Stronger than the Rest

Chapter 04 | Emerald City

"Sooner or later we've all got to let go of our past." - Dan Brown

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Landon starts laughing a husky, sexy rumble.

Wait, did I just say his laugh was sexy? Idiot.

I look up at him and his eyes are shining bright against the sun, "Why are you always on your ass when I see you?"

I grunt as I try to get up by myself, "I don't know, asshole. Why do you never offer to help me up?"

Jack comes over to me and licks my face with a little whimper. I narrow my eyes at him, "Bad boy." He immediately goes and stands behind Landon, suggesting Landon is who whistled him over.

"You look like an independent girl," He starts scratching Jack behind his ears, cooing at how much of a good boy he was. I was getting seriously pissed, but then I got distracted by how Landon looked as he was halfway bent over Jack. He was wearing heather grey sweatpants with a black v-neck that was snug around his torso and arms. Damn, this boy is fit, I think. Then mentally slap myself for checking him out when I'm in pain on the sidewalk.

I'm going to have a wicked bruise on my ass tomorrow and my hands have blood on them from the fall back. I try to get up again, but pain shoots down my leg. I pout as I realize the only way I'm going to get help is to ask Landon directly. From the look on Landon's face as he watches my struggle, he's waiting for my question.

I sigh deeply and start, "Landon.."

The famous smirk grows wider on his face and his eyes darken a shade, "Yes, babydoll?"

I roll my eyes at my obviously permanent pet name, "Can you please help me up? My ass hurts."

"I thought you'd never ask." He winks at me as he grabs both of my hands and intertwines his fingers with mine. His hands are softer than I imagined they would be.

Wait, when the hell did I imagine his hands on me?

I avoided eye contact with him as he pulled me up with ease, only inches from being pressed up against his body. He moves his hands to the back of my arms to steady me in place. I stumbled a little, but I can't tell if it's from the fall or the presence of Landon so close to me. He smelled like spearmint and soap, he must've just taken a shower. I look up at his face now, which was peering down at me with his piercing eyes, and I realize my head barely meets his mouth. Dumb skyscraper. He smirked at my 5'4" glory.

"You okay, short stuff?" 

"Do you even know my real name, you dumb skyscraper?" I glared at him as Jack started licking my leg to make sure I wasn't severely hurt. Landon eyes widen up in shock at my hostility. Then, he burst out laughing at his new nickname. While he was laughing, he released his hold on me and I took a step back, "Petals, right?"

He leaned against the wooden fence with his hands in his pockets as he looked at me with a victorious smile, knowing full well he was irritating me.

"Ha ha, very funny", I said squeezing every ounce of sarcasm I could into my voice.

"I thought you'd appreciate the joke," He winked at me. It just bought the attention of his eyes to me, I stared at him for what seemed like forever. I felt like I was drowning in Emerald City. He didn't look away, but just stared back at me with the same amount of intensity. There was millions of secrets swimming behind his eyes and suddenly I wanted to dive into them.

"Earth to babydo-"

"How come you weren't at school today?" I accidentally cut him off. I cringed internally, I didn't even want to blurt that aloud.