Hot Summer Nights

17

Chapter Seventeen

Landon

It was a dick move. Giving Claire my number, asking her out in front of Leah, ignoring Leah's calls- all of it. But I didn't care. I wanted her to care, and if me being a dick was the only way to get her to admit she did...

Well, I guess I'm being a dick for a while.

I've been through the gauntlet of emotions over Leah the last few weeks. It's only fair she has to go through some of it too. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

At first, I was sad and angry and lost. Then I was just angry. Then after giving my number to Claire in the hallway and seeing the spark of regret in Leah's eyes, I was hopeful. But the anger was still there simmering under the surface.

She hurt me. She ripped my heart out and stomped on it. But I still wanted her. I still cared.

If me being a dick and going on a date or two with Claire is what it takes to push Leah to admit she has real feelings for me... Then fuck it! Jealousy is a powerful emotion after all.

I know what we had wasn't just surface-level. What we had was real. At least, it was heading in that direction before she abruptly ended it.

She should have to stew for a while wondering if I'm hitting it off with Claire while avoiding her. That's what I told myself when I hit the button to ignore her second call. Maybe that's what it will take for her to admit we aren't over.

Yeah, it's a good plan.

It wasn't.

~

I had a date set with Claire on Saturday. We'd talked a few times since exchanging numbers. Just casual chats, getting to know each other. Nothing too deep. It was nice, but not enough to get Leah out of my head.

I had a plan, one last ditch effort to try and win her back. It was a shitty one, but I had to try. Going the route of trying to make her jealous to bring her back to Team Landon seemed like a solid idea when I came up with it. Now, with Saturday fast approaching, I wasn't so sure. And that made me irritable.

It was Friday night, and I was hanging with the guys after work. We were setting up for a poker night, talking about this n' that when Levi caught my attention. I nodded his way. "What's up, man?"

He took a swig from his beer bottle. "So, you got that date tomorrow?"

I wasn't going to bring up the date tonight, but apparently, my friend had developed an interest in gossip since I last saw him. I tried to look casual as I swigged my own drink. "Yeah, that's the plan."

He gave me a hard look. It seemed like he was debating something before he opened his mouth again. "You still think that's a good idea?"

Fuck's sake!

Did Tessa put him up to this?

I tried to play it cool, nodding as I replied, "don't see why it wouldn't be."

Levi rolled his eyes. "So, you're telling me I just imagined that shit between you and Leah the other day? The weird tension and all that."

It was my turn to roll my eyes. "Look, man. She ended it. Why should I feel guilty about hurting her feelings when she told me she wanted nothing to do with me on more than one occasion?"

My voice was starting to rise as I got more frustrated, drawing the attention of Micah and Jason.

Levi held up his hands. "I'm not saying she's right and you're wrong. It just seems like you're going on this date to be spiteful."

I sucked my front teeth, trying to rein myself in before I blew up on my best friend. It didn't work. "So what if I am? She ripped my heart out! Crushed it! Shouldn't she get to feel an inkling of that hurt too? Shouldn't she feel what it's like to lose me after I had to go through the hurt of losing her over and over again?"

Levi shook his head as J and Micah came closer. Both wearing weary looks like they thought a brawl was about to break out. "You really think that's a good idea? If you want her back, just tell her. Don't ignore her calls and go on spite dates to make a point. It's fucking childish!"

That struck a nerve. So, I hit back. "Oh, right! Says the guy who waited a whole two hours after Tessa's ex showed up at the lake house before spite fucking some random chick at the bar!"

Levi flinched as if I'd actually hit him. Then he saw red. "I never fucked that chick from the bar! I just flirted a little!"

"Oh, like that's any better," I scoffed. "You fucking did it to prove a point! You did it to get back at Tess for hurting you! How's that any fucking different from what I'm doing?"

I was an asshole and I knew it. I knew how much that shit affected Levi and Tess. It was messy and stupid and it caused a lot of hurt that never had to exist. One misunderstanding after another ruined their relationship, and I just brought everything back to the light. I could see it on Levi's face- all the hurt and regret from that summer. He almost lost her because of it.

Fuck.

J and Micah were still standing on the sidelines ready to step in if either of us started throwing fists. It wouldn't come to that. I didn't think.

When Levi spoke again, his voice was low, remorseful. "You're right. I did it to hurt Tess like she hurt me, but you know what? I was a dumbass for doing that shit. Because of that, I almost lost her. I lost an entire year with her because I couldn't get my head out of my ass long enough to communicate with her about what the fuck happened. Instead of talking to her, I did shit out of spite. And it was the worst mistake of my life."

I stared at him, feeling like a prick for opening up his old wound. But I couldn't bring myself to apologize. Dickhead Landon was still running the show and he didn't want to admit his plan to win Leah back was bullshit.

"You do what you want, man. But I'm telling you, if you really care about Leah, don't do the petty spiteful shit to get back at her. It'll only fuck things up worse."

He took a deep breath before adding, "and you may never get another chance after that."

He walked away after that, leaving me to stew as J and Micah stared at me.

"What?," I asked angrily. "you two got shit you wanna add?"

Jason ran a hand through his hair. "Levi's right, dude. You can't expect to win her back by spite dating someone else. Plus, that's not fair to Claire if you aren't really into her."

I shook my head, turning my attention to Micah. "How bout you? Any two scents you wanna add?"

He stared as he said, "I think you already know the right and wrong here."

I scoffed. I didn't expect this shit to happen tonight. I hadn't expected Leah's name to be brought up at all. Or my date with Claire. But here we were.

Tension was creeping back into my bones as two of my closest friends stared me down. I clenched my jaw as I told them, "I think I'm gonna go. I've had enough relationship counseling for one night."

Before anyone could say anything else, I left, trying not to let Levi's words get to me. I had a plan. A mediocre plan, but was going to work. They'd see.  

A/N: 

Oh lawd! Any predictions on how this is going to go? Do we think Landon's plan will work, or will it backfire big time? 

Let me know down in the comments. And if you're enjoying the story so far, hit that vote button and follow my profile to get the latest updates on upcoming stories and changes to the publishing schedule. 

Until next time! 

:)