“Pigheaded?” I supply, realizing too late that my voice is louder than I mean for it to be and I shouldn’t have been listening to what was likely a private conversation. Wincing, Iglance between Mel and Cole, who look at me with matching expressions that almost look…amused?
“Your name is Savannah?” Mel asks, furrowing her brow. When I nod, something sparks to life behind her eyes. “Wait, are you the one with the emotional cat?”
Surprise shoots through me, leaving me slightly dizzy and very much red-faced. “Oh. Um, yeah? I think so?”
Mel grins. “Moxie loves that cat.”
My vet talks about my cat with the team’s staff? I’m not sure how to feel about that, but it’s nice to know Moxie doesn’t completely hate Beef for being so needy. “So do I, but he’s a pain in the butt.”
“Sounds a lot like Logan.” She perks up more and examines me more closely. “You’re the one he’s been texting.”
If I thought I was embarrassed before, this is worse, and I feel like I might melt into the floor. How does she know that? Has Moxie told her that too? But how doesMoxieknow? “Uh.”
Mel sighs in a way that seems almost relieved, though I have no idea why. “I’m glad you’re here, Savannah.” She runs a hand through her hair and glances down the hallway as she says, “You might be the only person who can—” She cuts herself off with a swear, her eyes going wide.
Down the hall, two people approach us at a quick pace. I recognize Logan’s large frame immediately, one arm behind his back as he walks with his head down, Moxie behind him. When they get closer, I realize Moxie is holding on to Logan’s arm, almost like he’s holding Logan hostage, and his jaw is clenched and gaze hard.
“Mox?” Mel calls, and I wonder if she’s sensing the same tension that I am.
Logan stops in the middle of the hall and looks up, grimacing in pain before he quickly hides it at the sight of Mel. But then his eyes slide to me, and a chill runs through me because there is anything but friendliness in his gaze.
Yeah, this is what I would have liked to avoid.
“What happened?” Mel asks, moving closer to the two men.
“Idiot tried to bench two twenty without a spotter and nearly got himself killed when his arm gave out on him,” Moxie growls as he releases Logan’s arm, though I’m not sure Moxie is capable of true fury.
Logan, on the other hand… The seething anger rolling off him in waves is tangible as he glares at me, like I’m the reason he’s in this mess.
I’m not the one who hit you, I try to tell him with narrowed eyes.Or the one who pretended he was fine.But my silent arguments are doing nothing to cool the searing heat from his rage, leaving me feeling raw.
“Hey!” Moxie snaps, whacking Logan on the back of the head in a show of aggression I didn’t expect from him. “Savannah’s the only reason you didn’t wind up breaking some ribs. Show her some respect.”
“What?” I choke, looking from him to Logan.
Moxie sighs. “I saw your text just in time to run over and spot the hero,” he tells me with another glare at Logan.
Logan opens his mouth, probably with some cheeky retort, but Mel speaks first. “Inside,” she orders, pointing at the room she came out of. “Now.”
Clenching his teeth, Logan stands motionless for a long time. Then his eyes jump over to me, and he growls low in his throat as he stalks past us into the room followed closely by Mel.
I should be glad that I helped Moxie save the day, but I feel nothing but heartache and queasiness as I stare at the open door Logan went through. Hehatesme. I don’t know if I can say he’s everlikedme, but his anger feels so much worse than I thought it would. That look in his eyes… It’s like he took hold of my heart and clenched it in his fist.
“Hey,” Moxie says, and his voice has softened beyond his usual calm demeanor. “I mean it when I say you prevented something catastrophic.”
He’s trying to make me feel better, but guilt still builds inside me. “Yeah,” I breathe eventually, but I might throw up. Under no circumstances would I feel better if Ihadn’tgotten involved, but that doesn’t make this moment any easier to stomach. “Is…” I swallow, all too aware of both Cole and Moxie looking at me. “He’s not going to get in trouble, is he?”
Moxie looks at Cole, who lifts an eyebrow and shrugs. They seem to have a silent conversation, then Moxie answers my question. “Not as much as he should. But one of these days he’s going to push me over the edge, and I…” He clenches his jaw, shaking his head.
“Don’t,” Cole says gruffly, apparently understanding what Moxie doesn’t say. “I’d get rid of Callahan in a heartbeat if keeping him meant we lost you. The team needs you, Mox.”
“Them and everyone else,” Moxie mutters to himself. He turns to me and forces a smile that almost looks real. I can’t imagine the stress of working full-time as a veterinarianandcaptaining a rugby team with egos like Logan’s running around, so I don’t blame him for being frustrated. “How’s Beef doing?”
It’s been a couple weeks since I had to take my cat to the clinic, which might be a new record. “He’s…” I shrug. “Still moping.” And waiting by the door every Monday at ten. How he knows what day of the week it is, I have no idea, but my ridiculous cat is determined to greet Logan the moment he knocks on my door. When Logan changed the plan this morning, Beef almost didn’t let me leave the apartment so I could deliver Logan’s meals.
What’s going to happen to my cat now?
Moxie looks toward the room Logan and Mel went into and frowns. “And he didn’t start acting this way until after the bookshelf incident?”
