Drifting into Darkness (30 page)

He pulled back to see what I was wearing. “Yeah, I should have told you to wear shorts, but that’s okay. We’ll just make do with what we’ve got,” he wiggled his brows at me and laughed.

“You know, I’d probably find the situation funny too if I had any idea what we were doing.”

“Come on then,” he said, pulling me toward his truck. “Let’s get this day started.”

We got into the truck and Landon drove off down the road. Looking him over, I found myself staring more and more every day. I couldn’t help it. I had this feeling deep down in the pit of my stomach that I was falling for him. I hadn’t even known him long, but it was like my gut was telling me he was the one. It scared and thrilled me all at the same time.

“Thank you,” I smiled at him.

He looked at me confused. “What’re you thanking me for?” He reached over and entwined his fingers with mine, and then focused back on the road.

I shrugged. “For being good to me and showing me I can be happy. You truly are an amazing man.”

He looked over at me with the cheesiest grin. “Does this mean you kind of like me?”

I laughed. “Maybe just a little bit.” I held up my finger and thumb to show him just how much.

Squeezing my hand, he looked over at me. “I plan on making you very happy, sunshine. You deserve nothing less.”

I knew he meant every word and it just made my feelings grow stronger.

Ten minutes later, we were turning down a dirt road surrounded by trees.

“Where exactly are we?”

“We’re on the property adjacent to ours. A friend of Dad’s owns it. Nobody is ever here.”

“So, what you’re saying is, if you discarded my body in the woods, nobody would ever find me?”

He laughed. “Yeah, something like that.”

I pushed at his arm. “That’s not funny,” I laughed.

“Hey, you brought it up.”

We finally made it through all the trees and I looked up in awe. There was a pond surrounded by a few trees with a small dock going out to the water.

“Wow, this is really nice.”

He nodded. “Yeah. It’s too bad it doesn’t get used very often, but good for us because we have it all to ourselves,” he said with a grin.

After putting the car in park, he opened his door and looked at me. “Can you help me carry some of this stuff and we’ll set it up over there.” He pointed to a shady spot underneath a big oak tree.

“Yeah.” I opened my door, hopped out and walked to the back of the truck. He handed me a tote bag and a blanket, while he carried a big cooler. “So a day out by the pond, huh? I like it.”

He grinned. “I had a feeling you would.” He winked and walked off toward the tree.

I followed behind him, watching where I stepped along the way. The grass was really long and I didn’t want to step into a hole.

When we got underneath the tree, he set the cooler down and grabbed the blanket from me. After he unfolded it, he flung it out and laid it on the ground.

“So, you like picnics, huh?”

He nodded as we sat down. “My mom used to take us on picnics to the park when we were kids. I’m thinking the gesture rubbed off.”

“Well, I think it’s great.” I sat with my legs out to the side, not wanting to flash my goods in a skirt. “I’m guessing you brought us snacks?” I said, pointing to the cooler.

He opened the lid for me and I leaned up to see what was inside. He had an assortment of fruits, crackers and cheeses, and a lunchmeat tray. “Someone went shopping,” I beamed at him.

“I did,” he smiled. “And I also have my favorite dessert in here.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

Reaching his hand in, he pulled out a medium-sized white container, and then opened it. “Chocolate covered strawberries.”

My eyes widened at how big they were. It was like they were on steroids or something. “Wow, those things are huge.”

“And juicy,” he added, making me giggle.

Grabbing one out of the box, he lifted it to my lips. I smiled at him before I opened my mouth and as seductively as I could…took a bite. “Mmmm,” I closed my eyes and moaned as the juices and chocolate hit my tongue. I loved chocolate-covered strawberries and the over-sized berries were especially good.

Opening my eyes, I looked at him, causing a sudden blush to spread across my body. He was looking at me like he might attack me at any second.

Holding the strawberry up to my mouth again, I opened up and took another bite. Juice ran down the side of my mouth as I chewed and I lifted my hand to wipe it off, but Landon grabbed my hand to stop me. He leaned in, keeping eye contact until he was so close I could hardly breathe. I chewed as quickly as I could and swallowed, just as his tongue darted out and licked the juices from my chin up to my lip. I closed my eyes and moaned again, but this time for a different reason. He grabbed onto both sides of my face and locked his lips with mine. I opened up to him and we entangled our tongues in a needy kiss. I felt like he was telling me so much with just his lips. He was a passionate kisser and his feelings came out in waves. His hands didn’t have to roam all over my body for me to know how much he wanted me. It just emanated from him.

Pulling back, he licked his lips and I sat there, trying to catch my breath. “Mmmm, those strawberries
are
good,” he said in a not-so-sexy voice.

I burst out laughing at his playfulness. “You crack me up.”

He pulled out the assortment of fruit and smiled. “I aim to please, sunshine.”

I grabbed some cantaloupe and popped it into my mouth. “This place is really nice. Kind of perfect really, with the shade.”

He sat next to me as we looked out over the pond. “Derek and I used to come out here when we were kids. Mr. Williams’ house is about a mile through those trees over there,” he said, pointing to the right. “He moved away about eight years ago though. His mom got sick so he moved the family to South Carolina.”

“Oh, wow. I’m surprised he didn’t sell it then. This is a lot of land,” I stated as I looked around.

“Yeah, well, Dad has tried numerous times to talk him into selling, but he won’t budge. It was passed down to him so it’s not like he has to pay for anything. I’m sure when his kids are old enough; he’ll give them an option to move out here.”

I stared out into the water and thought about all the things Landon had told me over the past two weeks about his childhood and growing up in the south. It all sounded so amazing. To be a part of a small town where you knew everyone and everyone knew you. Where you could go to a neighbor’s house and borrow sugar if you wanted. I didn’t have that kind of life in Chicago. We lived in a condo in the city. My neighbors were mostly old with a few spoiled rich kids. If I hadn’t have met Erin in school, I wasn’t sure how I would have turned out.

“I have some news I wanted to share with you,” he said, pulling me from my daydreaming.

I blinked a couple of times and looked at him. “Yeah?”

He was looking straight ahead out into the water. “I’ve decided to go back to school.” He looked at me with a big smile on his face and I gasped with excitement.

“Oh, my God, that’s amazing news.”

He laughed and looked back out at the water. “I wish your excitement rubbed off on everyone else.”

I knew whom he was talking about. “Are you talking about your dad?” I couldn’t understand why his dad couldn’t just support him, but of course, my parents were the same way.

“I know it will take some time, but I’m sure he’ll get used to the idea. I mean, if you give him no choice, then he’s bound to get over it, right?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “All I know is I’m excited to finally be doing something that I want to do. I’ve been doing what has been expected of me for a long time,” he sighed. “To be honest, I would have gone to school for mechanical engineering a long time ago. I had been taking business courses the first year and decided it wasn’t for me. I was going to change it, but that’s when I met Kelly. My dreams of moving away and starting a big career were altered.”

I grabbed his hand and held it in both of mine. “I’m happy you have made a decision to follow your dreams, then. You should be happy.”

He gave me a small smile. “Did you hear yourself?”

I frowned. “What?”

He stood up and grabbed the hem of his shirt, before pulling it over his head, causing the muscles in his chest and arms to flex. Momentarily, I forgot what we were talking about. “You should be happy too, Sadie.” He unbuttoned his shorts and pulled his fly down, revealing swimming trunks underneath and I grinned.

“I’m happy now. Does that count?” I stated as I looked him over.

He grinned at me and tossed his shorts onto his shirt. “Let’s go for a swim,” he said as he turned and ran for the pier. He turned once and smiled at me before he jumped off, doing a cannon ball in the water.

I bit my lip and I watched him come up for air. I hesitated momentarily getting up to take my clothes off as I thought about the fish and other things swimming in the water. I wasn’t a big fan of water I couldn’t see through. It freaked me out. But I didn’t want to be a wuss, either.

Looking out at the pond, I could see Landon watching me. “If you don’t come in here, I’m going to have to get out and drag you in,” he yelled.

I laughed because I knew he would.

“Okay, I’m coming,” I yelled back.

Standing up, I lifted the tank top over my head tossing it into the pile of clothes, and then added my skirt. I adjusted my bikini top as I walked out onto the pier to make sure the girls wouldn’t pop out when I jumped in. Even though he’d already seen them, I didn’t want to start flashing them everywhere.

I walked up to the edge of the pier and looked down into the water. It didn’t look too bad, but I was still iffy about jumping in it.

“Get your cute butt in here,” he demanded playfully.

Without thinking about it, I jumped in holding my nose, before I’d talk myself out of it. Turned out, I didn’t even need to hold my nose because the water wasn’t that deep. The water felt amazing though. It wasn’t warm and it wasn’t cold. It was just the right temperature.

“You jump like a girl,” Landon laughed as he swam over to me and pulled me into his arms.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and grabbed onto his shoulders. “Well, it’s a good thing that’s what I am, then.”

He squeezed my sides and kissed up my neck to my jawline. “Yes. Very good,” he said, as he pulled back and looked at me. “You know, I meant what I said up there. You’ve made me realize so much since I’ve met you. It’s one of the reasons I’m finally taking control of my life. I want that for you too. There is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to do what you love. I know you said your dad is paying for your schooling, but what if you paid for it yourself or applied for some grants? It may work. And I hope you know I’ll help you in any way I can.”

Everything he was saying was true. I’d always considered myself an independent person. One who thrived on achieving my own goals, but this matter had thrown me for a loop. There was one thing I’d never wanted to do and that was to disappoint my parents, but it wasn’t about them and I needed to remember that. It was about my future and me. They wouldn’t pay my way forever. Maybe I just needed to take that leap.

I rubbed at the water clinging to his shoulder and stared at it. “It’s like deep down I know what I should do; I’m just afraid of what might happen.” I looked up into his eyes. “What if I go against my parents and they kicked me out?”

“Do you really think they would do that?”

I shrugged, aiming for carefree, but I knew my shoulders were taut with worry. “Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve never gone against them before. Maybe that’s why I’m so afraid to take the leap. I’ve always been compliant when it came to them. I always wanted to make them happy.”

He pulled me tighter and walked us further out into the water. “I’m not one to constantly piss off his parents, but do you think it would make them proud of you, to stand up for what you want?”

I laughed. I knew my parents loved me and they wanted what was best for me, but they didn’t truly know me if they didn’t know how much I loved art. “I don’t think they’d be proud, but I do need to help them understand my love for art. Maybe you’re right.” I ran my fingers up the back of his neck and played with his wet hair. “I do need to show them my art. Maybe then they’ll understand.”

He kissed my forehead and smiled down at me.

I tilted my head back a little and looked over his expression. “Why are you smiling like that?”

“You just told me I was right. Not very many women would admit that.”

I laughed and pushed at his shoulder. “I said
maybe
you’re right. Don’t let it get to your head.”

We were silent for a moment before Landon spoke again. “I don’t want to sound too forward, but if it did come to that point, if your parents did kick you out, you’d have a place with me.”

My stomach clenched at the thought. Not in a bad way. More like an ‘oh, my God, what did he just say’ way. The thought didn’t necessarily freak me out, but I wasn’t sure I was ready for something like that.

He chuckled, as he looked me over. “Don’t get all freaked out, sunshine. I’m just saying if it did happen, I wouldn’t let you go without a roof over your head. You could probably even stay over at Nan’s. She’s all by herself. I’m sure she’d love the company.”

The thought of my parents kicking me out for doing something I loved, pulled at my heart. I still didn’t know if I would go through with it, though. The only thing holding me back was their approval.
And there it is again, Sadie.
He was right; I couldn’t live my life that way. If he could take the leap, why couldn’t I?

“If that was to happen, you’d probably get sick of seeing me.” I lowered my hands down to his chest and played with the tiny hairs that I’d just noticed. “It’s a lot for you to suggest with us just getting to know each other.” I looked up into his beautiful eyes. “Doesn’t it freak you out to think about?”

He lifted a hand to my cheek. “Close your eyes for me.” I frowned for a moment before I complied. His other hand grazed my cheek and I could feel the goose bumps rise on my arms. “Picture me in your head,” he said softly. I pictured him standing there in front of me. “Do you have it?” I nodded. “Now picture a few years down the road. Can you see me?” I nodded and smiled. I knew where he was going with this. “Can you see yourself with me?” I nodded again as I felt his lips press against my forehead and work their way down. “In your mind, do I look freaked out?” I bit my lip and shook my head. He didn’t look freaked out at all. The future Landon looked content and happy. In my mind, he was taking me for a horseback ride on Charlie, out to this very pond.