Safe (10 page)

Watching him play the other night was torture. Not in a bad way … but in a want what you can never have way. I couldn’t get over how great he was up on that stage. His commanding presence was so intriguing. He could totally do that for a living.

But what got me the most was, he protected me. I hadn’t felt safe in a long time. With Landon by my side, I did. Until he left for one reason or another and the vultures came to circle. I shooed them all away, but it made me want him to come back.

I’d be lying if I didn’t say that scared the shit out of me. I didn’t want or need this. Whatever this was … I was trying to get away from men, not bring them closer.

When I saw the blonde hanging on his arm on the way back, I really wanted to rip her off of him. How crazy was that? I knew I shouldn’t feel that way.

When he came back, I focused more on the conversation at the table and tried my damnedest to stay away from Landon. I thought Ryan was trouble, but I thought Landon was the real trouble for me instead.

“Did you see how Renzo sat as far away from me as possible? I swear I don’t smell.” Lauryn’s words broke through my thoughts.

“Huh? Yeah.”

“I swear that man drives me crazy. I have to see and watch all the women flock to him, and he never pays me any attention, even when we’re alone!” I didn’t think I had ever heard Lauryn yell before, and boy could she shriek.

“How long have you had a thing for him?”

“Since I was a little girl.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. But he won’t even acknowledge me. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Nothing is wrong with you.”

“Something is. He doesn’t even look at me half the time.”

“Maybe he just doesn’t feel that way and doesn’t want to give you the wrong idea.”

“Whatever.”

“You guys ever have something?” I really wanted to know.

“Just a kiss a few years back. But since then he’s been like this.”

“Sorry.”

Today, Lauryn showed me all around town … well, it took about ten minutes. There was really nothing in this town, but I’d admit, I was beginning to see its appeal.

Reconnecting with Lauryn had been remarkable. We had tons in common, and I found myself at ease with her. Her openness to me invading her space had made me love her more. I still hadn’t told her anything about Rob even though she was persistent in asking tons of questions. I’d been pretty good at avoidance.

“Get dressed.” Lauryn’s voice startled me as I was engrossed in a really steamy book.

“Why?”

“We’re going out.”

I groaned. “Where?”

“Four-wheeling.”

My mouth dropped. “I’ve never been. I don’t think I want to start.”

“Come on, Lainey just called. We do this all the time.”

My curiosity peaked. “Who’s going?”

“Lainey, Renzo, Landon, and you. Move it!”

“I don’t want to go.” I really didn’t want to go off-roading or see Landon. Being around him did weird things to me.

“Have you ever been?”

Damn it. “No.”

“Then get your ass moving. This will be fun!”

Groaning, I did what she said.

“Where are we?” I asked, looking around at all the trees reaching up to the sun. There must have been hundreds of them.

“This is Renzo’s place. He has trails in the back where we ride.” Lauryn’s eyes sparked at the thought of him. I hoped she wasn’t setting herself up here, but I was thinking I was wrong.

“It’s beautiful.”

“I know.”

Pulling up, Renzo, Lainey, and Landon all turned, watching us as we got out of the car.

“I’m so glad you came, Sadie. This is going to be so much fun. You’ll love it,” Lainey said, throwing her arms around me. I stood shocked for a bit before returning the embrace. I mean, shit, I’d met the girl twice, but I guess we were on hugging terms now.

A deep voice from behind me caught my attention. “Glad you could come.” I turned to see Renzo with a half smirk on his face.

“Thanks.”

“Hey,” came from Landon.

I smiled shyly at him, putting my hand in the back pockets of my jeans. “Hey.”

“All right, let’s do this!” Lainey yelled.

My stomach dropped. Nerves crawled through my body like ants taking over. A strong hand clasped my shoulder. “No worries. You can ride with me. I’ll protect ya.”

Turning to Landon, I smiled. Those words—
protect ya
—God I wish they were true. “Hey Sadie, you can ride with me,” Renzo’s voice cut through.

“Nope, you ride with Lauryn.” I smirked back.

“I usually ride with Lainey.” Lauryn’s voice was quieted almost to a whisper.

The roar of a four-wheeler caught our attention. We watched as Lainey rode off by herself. I turned to Lauryn. “Looks like your ride just left.”

I could see in Lauryn’s eyes how thankful she was for this and nodded my head toward Renzo. I might be nervous to be with Landon, but I damn sure wasn’t going to mess with Lauryn’s feelings for Renzo.

“Here, wear this.” Landon handed me a helmet, but when he saw my difficulty with putting it on, he came to help. His hand lightly grazed my chin when snapping the clasp. I knew he heard my rough intake of air by the smirk that graced his handsome face.

My nerves and butterflies were all over the place. I really wanted to throw up. It wasn’t the four wheeling; it was the realization that I would have my thighs and arms wrapped around Landon. How was this staying away from this man? Oh yeah … it wasn’t.

“Come on,” Landon called from the ATV.

I slowly walked and threw my leg over, straddling the seat. My thighs encased his hard, muscular legs. My heart rate picked up, and I swore it was going to rip out of my chest.

“You better hold on,” Landon said, turning to look at me.

I slowly placed my arms around his waist, but kept some space between my front and his back. His hand touched mine, and he squeezed; then he took off.

I absolutely loved four-wheeling, and I had to do it again. That was the most fun I’d had in a long time.

Not soon after we started, my grip on Landon strengthened. It was almost as if he was hitting the bumps on purpose so I would. My chest was smashed to his warm back, and damn if it didn’t feel good.

We didn’t talk much, but the playfulness between Renzo, Landon, and Lainey was fun to watch. It reminded me a lot of Seth. I missed him.

Seeing Renzo and Landon help Lainey when she got stuck made me laugh ‘til I cried. They were covered in mud, and I partially believed that Lainey did it on purpose, but I had no facts to back that up.

As we approached the place where we started, I was relieved. I needed to get off this thing and put some distance between Landon and me. It wasn’t that he didn’t feel good … it was that he felt too good. I couldn’t keep doing this to myself.

As soon as it stopped, I hopped off and ripped off my helmet. I knew my hair looked like shit. There was no way it withheld through all the sweat and wind. Trying to tame it was pointless, so I wrapped it up in a messy bun on the top of my head.

Landon cut the engine. “Did you have fun?”

“Yeah. Thanks.” I knew my voice was quiet, but this man did weird things to me. I knew I needed space. Before any more could be said, the roar of the other bikes came to a stop. Lauryn hopped off the back of Renzo’s with the biggest smile on her face.

Renzo did too … hmmm …

“Did you have fun Sadie?”

“A blast. Thanks for dragging my ass out.”

“She had to drag you here?” Landon asked.

“Kinda. I didn’t want to come.”

“Why not?”

Because I couldn’t be this close to you. “I had never been.”

“Ah … so I took your virginity.”

I couldn’t help but bust out laughing. He totally caught me off guard; I didn’t expect that. Tears began rolling down my face as I tried to pull myself together. “Yeah. I guess so,” was all I could come up with. I needed to compose myself and go.

“You ladies want to come up to the house for dinner?” Renzo asked.

Lauryn looked at me with pleading eyes. Damn it. I couldn’t tell her no. I nodded to her softly, not making eye contact with Landon. I felt his eyes boring into me.

“Sounds good.”

Renzo’s house was beautiful. Windows spanned the wide views of the woods just like at Lauryn’s house. It was definitely a bachelor pad—huge TV, couch, and everything screamed man.

Dinner was delicious. Lukas came by and helped Renzo and Landon cook burgers on the grill.

The laughter and joking around the table was wonderful. I felt very comfortable with this group of people.

I watched from across the table as Lauryn tried several times to get Renzo’s attention. He was either oblivious or just blatantly ignoring her. The jury was still out on that one.

Lainey loved giving her brothers shit and did so repeatedly. It was hilarious to watch. I think I even saw Landon blush once. Speaking of Landon, he didn’t leave my side, which made it terribly difficult to keep my distance from him.

I didn’t miss the small grazes of his hand on me or the brush of his shoulder against mine. Every time he did, it sent shockwaves through my body, making it hard to ignore. I tried my best to hold it all in.

As I lay in bed that night trying desperately to fall asleep, the night’s events kept playing though my head. Drifting off to sleep, I couldn’t help but smile.