“Rich people problems,” Aimee muttered. It wasn’t the first time she’d rolled her eyes at my privileges or the gilded cage that came wrapped around the excess.
“You know that even if I wanted to, I couldn’t help the way things are.”
“I know. Sorry, it just seems so wild and unbelievable sometimes. Plus, you’re my best friend and I want you to be safe. What if you marry Logan and your dad has him killed off or something?”
I gasped. “That’s awful. Why would you say that?”
“Because your head is stuck in the clouds where that boy is concerned, and I don’t think you’ve thought things through completely. I don’t want to see either of you hurt.”
“Well, I know that Daddy would have to accept it once we’re married. Doing anything to harm Logan would bring too much heat down on his organization.”
Aimee shot a dubious look my way. I was kidding myself. We both knew better. My dad could make Logan disappear and never have it linked back directly to him. It was my heart, the little girl part of me who wanted to think the best of her father, that didn’t think he would go through with it.
“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Her warning lingered that time in a way that it hadn’t previously. Maybe I hadn’tthought things out enough. “What about the wicked witch of MIT?”
It was my turn to roll my eyes. “I hate her,” I whispered, as if someone else might hear me admit it. “She thinks he belongs to her.”
“Maybe he does.”
“He does not. He would have said something to me if they decided to…” I couldn’t bring myself to even mentionmy Loganbeing in a serious romantic relationship with another woman. I wasn’t stupid. The chances that he hadn’t hooked up with someone else over the years were nil. There was a difference between hookups and getting serious, though.
“He kind of doesn’t have to. Remember last time you spoke to him and he chewed you out because that bitch said you were rude to her?”
I did remember and it still made my stomach flip sideways with anxiety. I had not been rude to Grace Humphries. I was simply shocked when she answered Logan’s phone. I was even more surprised when she insinuated he was in the shower while she was at his place answering his cell. In fact, I was too dazed to even form words, so I didn’t get the chance to say anything rude to her before Logan grabbed the phone. He sounded a bit breathless as he picked up. Then he muted his end of the call after telling me to hang on and came back to the call only to chew me out for being mean to Grace.
“He didn’t understand that she lied to him.”
“And how are you going to make him see reason? You missed the whole part where Grace told you he was showering while she was answering his phone. Obviously, there’s more going on between the two of them than he let on. Maybe he just keeps you in his back pocket in case things don’t work out.”
“No,” I argued immediately.That can’t be right.I threw the dress on my bed and turned to face my friend. “We made promises to one another.”
“Yeah, when you were children.”
“And again before we graduated high school.”
Aimee sighed and gave me that look that said I was being naïve. “Your sister died when he gave you that first promise and your mom had just passed away when he made it again. Then the two of you went to different colleges and, let’s be real, he’s a hot guy, Aoife.”
“We’re only four-hours away from one another. Everyone thinks I’m pretty but that doesn’t mean I would hook up with another guy when I’m waiting for Lo.”
“You’ve been four-hours away for two and a half years. How many times has Logan come to see you?”
That shut me up. At first, we took turns taking the train to visit one another. Every other weekend I would go to him and vice versa. Then, slowly, his visits decreased and I was the one going to see him twice a month while he only showed up once. In the past six months, he had stopped coming to me at all. For the most recent two of those six, I hadn’t been able to go to him either because I crammed so much into my schedule. Trying to graduate early so we could be together sooner had made it impossible for me to get away. He hadn’t picked up the slack, though. Aimee wasn’t wrong. Logan hadn’t put in the effort to come see me in quite a while. He also hadn’t mentioned my lack of getting to him with any concern.
He was always, except when that Grace woman interfered, happy to hear from me and chat like old times. Every conversation felt like no time had passed and we picked back up where we left off. It was part of the reason why I didn’t think anything had changed between us. Then again, Aimee had a point. Logan had not gone out of his way to make time for me.Most of the calls, video chats, and even texts and emails were initiated by me.
“What if this is all in my head and has been the whole time?” I wondered aloud.
“No, I don’t think that either. I just question if he still feels the same way or if a certain bitchy classmate of his has finally sunk her claws into him so deep that…” Her voice trailed off, no doubt because she noticed how pale I’d grown. “That his priorities changed,” she finally finished.
“You mean that he no longer cares about me the same way?”
“I don’t know, Aoife. The only way to know is to make sure you ask the important questions when you see him. You deserve the answers, even if you don’t like what he has to say. I don’t want to see you holding on to an outcome that will never come to pass, especially when you need a legit escape plan from your life as soon as possible.”
“I’m terrified to go now,” I admitted as I sat on the bed beside her. Aimee wrapped her arm around me as her mahogany locks tickled the side of my arm. “I don’t know what I’ll do without Logan in my life. He’s been my constant since Faye died.”
“I know, sweetie. You will figure it out. You are a strong woman, a brilliant one at that. You’ve managed to stand up to your dad this long. Even if Logan can’t be your salvation, I believe you’ll find a way out of the life your dad has planned for you. I believe you’ll find a way to make yourself happy, even if Logan isn’t in that picture the way you always thought he would be.”
“I hope you’re right,” I whispered. In a way, I hoped she was wrong, too. Wrong about everything. If she was right, that meant that Logan and I might be coming to an end very soon and I’d never allowed myself to imagine that as an outcome. How was I supposed to live without him in my life?
