Page 65 of Run the Play
“It’s not you. It’s… being with him makes me feel like all of my dreams might finally come true. I’d given up hope, but then your brother crashed into my life as my fake boyfriend, and he stole my heart,” I confess.
“Does he know?”
“No. I’m not ready to tell him.”
She nods. “Knowledge is power, I get it—however, not this time. You should tell him. I’m certain he feels the same way.”
“I read the text messages.”
“Yeah, Knox handed me his phone and told me to read it. He said Landry told him not to tell me, but he couldn’t contain himself, so he let me read the messages instead.” She’s beaming with happiness, and I feel it wash over me and take root inside my chest.
She bumps her hip into mine. “When they’re not with us, I want details. Okay, maybe not all the details, but you can figure out what parts I don’t want to hear. Save those for Sloane.”
“Deal.” We make our song selections and head back to the table to see our food has arrived, but the guys aren’t eating.
“You waited for us?” Corie asks.
“Yep.” Landry beams at his sister.
“You waited to consume food?” She’s shocked.
“It’s rude to eat before my girl, Sis, you know that.” Landry stands to let me slide into the booth and proceeds to add a slice of pizza onto my plate before doing the same for himself. Glancing across the table, I see Knox doing the same.
“Rowan, you broke him.” Corie laughs.
“Nah, he’s just finally trained. It took finding a woman worth keeping to make it happen. You should be proud of yourself, Rowan,” Knox teases.
“Hush it, or I’ll eat both of yours too,” Landry threatens. We all laugh and dive into our food.
Lunch is perfect, with lots of laughs. It feels as if I’ve known these people all of my life. And Landry? He’s always touching me—kissing my cheek, hand on my thigh, tucking my hair behind my ear, leaning in close, wrapping an arm around my shoulders—any excuse to make contact.
“We better get going,” Knox tells Corie. “My sisters are coming to stay with us this week, and they should be getting to our place soon.”
“You two should come over for dinner one night,” Corie offers.
“We’ll be there,” Landry tells her.
He and Knox pay the bill, and just as we step outside, a little boy comes running up to us. “You’re Knox Beckett, and you’re Landry Reynolds!” he shouts with awe in his voice.
Knox and Landry both kneel to be at eye level with him. The boy couldn’t be more than eight or nine years old.
“That’s right. What’s your name?” Knox asks him.
“I’m Grayson,” he says, bouncing on his feet.
“Well, Grayson, would you like to take a picture?”
“I’m so sorry,” a man says, rushing toward us. “Grayson, you can’t run away from me like that.”
“Dad! It’s Beckett and Reynolds!” Grayson shouts.
“Hey, little man,” Landry says. “Your dad is right. You should stay with an adult at all times.”
“You’re an adult,” he counters.
“We are, but we’re also strangers.”
“You’re not strangers. I watch you on TV all the time.” This has Corie and me laughing, gaining his attention as well. “Who are you?” he asks us.
