“Now?” I glanced around, feeling the pulse of the city. There was a crowd everywhere, a buzz of people walking and laughing, moving with the weekend energy. “Let’s do something that scares you instead.”
Landon gave me a mock-serious look. “I’ve already done that.”
“Already?” I raised an eyebrow, genuinely curious. “What could have possibly scared you today?”
He exhaled with a wry smile, the edges of his expression softening. “Confronting Macey like that.”
I laughed. “Macey is the least scary person ever. Besides, you didn’t have to confront her.”
“She’s important to you,” he said quietly. “So I wanted to.”
My chest warmed at his words. “Okay,” I said, my voice soft. “What did you have in mind?”
Landon grinned wide, a playful glint in his eyes. “You tell me. I’m not too sure what scares you anymore. Besides spiders, of course.”
I shivered at the thought of them. Yeah, that fear was definitely here to stay.
After a moment of deliberation, I said, “I’ve never eaten alone at a restaurant before.”
Landon’s eyes widened, clearly intrigued. “Really? Let’s do that. We’ll go together.”
“It kind of defeats the purpose if we’re eating together,” I pointed out, following Landon’s lead.
“Kira, I’m starving,” he said with a grin, “and I will not be passing up food at this time.” He gestured toward a corner restaurant, where many people frequented after late nights. “We’ll go in separately. Besides, I’m a pro at eating alone. I can share my tips with you.”
“Like what?” I raised an eyebrow, genuinely curious.
“Order what you love. Calories don’t count when no one can see them.” He gave me a wink.
“That’s definitely not how that works.” I laughed.
“Chat with the waiter staff. Make up stories about everyone in the restaurant. Pick a good spot to sit. Blink slowly behind those hot glasses and get a free drink.”
I nearly tripped over a rock on the sidewalk and instinctively pushed up my black-rimmed glasses. “Hot glasses?”
“You look hot with glasses,” he said, like it was a well-knownfact. “Lastly, my biggest tip for doing something scary is to think of a good thing while you do it. Whatever that might be for you. Now c’mon, we’re nearly there.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at his enthusiasm. As we reached the door, I reminded myself that this wasn’t a date. We weren’t even sitting together. It wasn’t Landon’s fault; I had made it clear I needed space, but were things really going to go back to how they were before the kiss? We had no time to talk about it when we woke up.
The hostess greeted us as we stepped inside. “How many in your party?”
“One,” Landon said, leaning against the stand with a playful smirk. “Just me, myself, and I.”
She nodded and gestured for him to follow her, but before he disappeared around the corner, he turned and winked at me.
I watched him, a smile tugging at my lips. There was something about his carefree confidence that made it impossible not to grin. The hostess turned back to me. “And you?”
“Party of one,” I replied, my tone lighter than I expected.
To my surprise, the anxiety of eating alone didn’t last long. Maybe it was because I knew Landon was just around the corner, but I also liked to think I was getting better at facing fears. Well, the small ones, at least.
The table she sat me at was snug and meant for two, but it felt cozy. I could easily imagine a conversation between me and someone else in the chair across from me.
And when Landon sent me a ridiculous selfie halfway through our meals, I probably looked like a crazy person laughing to myself.
12
LANDON
