Stronger than the Rest

Chapter 14 | Distractions

"Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen." - Orhan Pamuk

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If Landon noticed the scar under my tattoo, he didn't say anything about it. For that, I am grateful. We are still in my kitchen, we are still standing in the same position, and we still are locked into each other's eyes. I release my shirt and let it fall down back over my stomach. Landon's hand gently moves to my face while his thumb smooths over my cheek. He leans in and whispers ever so huskily, "Petals.."

I close my eyes and lean up to him on my toes.

And then.

Slurp.

He's licking my face. This man is straight up licking my face.

I tried swatting at him to get him to stop, but he wouldn't. 

"Landon!" I yell, but then I'm knocked down. I look up to see I'm actually in my bedroom and Jack is hovering over me on the floor with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. Oh, it was a dream, I thought to myself. Good lord, could I just not dream of him? That'd be great. 

I sigh and get up to put my duvet back on my bed the proper way when my phone goes off. I go to grab it off the charger on my nightstand. 

Megan: YOUR BURFDAY IS IN THREE DAYS

Holy shit, is it really?

Me: Dude, I totally forgot. 

I pull out the calendar app on my phone, and yep. It's October 12th. With everything going on in my life, I guess I forgot. It also helps that none of my friends here in North Carolina actually know when my birthday is, so I guess I can't be that surprised. Well, at least my birthday is on Friday so maybe I can make the trip down to Georgia to celebrate. It'll be nice to celebrate with Leo, too. My last two birthdays have been hell without my twin, I've usually spent the last two birthdays on his grave. Jack stirs and comes to place his massive head in my lap. 

"Jack, you are the best thing that's ever happened to me." I murmur as I stroke his reddish-brown fur. 

***

I make it to school about an hour late and it's completely Jack's fault. I really need to him registered in North Carolina so I can just take him with me. I hate when he's not by my side, especially being in school with a bunch of questioning eyes flares up my anxiety. I've done my best to ignore the rumors, but I hear them every now and then. A group of sophomores has the latest theory that my panic attack and disappearance is due to my bastard child back in Georgia.

Seriously? I roll my eyes to myself as I slam my locker door shut, trying to take a deep breath. I didn't notice the Three Musketeers hanging down the hall so I was scared senseless when I heard Nathan shout at me,  "Bad morning? Do you need a quickie to make you feel better?" As he winked at me. 

Landon's eyes flashed with annoyance and his mouth sets into a thin line but didn't say anything else. On the other hand, Derek slapped Nathan upside the head. 

"Watch it, Nathan," with a stern voice.

Nathan and Landon both look at their friend in surprise. Nathan scratched the back of his head as he replied, "Damn, I thought if anyone was going to flip out it was going to be Landon."

Derek wavered for a second as he glanced up at me realizing he made a mistake, he pushed off the wall and muttered a later to the guys as he stalked down the hall and around the corner. Nathan looked confused at him until he looked up at me. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think Derek has the hots for you."