Landon's Obsession: An Endless Series: Book 3 (Series 3) (26 page)

     “Yes, mother, he told me.” I automatically responded.
The last three summers I’d been a sort of assistant/apprentice under my father;
learning the ins and outs of all his business ventures. It was mind numbing
work, but I was catching on quickly to it. Spending time with my father was the
best part though. I think we’d spent more time together in the last three
summers than in ten years living together.  

     “If only your brother had your acumen.” She sighed.
“He’s doing okay with the little projects your father has given him, but I wish
he could step up more.”

     I stiffened up at the first mention of Kris. “Yes,
well, we all have our different strengths. I’ve got to go, mother. I’ll call Marie.”

     There was a small pause in the other end before she
spoke. “Landon, I wish whatever problem you seem to have with your brother you
would just let it go.”

     She surprised me by bringing up our acrimonious
relationship; most of the time she ignored it. I’d never told anyone what I’d
discovered that day four years ago, but my relationship with my brother had
deteriorated exponentially. I could barely look him in that face any longer.
Being in his presence those first several times after discovering him and Maya
I’d had an extremely difficult time stopping myself from pounding his face in.
I hadn’t been able to stomach his presence long. I still couldn’t. Both my
parents had noticed my behavior but I’d kept my mouth closed on the why.

     However, from the way Kris watched me and vacated the
room whenever he could when I entered, I knew he wasn’t ignorant at the cause
of our rift.         

     I’d thrown myself back into my previous routine and
when people had asked about her I’d just told them we were done. I’d taken my
vow of wiping her from my mind like she never existed seriously.

     I wanted to say it had been easy…

     Rita had quit a few days later. Maybe she’d found out
what Maya had done and couldn’t handle being around our family after that. I
didn’t give a shit why, I was just glad she’d quit. It would have been difficult
seeing her after what happened.

     “Landon? Can you please try to patch things up with you
brother?” My mother repeated.

     “Mother, if there’s a problem maybe you should talk to
him.” I wondered if she’d tried, and what his reply had been. “I haven’t done
anything to create this so-called rift you see.”

     There was another pause. “Okay…well…thank you for
helping Marie. She, as well as I, appreciate it.”

    I smirked and shook my head as she changed the subject.
“Sure, but I’ve got to go now.”

     “Oaky. Love you.” She chirped before disconnecting.

     In a bad mood now because of the memories floating
through my head I jumped from the car and headed into the house. Striding into
the kitchen I found Seth sitting at the high top counter eating a sub-sandwich.
It wasn’t uncommon to find Seth eating, the guy was always eating. He was a
defenseman on our lacrosse team and at six-six, weighing two-hundred and fifty
pounds, all muscle of course, he was one of the best in the division. Looking
at him reminded me of one of those cartoon lumberjack guys.

     We were all big guys; we had to be to play lacrosse,
but Seth was definitely the biggest. Nic was next in line at six-four, and
Evan, Noah, and I measured in at just above the six foot mark. All four guys
were my roommates, teammates, and close friends.  

     “What’s up Pit?” I strode past him to the refrigerator.

     “Don’t call me that.” He grumbled.

     I grinned. Seth hated the nickname he’d been given four
years ago; ‘Bottomless Pit’, now shortened to “Pit’.

     “You up for a party tonight?” I asked, grabbing a
bottled water.

     “Maybe…where?”

     “Jaxon’s.”

     He perked up. “Poker?”

     I smirked. The guy had a hard-on for some Russian girl
that showed up every now and then to play poker. Whenever she did we all got
cleaned out. She was gorgeous so a lot of the guys didn’t mind losing to her,
but I minded. She was cool, but I hated to lose.

     “It’s a P & P party; poker and pussy; or a C &
C party, cards and cunts; or an M & M party, money and muffs.” I joked.

     Whatever you wanted to call it I was looking forward to
it because I needed to get laid. With these memories hovering over my mood I
needed something to get rid of them. Alcohol, poker, and a quick lay would go a
long way in accomplishing that.

     Seth rolled his eyes. “Classy.”

     I shook my head again at his chattiness. Most of his
sentences consisted of less than three words. “The only classy thing about me
are my clothes, you know that.”

     “I think there might be more under there.”

     “Nope, just my enormous dick and my awesome art.” I retorted
walking away. “I made plans for all of us to go to the beach house next weekend
so keep it clear, and I want to leave at around seven-thirty for Jax’s.” I
called over my shoulder.  

∞                   
∞                    ∞

     I woke up the next morning with my standard Saturday
morning hangover. Not that I drank to excess every Friday night, but when I did
I did it right. The party had given me just what I’d needed; alcohol, cards,
and a random girl to blow my load into. I didn’t even have to leave the party
for it. We’d just slipped into the bathroom and came out ten minutes later.

     Ten minutes was actually a long time for a bathroom
quickie, but I’d held off on climaxing too soon in an effort to push thoughts
and memories out of my head. I’d used the girl hard last night, bending her
over that sink and pounding away at her, but she hadn’t complained. They never
did for a chance at Landon McKay.

     The time was nearing eleven in the morning so I knew I
needed to get moving soon so I could meet Marie on time. Struggling out of bed
I made my way to the bathroom for my shower. Each of the five bedrooms in this
house had attached bathrooms.

     Forty minutes later I was striding into the kitchen in
dress pants and a buttoned up shirt with tie and vest.

     Seth and Evan were sitting at the table beginning there
own breakfast.

     “You clean up nice after a night of raunchy revelry.”
Evan smirked over his waffles.

     “You don’t.” I stated eyeing his sweats and t-shirt.

     His brow rose. “Some of us like to relax and wallow in
our hangovers.”

     “I power through and move on.” I declared.

     There was a plateful of waffles on the counter
attesting to Seth’s busy morning. I grabbed a few, plus some sausage and milk
before sitting down at the table. I noticed Seth eating his plate of food
morosely. I knew that look was because the Russian girl hadn’t shown up.

     “Seth, you need to either find another girl or make a
move.” I announced.

     He looked up with a scowl but didn’t say anything.

     I grinned. “You’ve been stewing over this girl for
weeks. Why are you putting yourself through this? You want her, go for it.”

     “There’s a little problem that she most likely hates my
guts.” He grumbled with a pained face. “And I don’t blame her.”

     “I thought you guys cleared that up.” What had happened
had been pretty bad, and I could understand that he felt guilty, but it wasn’t
really Seth’s fault. I had heard her even confirm that. But I could see Seth
didn’t believe it.

     He shrugged noncommittally.

     A pang of sympathy hit me. “Hey, man, it was a mistake
and there’s nothing you can do about it now. You’re going to have to try and
let it go.”

     “What are you guys cryptically talking about?” Evan
complained looking between the two of us.

     Seth shook his head not wanting to talk about it and I
could see the guilt was eating at him. I couldn’t say I blamed him. It would me
too, even though the girl had come out fine. Hell, she’d taken care of the
situation all by herself. She was tough as shit. She actually scared me a
little bit.

     I stuffed some waffle in my mouth. “Your mom. She and
Seth hooked up last week and now she won’t quit calling.”

     Evan grimaced. “Are we really throwing our ‘mom’
jokes’, because I will totally kick your ass at those.”

     “You wish.”

     “It’s already been granted.”

     “By some half-assed fairy god-mother. No…that was your
mother as well.” I snorted.

     “Oh, this is on.” Evan declared.

     Fifteen minutes later, after some nasty mama jokes, I
left the house to meet up with Marie. She’d asked to meet somewhere so we could
drive together to the house she was viewing. I had Marie join me in my car, and
she exclaimed over it for five minutes—who wouldn’t—before talking excitedly
about her move and this new house she was looking at.

     I punched the address in my cars GPS. It took us about
twenty five minutes to get there since it was a little out of town. David and
Marie made pretty good money and the neighborhood was an expensive one. Not as
exclusive as my parents neighborhood, but still a classy area.

     “Oh, it’s beautiful.” Marie proclaimed as I drove into
the driveway.

     The house was two stories and looked to be about four
thousand square feet with a three car garage and sat on possibly two to three
acres.

     “It seems pretty big for just the two of you.” I
stated.

     Marie grinned. “It won’t be just the two of us for very
long.”

     I gaped. “You’re pregnant?”

     Her grin widened. “Not yet, but we’re trying.”

     I snorted. “Yeah, the trying is the fun part, and then
everything goes downhill from there.”

     She slapped my shoulder. “Landon, shut up. I can’t wait
to have a baby. I’ve always wanted to be a mother.”

     “Better you than me.” I smirked climbing out of the
car. I went around to her side as she climbed out and held her arm as we walked
toward the front door. There was a car in the driveway hinting that whoever was
showing the house was already inside. The car was a high-end BMW so they must
be making excellent commissions.

     “So, how are we playing this? Do I stay your cousin or
do I pretend to be David.”

     She shook her head, grinning. “You can remain my
cousin, I can’t even imagine being touchy-feely with you.”

     “Everyone imagines being touchy-feely with me.” I
crowed.

     “Ewh and gross.” She gagged.

     We reached the door and Marie knocked announcing our
arrival. Seconds later the door opened and all I could do is stand
there…frozen.

     Maya!

     Only this was different a Maya, but she was also the
same.

     She was still tiny and her face was the same, though it
had lost some of it childishness and gained maturity. Her dark hair was up, but
it was in a more sophisticated style; some kind of loose twisty bun. And
instead of causal clothes she wore a chic black skirt with a flare at the hem,
a silky red blouse, and black heels. She had the same dark, deep eyes, the
identical plush lips I remembered, and the same nose. However, those dark deep
eyes stared at me with horror, and cheeks that normally held a blush had gone
pasty white.

     An onslaught of emotions hit me at the sight of her,
but all I acknowledged was the anger and contempt. That was all she deserved
from me. She shouldn’t be getting any emotion out of me, but it seemed that
wasn’t to be.  

     “Hello, we’re here to see the house.” Marie was either
oblivious to both mine and Maya’s upset expressions, or trying to break the
awkward silence.

     Maya’s gaze continued to remain on me, her face getting
whiter. She swayed slightly and I robotically stepped forward to help her, but
someone got there before me.

     “Maya, are you alright?” A male stepped up from behind
her, pulling her into his arms. He turned her around to face him, away from me,
and I saw deep concern on his face as he gazed down at her.

     Why would he gaze at her like that? Where they
together? Dating? Married!?

     “You’ve gone really pale. Let’s go sit you down.” The
male, a black man in his mid to late twenties, looked over Maya’s head at us
and waved us in. “Come in, come in. Something must have come on her suddenly;
she was fine a minute ago.”

     We followed the male as he steered Maya into the house
toward a couch. It must have been the living room but I wasn’t looking at the
room, all I could see was this guys hands all over Maya as he set her gently
down. It brought back memories of my hands on her, and then Kris’s hands on
her.

     My anger blazed hotter.

     The guy hunched down in front of her, setting one hand
on her leg while the other cupped her face. My heart beat furiously at the
sight. Who the hell was this guy to her?

     “You okay, Maya. Do you want me to get you some water?”

     Her hands shot out and grabbed his hands. “No, don’t
leave me.” She exclaimed with a hoarse whisper.

     The sight of her reaching for him, begging him not to
leave didn’t help my fury. A picture was starting to take root in my mind. The
expensive BMW outside, this guy all over her, her leaning on him…Maya had found
herself another sucker.

     I felt Marie looking at me but I couldn’t look away
from what was going on in front of me.

     Maya pulled her hands back and I noted that they were
trembling. “I can go get a glass of water myself. You go ahead and show the
house.” Rising she walked from the room, on what seemed like unsteady legs,
never looking back.

     The bitch couldn’t even look at me. And why was she so
freaked out? Was she afraid I was going to spill her past in front of this guy?
Had she told him something I could refute? It was an interesting notion.