“All your roommates are downstairs.”
She put her arm through mine as we walked to the door, smiling at my question.
“When I came to school last year, I wasn’t looking for love, Logan, but it found me.” She squeezed the arm she was holding. “I think it’s found you, hasn’t it?”
I finally understood that my connection to Lanie last year wasn’t that I was falling in love with her but that we were kindred spirits, both broken souls looking for someone to heal us. Hers was healed by Xander.
I knew my entire being was calmed by the presence of Ava. She healed me. But it was more than that. And Lanie saw that.
“Maybe,” I said.
She laughed at my attempt at being coy.
“We haven’t told anyone,” I said.
She twisted her fingers against her lips, tightening the imaginary key. Reaching up, she pulled me into a tight hug.
“I knew that too, no worries,” she whispered against my ear. “You deserve all the good things, Logan. Let them happen to you.”
I wish I believed that too, but it might be too late.
“Hey,” I said, stopping her from leaving the room. “What’s the latest on Max?”
Her body stiffened and her eyes got distant, which concerned me.
“Logan, I don’t think now’s the time to bring all that up,” she said.
“It’s the perfect time.” I brought her back for us to sit down. “I could use a distraction.”
Shaking her head, I could tell she disagreed. “Probably not this type of distraction.” And then she paused. “Bryce let us know that he’s been leaving his house without his anklet on somehow. They’re not sure how he’s doing it, but they’re tailing him, and they know the house arrest anklet is still in the house.”
Shit. That was a real reason for concern.
There was an entire scene at BRU last year when he showed up to take Lanie with him at gunpoint. The cops, even the FBI, showed up. There was a fucking shootout behind her dorm. Her ex and one of his guys got shot. It was insane. The guy was insane; it was scary that she was involved with him in the first place. Xander stayed by her side, helping her through it.
“But they’re on him, so that’s good, right?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said, but her sad eyes didn’t convey what I wanted to hear. “Enough about him, I made a promise to myself not to allow him to rule my life anymore. And I’m sticking to it.” She popped up with renewed energy. “Besides, you have a whole bunch of people downstairs who love you and would like to make sure you’re OK. Are you ready to go down, or do you need more time?”
I nodded but stopped her once more.
“Lanie, I want to thank you. I’m not sure I’m convinced I deserve your forgiveness, but I feel a lot better than when I got here.”
She grabbed my arm again and kept me moving.
“Healing is like that. Last night was a trigger, so it’s completely normal for you to go through this, Logan. I’d say it means you’re healing well, and if it didn’t affect you, that would be a problem.”
“Don’t you sound all professional and shit,” I told her.
She laughed, and I laughed.
It felt good to laugh.
CHAPTER 28
Ava
There was so much going on once Logan came down with Lanie. We were all there: Ty, Becca, Macie, Lanie, Xander, Logan, and me. At first, everyone checked on Logan to make sure he was OK. Then they were checking on me.
