“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Scott waves goodbye as the gym starts to empty out.
“See ya.”
Finishing my post-rehab routine, I grab my coat and joggers, getting ready to make the walk back to my place. Pushing open the door, I’m met with the one person I can’t seem to shake.
“You did good today,” Logan tells me, coming up behind me. “Just wanted to tell you that.”
It’s dark outside, night blanketing the town early as we head toward winter. This is my favorite time of year. The biting cold of the night air stings my face. There’s nothing I love more than curling up in front of the fire with a hot chocolate after a long day on the slopes.
“I don’t need your encouragement.”
“Sometimes it can help and keep you moving forward.”
“I get it, Logan!” It explodes out of me. Every emotion tied to this man has been simmering under the surface and I can’t take it anymore. “I get you want to help, but I don’t need it!”
Being this close to the man that broke my heart is messing with my head. He’s still that same guy that I met all those years ago at a football game in Denver.
He’s alsonotthe same guy. So much has changed for him. How can it not with all he must have been through since his injury? But I don’t need placating comments about how well I’m doing.
“I’m just trying to help.” He’s almost sheepish. Why does it makemefeel bad?
“Scott is doing plenty of that, okay? I don’t need you.”
“Fine. Do whatever the hell you want, Audrey. I don’t care anymore.” Logan stalks away from me.
“Oh, now you don’t care and are walking away? Again? I guess I should be used to it.”
Something sparks behind Logan’s brown eyes as he turns back to me. Even in the darkness, I can see it. He’s never been one to shy away from showing his emotions.
“You think I wanted to walk away from you?”
“You didn’t seem to care. I was yours to forget, Logan. You threw me away.”
Logan closes the space between us, but it feels like it’s a gulf a mile wide.
“If anything, I cared too much. You think I wanted to see you throw away one of the best opportunities just to stay in Denver with me?”
“What? What in the world are you talking about?”
“The ski school in Switzerland?”
“How did you know about that?”
My mind is spinning. I still remember that fall, when Logan left me. I had the chance to learn from some of the best skiers in the world. It would’ve been stupid to turn it down. But I was waffling. I was an Olympian. I didn’t need to learn more, right? I was fine in Denver.
I had everything I wanted there. Logan. Skiing. I didn’t want to rock the boat.
Then Denver had an away game, and I got the call to go and meet with the trainers from Switzerland while they were in town. And that’s when Logan told me we were done. Over the phone.
Like the coward that he was. Or so I thought.
“I heard you talking to your mom about it.” His voice is quiet. “It was late, so you assumed I was asleep, but I heard everything. I couldn’t let you pass up the opportunity of a lifetime for me.”
Rage boils inside of me. This is why he left me?
“Don’t you think that was a decision I should have gotten to make?” I shove him, but he doesn’t move. God, why is this man so infuriating?
“It sounded like a done deal. I wasn’t going to be the reason you stayed put. You’d regret it and eventually regret me. I couldn’t let that happen.”
