“Sounds good. I’m on my way now.”
“See you soon,” I say softly, my stomach flipping.
By the time we make it to my apartment, Landon is already sitting on the floor outside my door. He stands when he sees us, his eyes falling to our clasped hands as a small smile spreads across his lips.
“Hey, you two.”
“Hi,” I breathe. God, I’ve fallen so far. “I missed you.” Well, shit. Landon’s eyes widen, his grin growing. “In a normal, non-clingy way. The normal amount of missing someone you do. You know? Not like… It’s not—”
Ben’s warm chuckle has heat burning mycheeks.
“I missed you too, Lovebug.”
“I also missed you,” Ben chimes in. “For what it’s worth.”
“AndIalso missedyou,” Landon says.
For a second, we just stand in the hallway like a bunch of goofy asses. I huff. Jesus. “Okay, let’s go in. We need to have a grown-up talk.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound good,” Landon says, but he and Ben follow me into the apartment.
Ben shuts the door behind us. “I don’t think it’s a bad talk. Just need to discuss boundaries and stuff.”
“Boundaries,” Landon echoes.
I drop my keys onto the coffee table, then sit on the couch, patting the spots on either side of me. “Yeah, boundaries. Like, is it safe to assume I can always crawl into Ben’s lap?” I pause, glancing at Landon. “Or yours, without asking permission each time.”
Landon’s nose scrunches. “Permission?”
“Yes,” Ben says, folding his hands on his lap. I almost giggle at how serious he looks. “We just need to make sure we’re all on the same page about what’s okay and what’s not, so no one gets hurt feelings or feels left out or anything like that.”
Landon shrugs. “You don’t need any permission from me. You all can do whatever. With or without me.”
“Anything?” Ben asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Am I not supposed to feel that way?”
Ben shakes his head. “There’s no wrong way to feel. I feel the same way.”
I swallow hard. I’m not sureIfeel that way.
“What about you, Lovebug?”
“Yeah, whatever you two want.”
Landon clocks my shit immediately. Of course he does. “Uh. No. That’s not how this works.”
I sigh, glancing down at my lap. “I’d like to be okay with that, and I think I probably am. But I don’t know…”
Ben grabs my hand, toying with my fingers. They’re not covered in paint for once. “What don’t you know, Cotton Candy? This won’t work without communication.”
“I know.” I sigh again. Conversations like this make me feel itchy. It requires a certain level of vulnerability that I’m not always comfortable showing. “I’m not sure how I’ll feel if you two have sex without me,” I finally admit. “Kissing would be fine, I think. But the thought of you two having sex without me makes me feel kinda icky.”
Gentle fingers cup my chin, tilting my head up. Landon’s warm eyes meet mine. “Okay. No sex without you. But for the record, I don’t mind if that rule only applies to Ben and me.”
Ben squeezes my fingers. “Same. The idea of you two having sex is so hot. Wouldn’t bother me.”
I scoff. “Well, that’s not fair.”
