All In (Keep Breathing Book 2), стр. 78

“Last I heard from Landon, he and Maria had a doctor's appointment with a specialist here in town tomorrow afternoon and then they were going home, so he won’t be there.”

“Fine, then we’ll be there,” he groans and his mom touches his cheek.

“Thank you, son. Tomorrow at five.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“It’s Mom.” She kisses his cheek. “Holly, always a pleasure.” She squeezes my hand.

“You too, ma’am.”

“Oh, don’t you start that either. You can call me mom too.” She winks. “I’m sure I will be soon enough.”

“Goodbye, Mother.” Liam grins tightly and pushes her out the door, but not before she gives the swashbuckling pirate a hug goodbye as well. “I’m glad you came in when you did,” Liam remarks the second his mom has exited and he’s locked the door behind her. “She would have stayed all night if you didn’t.”

“I always thought it would be my mother who would be the first one to try and marry us off,” I mumble under my breath as he folds me into his arms.

“I’ll get you, arrrggh,” Matty growls as he stands on the couch, waving around his sword at some invisible sea monster he has made up in his head.

“Maybe we can get you in your Thor costume and you two can play dress up together.”

“I ruined the vest. Big tear. Last year. I had to toss it.” He clears his throat and pushes back out of my arms. He walks over to his desk, and it’s like he’s trying to put distance between us.

“Oh.” I frown. “I swore I saw it in the back of your closet.”

“That was something else.” He brushes his nose and I have no idea why he is lying to me about his costume. I know I saw it only days ago.

My eyes dart to the wall behind him and his lie gets more mysterious when I notice the missing Thor hammer.

“Speaking of Thor, what happened to the Hammer light?” I ask, pointing to the now bare wall.

“I’m bringing it home,” he says gruffly, the distant look appearing in his eyes. “It was too bright.”

“Bright?” I question. “It was a cheap LED and it was blue.”

“I already had a few staff members ask too many questions. Don’t want the boss to come off too childish.”

Childish? In comparison to the collection of model cars he has lined up on his bookshelf?

“Or you could say you didn’t like it,” I mumble.

“I liked it fine. It just doesn’t belong in my office.” He dismisses the topic and picks up a file off his desk.

"Alright. Maybe I'll put it in Matty's room." I’m sure he’ll enjoy it.

"I’d rather you didn't," he mutters sharply, taking me aback.

"Okay. I'll throw it in the trash," I snip. What the hell is his problem with this light? I take a deep breath and steady my temper, trying not to let it get to me. It's not worth it. "Are you going to be staying late tonight or will you be joining me and the pirate for dinner?"

“Red.” He sighs and throws the file down on the desk. He surges over to me and grabs my hand, placing a soft kiss to my knuckles. “I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"You didn’t hurt my feelings. It’s just a light and was only meant to be a joke, really." Something I thought would make you think of us. Not make you act like you have something stuck up your ass.

His eyes flutter closed and he pulls me to him. He wraps one of his strong arms around my waist and cups my chin in his other hand before pressing his lips to mine. “Let me pack my stuff and we can get out of here.”

“Are you going to play dress up with us?”

“For you two, anything.”

I lean over the rail of the deck which overlooks a large garden at Liam’s parents’ estate. This place is absolutely amazing. I had no idea what I was walking into when Liam pulled up. I knew his parents were rich, but this house is one I only dreamed of remodeling from its bones. Sylvia has stolen both of my boys away and I’ve been left to wander the property on my own. Liam was worried about me being left behind, but he has no idea how much I love to admire the interior and exterior of someone else’s property to get ideas.

I push back the large French doors that take me out back to an oversized deck, which overlooks a massive garden. Roses, carnations, and lilies fill the lawn and it smells delightful.

“It’s nice out here, isn’t it, Holly?” The familiar husky voice of my boyfriend hums behind me, but it’s different. And Liam rarely ever calls me Holly.

“You feeling okay?” I tease as I spin around, but my jaw slacks when I come face to face with Liam’s twin. “Oh, hi,” I stutter. It’s odd seeing my boyfriend’s double in person. If it wasn’t for the slight difference between the two, as Landon is clean shaven, and has light crow’s feet around his eyes I might not have been able to tell them apart.

And the fact that my body isn’t instantly drawn to him by the magnetic pull I share with Liam.

“Hey.” He grins and drops his hands on his jean covered legs. “I’m Landon, by the way.”

“I assumed.” I tuck my hair behind my ear and laugh nervously.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” he says stepping in closer to me, but I find myself instinctively stepping away from him and hitting the deck rail. I don’t know how I feel about Landon. Not after Liam told me he said he thinks I’m a distraction.

“You too.”

“This is going to sound crazy, but I swear you