Page 94 of A Newport Christmess

He shifted his weight, obviously uncomfortable with either his answer or Landon and Tyler’s presence. “The location tracker app I installed when you took that road trip to visit colleges with Xena.”

I had a vague recollection of him doing that. “Why didn’t you just call and let me know you were here?”

One side of his mouth quirked into that endearing side smile that used to turn me to mush. “Would you have taken my call?”

I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling completely out of sorts. “Probably not.”

“Which is why I had to come.” His gaze darted to Landon and Tyler behind me again. “Can we go somewhere to talk? Please?”

A stampede of footsteps from the third-floor stairs echoed through the open space, and Anthony, Vince, and another guy—who wasn’t Brian but possibly Chad—came to a halt at the bottom of the stairs. Their gazes shifted over the scene in front of them: Landon and Tyler with their arms crossed, the stranger at the door, and me, barely holding myself together.

“Who’s that?” Vince asked, glancing at Landon.

“This is Cody,” I said, not wanting this to become something more than it needed to be. “My ex-husband.”

“What’s he doing here?” Anthony asked, a hint of hostility in his voice.

“He just came to talk with Quinn,” Landon said, dispersing the tension with his calm demeanor. His gaze settled on me. “What do you want to do?”

I glanced at Cody, then around the room at our onlookers, feeling entirely uncertain. I wanted to go to the rehearsal dinner. I felt like I owed that to Nikki after everything she’d done. And even though things were complicated between me and Landon at the moment, I didn’t want to miss out on my second-to-last night with him. But I needed to talk to Cody. He was here, and if I refused to talk to him now, I wasn’t sure I’d be given another chance. “I need to talk to him.”

Landon rubbed a hand over his beard and breathed out a slow, intentional breath. “Yeah. You should.”

I looked back at Cody, who wore a victorious smile that made me want to change my mind, but I was doing it for myself, not for Cody. I needed answers. “Let me grab my phone. I’ll be right back.”

The guys parted for me as I made my way through them. When I got to my room, I glanced around, searching for my phone. “Siri.” I listened for the familiar chime but didn’t hear it. “Siri.”

A floorboard creaked behind me, and I spun around, my hand clasping my chest.

“It’s just me.” Landon put his hands up, reminding me of the first night we met.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you follow me up.”

“Your phone’s on the bed,” he said, pointing toward it.

Sure enough, there it was, laying face-down on the throw draped over the end of the bed. “Thanks.” I scooped it up. “Tell Nikki I’m sorry, and I’ll hurry over to the dinner as soon as I’m done.”

“Don’t worry about the dinner. Take your time, and get the answers you need.”

I reached out for his hand. “Thanks for understanding.”

His hand clasped over mine, his thumb brushing across my skin, keeping me spellbound. “Before you go, I need to explain about the video Eliza posted before she left me. As convincing as she was ... it’s not true. I always tried to support her. I didn’t withhold anything that I had an ability to give her, which wasn’t much, or at least not as much as she wanted, but I tried. I really did. I know I wasn’t perfect, but I gave that relationship everything I had. And yes, I wanted to have kids, but I didn’t overpressure her. At least, I don’t think I did. I just—”

I squeezed his hand. “Landon, I didn’t see her video. I don’t need to. I know what kind of a man you are. You are the best of everything.”

“But if you didn’t ...” He searched my eyes. “Why would you think it’s best if you go home?”

“I’m a mess, Landon. It’s not fair to make you suffer while I figure out how to function again.” Not even again, actually. That was half the problem. Cody leaving me had brought on a whole new battle of insecurities, but if I was being honest, I’d never really had a firm grasp of this whole life thing. I’d just been more naïve about my weaknesses in the past.

He took a step closer and let his hands come to my arms. “I told you there’s no rush. And I meant it.” The way his fingers moved across my skin nearly had me forgetting all of my worries. It nearly made me forget that Cody was waiting downstairs. “But you deserve someone who will adore you exactly as you are. Every quirk and every crazy, beautiful piece of you.” His hands lowered to his sides, leaving a void of warmth in their absence. “I’m not going to pretend that I don’t really want that man to be me. But if it’s Cody—"

Without another thought, I placed a hand on the back of Landon’s neck, pulling him toward me. My lips met his with tenderness and adoration equal to what he’d shown me. Though our kiss was brief, it was perfectly wonderful. I locked my gaze with his. “I’m going for answers, Landon. That’s all.”

He gave an uncertain smile. “I’ll wait to hear from you, then.”

* * *

Cody opened the car door for me, and I slid into his sleek rental. Despite the car being different, the rest felt entirely familiar—and yet wrong.