Doing It for Love (All About Love #1) (20 page)

JANUARY

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon…” Jace mutters at the TV in his studio apartment, sliding to the edge of the couch and clutching his beer. It’s 21-14 in favor of the Titans, but the Jets are closing in on the end zone. I’d pay more attention, but it’s not like the Falcons are playing.

Landon pushes a salsa-covered chip at me, and I open wide for him to shove that sucker in. We both laugh as the salsa collects in the corners of my mouth.

“Yes!” Jace hollers, both he and Alec getting to their feet and victory dancing. Landon stays seated on the recliner, but probably only because I’m occupying his lap.

The Jets make the touchdown and then the extra point, tying the game and sending us right into a commercial break. I get up from Landon’s lap with a butt wiggle in the face, then offer to get anyone another beer while I grab a water. I’m trying to drop a couple pounds, so I’m avoiding chocolate and alcohol till the wedding. But I’m not completely strict about dieting, considering I hop back into Landon’s lap and let him stuff my face with more chips.

I still have my Spanx if I need them.

“Where’s Chantal?” I ask Jace as soon as he’s settled into the couch with a fresh beer. After the movie wrapped, I expected the girl he’s been seeing to hang out with us a bit, but he’s empty-handed whenever we get together.

He shrugs. “She went home for Christmas. Decided to stay there for a bit.”

“How long is ‘a bit’?”

“I think permanently.”

Landon shifts under me, and I lock eyes with him long enough for him to give me the neck-slicing gesture. Okay, no more Chantal questions.

“It’s back on,” Alec says, and all our attention goes to the game. Well, minus Landon, who is running a hand up and down my thigh. He gives me a half-smile when I catch his gaze, then he shakes his head and sighs.

He’s been acting weird all night. Well…actually…he’s been acting weird since the naked argument. I can feel the shift in our relationship, too, and I don’t even know what it is. We touch and kiss and cuddle, but there hasn’t been that desire for
more
, and honestly, I don’t remember the last time we talked. Like,
really
talked. And bitterly I think maybe we’re already married and we don’t even know it.

He sighs again, and so I lean in close to his ear. “What’s up, Buttercup?”

“Nothing.”

“Liar.”

He does another half-smile, then slides his phone out and shows me a text from his sister.

Hey. Mom and Dad want to talk to you. If I were you I’d stop by the hotel and just hash it out. Don’t bring Liz.

Well, isn’t that just peachy? I try to force a smile, even though my stomach feels like that salsa was made out of Legos, and say in a singsong whisper, “You’re in trouble.”

“Probably,” he says, sliding his phone into his pocket. He’s not even teasing me back, so I drop the playfulness, settle my head on his shoulder, and give him a good squeeze.

“Do you want to go?” I ask.

“No.”

“Do you think you should?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll be okay here.”

He sighs, breath warming my forehead, and then he gently strokes my hair. “It may be a while.”

“Hey, Alec?” I say, adjusting on Landon’s lap. “Be my chauffeur again? Landon has to visit his parents and I don’t want to be in the line of fire.”

He laughs around his beer and nods. I turn back to Landon with a smile. It’s one of those scared-as-hell smiles I’ve pretty much been wearing this entire engagement.

“Go. Hear what they have to say. And don’t call off the wedding unless they offer you a million dollars.”

“Ten million.”

“Glad to know what I’m worth.”

He gives me his sort-of-laugh, the one I’ve been hearing for weeks now, and then nudges me from his lap. He doesn’t kiss me goodbye, and I don’t move to kiss him either, and the sad thing is I don’t notice until he’s been gone for at least ten minutes.

We are peas and carrots.

“It’s not you,” Alec says, pulling my attention from wherever my brain was wandering.

“Huh?”

“Landon’s mom wouldn’t have approved of anyone.”

“She sure seemed fond of his exes.”

Jace snorts, kicking his feet out and leaning back into the couch.

“What are you laughing at?” I ask him.

“Nothing. I’ve just met some of those exes and there was nothing to be ‘fond’ of. Mom Wangford is just trying to unhinge you.”

I know that, but it doesn’t make me feel better.

“You don’t think he’ll call it off, do you?”

Jace snorts again, and Alec shakes his head.

“Honestly, I think he’s more worried about
you
calling it off.”

“Me? Why?”

Alec shrugs, but Jace doesn’t catch it and starts spouting off what I’m sure Landon had under the “bro code.”

“He saw that list you keep on your computer. Said you were scared of vegetables or something, and he just doesn’t have the balls to talk to you about it.”

My mouth drops open. I knew I shouldn’t have added that Hurdle. It’s not that being peas and carrots is necessarily a deal-breaker. It’s that it totally sucks to be peas and carrots.

“Shit.”

Jace shakes his head, reaching over to pat my knee. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Landon was nearly pissing himself before he proposed, but then he’d look at your ring and he was excited about strapping on the ball and chain.”

“There you go,” Alec says. “Just stare at his wedding ring and you’ll feel better.”

I nearly tumble out of the recliner. Oh, sweet balls, no.

“His ring.”

Jace lifts his eyebrows while Alec furrows his.

“Um, what?”

I continue to choke on my own breath as I stare blankly at both of them.

“Landon’s ring. I have to buy him a ring.”

“Yeah…?” Jace says, but Alec slams his eyes shut and releases a long breath because he knows. He knows what’s playing in my mind. The decreasing number in the honeymoon fund, the lack of income even with the overtime, and Landon’s empty left hand at the altar. I grab onto the arms of the recliner, try to balance myself, but I can’t. I slump to the floor. I hear Alec softly tell Jace, “Money, dude.”

My vision goes in and out of focus as I shake my head. How could I forget about his ring? I’ve had mine for months, twisting it, cleaning it, showing it off, staring at it, hugging it, and I hadn’t given one thought about putting one on his finger. Now we’re only a week away.

What am I going to do? It’s the ring or the honeymoon. You can’t have a wedding without rings. But you can’t have a wedding without the honeymoon. I feel the weight of a thousand Hurdles pound on my back, turning me into a rambling idiot on Jace’s floor, going on and on about all the meaningless wedding chores I gave myself. The no-sex rule, the wedding dress fiasco, the damn upside-down turkey, and how it means nothing now because I can’t buy my fiancé his ring.

Both guys look at me like they have no clue how to handle a woman and have been winging it up until this point. Jace clears his throat, pulls his phone out, and steps from the room while Alec pats my back. He keeps saying he’ll advance my paycheck, offer more hours, but I’m shaking my head because all the money from my paychecks needs to go into rent, utilities, food, normal grown-up things, and I suddenly feel so not ready for it at all.

“Beth Ann,” Jace says, tapping my shoulder and holding his phone out to me. I take it and try to steady my breathing.

“Hello?” I say into the receiver.

“Once upon a time, there was a boy with no fingers.”

“Landon—”

“And he desperately wanted just one…only one finger.”

“Your finger story will not change the fact that we—”

“On certain days, he desired a thumb. Days when his buddies would give him thumbs-up or when his friends played Thumbs Up, Seven Up, or had thumb wars. And he would make a wish to the skies for a thumb. But it never happened.

“Then, when he became a teenager, he wanted a middle finger to effectively describe how he felt toward certain things. All the other kids were doing it, and he’d love to stick it to someone like that. But of course, that wish went ignored, too.”

“He wished to give people the bird?” I say, and I feel myself wanting to laugh, but maybe I’ve forgotten how.

Landon ignores me. “He became a man, and fell in love with an out-of-his-league woman, and he
desperately
wanted a finger. And not to do what I know you’re thinking, dirty woman, but to wipe her tears away, to prod her chin, to link just one finger with hers. He begged the stars for one finger. Even just a pinky. But they didn’t answer.

“Then their wedding day came. The bride helped him button his shirt, tie his tie, and then kissed him on the lips. He cupped her face in his palms, all fingers gone, wishing out loud that he had just the one finger on his left hand so the world would know his heart had been stolen. And his bride brought her own finger to his lips and said, ‘The world will know because I will always be with you.’ She sealed it not with a ring, but with a promise in front of all their friends and family. And the man never felt the need to wish for another finger in his lifetime.”

“Landon…”

“I don’t need a ring. I just need you.”

Now I’m crying. “I just need you.”

“Then please, don’t worry about this.”

I pause, battling my nature to
worry
.

“All right.”

“All right.” He lets out one of those sighs, but it doesn’t make me nervous this time. “I’ll be home soon. Meet me there?”

“You want me to head out now?” I look to Alec, and he pushes off his knees and grabs his coat.

“Yeah. I…I miss you.”

“I miss you, too.” And I say it the same way he did…as if we haven’t seen each other in weeks. I tap the end button on Jace’s cell and hand it back, then snort a little when my knees crack as I stand.

Alec sings to me on the way home, and I join in a few times but keep my voice low because he’s so much better than I am. He starts “I Get a Kick Out of You,” but I stop him, requesting “You Are My Dream” instead.

“I’ll walk up with you,” he says, parking in Theresa’s extra stall. “I gotta get something from Theresa.”

We hop into the elevator and I tease him by threatening to push all the buttons. He stands in front of them till we get to my floor.

The guy waiting for the elevator pushes inside before we can get out.
Geez, buddy
…and I almost say something out loud, but he’s huge and got a bag full of laundry or something, a guitar case, and a laptop, and I don’t want to get whacked. Alec puts his hand on the small of my back and moves me around elevator guy and onto the floor. I pull out my keys, but something catches my eye halfway down the hall and I stop dead. Alec takes a few steps ahead of me before stopping too.

“You okay?”

“Theresa’s door is open.” I point to the cracked door, darkness inside, and my heart kicks up in an offbeat pattern.

Alec grabs my elbow when I start marching over.

“No,” he says, and then moves in front of me to go first.

“I’m still coming with you,” I hiss back. I’ve got a pocketbook full of change I’m willing to swing in anyone’s face if I have to.

He takes cautious yet determined steps forward, nudging the door open wide and finding the light. I draw in a sharp breath, heart now beating through my ears. Theresa’s apartment is trashed; drawers open in the kitchen, balcony door open, and the storage unit spilling contents. I don’t even get out any words before Alec is charging down the hall toward the back bedroom. He trips over discarded belongings and shoes and what-have-you, bouncing off the walls, so I flip on the lights as we make our way to Theresa’s bedroom.

I have a feeling that elevator guy was not carrying laundry.

Alec does a sort of Superman burst-open-the-door maneuver and smacks the overhead light on. Theresa’s room is just as bad, but a flood of relief warms behind my pounding heart when she sort of whines and stretches on her mattress, blocking her eyes from the sudden brightness of the room.

“What the hell?”

I rush to her side and pick her up in my arms. My hands are shaking, and I feel Theresa’s relaxed posture suddenly tense.

“Where’s Landon? Is he okay?”

I nod, and her eyes widen.

“Jace?”

I nod again, and her gaze drifts to Alec, eyebrows drawing inward.

“Uh…” he starts. “Your front door was open.”

Theresa drops out of my hold, arm reaching at the mattress next to her. The events of the night start to dawn on me, and I’m praying that she had no emotional attachment to the guy who obviously banged, burglarized, and bailed.

“He must’ve left it open when he left.” She lets out a laugh at the both of us. “Y’all are such worrywarts. Let me go back to sleep.”

“Theresa…” I shake my head. “Your place is a mess.”

“Thank you, Mom. What else is new?” She laughs again. Alec takes a step forward, and her smile starts to fade when she sees the concern laced with anger in his eyes. I actually have to do a double take because I’ve only see him look that way a few times and it’s a little frightening.

“It’s ransacked,” he says. “Shit is everywhere, and I’ll bet you there’s missing shit, too.”

“What?”
Theresa tosses the comforter over my head, and I feel her scramble off the mattress. When I uncover myself, Theresa’s only in a large T-shirt, digging in her nightstand, shaking her head and saying, “No-no-no-no-no.”

“What are you looking for?” Alec asks, stepping up to watch helplessly as Theresa comes up short.

“My necklace. I was wearing it tonight, but I took it off before we…shit.”

“What necklace?” I ask.

“Christmas present. I didn’t have it for long, but…I liked it.”

She and Alec share a look, Alec’s eyes getting angrier and angrier, but then they break contact and she shoves her way down the hall. We follow, stopping behind her as she stares at her belongings strewn over her floor.

“That rat bastard!” she says, moving everything off her side table. “He took my laptop, too.”

“Do you have your phone?” I ask, thinking it when Alec pulls out his own. Theresa shakes her head.

“Doubt it.” She grapples for a pair of jeans and shoves her legs in. “I’m going to cut off his nut sack.”

I set my jaw. I’ll hold those nasty balls in place while she snips, but Alec steps in front of us.

“You’re not going.”

“Move,” Theresa demands, eyes blazing like she’ll injure Alec just to get to the burglar banger.

He shakes his head, leans against the door, and brings his phone to his ear. Theresa gives him a hard punch to the shoulder and he doesn’t even flinch.

“Hi, I’d like to report a robbery,” Alec says, and I’m glad one of us has our head, because if elevator guy is also the guy who took off with Theresa’s stuff—most likely—then we’d have no chance in hell of holding him down. Unless I use my pepper spray and Theresa uses her Taser. I imagine an assault record wouldn’t look good to the in-laws, though.

“Yeah, it’s apartment 7G at—”

“What the living hell?”

Alec shoves off the door at the outburst, pausing in the middle of Theresa’s address and letting us pass him to look down the hall. Josh Happerfeld in 7J is staring at his door, his phone pressed to his ear, and he yells, “Someone kicked my damn door in!”

That heart pounding starts up again, and I look across the hall at 7H. The door looks fine but it’s ajar, just like Theresa’s. I jerk my head toward my apartment, feeling queasy and panicked, and when I look at Theresa, her mouth is slightly open in apology. As if this is her fault.

“Landon’s movie…” I say, and I’m not even sure it’s coherent, but I take off down the hall, praying my door isn’t kicked in or open. But if it is, the burglar could’ve cleaned the whole house out and I wouldn’t care…as long as Landon’s movie is still safe. It’s an impossible wish, because Landon was working on it last night. Glasses on his adorable work face, and that laptop was sitting on our card table, right by the door.

I’m shaking so bad I can’t get my key in. The door wasn’t bashed in or open, but I’m not ruling anything out until I see inside.

Finally jamming it in the lock, I twist and shove my way in, expecting to trip over a mess or to have my entire world pulled out from under me…but the floor is as spotless as I left it, the TV still hung on the wall, my laptop perched on the coffee table, and I run to the card table toward the hum of Landon’s computer. I pick it up, hug it to my chest, and crumple to a complete heap on the floor.

“Oh, thank the Lord,” Theresa says somewhere near me. I sit with the laptop and try to get the warmth of it to calm my crazy heartbeat. She takes a spot next to me, and I don’t know why I’m the one getting emotional since all my stuff is still here, but I start to tear up, squeezing the computer so hard I make imprints on my arms.

“He would’ve lost everything,” I whisper.

“Well, now we know what you would save in a fire.”

I manage a laugh. It takes a few minutes for me to gain control of my senses, but I finally do, getting to my feet and following Theresa back to her apartment. I won’t let go of Landon’s laptop, though.

The cops show up, and Josh Happerfeld gives a very detailed inventory count of what was stolen from his gaming collection.
Skyrim
,
Injustice
,
Forza
Motorsport
4
and
5
,
Mass
Effect
3
,
Resident
Evil
6
, and about a billion others that I’m not sure how the police woman keeps up with.

Theresa reports her missing things, and then gives a description of Johnny, “If in fact that
is
his real name,” she says. “He’s the big douche bag with the word ASSHOLE tattooed on his forehead.” Needless to say, Alec was much more helpful in describing the elevator guy.

We all have to give reports, and I stick Landon’s laptop on my lap and use it as a desk while I write up mine. I refuse to go anywhere without it.

I hand in my account of what happened to Officer Dawling, someone I’d expect Theresa to flirt with under normal circumstances, but Alec has hovered over her since we found her in bed, and she doesn’t even seem annoyed by it. So I sit back a little bit and be the friend she needs when she needs me.

Something bangs down the hall by the stairwell, and Officer Dawling puts his hand on his gun but stops and goes back to organizing our reports, so I don’t move from my spot on Theresa’s floor.

“I can’t believe I’m so stupid,” Theresa says, pacing in front of Alec while he leans against her counter in the kitchen. “I’m going to have to background-check everyone I bring home.”

“You’re not stupid,” he says. “Maybe you were just drunk.”

She pinches his arm, he laughs, and I chuckle.

“I was actually sober tonight. Nice to know my judgment is just as bad with or without alcohol.”

“Did you love him?” Alec asks. Theresa snorts in answer. “Well, then,” he continues. “Just be happy he didn’t steal your heart and your clock radio.”

“Ha. Ha.”

“Liz!”

I jolt at Landon’s voice, scrambling to my feet. His sprint down the hall sounds like a stampede of elephants, and he nearly takes Theresa’s front door out when he plows into it. The largest sigh of relief I’ve ever heard escapes him when he sees me, crosses the carpet, and takes me in his arms.

“You scared the hell out of me.”

“It’s okay…I saved your laptop,” I say into his shoulder. He pulls back and kisses my cheeks, my chin, my forehead, my nose, my lips, a million times over.

“I saw the cops and you weren’t home.” He pries the laptop from my hands and sets it on the couch upside-down, not even giving it a single glance. Then he kisses me more…and more…and I don’t want to stop him, but I can tell we’re making our friends uncomfortable, so I end up squeezing his palms twice, and he squeezes back twice, then I do it again, and he does it again, and we secretly say I love you over and over until Officer Dawling interrupts.

“We’re finished up out here,” he says to Theresa. “Thank you for your statements, and I’ll give you a call if we find your things.”

“Thanks, Officer.”

He tips his hat, and he and his partner head to the elevator. Landon still hasn’t let go of my hand.

I’d feel like one-half of strawberries and whipped cream if I wasn’t so freaked out.

“I don’t think I can sleep here,” Theresa says, rubbing her arms with a cringe on her face.

“You can stay at our place,” I say, and Landon nods.

“Thanks.” Theresa picks up her pillow, strips off the case, and starts trucking down the hallway. Alec scratches the back of his head, and he and Landon share a look before we all follow Theresa.

“You guys take the bedroom,” Landon says when we step inside our apartment.

“I don’t mind the guest room,” Theresa says.

“I’m staying with you.” I cross my arms, because that is my final word. She can’t be alone tonight, because I’m sure her night terrors will be a hundred times worse than normal. “But Landon, I can stay in the guest room with her.”

He shakes his head a firm no. “I want to be close to the door.”

Yep, there will be no arguing. And really, it’s a stupid thing to fight about. So I stand on my tiptoes and kiss him goodnight, then drag Theresa to my bed. Alec and Landon’s voices carry into the room, so I shut the door for privacy. Alec will probably end up on our couch.

“Can I take a shower?” Theresa asks, already stripping from her oversized T-shirt. “I feel really gross.”

I toss a towel at her from our walk-in, and she covers herself and dashes across the hall to the bathroom. While the water runs, I fluff her pillow, make sure it’s extra comfortable, and Landon sneaks into the room and wraps his arms around my waist.

“I wanted to say good night,” he says into my ear. His voice is low and gruff, and I turn around in his hold and give him a hug.

“I’m okay.”

“I know. I’ll just miss sleeping with you.”

“I’ll tell Theresa to keep it in her pants.”

He laughs, and for the first time in weeks it’s a real one.

“Good night, Tumbles.”

He kisses my forehead and leaves, and all I can think about is how lucky we are to have all our things, all of Landon’s movie, and out of everything we could’ve lost today, he was only concerned about me.

Go figure. It’s the first night in weeks that I’m ready to lose our bet.