He stops talking, but his chest is rising and falling rapidly. He turns away as if he can’t bear the sightof me. He’s staring out the blinds, but the sky is still dark, so he’s looking at nothing.
When he starts talking again, he seems more in control. “Bree, whatever your reasons are, you shouldn’t have come here. I can forgive a lot of things, but I can’t forgive cheating. I can’t forgive…” His voice breaks. “What you did to us. I want you to leave.”
I hold my hands up. “If we’re going to work together, we really should talk about this.”
He shakes his head. “You don’t get it. I want you to leave Stronghold. I want you to leave Whiskey Run.”
I bite my lip and cross my arms over my chest. “I can’t.”
He turns to look at me, and if I saw any interest before, it’s now gone, completely hidden. “Why can’t you?”
I lift my chin. “Because I have nowhere to go.”
”Your apartment in New York?—”
I shrug. “I sold it.”
”Fuck.” He grunts, and then his eyes light up. “I’llgive you a severance. I’ll pay you the remaining nine months in your contract, and you can leave.”
He might as well have punched me in the gut. “I’m not here because I want your money, Lo.”
He clenches his eyes and shakes his head as if he’s in pain. “Don’t call me that. You lost the right to call me that.”
I nod softly as my heart breaks again, but I steel myself against that pain. “I’m not going anywhere, Logan. The contract I signed was for one year, and I have nine months left. I plan to spend that time helping you build your dream. If at the end of that time you still want me gone, I’ll leave, but at least I’ll know I tried.” I suck in a shuddering breath. “As least I’ll have tried to fix us.”
He glowers at me. “There’s no us. There’s no we. There’s nothing that can be fixed between you and me. You’re wasting your time.”
I nod, and before I start crying, I turn on my heel and walk out the door. Softly, I close it behind me and bypass my desk as I walk to the bathroom.I will not cry. I will not cry, I tell myself over and over. I clench my hands, pressing my fingernails into my palms. The pain feels good. It’s weird, but in a way, it reminds meI’m still alive. I survived the last two years, and I’ll continue to do so, but I want more than just barely living. I want the life I had when I was loved by Logan.
I turn on the faucet and throw some water on my face. After drying myself off, I walk out of the bathroom and go back to my desk. I only have a few minutes to collect myself before Zach walks in. His smile disappears when he sees me. “Didn’t sleep well last night either?”
I shake my head sadly.
He puts his hands on his hips. “You should really talk to someone about the nightmares.”
My eyes flick to Logan’s closed door. I definitely don’t want him to know about my nightmares. Not like this. When and if I tell him, he needs to hear the whole story, and he’s obviously not ready for that.
Ignoring his statement, I force a smile to my face. “I guess congratulations are in order.”
His smile widens. “How’d you know?”
I laugh. “I’d say everyone knows. Skyler posted to her ClipClap and FriendSpace. I even saw some video from the proposal. Good job, boss man.”
He laughs and claps his hands together. “Yeah, I still can’t believe she said yes. I’m going to have to seal the deal before she changes her mind.”
I roll my eyes. “Please. She loves you. She won’t be changing her mind.”
Zach crosses his arms over his chest. “So Logan is already here, I see.”
I answer him with just a nod.
He leans down to look at me. “You okay?”
I lift my shoulders. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
He looks at the closed the door with a frown. “Did you tell him?”
I shake my head. “Nope. He’s not ready to listen.”
