But taking in the people around us, I saw her support system. In that regard, she was truly lucky.
“I’m sorry, Lanie, that sucks. He sounds like such a tool. But you’re lucky to have Xander, and these guys, to help you.”
A brilliant smile formed on her lips, lighting up her face.
“Becca always told me how good you were at doling out words of wisdom. And you’re right, I am lucky, I need to remember that.”
I noticed her eyes focus on two people in particular. And they grabbed my attention as well.
Xander and Logan were speaking.
What I saw surprised me. Xander was relaxed, leaning in toward Logan, smiling as they spoke. It was obvious Logan was still nervous as he stood with his hands shoved in his jeanpockets. But he seemed better off than when we were in the truck. A bit more relaxed.
His eyes kept darting in our direction, though. Which was crazy that he would be stealing glances at Lanie while talking to her boyfriend. But then it hit me.
He wasn’t looking at Lanie.
“Becca told me you and Logan are struggling a little bit,” Lanie said, interrupting my revelation.
“Um, yeah, just a little, but we’ll be fine. No worries, Lanie.”
I wasn’t sure if she believed my lie, I didn’t think I was good at it. But she let it go. Maybe because Logan was headed in our direction.
“Hey, Lanie. Wish we had more time, we didn’t get a chance to talk too much. Xander brought me up to speed about ‘the asshole,’ though,” Logan said.
They shared a look, her eyes serious, as she stood to greet Logan with a hug.
A hug.
“I’m so glad you’re back, Logan,” she said to him.
As she said it, she held his hands and looked him square in the eyes.
“Me, too,” he responded.
His smile for her was genuine. Real. And not a smile one would give to a person they were in love with or anything like that. They had a mutual respect for one another.
“But me and this one have to get going. We’ve got a class starting soon,” he said while gesturing to me with his thumb.
Looking at my watch, I realized we would have to really hustle across campus. Grabbing my bag, I said my goodbyes.
It was a content silence as we walked into the brisk outside air. He seemed to want to be with his own thoughts, and I was fine with that. It meant he wasn’t passing any snarky comments my way.
Then his pace picked up. I knew we were possibly going to be late, but I couldn’t keep up with him. Instead of complaining, I kept quiet. My pace increased, but Logan was yards ahead of me.
Suddenly, he stopped and turned to find me. Still quiet, he waited for me to catch up. We walked in silence, stride for stride.
CHAPTER 7
Logan
Last night, Becca came to my room to ask about all of us meeting up before classes. She knew I’d wanted to see Lanie and Xander, so she arranged for us to get together. I appreciated her doing it, but then the regret set in. My concern was seeing Lanie and Xander for the first time in front of everyone. Maybe it would have been smarter to do it privately. Sleep was hard to come by since my anxiety made me toss and turn all night. Throw in the issues with Ava, and I was a ball of nerves.
Thankfully, it was mostly for nothing.
Xander was amazing. He spent the time we talked asking me about my recovery, my time home, and how I was adjusting. I didn’t have much time to talk to Lanie, but her warm smile and hug told me nothing had changed between us.
The only thing that hadn’t improved was Ava. I watched her as she spoke with Lanie, trying to discern if there was anything she said to her that could give me a clue what her problem with me was.
