We drove in silence, and every now and then, Shay would find herself in a giggling fit.
“What is it?”
“Nothing, nothing...” More giggling. “It’s just... when you went down, you looked like a tree that was being cut down in the forest. Stiff and awkward, face down. It looked like something out of a movie.Timberrrrrr!” she called out.
“Well, I’m glad I could entertain you.”
“You really did.” She nodded. “Your butt in those jeans as you went falling forward...” She began giggling again. I wanted to call her out on talking about my butt, but her laughing was annoyingly adorable, and I didn’t want to interrupt that sound. I didn’t know you could learn to love a sound you once hated.
“Thanks for an awful first date,” I told her as we parked in front of my house.
She smiled brightly. “Anytime! Have a terrible night.”
“Yeah, yeah, you too.” I climbed out of her car and slammed the door shut. I began walking toward my front door but turned around when I heard Shay calling my name. “Yes?”
“That comment about your butt?” Her grin spread wide as her dimple deepened. “It wasn’t an insult.”
I almost smirked at her, but instead, I nodded once and walked toward my house, shaking my goods from left to right. That’s right, I was shaking my ass for Shay Gable after completely blacking out due to a snake in my hands.
And a part of me wasn’t even mad about it.
12Landon
“Oh, no, no, no,” Raine exclaimed, shaking her head as I stood on her front porch that night. “I’m not getting involved again,” she told me, crossing her arms. She knew I was there for more information on Shay, and by her stance, it appeared she had no desire to give it to me.
“I blacked out from a snake in my hands, Raine!” I argued, rubbing the huge knot on my head.
“Yeah, I heard.” She smirked a little, then began giggling. “Timberrrrr.”
Of course Shay had already told Raine about what had happened. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Even though I was close friends with Raine, I knew she and Shay were just as close—if not closer. Girl Code and all.
“Come on, Raine. You have to give me something.”
“Sorry, I can’t. Hank said he was going to ban me from watching rom-coms with him if I got involved with you guys any more, and my favorite pastime is watching him cringe while we watch rom-coms.”
I sighed. “I can’t win this bet if I don’t have anything to use against Little Miss Perfect,” I said.
“Perfect?” Raine arched an eyebrow. “You think Shay’s perfect?”
“Of course. Her life is too perfect. She doesn’t have anything wrong with her, no flaws. Me, on the other hand? I have toomany, and she can see them. She can somehow see me, and it’s not fair.”
“That’s Shay for you—the master of reading people. So maybe you need to do that... maybe you have to read her back.”
“Trust me, I’ve tried. Her pages are clean.”
“Oh, Landon...” Raine shook her head. “Nobody’s perfect. I know for a fact Shay has her own struggles, too.”
I gave her a wolfish grin. “Oh yeah? Like what?”
She parted her lips to speak but then caught herself and pointed a stern finger my way. “Nope. Nope. I’m Switzerland. I’m fondue. I’m Swiss cheese. You’re going to have to figure it out on your own without my help.”
“How do I do that?”
“Just look at her, Landon. And I mean really look. Try to figure out her love language.”
“Her what language?”
“For the love of... ugh. One second.” She marched into her house and then came back to the porch with a book in her hand. She shoved it toward me.