Page 9 of Snowed In Sucker
“Ignore when people compliment you? It’s not nothing, at least not to me. You’re feeding me and clothing me and taking care of me when it would have been easier to send me on my way back to my house.” He clears his throat and looks down at the bowl in his lap. “You’re really amazing.”
My heart skips a beat. The warmth that was hanging out in my stomach from just being near Landon bursts into an inferno. My hands clench around my bowl so hard I’m worried I might actually break it. I don’t understand my own feelings anymore. I’m overwhelmed with all of these new sensations.
“Thank you,” I say, standing up abruptly. “I’m full. I think I’ll go to bed. Do you need anything?”
Landon stares up at me with wide eyes. Instead of talking, he just shakes his head.
I hurry off into the kitchen, unable to catch my breath. His words play over and over in my head, forcing my heart to gallop and my lungs to seize. Fuck, what does any of this mean? Why does my chest feel like this? Why does my inner octopus beg to be let out so we can wrap all of our arms around Landon and hold on forever?
I put the stew away in the fridge and head towards my bedroom. Landon is already curled up on the couch, his backfacing me. I want to say something but think better of it, quickly stepping into my room and shutting the door behind me.
I shouldn’t have run like that but I didn’t want Landon to see me losing my shit. I didn’t want to freak him out by having such a strong reaction to a simple compliment.
Taking out my phone, I quickly dial my sister. As the phone rings, I start to pace my room, walking back and forth next to my bed. I’m filled with nervous energy but at the same time, I’m once again rock hard in my pants. Fuck this. Fuck all of this.
“Hello? Jett? Is everything alright?”
“Hey. Yeah, everything is okay. Kinda. Maybe?”
“Maybe? What’s going on? Is it the snow? Are you safe?”
Fuck, I didn’t even think about how this call would make her think something was wrong with this snowstorm.
“Everything is fine,” I tell her right away, not wanting to worry her further. “I’m having an issue but I’m safe. I promise.”
“Okay,” she says, letting out a long breath. “ Talk to me, Jett.”
I start at the beginning, explaining that Landon showed up at my door right as the snow started to fall. I tell her about him a little bit and then I start to describe how having him in my space is making me feel.
Something must be wrong. I’ve never had anything like this happen before. I can’t seem to wrap my head around it. My body doesn’t feel like my own. I’m so fucking confused.
“I feel like something is wrong with me,” I say softly. “My heart keeps racing, my stomach is a mess, my instincts are all over the place. It’s like having him here is changing me! Or maybe I have the flu? Is this just a weird fever dream, Himari? I don’t understand.”
“Oh, Jett.”
“Oh gods, that doesn’t sound good! I’ve told you this all before but I’ve never been interested in people before. No one has ever made me want to, shit what’s the phrase you use? ‘Jump theirbones’ and now all of a sudden I feel all these weird feelings around Landon. Is it him? Is it me? Is it the snowstorm? Has the government finally gone too far and added aphrodisiacs into the snow?”
At that, my sister bursts out laughing. “Jett! Oh my gods! No, they haven’t added something to the snow.”
“Then what’s going on?”
“I have a theory but I’m not sure how you’re gonna take it.”
“I’m all ears.”
There’s a moment of silence, like she’s trying to find the right words for me to understand. When she finally speaks again, her voice is gentle.
“I think your body is reacting to Landon’s presence. I don’t think this is all in your head. Sometimes, as an octopus shifter, our bodies know when someone isourslong before our mind wraps itself around that.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you should get to know Landon better. I think you should trust your gut. I think maybe you never felt strongly about other people because you were destined to find Landon.”
My pacing stops and I stare at the wall, frozen, trying to wrap my head around Himari’s words. Could she be right? Could my shifter side be making me feel like this because it somehow knows Landon is the one for me? Could I trust these feelings?
“Is this what it was like when you met Pierce?”
“Something similar,” she says with a warm chuckle. “Thankfully Landon is a shifter so he will probably be way more understanding about these things than Pierce was.”
