Hot Summer Nights

32

Chapter Thirty-Two

*NSFW chapter incoming*

Landon

When Leah's door opens, I can immediately tell something is wrong. She's wearing a big smile, but it looks forced. Something is bothering her for sure.

I lean in, wrapping my arms around her, planting a soft kiss on her temple as she melts into me. "Hey, baby," I say softly. "I missed you today."

Her arms wind around my waist as she settles against my chest. "I missed you too," she says, but there's a sadness in her voice that cuts me to my core.

We stay locked in our embrace for several minutes until the heaviness in the room becomes suffocating. I can't take it anymore. I need to find out what's wrong. Leah shouldn't have to face whatever's going on alone.

I won't let whatever it is eat away at her. Not if I can help it.

Taking her face gently in my hands, I look into her eyes. They seem glossy and dejected. It fucking kills me to see that look on her face.

"Leah, what's wrong?"

She tries to shake her head and look away, but I tilt her chin up, begging her to meet my gaze. "Baby, please. Talk to me. What happened?"

The sniffle that she tries to hide nearly breaks my heart as she crumbles into me, burying her face in my chest. I hold her tightly, brushing her hair softly as she whimpers a quiet explanation against me.

"It's so stupid," she says, letting loose another sniffle.

My hand gently tracks down her back as I try to soothe her. "It can't be stupid if it has you so upset. Tell me about it. Please."

She lets out a long sigh before launching into her tale. "I just got off the phone with my mom," she starts.

The sadness in her voice has me fearing the worst, thinking someone must be sick or injured. I almost offer to drive her to wherever they are so she can be with her family, but she continues before I can get the words out.

"She just makes me feel so..."

Leah huffs a frustrated sigh against my neck. When she doesn't immediately continue, I let my fingers rub circles against her back, hoping the motions work to calm her.

"She makes you feel so what, babe? What did she say?"

She shakes her head. "She just always has this way of making me feel like I'm doing something wrong with my life. Like I've chosen the wrong path and she has no faith in my decisions. It just-"

A hiccup catches in her throat, making her bury her face against me again. Drawing her closer, I rest my cheek against her head. It's not what I was expecting at all.

Hearing her say she got into it with her mom makes me hurt for her. She's made comments before about how her family has pushed her to come to work for them at their family businesses, but those conversations never went into much detail about how adamant her folks had been on the subject.

Seeing what that conversation has done to her has my caveman bristling. He wants to build a wall of fire around her and block out anyone and anything that might try to hurt her, but this isn't just anyone hurting her. It's her family. And that kills me.

Leah sniffs again, "She asked me what would happen when my followers get sick of seeing me online. She said when like it was a certainty. It was like she thought I was incapable of holding anyone's interest for longer than a season..."