I clench my hands together in my lap. “You hate me, don’t you?”
He doesn’t seem surprised by the question, and he doesn’t attempt to answer me. The rest of the way into town, I’m staring out the window, trying to hold back tears.I will not cry, I will not cry, I repeat to myself over and over.
Instead of going back to the office, he parks on the side of the road, right in front of Savage Ink. I open my door, ready to get out, when he stops me by wrapping his hand around my forearm.
I stop. Heck, I stop moving, breathing, everything and just stare at him.
He shakes his head. “I want to hate you. I really do. But I can’t… But none of that matters, Bree. When your contract is up, you’re leaving. I won’t ask you to stay.”
His words gut me. I guess I should have known that would be the case. What we had was amazing and life-changing, but I messed it up. I’m the one to blame.
I tug on my arm, but he doesn’t let me go. “I got it, Logan. I understand. I’m going to work for the next nine months without any expectations. I know you want me gone, but if it’s okay with you, I’d like to work out my contract and figure out my next steps.”
His jaw tenses, and he lets me go. “You have a contract. I don’t have a say.”
Basically, he wants me to know that if it was up to him, I’d be gone already.
“Right, I know, I cornered you into this. I thought…”
A dark laugh escapes him. “You thought what? You’d come here and I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off you and we’d go back to the way we were? You cheated on me, Bree. You kissed another man, you?—”
“If you’d let me explain?—”
He’s not having it, though. He sits in his seat, stiff as a statue and grips the steering wheel. “There’s nothing you can say to me that would make your actions okay.” He looks over at me, and all I see is the hatred in his eyes. “Thanks for going on the call with me.” Before I can answer, he smiles at me. “Amy and I are getting coffee this weekend.”
I suck in a breath, and it feels like he’s physically punched me in the gut. It’s been two years. I figured he had been dating anyway, but seeing it and knowing it is another thing. Unable to hide the hurt, I need to escape. I jump out of the car, shut the door, and without another glance at Logan, I practically sprint to the stairs that lead to my apartment.
The hurt is unbearable, and I’m left with a feeling of complete and utter defeat. It’s devastating because any hope I’d had for me and Logan is gone. I’m not sure what else I can do. He doesn’t want to talk about our past or what happened. He doesn’t want to hear me out. It’s over… and I’m not sure what to do with that.
CHAPTER 9
LOGAN
It’s been hours since I dropped Bree off, and I can’t stop thinking about her. I’m nursing the same beer I got out of the refrigerator two hours ago, my feet are propped up on the coffee table, and there’s something on the television, but for the life of me, I couldn’t tell you what is happening on the screen.
No matter how hard I try to clear my head, all I can think about is Bree and all the unanswered questions I have.
What is it about these nightmares she’s having? She never had nightmares when we were together. And what was Aiden talking about when he said he thought I could be one of the guys from the city? And then her acting like she didn’t cheat on me and break my heart. Fuck, why did she look sodevastated when I said I was going for coffee with Amy? She was broken-hearted, and no matter how much I want to hate her, I can’t. I hated seeing that look in her eyes, but it’s even worse knowing I put it there.
I lift my arm and look at my watch. Eleven o’clock.
I’m sure she’s asleep. The need to talk to her or to at least know she’s okay is overwhelming. I wish I could turn this need for her off, but I can’t.
Without second-guessing myself, I grab my truck keys off the coffee table and stand up. I’m in shorts and a T-shirt that I changed into after my shower. I hastily put on socks and shoes and am out the door not a minute later. I’m not sure what the urgency is all about, but I just need to get to her.
I park on the side of the street and look up at her apartment window. Savage Ink is still lit up, and I can see two people in there, but Bree’s light upstairs is off. I turn off my truck and just stare into her dark window. I don’t know what I thought I’d see, but there’s a calm that comes over me, knowing she’s safe and in her bed.
The light comes on as I'm about to push the button to start my truck. My heart starts to race. Did she have a nightmare? Or is it something else?
I watch her pass by the window, and I know I can’t sit out here a second longer. I grab my keys, get out, and am crossing the street with my eyes trained on her window. I try the door at the bottom of the stairs, expecting it to be locked, but it’s not. I’ll be addressing that with her landlord, Aiden, in the morning.
I take the stairs two at a time and don’t stop until I’m standing in front of her door. I lift my hand to knock but think twice about it. It’s going to freak her out if she hears someone knocking at her door this late at night. I pull my phone from my pocket and find her name in my contacts. The first thing I do is unblock her. Then I hit the button to call her.
I can hear the phone ringing in her apartment, and almost immediately, she answers. “Logan… is that you?”
“I’m standing outside your door. Come open it?”
“What… what are you doing here?”
