“I agreed to marry her for you, Macey.” Logan’s eyes turn feral. “I would do anything to protect you. You know that. Just like I know you would—and have—for me.”
“Logan. Shit.” I put my hand on his cheek. “I can’t believe any of this. Is that why you and Gigi didn’t have sex? Because it wasn’t real?”
He nods. “I never even kissed her on the mouth. I missed you every second I was with her.”
“I missed you, too. So much.” I furrow my brow. “So what ended up happening in Florida? I’m guessing you didn’t get married.”
Logan shakes his head. “We didn’t. My dad dragged the truth out of me at the hotel. He knew I was covering something. He knew I was this close to running. Even though it was fake, I couldn’t imagine being with anyone but you. And so, I told him everything. He didn’t want me to do it that way, to marry someone I didn’t love. Even if it was for you. So we came up with another plan.”
“Knowing your father, I’m almost afraid to ask what this plan entailed,” I say. “Seriously, I am.”
Logan grins. “It wasn’t that bad. Gigi and I went to her parents and told them the truth. They were stunned their daughter would go that far because of her father’s restrictions and demands. Mr. Phillips agreed to change the inheritance rules. Her sisters both got married at eighteen and didn’t fight back, so she was the first one to raise a fuss.”
“That’s good for Gigi.”
“And Mrs. Phillips was furious with her husband for what he had planned on doing to your father. She had no idea, and she put a stop to it. She admitted she didn’t have her ring on the night your daddy hit on her, and she never told him she was married. She made her husband let the whole thing go. He had new legal documents drawn up, and he signed off on them. I saw them myself.”
I widen my eyes. “So…”
“So it’s done. Your father’s safe, and I’m single. And Gigi’s getting her money without having to hitch onto a guy.”
108
I exhale. “Holy crap.”
“Yeah. But if you hadn’t taken the deal with Skip like you did…who knows what would have happened? So by protecting me, you protected yourself and your family, too.”
I clutch at Logan’s shirt with both fists. I don’t even know what to say.
“Mace, I wish I could turn back time. I’m sorry about all the drama, and I’m afraid it’s too late to make it up to you. This summer was so hard, and I hate how badly I fucked all this up.” Logan inhales sharply. “I don’t want either of us to say anything at all if it’s too damn late because it will just hurt too much.”
I lean my head back until we make eye contact. “It’s never too late. Not for us. And you didn’t fuck anything up, Logan. Don’t ever say that again. I can’t tell you what it means to me that you did all of that. For me and my family. Thank you.”
Logan pulls me closer, so close I can see his eyes shining by the firelight. They look more at peace than I’ve seen them since he came back from West Texas. They look like Logan’s eyes again. Except different, somehow.
Yes, the dullness is gone. But the urge to run—that thing we had in common—isn’t lurking in the shadows. It’s like he’s not afraid of anything. Like he wants me and he won’t hide his feelings behind spin the bottle or drunken nights or desperate moments of pain that always end in a goodbye the next day. I see it all in his eyes in this moment.
And I do the cowardly thing. The typical Austen Macey Henwood thing.
I panic.
I back up, jump off of him, and take off for the truck like I’m a deer being hunted.
“Macey!” Logan runs after me and stops me as I’m reaching for the front door. “Hey.”
His arms go around me from behind. I exhale and rest the back of my head on his chest. He turns me around and looks directly into my eyes. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s different.” I look at him closely. “You’re different. So am I. We’re different together. I know we are. But I’m still a coward.”
“Why?” His voice rumbles in my ear, and I shiver.
“Because the way we used to be was so easy. When we knew it would only be for one night, and then…”
“And then everything went back to normal,” he finishes for me. “I know. You think I didn’t get the meaning of our pact? But pacts like that can’t always last forever.”
“I just…I love being independent,” I say in a shaky voice, still trying to keep the steel bars around my heart. “I love feeling like I can’t get hurt.”
“Independence doesn’t have to mean being alone.” Logan tucks a stray hair from my braid behind my ear. “Does it?”
