The Wright Boss(66)

"They're from my dad," I whispered.

It was the first time I had ever said that aloud. I was pretty sure Emery knew, but we didn't talk about it.

"I thought they might be," Landon said into my shoulder.

"I don't answer them."

"Ever?"

"Not once in six years."

Landon sighed softly. "Is that when he went to prison?"

I nodded. My voice was hoarse when I said, "Six years on Saturday."

"That's a long time not to talk to him."

"Not long enough," I countered.

Landon pressed another kiss into my shoulder. I thought he knew not to press me on it and that it was a big step that I had even told him this much. As often as we had talked before and as much as everyone in the town knew about Hank Martin's illegal affairs, no one ever dared to talk about it with me.

"And, on Saturday … are you going to be okay?"

"I usually spend the day alone," I admitted.

"I don't want you to be alone this year," he told me. "Not anymore. Not when you have me. Okay?"

I nodded because words were failing me. "Okay."





Twenty-Six



Heidi


I woke up to the sound of the door slamming, and Emery yelling my name, "Heidi?"

"Oh, fuck," I murmured.

Landon groaned next to me and tugged me closer to him. Either he was the deepest sleeper ever or he simply didn't care that my best friend, his freaking ex-girlfriend, was about to walk in on us while we were half-naked.

"Landon," I said, shoving him. "Get up. Get up. Get up. You need to … like, hide in the closet."

His brown eyes slowly opened and stared up at me. He had a sexy grin on his face and said, "Morning."



       
         
       
        

"Landon, come on."

"Did you say, hide in the closet?" he asked, as if just processing what I'd said.

"Yeah, Emery is-"

Just then Emery burst into the room, dressed in a pair of tiny black shorts and an oversize black T-shirt. It could have been Jensen's.

"Oh, shit," Emery said.

"Home," I finished.

Landon languidly rolled over and stretched his arms over his head. "Morning, Em."

"Oh my God," she said, holding her hands up over her eyes. "That was not … I mean-fuck. I'm just going to-yep, all right then." She stumbled backward out of the doorway.

I groaned. "Ugh!"

Landon laughed, reaching for me. "Why are you so embarrassed?"

I pushed him back into the pillow. "You are such a dude."

"Hey, hey," he said, holding up his hands. "She's the one dating my brother."

I threw my pillow at him as I jumped out of bed. "And do you want to see her in bed with him?"

He scrunched up his nose.

"Yeah, I didn't think so."

I knotted my hair up on the top of my head as I left my bedroom to go find my best friend. "Hey, Em?"

"In here," Emery called from her bedroom.

"Hey."

She waved her hand as she dug through her closet for clothes to wear to work.

"Sorry about that."

"It's no big," she said. "I just … was a hundred percent unprepared for that."

"Yeah, I guess it's probably pretty weird."

Emery shot me a no-shit look. "That's a word for it."

"I know you said that you were cool with it, but I really don't want you to feel uncomfortable in your own apartment. We don't have to be here if you don't-"

Emery held up her hand. "Bring it down a level, hooker. I don't care that you're together, and I don't want you to have to go somewhere else."

"But?" I prompted.

"But … I don't know how long I can keep this from Jensen."

Landon stuck his head in the bedroom. Thankfully, he'd shrugged back into his button-up and slacks. "Sorry, just happened to overhear."

Emery rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, because we're so quiet."

"Telling Jensen would be a really bad idea for Heidi at this point."

Emery threw down the pair of shoes she'd been holding. "I'm going crazy over here. Secrets are a big thing between me and Jensen, and if he thinks I'm holding something back, then he's going to get pissed. And, trust me, no one likes when that happens. Least of all, me." 

"Yeah, but if we tell Jensen, I could lose my job," I said.

"Or we could figure something out!" Emery cried.

"I love my brother, but we all know he solves problems with a blunt instrument," Landon said.

"What if we talked to Morgan?" Emery asked.