[Although this was a cute way to get Leander to confess his love for Kodi, it didn’t feel right when I actually went to write it in the story. For a lot of the crap he says, he’s at least buzzed when he says it. I wanted him to be fully sober and fully aware of what he was saying to Kodi and what he was committing to when he said it. But this is a cute thing to keep at the back of your mind.]
I wrinkled my nose in disgust at the very smell of him. “Well, someone’s been drinking.”
Leander stared up at me with glassed over red rimmed eyes and shook his head. “Naaah. Why’d I have a reason to drink?”
“Mhm.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Very convincing, cowboy. What’re you doing on my front porch?”
His dark brows drew together in a confused frown. “I was gonna tell you somethin’…..”
“Uh-huh.” I was losing patience with this. Fast.
He shook his head. “I dunno. Forgot! But there was somethin’…”
“Yeah. I’m sure. Could you please just go now?”
“But I like it here,” he said with a childish grin.
Without meaning to, I let out a small laugh. “You’re pathetic.”
“But I’m charming when I wanna be—you said so yourself!”
“God, I forgot how cute you are when you’re drunk,” I snickered.
He beamed at that.
Ugh. No. I did not just say that. “Leander, you really need to go now.”
He made a pouty face. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was taking hints from Riggins.
When his eyes widened and his knees buckled, I acted fast; just barely catching his fall. “God, Leander,” I cursed.
“My hero,” he slurred, his eyes bleary. He was ten seconds away from passing out.
“Jeeze, you’re a helluva lot fatter than you look.”
He giggled. Like, seriously giggled. It was adorable. His blue eyes widened again suddenly and his face turned serious. “Damnit, I remember what I was gonna say…..”
“Better make it quick,” I mused.
Eyelids drooping, body slacking, Leander just barely managed to get out, “I love you,” before going completely limp in my arms.
#2 [I think this was somewhere between Sawyer conflictions? I'm not really sure where the heck this scene came from. I don't really like it at all. It's very choppy, so y'all will hafta excuse that. Anyway, this was another way I thought to make Leander spill his guts.]
My feet were sore from pacing back and forth for so long in my room. Why? Take your pick. My life was in ruins as I knew it. Sawyer probably thought the worst of me now. I couldn’t honestly blame him. I’d acted like such a child. Why couldn’t I just make up my mind about him? He was a good guy, after all. He was good to me and good for me. So why was I hesitant?
Well, the answer was just across from me.
After all he’d done to me, I had the nerve to have feelings for that asshole. I think that was the worst thing he had ever done to me; making me fall for him again and again. It was a pattern I swore I would never, ever fall into. And yet here I was, thinking only about him and the affect he still had over me. He, unlike Sawyer, was not good to me or for me. He treated me like shit, played mind games with me. Why did I have to have feelings for him? Why couldn’t I just genuinely want Sawyer? I wanted to want him so badly. I ached for those feelings. But he deserved better than for me to want that. I had to actually feel that way about him. And I just couldn’t say with conviction that I did.
I startled as the door opened and slammed. I’d barely turned fully around before I heard a soft and husky voice murmur my name before pressing his body against mine, hands cupping my cheeks and mouth covering mine.
Damn me. I instantly melted against him, though my guard was up. The kiss grew hotter. It was like we were trying to make up for lost time, devouring every little taste. He pushed against me and I walked backward until I hit the wall, painfully aware that this put us both in an intimate position.
He picked me up. I locked my ankles around his torso, feeding into my damned feelings, loving the way his hands scoured my skin.
“Leander,” I murmured breathlessly when his mouth left mine to trail hot kisses down my throat. “We can’t do this.”
“I know,” he said, but his mouth was back on mine in the next instant. This continued for what seemed like hours. My body wanted things to progress much more quickly, but my mind was selfishly keeping me in check. “I hate how much I want you,” Leander whispered huskily in my ear.
My eyelids fluttered in response to his seductive voice and I shivered involuntarily. It scared me how badly I wanted him, too. “This isn’t a good idea.”
“I know,” he said again, although his lips moved against my jawline. “We’re like two negatives. Not good for eachother. I know that,” he said in between sinful kisses. He growled when he kissed my mouth again, pulling back just slightly to whisper, “Kodi, I love you.”
My heart kick started. For a moment, I just stared at him, completely at a loss for words. Leander loved me? Was he even capable of love, real love?
[I actually stopped writing this before I got to the "I love you" confession, but it was initially written for that. I’m actually not sure where “here” is, but I have a feeling it was somewhere important. At the time I wrote this Leander calling Kodi by her actual name was a big deal. Now he’s called her other things besides sweet pea and Hollywood so it’s not so monumental; needless to say I never used this]
“Kodi.”
I whirled around, surprised to see Leander standing there. “What are you doing here?” I asked in a whisper.
He looked awful. There were dark circles under those blue eyes, like he hadn’t slept in a long while. His face was scruffy and badly in need of a shave, his hair a total disaster. “I need to talk to you,” he said.
I glared at him, determined to stand my ground. “I don’t really feel like talking just now. Thanks.” I turned my head away so I wouldn’t feel guilty looking at him.
Leander took a few steps toward me. “Please, Kodi,” he murmured.
He called me Kodi….Not Hollywood, not sweet pea, or any of those stupid pet names.
[This sentence was the main reason I wrote this “excerpt”, so I didn’t really feel the need to write a whole bunch of other stuff leading to it. I can always go back and add to it later if I decide this is how he should tell her. So far, this is my favorite “I love you” confession/ This was what I actually ended up using! The simplicity of it was what was so....Leander.]
“Enough, Kodi!” he snapped. And, grasping my face between his hands, he said, “I’m in love with you.”
