Landon & Shay - Part Two: (The L&S Duet Book 2)

by Brittainy Cherry

  What was even worse about the whole situation? The headlines were running with a story that I threw the drink because we were fighting over Landon.

  Could you believe that? They painted him as the guy all girls were fighting over, when the reality of the situation was, we were fighting over Jar Jar freaking Binks!

  The anger that simmered inside me was far too strong. There I was yet again, being completely embarrassed due to Landon and his fame. Only this time I wasn’t invisible in front of two models. This time, the whole world was seeing me.

  “I wished they would’ve grabbed some of the pictures from the whiskey party of me instead of these. At least in those, I looked hot.”

  “You look hot here, too,” Raine remarked. “Come on, Shay. Don’t let this get to you too much. The internet will be on to the next dramatic moment in a few minutes. This will be swept under the rug in a heartbeat.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “I am. So, come on, chin up. What’s on your agenda today? Other than avoiding the internet at all costs.”

  I lowered my shirt and sighed. “Well, job searching once again. I found a few barista positions I’m going to go try to grab. Plus, I’m going to shoot for some waitstaff positions.” I felt somewhat ashamed even saying those words. I was a woman in her thirties with a master’s degree in fine arts, searching for waitstaff jobs.

  Raine must’ve picked up on my unease. She placed a comforting hand on my knee. “You can do it, Shay. I know things look a little bleak right now, but the ship can’t always be sitting out at sea. You’ll start moving toward the shore soon enough. Keep your head up.”

  I smiled and thanked my friend for the words of encouragement. To be honest, I needed it. Losing my job couldn’t have come at a worse time, seeing how bills were already tight. I didn’t really have time for a break in my pay, and I was currently beating myself up for allowing my emotions to get the better part of me.

  “I’m okay.” I smiled at my friend, not wanting her to worry too much.

  “No, you’re not, but I know you will be. Now come on to the kitchen. I’ll make us a pot of coffee.” She paused and gave me a wicked grin. “On second thought, let’s make it tea.”

  She stood from her chair and began waddling away toward the kitchen. Once we arrived in there, I reached for the tea mugs, as Raine cradled her stomach in her arms. She seemed winded from the small walk and cringed as if the baby was fussing.

  “Is he kicking around?” I asked, smiling to my friend.

  “More like playing the freaking drums. I’m telling you, don’t get pregnant. Everyone on Instagram makes this shit look cute, but they don’t post pictures of themselves peeing in Target lines and having hairy vaginas because they can’t bend over. The other day Hank shaved for me, because he’s Hank and perfect, but I think he shaved a lightning bolt down there, because when the baby is born he wants to say, ‘You’re a wizard, Harry,’ because he’s a freaking lunatic. I tried to tell him that a shaved lightning bolt in Lily Potter’s pubes isn’t what made her son a freaking wizard, but he was like, ‘Babe, you just have to believe me. Your vagina is magical.’ I hate him so much sometimes.”

  I laughed. “That’s a very Hank thing to do.”

  “I can’t stand that man,” she grumbled as she walked over to her tea cabinet and pulled it open. I swore, she had more tea than anyone should’ve ever had. I wasn’t even sure that Raine liked tea, to be honest. She’d binged The Crown a few months back, and ever since then, she’d picked up about two packs each week. You would’ve thought she was British—until you heard her hideous British accent.

  After she heated up the water, she leaned against the countertop, taking deep breaths as she rubbed her stomach. “Do you think we can talk about the big elephant in the room?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

  I sighed. “You mean the fact that Landon showed up to my job and has been so persistent about talking to me, and the fact that the more he shows up, the more I want to talk to him to get answers to questions that don’t really matter, because I’m over him, and I’m not an emotional teenager anymore who needs to know why she wasn’t good enough to come back for, and the fact that I shouldn’t look back, but should only look forward, even though I can’t stop thinking about the night we’d slept together, and ever since then I’ve been having sex dreams about him, and secretly wanting to sleep with him while sober in order to see if the sex was just whiskey-drunk good or if it was good-good, but I know that’s a terrible idea, because if I slept with him again, I’d be opening a door that shouldn’t be opened, but I mean, isn’t it already open seeing how we’d already banged? I mean, people just have sex, right? It doesn’t have to mean anything other than banging. There don’t really have to be feelings involved, because I don’t think I really do feelings on that level anymore, so I don’t know. That’s it. That’s all I have to say.”

  Raine’s mouth hung open as her eyes widened in shock. “Holy crap, that was the longest run-on sentence I’d ever heard. Honestly, I don’t think you even blinked once or took a breath.”

  “I know, but I just wanted to get the elephant in the room out of the way, because I’m pretty sure you’ve been able to tell what was on my mind ever since it happened. So, there. It’s all on the table now.”

  Raine blinked repeatedly, still appearing stunned.

  “What?” I asked.

  Her eyes moved across the room and she pointed. “I was talking about the huge fucking stuffed elephant Hank ordered from Amazon the other day. He’s been buying stuffed animals as if we are having a freaking zookeeper.”

  Oh.

  She meant that elephant.

  Right, of course.

  “I guess this took an awkward left turn,” I awkwardly laughed.

  “Awkward left turn? Shay, you just did a figure eight in the air with that comment. You’ve been thinking about sleeping with Landon?”

  I rubbed my hands over my face. “I actually can’t stop thinking about sleeping with Landon, which is driving me crazy. I shouldn’t be feeling any of this, because my logical mind knows better.”

  “You can’t always listen to your mind. Sometimes you have to let your heart lead the way,” Raine said, shrugging her shoulders. “Landon isn’t the same boy he was all those years ago, and even the person he was back then wasn’t awful. He was just lost.”

  “Do you know why he never came back?” I asked, feeling a tad bit stupid for even asking. Raine and I never talked about how Landon moved on without me. I asked her to never mention his name again after he moved on so publicly with Sarah Sims all those years ago. Seeing him with her crushed me, and I didn’t have the energy to talk about him. But lately, that question had been sitting heavily on my mind.

  Raine grew somber, something that didn’t happen often. “I do, but it’s not really my place to say.”

  I laughed. “Come on, Raine. You can’t keep a secret if your life depended on it.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’m a regular blabbering Amy, but this is different, Shay. If you hear the reasons why, then they need to come from Landon’s mouth.”

  I lowered my head, somewhat confused by her words. “Were the reasons good?”

  She nodded. “Yes. I know you probably resent him a lot, too, but I’m telling you, Shay. Landon has gone through a lot of wars throughout the years, but he’s done a lot of work to better himself. If you let him back into your life, even if it is just to bang him, please don’t hold his past mistakes against him. Or shit that you read in the tabloids. If you want to know who he is today, then ask him straight out. That’s where the truth is.”

  I took in her comments, unsure how to even react to them.

  “Besides,” she shrugged, “I’ve always been a fan of Team Lay since high school.”

  “Team Lay?”

  “You know, Team Lay. It’s when you put the names Landon and Shay together.” She poked her tongue in her cheek. “Which actually makes sense why you want to bang him. Your nam
es together is Lay. You were meant to bang one another.”

  “Oh gosh, shush.”

  “I’m just saying, Shay. It’s your destiny.” She cringed once more as she sat her hands on her stomach, and she closed her eyes really tight. “We might have to put off on the tea for a while.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Um, because I’m pretty sure my water just broke.”

  “It’s too soon, it’s too soon,” Raine cried as we drove to the hospital. I was shooting down the roads, trying my best to not fly through any stop signs or red lights. One of my hands was on the steering wheel while the other was gripped tightly in Raine’s hand as she sat in full blown panic mode.

  “Don’t worry, Raine. Everything’s okay. Everything’s going to be fine. We’re good, we’re okay. You’re okay. The baby’s okay,” I repeatedly said, hoping to God I wasn’t lying to my friend. The truth was, I was nervous for her. She was thirty-four weeks pregnant and was still supposed to have weeks before her water broke.

  “Hank’s not answering. I’ve called so many times, and he’s not answering,” she sobbed, holding her hands against her stomach. “And he’s hours away on a job. How am I supposed to do this, Shay? He’s so far away and what if something goes wrong before he gets here? What if—”

  Tears streamed down her face as worry filled her up inside. I wanted to wrap her into my arms and take away her anxiety, but I knew I couldn’t do that. Truthfully the only people who could were the doctors and Hank. My main mission was to get her to that hospital before anything could go worse.

  The moment we made it to the hospital, Raine was rushed into a room, and she requested that I keep trying to call Hank. I sat in the lobby dialing his number repeatedly, hoping that he’d answer or at least listen to one of the hundreds of voice messages I’d left him.

  When he finally did answer, he told me he was on his way back home, trying to get there as soon as possible.

  The doctors came out to tell me that they were going to help Raine get into labor.

  “Isn’t it too early?” I asked them, nerves rocketing through my system.

  “It is earlier than we’d like, but with her being thirty-four weeks, there should be less complications than if she were delivering earlier. Our biggest concern is that the baby will be at risk for an infection, but she is requesting you in her room to be by her side if that’s possible.”

  “Of course.”

  I headed back to my friend’s hospital room, and was by her side as soon as possible, holding her hand.

  “Did you hear from Hank?” she asked, tears still sitting in the back of her eyes.

  “Yes. He’s on his way back now. It will be a few hours, but he’s going to try to get back as soon as he can.”

  “They are going to induce me,” she said, wiping her hands over her eyes. “I’m so scared, Shay.”

  “I know, honey, but trust me, these doctors know what they’re doing. This is going to all work out, and before you know it, you’re going to have a beautiful baby in your hands to hold. Everything is okay,” I soothed her, feeling more confident about saying those words after hearing the doctor reassure me that Raine was in good hands. Plus, I sent out a text message to my mother, Eleanor, and Mima to say a few prayers for Raine, too. I figured a few extra prayers could never hurt.

  After the doctors started the process of inducing Raine, things moved a lot slower than I would’ve thought. Hours passed of me holding Raine’s hands, and luckily the passing time made it easier for my friend to breathe through her anxiety.

  As the doctor was checking Raine’s cervix, the hospital door opened, and in walked a person with a bouquet of flowers in his hands.

  “Holy shit!” he shouted, seeing Raine’s legs spread wide open.

  Raine glanced to the door and proceeded to flip out. “Oh my gosh, Landon! What the hell are you doing here?! Don’t you fucking dare look at my lightning bolt vagina!” she shouted.

  “What the hell is a lightning bolt vagina?!” he yelled, turning his face away from Raine and shielding his eyes with the flowers.

  “Something you shouldn’t be seeing!” she exclaimed.

  “Okay, okay, I’m out, I’m out!” he replied, rushing out of the room.

  I couldn’t help but chuckle at the whole interaction as it unfolded. Landon scurried away like a cockroach in the light.

  “Jesus Christ. The last thing a woman wants is someone she considers a brother to see her puss in boots,” Raine sighed, slamming her hand against her forehead. At least her humor was coming back.

  “I honestly don’t know who that was worse for—you or him.”

  “Did he have flowers?”

  “I think he did.”

  “I bet Hank called him to come check on me, the asshole.” She turned to look at me. “Do you think you can make sure he’s good and not scarred for life? I mean, I know my husband loves my downstairs, but it’s not for everyone.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you’re not trying to push Team Lay together?”

  She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Trust me, Shay. The only thing I’m trying to push right now is this asshole out of my vagina. I just want to make sure Landon’s good.”

  “Okay, I can do that. Just make sure you don’t have the baby while I’m gone.”

  The doctor looked up toward me and smiled. “Don’t worry. That baby isn’t coming too soon.”

  Raine blew out a heavy breath. “Son of a bitch. When Hank gets here, I’m going to kill him for putting this thing inside of me.”

  I leaned in and kissed Raine’s forehead. “Sweetie, maybe we shouldn’t talk about killing your husband in front of the doctor.”

  “I’ve heard a lot worse things from wives before. Your friend is being quite tame,” the doctor expressed.

  I had a feeling he was telling the truth, but before I could ask any more questions, I went to check and make sure Landon wasn’t scarred for life.

  24

  Landon

  I saw Raine’s lightning bolt.

  I didn’t even know what that meant, but it was messing with my head, because Raine was like a sister to me, and the last thing I’d ever wanted to see was my sister’s damn lightning bolt.

  Hank rang me, knowing I was in town for a few more days, and asked me to go check in on Raine to make sure she was all right until he arrived back in town. Obviously, I came without question because when your family was in need of you, you showed up as soon as you could.

  He gave me her room number and everything, but I didn’t expect to walk in on my friend’s legs opened wide as a doctor did some weird shit to her.

  “You okay?” a voice asked me, making me look up from the roses in my hands.

  Shay stood in front of me with a small smile against her lips. “Define okay,” I joked as I lay the flowers in the chair on my left, and Shay sat in the chair on my right.

  She crossed her legs beside me and played with the collar of her shirt, as if she was debating putting it between her lips. An old nervous habit of hers that I missed.

  “Is she doing all right?” I asked about Raine. “I know she’s probably freaking out because Hank isn’t here, but outside of that, is she okay?”

  She dropped her hands to her lap and turned to face me. “Yeah, I think she’s coming around to being better than she was earlier. The baby is coming earlier than expected, but the doctors are taking really great care of Raine, which makes it less scary. Plus, so much time has passed that Raine’s anxiety has faded a bit. So, all in all, she’s okay. Her and Hank are just going to be parents a lot sooner than they thought.”

  “It’s so wild to me that they are going to have a kid.”

  “They are the dream couple,” she said. “I used to wish for their kind of love story.”

  “Used to?”

  “Yup. I’m not sure my life is cut out for that kind of true love, but I’m happy to know two people who did receive it.”

  “What do you mean your life isn’t cut
out for true love?”

  She shrugged as she hugged her knees into her chest. “I don’t really believe in love. At least not for me. I feel as if Raine and Hank are a once in a lifetime kind of love story. That stuff doesn’t happen for most people.”

  “But it could happen,” I argued.

  “It’s highly unlikely, but it’s fine. At least I’m able to see that strong kind of love from a distance with Hank and Raine.”

  I frowned. “You don’t believe in true love for yourself?”

  “Oh no.” She shook her head. “I believe in love. It just doesn’t seem to believe in me.”

  “Did you love your last boyfriend?”

  She laughed. “Sam? Oh no. I know I tossed an iced latte into a woman’s face and all, but I don’t think any love was involved in that situation. I hardly knew him.”

  “Well, who was the last person you loved?”

  She grew somber, rested her chin against her tucked in knees, and tilted her head toward me. “Oh, come on Landon,” she whispered, her voice low and controlled. “I think we know the answer to that.”

  Before I could reply, a person came shooting through the hospital doors. He flew to the receptionist counter in a flurry. “Hello, I’m here to see my wife, Raine Jacobs, and—”

  “Hank,” I called out.

  He turned to face me and sighed with relief. Then, he saw Shay and hurried over. “What’s going on? Is she okay? Will people not let you guys into her room? Is she alone? Oh my gosh, she’s alone. Did something go wrong? What went wrong? What’s going on?”

  He raked his hands through his hair nonstop in full freak-out mode.

  Shay stood to her feet and placed a calming hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, Hank. She’s okay. Everything’s moving along well. She’s in her room now and a doctor was just finishing up checking in on her. She just asked me to come out and make sure Landon was all right.”

  “What does that mean? Why wouldn’t you be all right?”