Addicted to You(43)

But Landon had kissed me. Colby knew that, right? And to top it off, Colby had to see that it didn’t mean anything to me. If anyone would know, it would be him. He’d kissed me. He’d seen what chemistry looked like firsthand. So was he seriously mad? At me?

My body tensed and my face warmed as I mentally replayed the quiet stare-down followed by the cold shoulder.

Anger crept its way up through my body, and it took everything in my power to not storm into Colby’s room and tell him exactly how I felt. How dare he be mad at me? It wasn’t like I’d asked for the stupid kiss. And yeah, maybe I didn’t end it fast enough, but that was kind of his fault. He was the one pushing me into Landon’s arms, after all. He’d lit the match that sparked my curiosity. No doubt it was quickly doused but either way, he’d created this mess with all his talk tonight. This had been exactly what he’d wanted of me, right? With Landon? Now he had the nerve to be pissed about it?

“I’m sorry.” Landon rubbed the back of his neck. “Shit, you look like you’re going to explode or something. I, uh, I’ve been drinking and I thought…well, I thought…maybe? Um, look, I fuc—”

“No, it’s not that. I mean, I think we need to maybe talk later. But you’ve been drinking and I’ve had a few myself so let’s not worry about this tonight.”

“But are you mad at me?” He looked down, then peeked back up. “Because you look like you’re gonna tear me a new one.”

“I’m sorry. I’m just…It’s not you. I need to get going. Taylor’s waiting. But we’ll talk later.” I backed up then called back, “Get some sleep. You’re gonna have your work cut out for you tomorrow.” I motioned to the growing mess and smiled, hoping to show no hard feelings between us, then headed outside to Taylor who waited in her car.

I plopped in her front seat with about a dozen emotions of my own working their way through me. What had just happened? Landon kissed me. I let him. Colby saw. He got mad. I got mad. Then he got…weird. And Landon—well, we needed to seriously clear up some things. But I had to let him down easy. That was, if he even remembered. But still.

What a mess.

I pressed my head into the passenger seat and groaned. “Can we just rewind to the part where I decided to come to this party? Because staying home would really have been the best decision I’ve made in years.”

“So if I take a guess, will you stab me with the nearest sharp object?”

I laughed. “Oh my god, are we still gonna do this?”

“If I were smart enough for my own good, I’d say no, because this is probably going to be like a Pandora’s box of crap we can’t put back…but, honestly, I’m just dying to know now.”

“What exactly are you dying to know?” I mocked.

“Well…which one?”

“Which what?”

“It’s just that half the night I was going to guess Landon, but then I decided it was for sure Colby, but then…well, I kinda think it’s both. So I’m dying to know which one. Or is it really both?”

“Wait? Landon and Colby what? I thought the point of the game was to guess who I was interested in.”

“Yeah. I’m trying to decide if you got all dressed up tonight for Colby or Landon. But a part of me thinks maybe I can’t tell because you haven’t decided either.”

“I don’t like Landon and Colby.”

“Are you sure? Not even a little? I don’t blame you if you can’t choose.” She lifted one hand in a defensive gesture. “No judgment. I’d have a hard time choosing one if they both liked me too.”

“Wait? You think they both like me?”

“I mean I’m not positive but…yeah.”

I laughed. Like really laughed, because this night couldn’t get crazier. “Well, I think you’re possibly half right. Maybe…just maybe, Landon has a tiny little thing for me.”

“It’s not tiny. And I’m pretty sure Colby does too.”

“Colby and I are just friends. Best friends. People mistake that for something more, I think.” Hell, I sure did. “But that’s it.”

“You sure?”

“The friend zone is a hard place to get unstuck from.”

She nodded as if I’d just answered all her questions.

“What?” I stared at her wishing my life made as much sense to me as it suddenly did to her. “Why are you nodding like that? I’m so confused right now.”

“It just all makes sense now.”

“Care to fill me in? Because I’m not seeing this clearly yet.”