480 Hours

6 | Long Summer Days

Maggie Bailey

I walked away with confidence; confidence he did not need to know was wavering. Fake it until you make it, right? I stupidly wanted to stand there to banter back and forth with him for as long as possible. However, the moment my checks turned as red as a rose, I knew it was time for me to make my exit.

Although I was sure it was not anywhere near as smooth as I had intended.

By the way I had reacted, he must have thought that I was just used to seeing grown men naked, like that was an every day occurrence for me. He was never going to want to talk to me again after that disastrous interaction.

Even though I had made a complete fool of myself in front of the most attractive man I had ever met, I couldn't help but smile breathlessly into the palms of my hands once I was alone in my bedroom. I didn't know if I was trying to suppress a scream or a nervous laugh, but I felt giddy. There had been no towel to cover his southern region this time, and just thinking about how "well equipped" Landon was made my checks burn so hot, I could feel the blush at the tips of my ears. I thanked the Lord for the strength to not gaze down the entire time Landon had been standing in front of me, butt naked.

Landon was nothing like any marine I had ever met before, and I had met quite a few in my short lifetime. He was caring and compassionate, two traits that in the past, I seemed to avoid when looking for a relationship. Landon was here to comfort his dying mother, yet somehow when he was not in the hospital with her, he still found time to make me feel like a normal human being. He tried his hardest to hide the stress he so clearly felt, but it weighed on him like a heavily weighted artillery jacket. I wasn't sure how he was putting on such a convincing show. I would have been a mess.

I had been a mess.

Not Landon though, marines were trained never to show the enemy their weaknesses, and although I was not the enemy, I could tell his weaknesses were peaking through the hard exterior he chose to show the outside world.

We had not seen one another much after our night together on the beach. I knew he was busy with his mother and I was happy that, unlike Liam and I, Landon would not be robbed of the time to say goodbye to her. Yet, somehow when he was gone, I missed him.

It was pathetic really, I barely knew the man.

Since we had fallen asleep on the beach, I stupidly tried to come up with sneaky ways to see him when he was actually home. He usually didn't get in until late at night, so I would creep out to the kitchen numerous times every evening as I waited up for him. I would check for a crack of light from under his bedroom door first, just in case he had snuck in when I wasn't paying attention. If the light was off, and it always was, I would take the embarrassing walk of shame to the kitchen with my head hung low, hoping that maybe on that trip, he would walk through the front door. On the third night of this childish behavior, Liam had grown rightfully concerned by my fifth trip to the kitchen. He offered to sit and eat with me, worried that my nightmares were keeping me awake. Ashamed, I turned down his sweet offer. Needless to say, I did not see Landon that night as I stayed put in my room once Liam left me sitting alone at the kitchen counter.

I was so lost in thought, berating myself for behaving like such a lovesick puppy, that I almost did not notice when there was a soft knock at my door not ten minutes after my naked interaction with Landon. I knew it was Landon, Liam had warned us both that he planned to be out late with a date. A date that I was now beyond grateful for, since explaining to him why I had seen one of his closest friends naked was not at the top of my list of things to do.

I was so out of practice when it came to talking to men I found attractive, I wasn't sure what to do next. Was I supposed to play it cool and pretend to be lounging on the bed before allowing him to enter? Or was I supposed to open the door for him? Or was I supposed to just ignore the knock altogether? "Maggie, can I, uh, speak to you?" For whatever reason, I wanted to open the door. In fact, I was excited to open the door.