Inevitable Moments ☑

23 | Time to Talk

It's noon time and the sun beams down with little wind blowing. The ice cream parlor comes into view as I walk along the sidewalk. I smile thinking about the time Axel brought me here. We barely knew each other then.

The cold air hits me as soon as I open the door, the smells of the different ice creams filling my nose. I look around but don't see the person I'm meeting, so I get in line and order my ice cream.

I'm about to pay when someone behind me hands the cashier their card first.

Landon.

"I can pay for my ice cream," I say to the girl running the register.

"Vienna, please let me pay. I owe you that much," Landon says as his eyes plead with mine.

I stare at him for a couple of seconds, thinking about the time I first met him. This Landon paying for my ice cream reminds me a lot of the Landon from that summer.

"Excuse me?" the girl behind the counter asks. She shifts uncomfortably as her eyes glance between us. "Who's buying the ice cream?"

"I am," Landon tells the girl.

She nods her head as she waits for the ice cream to finish weighing. She swipes the card, hands it back to Landon, and then hands us our ice cream.

Landon leads the way to a tiny table that sits two in the corner of the parlor, right by the window. He sits and rubs his hands on his shorts, watching me.

I use my spoon to play with the ice cream, taking a tiny bite, waiting to see what he has to say.

A minute of silence passes so I decide to start the conversation. "So, what do you want to talk to me about?"

"What do you want to know?" He stares back at me, not having touched his ice cream once.

Sighing, I place my hand holding the spoon on the table, staring back at him. Is he really going to play this game? Again, Jaden's words enter my mind. I don't want to play anymore games, I just want the truth. Jaden said to hear him out, so I'm going to be straightforward and try and get the answers I need.

"Why didn't you ever text me after you asked me out?"

Landon's eyes widen. He probably wasn't expecting me to dive right into the conversation. Glancing at the table, he shifts in his seat. "It wasn't that I didn't want to text you, Vienna." He raises his eyes to meet mine. "I really did want to take you out on a date."

That's not really an answer. "Then why didn't you?"

He exhales slowly, looking lost. "Please don't be mad."

I nod my head, waiting for him to continue.

"Hudson told me not to take you out. In fact, he asked me to stop talking to you."

My spoon drops to the table, making a clink noise as it hits the wood. A couple of people around us turn and look, but I'm too stunned to care. "Hudson? My brother, Hudson?" I ask skeptically.

Landon slowly nods his head. "The night I asked for your number and to take you out is the night Hudson asked me to stop talking to you. That's why you never heard from me after."

"How did Hudson find out?"

"One of my friends overheard our conversation." He runs a hand through his blond hair, leaning back into the seat. He looks like he's thinking about another time. "After you left, that friend started teasing me and Hudson heard what he was saying. He told me not to take you out on a date because he didn't think I was good enough for you."

My eyes widen. Did Hudson really say something like that?

Still, without looking at me, Landon continues. "He's right, though."