Landon's Obsession: An Endless Series: Book 3 (Series 3) (51 page)

     “Thanks for coming to this with me today, Gabby.” I
shifted Nola in my arms giving her a smile of gratitude. It was Saturday and
the day of Landon’s first lacrosse scrimmage.  

     She looked around with interest at the stadium half
filled with spectators. “Hey, no problem. Watching hot athletes run around chasing
a ball isn’t really a hardship.”

     “Babe…” Lon grunted in displeasure.

     Gabby smacked his arm, the arm that wasn’t holding
Andrea. “You know you like it too, so quit complaining.” He looked highly
offended at her observation and she rolled her eyes. “Take out the ‘hot’ part;
does that work for you?”

     He frowned and cocked his head. “It should…but doesn’t.”

     “Maya, are you sure you don’t want me to carry Nola for
you?” Juan asked. Juan was one of Lon’s cousins, and someone they’d tried
getting me interested in, but we’d slipped into being friends instead.

     Giving him a smile of thanks I shook my head. “I’m not
sure how she will handle this crowd. If it freaks her out too much she’s just
going to want me back.”

     “Well let me take your bag at least. I feel like a tool
walking around holding nothing while both of your arms are full.”

     I gave a nod this time,
help was help
, and
handed over the bag filled with various odds and ends; food, drinks, and
entertainment items for Nola. “Thank you.”

     “So, where are we sitting?” Gabby asked as we moved
through the crowd.

     “Landon said he has front seats saved for us next to
the girlfriends of his roommates.” I gave Juan a shake of my finger. “You need
to remember that. These girls have boyfriends, so keep the flirting friendly.”

     Juan was an incorrigible flirt, and he had the dark
Latino good-looks to back it up. He was a little over six foot, very buff, with
short hair and barely there mustache and beard. Both his arms were covered in
tattoos. Not full sleeves yet, but he was getting there.

     He gave me a dark smoldering look and innocent smile.
“With you here no one else would even interest me.”

     I laughed and shook my head. “Wait until you see these
girls. They are freaking gorgeous.”

     He pinched my side. “You’re freaking gorgeous.”

     I squealed in laughter pushing his arm away, and then
leveled a frown at him. I
hated
being tickled like that. “No, I’m midget
pretty. You will see the dissimilarity in a few minutes.”

     He chuckled, not at all put out by my frown. “No way
anyone beats you out in looks.”

     Snorting at his overblown embellishment I followed the
directions Landon had given me. “Down there.” I pointed marching down the stadium
steps.

     Carrie saw me coming and waved exuberantly. Nadia and
Amanda turned to do the same. Nadia sister, Issy, was there, as well as a large
blonde male giant that had to be Nadia’s brother, Luka. His features were so
similar to hers he was unmistakably a relative. A few other people were there I
didn’t know but looked to be part of the group because they glanced up along
with the girls. Everyone was dressed for the forty-three degree weather in warm
bulky coats and jeans, with some kind of head warmer and gloves.  

     “Holy crap…” Juan exclaimed. “I guess maybe I could
call it a dead heat tie and we could all have an orgy?”

     I gaped at him but couldn’t stop the twitch of my
mouth. He was kidding and that’s why it was funny. If some guy had said that to
me seriously I would have jammed him in the nads.

     Gabby smacked him on the arm. “What am I; Swiss cheese
over here?”

     Juan grimaced. “No, but you are sort of related and
that kind of makes you nonexistent to my sex hormones.” He grinned and punched
her back more gently. “Are you bumming because you want to be part of a
six-way?”

     “Eww.” Her face contorted in distaste. “Not even
close.”

     “Lon, I think your woman wants me but just can’t seem
to admit it.” Juan joked.

     We’d arrived at the bottom of the steps where everyone
was sitting and the girls all yelled greetings so I missed Lon’s response to
his cousins ribbing. Amanda was sitting at the end of the bench and motioned
for me to sit next to her.

     “You’ve got that little girl bundled up for a
blizzard.” Amanda laughed taking Nola’s outfit; a heavy coat, insulated pants,
cap and gloves.    

     Sitting down I perched Nola on my lap. “Hey, it’s
February, and she’s not here to impress anyone.” I looked behind me at the
numerous females in the stands that were dressed for the bar instead of an outside
February outing.

     Amanda noted my gaze and followed it with a shake of
her head and sneer. “Groupies…and I’m saying the nice word for them since there
are children around. They have their favorites so when some of them start
chanting Landon’s name don’t take it personally. I don’t when they holler
Noah’s name.”

     I gave her a skeptical look and she rolled her eyes and
grinned. “Okay, I do my best to become deaf to them.” She amended.

     My mouth quirked up at the corner. That made more sense
because no girl wants other females calling out their boyfriend’s name.

     Juan plopped down next to me and reached his hand over
my body toward Amanda sporting his trademark smile. “
Hola
, I’m Juan.”

     Amanda smiled in appreciation, but also amusement. She
recognized a practiced flirt. “I’m Amanda.” She looked back to me with raised
eyebrows and I knew she was wondering who Juan was to me.

     To my surprise I’d connected effortlessly with the
three girls last weekend. With how attractive they were I wasn’t certain how
nice they’d be, but they’d been super down to earth. 

     “Juan is a friend of mine, and also my best friend’s
cousin-in-law.” I explained.

     I introduced Gabby and Lon who had taken the empty
seats behind me. That introduction led to others and I found out that the big
blonde giant was Nadia’s brother, and that the other guy there, Cole, older
then us by a few years, was Nadia’s half-brother. There was one other female, Samantha,
who was younger, and Carrie’s cousin and Blake’s sister. 

     After the introductions Amanda turned to me with a grin.
“Has Landon met Juan yet?”

     My brow puckered. “No.”

     She hummed. “Well, this might be interesting.”

     I was about to ask her what she meant by that when I
was sidetracked by the stadium exploding with cheers. Looking to the field I
watched as Landon’s team took the field. I knew it was his team because of the
colors. Landon was number fourteen and I found him almost instantly since he
was one of the first out of the tunnel.

     Seeing him had my heart thumping madly. He was decked
out in all his gear, even his helmet, so I couldn’t see his face, but just
knowing it was him was unexpectedly…arousing, but then everything about him was
arousing.

     My gaze was glued solely to him and because of this I
observed him looking in our direction. I gave him a wave and pointed him out to
Nola. He waved back and that had Nola bouncing in my arms waving her arms
wildly in return.

     The team stopped at their bench on the side of the
field right in front of where we were all sitting but Landon continued his
straight path toward us. I tensed in anticipation, my body thrumming with each
stride he took. Of course I couldn’t miss the dozens of screams behind me as
girls exclaimed their excitement of his approach. Irritation pricked at me at
their squeals.

     Reaching the stadium wall he pulled off his helmet and
hauled himself up onto the cement wall. I stood, stepping up to the railing
with Nola in my arms so she could greet her daddy.

     “Daddy! Daddy!” Nola reached out for him.

     “Nola, baby, daddy can’t hold you right now.” I held
her tighter because she was nearly folding over wanting to go into arms.

     Landon leaned forward and kissed Nola on the cheek.
“Mommy’s right, baby girl; I can’t hold you right now, but I will after I get
done playing.” He pulled back and I noted that he was smiling but it wasn’t
reaching his eyes as his gaze landed on me. My heart stuttered at why. “Hey…”
His gaze flickered behind me. “I knew you were coming with Gabby and Lon, but I
don’t remember any mention of another…person.” There was an almost snarl to
that ‘
person’
remark.

     My brows shot up at his manner. “Well, I didn’t know
Juan was coming.”

     Landon’s hand was holding Nola’s but his turbulent gaze
was fixed on me. “And
Juan
is?”

     This was starting to sound rather inquisition like. Was
it possible to be irked and aroused at the same time? Yes, it was because
Landon was able to do that to me all the time. “Juan is Lon’s cousin.”

     “If he’s Lon’s cousin why is he sitting next to you?”
He growled.

     What in the hell? Why was he acting like this? “Juan is
also a friend of mine. I’m friends with a few of Lon’s cousin’s.”

     Landon’s gaze moved beyond me and face tightened and
flushed with anger. “He’s looking at your butt, Maya.” He glared daggers behind
me.

      I wanted to roll my eyes at Landon’s behavior, and Juan’s
actions. I’m sure he was looking at my ass just to get Landon going.

     “I’m wearing a coat that covers my butt, so what he’s
doing is messing with you, Landon. He’s a guy, so I’m sure you know how his
mind works. You know, ‘
how can I mess with this dude in the most annoying
way possible
’.”

     His eyes narrowed on me. “I don’t like him sitting next
to you.”

     My irritation peaked. I don’t know why I was so short
tempered all of a sudden since generally I was a rather mellow person. Maybe it
was the numerous female fans screaming Landon’s name behind me…although I had
to admit he completely ignored them…or it could be that I was so sexually
frustrated that my nerves were shot, or maybe I was starting my period, but
whatever it was I snapped…but just a little bit.

     “
I
don’t like all these
females
in the
stands yelling
your
name. Can you look around and tell me how many of
them you’ve been with? Some of them sound awfully familiar with you.” I’d heard
one girl yell earlier ‘I want you to do me like you did before.” Whether that
was a true statement or just some girl yapping her mouth I wasn’t certain, but
it bothered me…enormously.   

     He jerked back in surprise like I had hit him. “Where
did that come from?”

     “Where is
your
attitude coming from?” I returned
snappily.  

     He frowned, watching me warily for a moment, before
sighing. “It sounds like we have to talk about something but I don’t have time
right now, but can you do me a favor…” He rubbed at the back of his head. “Have
Gabby switch seats with
Juan
, because I won’t be able to play worth…crap
if I know he’s sitting next to you.”  

     I stared at him in astonishment. “Seriously!?”

     He nodded looking utterly serious.  “Seriously.”

     Expelling a deep breath I shifted Nola in my arms.
“Fine.” No matter how annoyed with him I was I didn’t want him distracted
during his game. He could end up getting hurt.

     Snagging my nape he tugged me forward and gave me a
deep, consuming kiss. And I let him. It was only a couple seconds long but when
he pulled back I was left breathless.

     “I can tell you that I’ve never given any other girl
that…
me
.” He stated emphatically.

     I knew his ‘
me’
was meant metaphorically, but surprisingly
it did make me feel better. There was nothing I could do about Landon’s
man-whore past, but he was telling me I had something none of those other girls
ever had. The real him.

     Someone called Landon’s name from the field and with
one last kiss on Nola’s cheek, and an intense look at me that had my insides
clenching, he jumped down.

     His name burst from my lips before he could go five
feet. “Landon.” He spun wearing a guarded expression. I smiled. “Good luck.”

     Expression lightening he winked and turned to jog back.

     I backed up and slumped down on the bench.

     “That was even more interesting than I thought it would
be.” Amanda voiced next to me with a chuckle.

     I heard a snort from Nadia as I watched one of the
coach’s yell and wave his arms wildly at Landon’s return. “That was more than
interesting. He was jealous as hell, and he caved like a house of cards when
Maya called him out. That was epic girl.” She gave me a smirk. “You should
totally keep that guy next to you and make Landon sweat the whole game.”

     Looking back at Landon I watched him slap the coach on
the back with an unconcerned expression, not at all fazed at what looked liked
a probable berating. 

     Jealous? Was that his problem? My lip twitched because
I sort of liked the idea of him being jealous, and he deserved to feel some of
that emotion since I had to sit here and listen to these girls yell his name
like fanatic groupie, sleazy, slutty, ho-bags.

     Giving a shake of my head I rolled my eyes. “I told him
I’d do it.” I nudged Juan’s arm to give him the clue to move.

     He snorted. “I like blondies idea. It will probably
make him fiercer on the field; heads will roll and the game will be a whole lot
better. The only reason I’m watching this is because footballs over.”

     Looking heavenward I inhaled some patience. “Juan.”

     Gabby stood and smacked him on the shoulder. “Move it,
cotton swab.”

     With a huge exhale Juan stood and switched seats with
Gabby.

     “Cotton swab?” Nadia laughed. “Why cotton swab?”

     “His head’s all fuzzy with the short hair and beard.”
Gabby grinned.