“Nothing like my library,” I murmured to myself with a smile, pulling out one of the fantasy books. Inside the front cover, there was a name written in blue ink:Landon Cole — 8thGrade. He’d had this forever.
I stood back up, partly glad that I didn’t find anything scandalous during my snooping. Landon was reliable and steady.
The fear of cold tea pulled me back into the kitchen. Before I could take another sip, Landon’s phone, which sat face up on the counter, started to ring.
“Landon!” I yelled. “Someone’s calling you.”
The water still ran in the shower, but he heard me just fine. “It’s probably Josh. Can you answer it?”
“Sure.”
I grabbed the phone off the counter, lifting it to my cheek without bothering to check the name. “Landon’s answering machine. Can I take a message?”
“Oh, hello.” A young female voice on the other end responded. “Sure. It’s Lucy from Saffron and Sage.”
Huh?
“Saffron and Sage?”
“Yes, the event coordination company in San Diego.”
“Oh.” I finally took another sip of tea.Delicious. “Is this about the diner?”
“No, it’s about his application for the role of event administrator. If you could just let him know we’d like to offer him the position with a start date of January first…”
But whatever else Lucy said had gone silent in my head. Event coordination company? San Diego? What the hell was happening?
I hung up the phone and dropped it, snatching my fingers back like I’d been burned, the words curdling in my stomach. Landon was…moving? To California?
My mind spun, frantically flipping through every conversation we’d had over the past few months, but there was nothing—no mention of a job, no hint of a possible move, not even a passing comment about San Diego.
We had just gotten back together.
And now he was planning to leave again?
To leave me.
I stood frozen in the kitchen, mug trembling in my hand, heart thudding in my throat. The sound of the shower running in the bathroom felt suddenly distant, like it was happening in another world.
My instinct screamed at me to leave. Just walk out. Grab my bag and disappear before he could step out with some excuse on his lips and a towel around his waist.
He’d already made his choice.
But as I turned halfway toward the door, another voice pushed through the panic.
We promised each other honesty. We promised no more silence, no more hiding hard things just to protect the other person’s feelings.
I hate being an adult with communication skills.
I tightened my grip around the mug and forced myself to take a deep breath. Running wouldn’t give me the answers I needed. Not this time.
Instead, I sat down on the couch, set the mug on the coffee table with a quiet clink, and waited.
20
KIRA
The Burrow Bitches
