Page 82 of All That We Are Together

“We can talk about it when you get back…”

“Are you breaking up with me?”

“No, because there’s nothing to break. You’re the one who never wanted to label what we had, so now we don’t know what we have. Go to Paris. Take the opportunity, and…figure things out. Figure out what you really want. I don’t want to know what happens between you and him for those two months, though.”

“Nothing’s going to happen.”

“Leah, I’m not fucking blind.”

“What do you mean?” I was about to cry.

“I see how he looks at you. And I know you too well to believe you don’t feel anything for him.” He closed his eyes, bit his lip, and rested his hands on his hips. “You go do what you need to do, but when you come back, give me an answer. If you want to keep going with me, then we’ll have something real, boyfriend-girlfriend real. That’s the deal. Because I can’t keep going like this, understand?”

I nodded slowly, with a knot in my throat.

“So what are we right now, Landon?”

He wiped away my tears.

“We’re two friends who will love each other forever, no matter what happens.”

69

Leah

It was almost night when I got off of the bus. My heart was pounding in my chest as I walked down the path to his house, but I needed it. I needed…I’m not really sure what, but the idea had gotten stuck in my head and made me hop on that bus. My brother or Landon would have thought I was being whimsical, but Axel would have been as tempted by it as I was. Deep down, I had the feeling that there were things I could share with him and him alone, as if I were afraid the rest of the world wouldn’t understand them the same way.

I decided to knock on the front door instead of walking around to the porch and finding out Axel wasn’t alone. I was apprehensive as I did so. Axel looked surprised when he opened it.

“Can I come in?”

He stood aside, and I went in and left my bag on the sofa. I tried to remember the words I’d wanted to say to him, but I got distracted watching him grab a T-shirt from the back of the chair and put it on. His shoulders and the muscles in his back, the straight lines suddenly curving, his golden skin…it looked so entrancing…

“What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see you. And ask you for something.”

“Is it about Paris?” I shook my head. It was true that I still hadn’t given him an answer. “Is everything okay, Leah?”

His dark blue eyes shone unsteadily in his tense face, and I wanted to reach up and smooth out the wrinkles between his eyebrows.

“No. I just need to do something.”

“If by something, you mean something in bed, babe, all you’ve got to do is ask.”

I stared daggers into him and he laughed, turning toward the porch. I followed him out.

“Spit it out, Leah; you’re worrying me. You know you can ask me for anything, right?”

“Anything?” I asked quietly, standing next to him.

“Absolutely, Leah. Any and everything.”

“Even breaking into a house?”

“What?” He blinked.

“Breaking into an abandoned house.”