“I didn’t read Shep’s message or your boss’s message, but most of the others are asking you to confirm a relationship with Shep. Asking when things started between you, how serious things are, if you’d make a statement as to the status of your relationship. All sorts of nosy questions.”
I nodded along, even as I rolled my lips and my belly wrenched. Reasonable questions if I was Taylor Swift or Jung Kook. I guess in the eyes of Richland sports fans, Shep Landon had celebrity status.
“The socials, though. They are filled with giddy, high school excitement. There’s more of the stills from that video—how could you forget the cameras?
Is he that good of a kisser?—but they’ve resurrected PR shots from when you joined the Renegades, even traced you back to Arvon and pulled some pics from there.
They’re analyzing your outfits, debating when you and Shep started dating.
It’s pure love-struck madness. No pics yet of you with Lettuce, but brace yourself, if the internet sleuths keep digging, they’ll turn up. Just a matter of time.”
“Twitter is currently debating what couple name you’ll have. Merridon and MerriShep are leading, by the way. I like how they put your name first in both, but neither really have that spark, that pizazz a good couple name needs. I hope they come up with something better. Shylie sounds kinda cool.”
“I appreciate the attempt at distraction, Nat. I really do. But let’s not talk about couple names, okay?”
Nat squeezed my fingers before dropping the phone into my palm. “You should probably check his message.”
I nodded, my thumb hovering over Shep’s name. The Golden Boy had charmed his way past my defenses, turned competition into something more. Now the whole world wanted details.
Taking a deep breath, I opened his message.
Shep: Don’t freak out. Call me when you’re awake. Love you.
I flopped beside Nat, fresh tears spilling down my cheeks. Something between a laugh and a sob escaped as I buried my face in her lap.
“What’s this?” She patted my shoulder, pulling the hair from the side of my face. “We were doing so well. He turn into a lettuce?”
I mumbled into the hem of her oversized sweater. “He said ‘don’t freak out’.”
“Good advice you decided not to take. Got it.”
“And he said ‘love you’.”
She laughed and pushed me off her lap. “Girl.”
I blinked at her, drying my face with the edge of my yellow daisy comforter. “What if I love him, too? This is so bad.”
“Hold up.” Nat’s eyes narrowed. “Is this the first time he’s dropped the L-word? By text?”
“No, but…”
Her mouth dropped. “These are details you’re supposed to share with me, Meredith Wylie.”
“I was processing.”
“Processing Landon saying he loves you?”
I tugged at my skirt hem. “He told me he loves me but gets why I’m hesitant.
Said he knows Hannah and the team make things complicated.
” My voice softened. “But Nat, you should see him with her. He’s this adorable mix of clueless and determined.
And Hannah? She acts all grumpy but soaks up every bit of attention he gives her. ”
My eyes prickled for the bajillionth time this morning and I tipped my head back to stare at the ceiling. Nat made a soothing noise from her spot on the bed, but left me to sort out the chaos in my brain.