Page 37 of Landon & Shay: Part Two

I loved him.

I hadn’t even told him that before he left. When he’d told me he’d loved me, I hadn’t said I loved him times two. That was the worst part—thinking he’d walked away without knowing I loved him more than I’d ever loved another.

* * *

Whenever my phone dinged,I stupidly hoped it was Landon, writing me to explain things, writing me to bring clarity to my very confused mind. When I didn’t see his name, I sighed.

I opened the message anyway, seeing that it was a group text between Tracey, Raine, and me.

Tracey:WTF?! What a fucking asshole. I told you this was a thing.

My heart started racing as I saw she’d attached a link to an article. I clicked it open and read the headline over and over again.

New Couple Alert:Oscar-Winning Actress Sarah Sims has been spotted with the new boy on the block, up-and-coming actor Landon Pace.

What?No way. That wasn’t possible.

Clickbait. It had to be clickbait—there was no other option.

Sarah Sims was one of the most beautiful, breathtaking actresses in the industry at this time. She did it all, and she had enough awards to prove that. She was everything I wished to be and everything I was not. I was her biggest fan. He knew I was her biggest fan. He wouldn’t do that to me.

The article went on to explain how the two had been working on the promo for their film and had been seen getting cozy outside the interviews. That couldn’t be. There was no way Landon would hook up with a woman so soon after we’d parted ways. It hadn’t even been two weeks. There was no way he’d do such a thing, no way he’d get close to someone else while cutting me out.

Then came the pictures.

Pictures of Landon and Sarah freaking Sims cuddled up. Pictures of them getting lunch together. Photographs of her arms wrapped around him. Her lips kissing his cheeks. His smile.

His smile.

Oh my gosh, he never came to me with his smiles anymore, only his darkness. But with her, he was beaming from ear to ear with excitement. There was so much light in his eyes that it made me want to cry. And scream. And shatter.

Then the last photograph was their kiss.

Their. Kiss.

They. KISSED!

His lips against hers. Her lips against his.

They looked so perfect together, as if they were a puzzle with perfectly cut matching pieces, fitting together in a way I only dreamed of fitting beside Landon.

I was going to vomit.

Tracey:I told you that you were wasting your time with that loser.

There it was, the ‘I told you so’ Tracey had been waiting to give me for years now. Raine texted me separately outside of the group text.

Raine:Are you okay?

Raine:I’m on my way back to our place.

That night, I sobbed into Raine’s arms, feeling humiliated, saddened, and furious. My core hurt as I cried, my words inaudible between my hiccupping. She soothed me, rocking me back and forth in her arms as I fell apart for a boy who’d betrayed me in the most painful way. Not once that night did Raine scold me for crying over a boy like him. Not once did she say she’d told me so like Tracey had. She simply held my broken pieces in her hands and told me to let my emotions out.

10

Landon

You’re hurting me.

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