“You’re right,” he whispered at last. “I’m sorry.”
He used his thumbs to wipe away the tears at the corners of my eyes.
“Why are you worried about your dad?”
“He’s having a depressive episode.”
“He is?”
I nodded.
“He’ll be okay.”
“Are you, though? Okay, I mean.”
I shrugged.
“I guess.”
Landon studied me for a second. He reached up and brushed my hair off my forehead.
“You stay here for a little while. All right? Just... take a break. And I’ll bring you something to wear. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“I really am sorry, Darius.”
He stood on his toes to kiss me on the cheek, and then rested his palm against it.
“It’s okay.”
He unlocked the door, but then he turned around, his cheeks turning pink.
“Just so you know.” He glanced down again. “I really like your underwear.”
My own face went to Red Alert.
And for a second, I wondered what Landon looked like in his underwear.
He gave me a quick, shy grin, and then he closed the door behind him.
Landon came back with an apron and some safety pins, and we pinned my jeans back together as best we could.
He didn’t say anything else about my underwear, but he kept glancing at me as we worked.
Somehow, being with Landon in my underwear, I felt even more naked than I had with Chip in the locker room.
“Thanks,” I said when my jeans were as repaired as they could be.
“No problem.” Landon leaned in and kissed my shoulder, something he’d never done before. It was just a quick peck, but it felt like a lot more than that. “Seems like a shame to get all dressed again, though.”
“Stop,” I said, but my skin broke out in goose bumps.
I had this idea. This image of us making out in the bathroom.
But then the image turned to someone knocking on the door, interrupting us, and getting in trouble (or at least suffering a Level Twelve Embarrassment).
I slid my jeans back on, tied the black apron around my waist, and stuffed my feet back into my still-tied shoes.
