He swallows, bending his head down until his nose brushes mine. “Don’t know about you,” he says gruffly, “but I’m trying and failing to hold my ground. You make it…” He inhales deeply and closes his eyes. “…incredibly difficult.”
I know the feeling. “You’re going back to Australia at the end of the season.” I need to hear him either confirm that or contradict it.
His answer is a single pained word that hits me hard. “Yeah.”
“You’re only here for Lola.”
“Yeah.” Opening his eyes, he frowns as he studies my face.
I can barely breathe as I gaze back at him. “And turning this into more than what it is would make things really complicated.”
He sighs. “Yeah.” As his shoulders sink in defeat, he slowly slides his hands from my hips and takes a step back, giving me some space.
I wish he could have disagreed with one of those points. Just one, and maybe I’d be hopeful. “We can’t do this, Logan. It makes no sense.”
“Do you have to be so logical?”
“Logic is the only way we survive this. You have a team to get back to, and I have a business to run.That’swhere our hearts should be.”
“Yeah,” he says one last time. It comes out soft, lacking any of his usual confidence. He glances over at the dark trainingfacility, and when his gaze returns to me, he looks more sure of himself. “This is the right choice.”
“I wish it wasn’t,” I admit.
“Same.” Then his eyes drop to my lips, his expression turning hungry.
I groan. “You’re not allowed to complain about how I’m looking atyouif you’re going to look at me likethat, Logan Callahan.” I pull my hair back and lift it from my neck to try to cool down. “What is happening right now?”
“I don’t know,” he admits with zero hesitation. “My original plan went out the window the day we met.”
I gape at him. “What?”
He shoves his hands into his pockets and shrugs. “Play rugby, get some answers, go back home without having to say goodbye. That was it.”
Directly to the point. “And now?”
He shrugs. “Now, I’m a cat’s emotional support human and slightly addicted to you making my meals.” He grimaces, cocking his head as he considers his words. “I know how that sounded. Not how I meant it, love. I’m addicted toyou. Watching you. Er…” He shakes his head. “We made the right choice, and I’ll stand by it. This is new territory for me, and I’m not used to mucking things up.”
I’m enjoying flustered Logan; he’s always so straightforward and blunt, so this bit of rambling is more entertaining than it should be. And it’s also giving me a chance to breathe. “Because you’re the best?” I ask, adding a teasing edge to my tone.
He huffs a laugh. “At rugby? Sure. Anything to do with you, I bugger it all up.”
“Not all of it,” I tell him honestly. He’s done some pretty spectacular things lately. “So what now?”
He shrugs again, though this time he winces and rolls out his injured shoulder. “Now I heal, for one,” he grumbles. “As for you and me? I have no idea. And I’m not the sort of person who enjoys moving forward without a plan.”
Plan. Plans are good. If I keep my focus on True Fuel, I’ll be able to keep Logan in the friend zone where he belongs. My business has been growing, and keeping this momentum is going to take everything I’ve got. It’s not going to be easy. “Our jobs are connected now,” I say, “so we’ll have to see each other sometimes. We just have to make sure we limit how much time we—”
“I’m going to stop you right there.” He narrows his eyes, but his expression is almost playful. “Limit? No.” Thatnaurburrows under my skin, straight to my heart. “If I only get you in my life for a few more months, I’m not wasting any of it.”
“But—”
His hand moves to the car again. It’s only the one this time, so I’m not pinned, and he keeps his body away from mine. But that does nothing to lessen the warmth that pumps through me with each heartbeat. “Let’s get things straight, Sav. I’m into you. I won’t pretend otherwise. But at the end of the day, if your friendship is the most I get, it’s already more than I deserve, and I’ll take every minute of it.”
I should say something. He’s waiting for a response, and his honest admission might be the best thing I’ve ever heard a man say. But my words stick in my throat, and I feel like I’m being torn in half. Part of me wants to throw caution to the wind anddive headfirst into whatever this messy thing is between us. The other part of me isn’t sure if I can give him what he’s asking, and I’m worried he’ll cut ties if I forge ahead my own way instead of the way he wants me to go, like my parents did.
None of me is ready to say goodbye to him. Not when I’m just learning who he really is behind the ego.
“Sav.” As worry wrinkles his forehead, Logan leans in. Not much, but enough for me to notice. “I can do a lot of things, but I can’t read minds.”
