“Once again, hard pass. I want to try to do this on my own first, and it feels like I’m moving in the right direction.”
He nodded. “I’m proud of you, Chick.”
“Nothing has happened,” I said.
“Not yet.” He smiled. “But it will soon enough. I just know it.”
His belief in me sent my mind for a spin. “Well, I should let you get back to whatever it was you were writing. I need to go—”
“Hang out with me,” he cut in.
“What?”
He blinked a few times and shook his head back and forth. “I don’t mean right now, but I’d like to hang out with you. Outside of work, outside of the bedroom...” His words faltered off, and he shrugged his shoulders. “Just hang out with me, Shay.”
I said the only thing that came to mind. “OK.”
His eyes widened as if he was surprised by my agreement. He brushed his hands through his hair and then cringed from doing so. I was sure his hair person took a good amount of time to get his waves just right. Thank God this movie no longer had him as a blond. He looked best with his deep-brown locks.
“Great, OK, good. I’m taking a yoga class at your grandmother’s studio this afternoon. Maybe you can join me there and we can grab a late dinner after?”
“How about yoga and we’ll go from there,” I offered.
“I’ll take whatever you give me.”
A knock fell against the trailer door before Willow popped her head in. “Hey, sorry to interrupt, but they are calling for you on set, Landon. Sarah is already out there.”
“Which means I’m not where I’m supposed to be,” I joked. “Job well done, Landon,” I said, holding my hand out for a shake.
He shook my hand with a smile and thanked me for helping him out.
All three of us headed toward the set, and I couldn’t ignorethe attack of the butterflies in my stomach as Landon walked beside me. Once we made it to set, Willow and I hung back as Landon went ahead and fully became his character as he stepped on stage. The way he transformed his body was unlike anything I’d seen. How he rounded his shoulders, how he curved his back and fiddled with his fingers. He was no longer Landon; he was now Samuel Wilson—the broken hermit who was too afraid to live.
Watching Landon perform made tears rush to my eyes. He was so good at what he did, completely in the right field of profession for his life.
When he messed up, though, he stepped offstage and took a breath. Each time, he’d reach into his pocket, take something into his hand, and take a few breaths with his eyes closed.
“What is that?” I asked Willow, staring at Landon with wonderment. “What is it that he holds in his hand?”
“Oh, it’s his tradition. He’s been doing it for as long as I can remember. Whenever he needs to center himself and breathe, he pulls out a banana Laffy Taffy and holds it in his hand while taking a few breaths.”
“A banana Laffy Taffy?”
She smiled. “He said it was because of a girl he once loved. It was her favorite candy, and when he held it, it calmed him because it reminded him of well... you.”
Her words stilled me.
He carried Laffy Taffys in his pockets—bananaLaffy Taffys. Still a complete and utter favorite of mine. Memories came rushing back as I thought about when we were in high school and he filled my locker with all those banana-flavored candies, along with peonies. The flashback sent a wave of warmth through me. It was one of my favorite moments of us. I considered that the beginning stage of the Landon and Shay story.Back then, I had no clue where it was going to take us. I never imagined we’d end up the way that we did.
My heart, which had sat in my chest and spent the past few years being completely shut off from the world? Without much warning, it slowly began to beat again. And somehow, some way, it was still beating for him.
* * *
Landon was... flexible.
Holy crap. He was flexible in ways I didn’t know people could bend.
I’d taken my fair share of yoga classes at my grandmother’s studio, but I had to admit, I wasn’t a perfectionist at it. Yet the way Landon was able to bend like a pretzel and hold poses as if it were effortless to him blew my mind.