It feels so good.
“For crying. God, you must think I’m a mess.”
“Do you think I’m a mess because I cried?”
I shake my head. “Of course not.”
“Well, there you go.”
I tighten my grip on her. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“I want to be with you, Blair. I won’t lie and say that the idea of marriage no longer freaks me out a little, but I’m realizing marriage was never the real issue. It was always my dad. My mom, too, but mostly my dad.” I breathe her in. Her hair smells like flowers. “His marriages never last because he doesn’t lovethe women he marries, and because he doesn’t work on making them last.”
“Logan,” she murmurs gently, “I want to be with you too. But I don’t want you to be forced to walk down a path you’re not comfortable with. We can figure out what commitment looks like for us. We have time.”
“I know we do. And I’m not suggesting we rush anything, but I am telling you that how I feel about all of that has already changed, and I’m pretty sure it will keep changing. Just try to be patient with me, okay?”
Her smile is so fucking beautiful. “Okay.”
The jingle of keys draws our attention as Reed steps through the door with a deep sigh. He peels off his backpack and coat, letting both drop to the floor in a heap before he notices us.
“Uhhh, what are you two doing here? Shouldn’t you be at work and practice or something?” Reed’s head tilts to the side and his eyes narrow as he gets a closer look at us. Blair and I both have puffy eyes, and I’m pretty sure my hair is a mess from Blair’s fingers running through it. “Did something happen? What’s wrong?”
Panic overtakes the kid’s face so quickly, my heart clenches. Blair was right to protect Reed so fiercely. Even if it meant breaking up with me. I’m so used to him being this funny teenager with bright eyes and a quick wit; it’s easy to forget that he’s known more loss and pain in his short life than most people can comprehend.
“Hey, it’s okay. Everything’s fine. C’mere.” I reach out a hand and motion for him to join us on the couch. His steps are hesitant—like he’s waiting for me to drop life-altering bad news despite my reassurances—but he sits beside us and lets Blair wrap an arm around him after she wiggles on my lap to get into a better position. I wrap my arms around both of them.
“You’re freaking me out,” he mumbles into Blair’s hair.
“Sorry, Reedy. I promise everything is okay. Logan and I just had an…interesting day.”
“Explain,” Reed demands.
Blair looks to me for help, and I swear I grow three inches taller. She needs me. She’s letting me be a part of this conversation. Inviting me to be a part of this family.
Clearing my throat to dislodge the lump there, I decide to go with honesty. Reed’s too smart for me to bullshit him, and we don’t know how far our stalker will take things. He needs to be aware too.
“Well, it seems like I have a bit of a stalker situation. She’s tried to contact me before and I ignored her, but she’s been posting photos of me and Blair online, and today, she sent your sister an email that was…concerning. We’re going to tell the team and the cops and we’ll deal with it, but I want you to be alert and aware.”
Reed frowns. “Is she dangerous?”
“She could be,” I admit. “Or she could be all talk. But we’re going to take this seriously. She’s posted some photos nearby here, so she may know where you two live. So keep your head on a swivel, okay? Anyone following you, taking pictures of you, or making your Spidey senses tingle, I want you to find help and call me or your sister, okay?”
He nods slowly. “Okay… Is that why you were both crying?”
I clear my throat again. “Uh, no.”
Reed narrows his eyes at us. “Did you hurt my sister?”
I love this kid. He’s ready to throw down if I say yes.
“He didn’t hurt me,” Blair replies gently. “I, uh, I tried to break up with him.”
That has Reed sitting up straighter, his expression worried. “What do you mean, you tried?”
“I told her no,” I say, chuckling. “And that I’m in love with her. So I wouldn’t accept her breaking things off.”
