My heart started to race. “You’re not the one who made a big deal out of anything. That was your mom, Logan. She’s the one who decided to have an affair. Don’t you think your dad deserves to know? Don’t you deserve to hear the truth from her?”
He lowered his head, dragging his fingers through his hair. “And then what? My parents get divorced? They hate each other? No, if they’re fine like this then?—”
“They’re notfine,” I snapped, my chest so tight, I thought it might crack at the seams. How was he being so obtuse? There were things you let go in a relationship and things you didn’t. I needed to make that more obvious.
“Is this how you would’ve dealt with things with Shar? If she’d never seen that picture in the paper, would you have just pretended it never happened? Since things werefine?Easier not to rock the boat?”
Logan met my eyes, his jaw tight. “No.”
“You sure about that?” I honestly wondered. The way he was treating this, so flippant. It set off alarm bells in my head.
He sniffed. “No, I wouldn’t have. Things weren’t fine between us. I already told you that.”
“But Shar was the one who brought it up.”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes, it matters! If you want a relationship with someone, you have to be willing to talk about the things that are hard.”
Logan let out a sardonic laugh. “If you want a relationship with someone, you tow the line. You do what they want, and when you find out that it wasn’t good enough, you give them something else to hopefully make it okay again, and when that’s not good enough, you get over it and move on. End of story.”
I pursed my lips, my heart sinking like a rock. Was he mad, or was that his honest-to-goodness version of the truth? Was his relationship with his parents his model for life? “Is that what you think a relationship is?”
A muscle popped in his jaw. “At least when I disappoint my parents, they don’t walk out with my best friend.”
Something inside of me shattered like I’d accidentally stepped on a Christmas ornament. I’d seen enough in the few interactions between Logan and his parents to have a feel for their dynamic.
My parents didn’t own a bunch of houses in the city or have impressive political connections, but they’d never once made me feel like I wasn’t good enough or that I had to accomplish something to earn their love and approval.
I took a step closer, leaving the safety of the wall. “Logan?—”
“I’m fine, Crys. I was just making a point.”
I shook my head, taking another step. “You don’t need to be fine, though. That’smypoint. It’s okay to be pissed about how everything went down in the spring. And it’s okay to feel hurt and angry about?—”
“I’m not pissed! I was the problem in that relationship, I get it. I was selfish, and I honestly don’t know why Shar stayed so long in the first place. It’s not like I was offering her anything to be excited about.”
“But she didn’t talk to you either. She was doing exactly what you’re doing now with your mom. She wanted to keep the peace, so she didn’t speak up, and that never works. Not if you want something real.”
“Why do you care?” Logan wet his lips, his body restless. “It’s not like you’re dating me.”
His words sliced through me. Well, my words actually. I’d said that to him at the beginning of all this, and technically, it was still true.
Logan stood and walked back to his suitcase. “Maybe I’m not meant for something real. Maybe fake is the best it gets.”
That felt personal. “Hm. Nice.”
“No, I’m serious. What’s so bad about fake? We get to hang out together, talk. I’m having fun, aren’t you?”
Something about his tone set my teeth on edge. “Pretty sure you could have fake whenever you wanted, Logan. That’s kind of what started this whole thing.”
“No, I don’t mean sex. Though if a fake relationship had more benefits—” He froze, turning to me with a shirt in his hands, and my heart stalled at the expression on his face. “Wait. What if it did?”
I tucked the loose edge of the blouse under my bra strap. “What if—what?”
“Our fake relationship. What if it had benefits?”
“That is a terrible idea,” I blurted. The words were mostly for myself because I was now imagining picking up where we left off before the phone call.
