“Don't say that!” she snapped, slapping him on the calf. “That's not what this is, that's not what we are. I never once did that, I wasn't ever thinking of him. I knew who I was with.”
“I know,” he breathed, and she felt his hands on her shoulders. “I believe you.”
“Just ... stop talking,” she grumbled.
“Okay.”
“And tell me you'll miss me, too, jackass.”
“How can I stop talking and tell -”
She slapped his leg again.
“Landon, please don't ruin our goodbyes like you ruin everything else,” she begged.
“I'll miss you, Tor. Especially at night. And in the mornings. And in the showers,” he kept going and she finally laughed again. “Shockingly enough, I really will miss you. I wish you could come with me.”
She took a breath and spoke without even thinking about what she was about to say, “why can't I?”
She felt his whole body tense up behind her, and she winced. After all that, she was going to be the one to ruin their goodbyes. It was a stupid thing to blurt out, of course Landon didn't want her tagging along on whatever nefarious adventure he had planned for himself. He'd barely wanted her to come on this one.
“I'm not going for shits and giggles,” he started to explain. “I managed to talk my way into an organization over there, working in some village south of Bangkok.”
“You're gonna go do your doctor thing there!?” she exclaimed, finally twisting around so she could look at him.
“Yeah. The other night ... the shit you said, it all stuck with me. I was like why not go back to it. Worst case scenario, I end up back on Liam's couch.”
“That's awesome, Landon. Really. I'm excited for you.”
“Thanks. It's also definitely not some vacation. Shitty living spaces, no amenities. Not exactly an all inclusive resort,” he chuckled, gesturing to their view.
Tori took a deep breath. She was a middle-class girl from a nice town in California. She'd had some sort of job since she'd been fifteen, but she couldn't honestly say she'd ever done truly hard work. She'd never done anything even remotely close to the stuff he did, so going with him was a ridiculous thought. The heat, and the bugs, and the work. It definitely wouldn't be a vacation.
“So why can't I come with you?” she found herself asking again.
“You don't want to go, trust me.”
“Why don't I?”
“Because it's awful. I won't be around most of the time.”
“You weren't around most of the time here,” she pointed out.
“And then when I am at home, I'll be in a bad fucking mood,” he kept trying to dissuade her.
“I think I've almost grown to like your moodiness. Let me come with you,” she insisted.
“Why? Why on earth would you want to go?” he asked. She thought for a long time, then shrugged.
“Because I don't have anything better to do,” she finally answered in a faint voice. He paused, then she felt the tension go out of his body.
“I swear to christ, woman, if you start bitching after we get there, I'll dump your body in the jungle,” he warned her.
“Fair enough. If you start bitching after we get there, I'll flush your coke stash.”
“You wouldn't dare.”
“Try me.”
“I'm regretting this decision already.”
“A week,” she said, absent mindedly dragging her fingers up and down his shins. “I can hang through anything for at least a week. Then I'll come home.”
“One week,” he echoed. “We'll see if you even make it three days.”
“Challenge accepted, Dr. Edenhoff.”
BANGKOK WAS INSANITY. She'd known it was a large, crowded city, but it still overwhelmed her. Thankfully Landon was used to traveling in crazy, foreign countries, so she just followed in his wake.
They were spending the night in the city, then the next morning a volunteer would be picking them up. They were short staffed on doctors, it seemed, in a village that was desperate for them. Landon was something of a godsend, so they were taking very good care of him.
After they'd checked into their small hotel room, Landon had wandered into the hallway to make a few phones call. Tori decided it was a good idea to make some of her phone, and she quickly called Katya.
“Hey, I hadn't heard from you! Are you home yet?” her voice chirped over the line. It was evening in Bangkok, but early in San Francisco. Katya Tocci was the only true morning person Tori had ever met.
“Actually, about that, I kinda decided to extend my trip,” she said, walking over to the windows and pulling the blinds up. A vast cityscape sprawled before her.
“What?”
“Yeah, I'm gonna stay down here for another week,” she said, wincing. She felt awful lying to her friend, but she wasn't even sure how to explain her relationship with Landon to herself – she couldn't do it over the phone to someone else.
“Another week? That's forever, Tori,” Katya whined.
“I know. But it's good for me. I've been doing a lot of soul searching and all that crap,” she replied.
“Crap, huh. Any cute guys?”
Tori would be very glad when that question would go away.
“Loads. Too many to handle, almost,” she joked.
“Good, I hope so.”
They chattered on for a while, she steered the conversation back to Katya's business and the wedding plans and Wulfric. After about twenty minutes, she managed to end the call with a promise to check in more often. Then she took a couple deep breaths and made the call she'd been dreading.
“Oh my god, she's alive and she still has my number!”
She forced out a laugh, but her mouth was frowning. Of course Landon and Liam had similar voices – they were twins, after all. But it felt bizarre to hear Landon's voice sound so teasing, so lighthearted, so happy. It bothered her that she was glad to hear Liam again, and bothered her even more that she was sad Landon couldn't have some of the same happiness in his own voice.
And in a small, tiny corner of her heart, she felt a little disloyal to both men.
“Miracle, isn't it,” she finally said.
“Tori,” Liam sighed her name. “I'm so glad you called. I haven't because ... well, honestly, I thought you hated me, and I really don't want you to, so I was giving you time.”
“I know, thank you. And I don't hate you, I promise.”
“Good, because I wouldn't care anyway – I'd still make you be my friend.”
“You can't make someone be your friend, Liam.”
“Oh, yes, I can. Have you met me?”
She chuckled again and moved back to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Unfortunately.”
“So tell me everything.”
“Honestly, I wouldn't even know where to start.”
At that same moment, Landon walked back into the room. He glanced at her phone, then at her face. When he saw the stern look there, his eyebrows shot up.
“Start with the part where you've been getting drunk and making out with chicks,” Liam suggested. A shudder ran down her spine. She'd never thought it would be so weird, but it was beyond – staring at Landon, his mouth shut, and hearing his voice over the phone. Like a creepy ventriloquist act.
“Nope, haven't made out with a single girl,” she replied. Landon rolled his eyes and mouthed his brother's name, then headed into the bathroom.
“You could take pity on me and lie, you know,” Liam laughed.
“Sorry. How's the club?”
“Shitty. I'm running it into the ground. If only I had an amazing assistant manager to help keep this place afloat.”
“If only,” she sighed.
“Seriously, though,” he said, the playful edge falling off his voice. “You are coming back, right?”
“Don't worry, I won't let your precious club go under.”
“I don't give a fuck about the club, Tor. I care about you.”
“
I know,” she whispered, then she cleared her throat. “And I am coming back, and things will be different. This trip has been .. enlightening for me.”
“Good, I'm glad.”
“Me, too. How's Ayumi?”
There was a long pause.
“We don't have to talk about her right now,” he said in a slow voice. “You were my friend before her.”
“And I'll be your friend during her, and if there's an after, I'll be your friend then, too. I promise, I'm fine. Now give me all the gossip – Katya said Ayumi's still babysitting Brie.”
So for the next half hour, Liam regaled her with stories of Ayumi trying to tame the wild Brighton Stone. Now that her drama with Liam was over, Ayumi had thrown herself into the job with a gusto. She'd made an intricate chore wheel and was using a combination of bribery and blackmail to get Brie to do said chores. She'd also threatened to sign Brie up for college courses of her own choosing if the youngest Stone sibling didn't pick them out for herself soon.
Tori laughed a lot. In the short amount of time that had passed since she'd tried to quit, she'd kind of forgotten how fun Liam could be. He was a blast. She'd harbored a crush on him for a long time, but now it was over. It was nice not having the pressure of feelings weighing down the friendship.
“You know what,” she said, gasping for air after some other ridiculous story. “I think I've missed you, Eden.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere, Bellows,” he teased. “Come home soon, okay? I miss your margaritas.”
“Yeah, yeah, I'll teach your girlfriend how to make them, then you won't always have to wait for me to get done with my shift.”
“As long as you come over to drink them with us, you've got a deal.”
Tori was pretty sure she wasn't far enough over her sore feelings to agree to that, so she laughed it off, then made excuses to get off the phone. Made promises to call him again before she came home, then said her goodbyes.
When she hung up the phone, she turned around and was surprised to find Landon leaning against the wall behind her.
“Sorry you ended up with the wrong brother?” he asked bluntly. She snorted.
“Honestly? I don't think either of you are 'right', in any way,” she got up and moved to stand in front of him.
“Do you wish he was here instead of me?” he demanded.
Tori blinked rapidly in surprise. He was really insecure about this, wasn't he? She kept staring at him while she slowly shook her head.
“No. I don't want to be here with him. I don't want to be here with anyone else.”
“You sure about that?”
“Landon, of all the things I've said and done since we've met each other, it's the one thing I'm positive about.”
12
Landon told Tori he'd gotten them reservations, but before they got in the taxi he'd ordered, he'd realized she'd assumed he'd meant dinner reservations. Before they got in a taxi, he got them some noodles from a street vendor, then they'd eaten them during the ride across town.
They were dropped off in front of a very nice, exclusive night club. She'd fretted over her outfit – just shorts and a tank top – but his name was on a very special VIP list, so no one blinked at how they were dressed. The velvet rope was simply pulled back and they were led through the club.
“I don't get it!” she shouted over the music after they'd been seated in a cushy private both.
“Get what?” he shouted back, watching while a waitress opened a complimentary bottle of vodka.
“You keep bringing me to night clubs and places that have music, but you don't ever dance.”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because you like to dance,” he replied, then he took a shot of straight liquor.
The answer seemed to please her, like he'd known it would. It wasn't entirely the truth, though. Night clubs were nice because they were always crowded and loud and there was a lot going on. A lot of nefarious things could happen in a night club.
And after they'd gotten settled and Tori had a drink of her own, Landon excused himself to go engage in some of those nefarious actions.
Landon wasn't so sure about pursuing the drug running business, but he still needed his fix. Withdrawal wasn't ever pretty, and especially not in the middle of the jungle in some foreign country.
He also never wanted a repeat of Colombia – he didn't care how long a shift was, he'd be staying awake this time. The whole time, if necessary. He'd need a supply to bring with him to the camp. So Velez had talked to his boss, gotten the info for some contacts in Thailand, and arranged a meeting between Landon and them.
He made his way to the other side of the dance floor, then entered a long hallway. About halfway down there was a door marked “maintenance” and he knocked on it sharply. A moment later, it opened up just enough to allow him to slip inside.
“Are you the doctor?” a large Thai man asked him.
“That would be me. You talked to my guy in Bali?” he asked in return.
“I did.”
That voice came from behind a large desk. A surprisingly young man was sitting behind it. To his right sat a very pretty, barely dressed woman. She was running U.S. dollars through a counting machine. On his left was a man parceling out lines of coke into small baggies. Behind them stood a couple large dudes with machine guns, who seemed to be guarding a small mountain of cocaine, all wrapped up into neat, square, kilo packages.
“He told you what I'm looking for?” Landon asked, folding his arms across his chest and turning to face the drug dealer.
“Yes, I am Niran. We have a strong relationship with the Saleh cartel, we're happy to help a friend of theirs. I also have a business proposal for you.”
“I'm not interested,” Landon said quickly. “I just want my drugs and I want to get out of here.”
“You are working in the south, yes?” the man asked.
“Yeah.”
“You wouldn't have to do much,” he was assured. “When you do supply runs here to Bangkok, you would only have to drop off on your way back. We can pay you well for your services.”
“Thanks, really,” Landon said. “And if you'd asked me this time last week, I would've jumped at it. But I'm not interested. If you can't sell me anything tonight, that's fine, I'll find someone else. But I'm not delivering drugs for you.”
There was a long pause during which the two men scrutinized each other.
“I suppose I understand your hesitancy,” the drug dealer finally sighed. “She's a very pretty girl, the one you came in with. Sad if she were to get involved in a messy situation.”
Landon was almost across the desk before the bodyguards got to him and jerked him back onto his feet. Once there, it still took three men to hold him in place.
“You don't even look at her,” he growled. “She's not part of this. Talk about her again, and we're gonna have a serious fucking problem.”
“You Americans! So sensitive! So touchy,” the other guy didn't seem at all threatened as he laughed. “I tell you what. Here, here is five grams. On the house. You think about my offer, okay? You think about it and when you come back after a week in the jungle, we see how you're feeling.”
Five little plastic bags were shoved into Landon's hand, then he was let go. He glared at the guards, then shoved the bags into one back pocket while pulling his wallet out of the other. He took out an obscene amount of cash, more than the drugs were worth. He threw the bills at the man behind the desk.
“I don't want your fucking charity, and I sure as shit don't want your fucking job,” he snarled as he headed for the door. “I won't be seeing you again.”
“That is what they all say, doctor!” the drug dealer's laughing voice carried into the hallway after Landon.
He couldn't believe how pissed he was – how upset. He was sweating all over and he was actually shaking, he was vibrating with so much anger. It must have shown on his face because Tori's eyes opened wide when he got back to their table
.
“What were you up to?” she asked, then her jaw dropped when he picked up the bottle of vodka and began to chug straight from it.
“Nothing good,” he finally replied when he came up for air. “C'mon, we're getting the fuck out of here.”
“What? We just got here, I wanted -”
She let out a yelp when he roughly grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her behind him. The waitress tried to kick up a fuss about him carrying out the open bottle, but one quick death stare and she left them alone. Soon enough, they were on the street and he was yanking her towards a taxi queue.
“You're hurting me!” she hissed, trying to jerk free from his grip. He ignored her, as well as the line of people he cut in front of to steal a cab. He shoved her in the back seat, then fell in next to her before giving the driver their address.
“Just don't talk right now, I'm not in the fucking mood,” he growled before taking another shot of liquor.
“Clearly.”
God, he wanted to commit murder. To know he was being watched so closely was bad enough, but to hear a veiled threat against Tori had been too much. He'd been fully prepared to launch over that desk and stab that motherfucker in the eye with a pencil. How dare he. How fucking dare he.
Let's get real – you're mad at yourself. Your brought her here. You brought her there. Just you.
He didn't like all these new feelings and emotions swirling through him. Dealing with self-loathing and depression were bad enough, but this? Liking someone, caring about them? What was next, love? He felt like he was going to be sick.
When they pulled up to the hotel, he didn't even wait for her, just lurched out of the cab and stomped across the lobby. Once they got in the elevator, he drank all the way up to their floor. Kept drinking as they walked down the hallway. Inside their hotel room, though, was a different story. When he went to lift the bottle to his lips again, Tori snatched it away from him.
“What the fuck do you think you're doing!?” he demanded as she held it out behind her.
“Stopping you from killing your liver! What the fuck happened back there?” she asked.
“Shut up and give me the bottle.”
Neighborhood Watch Page 12
