I run my fingers through his hair and kiss him gently, careful not to touch the cut on his bottom lip. “Take off your shirt.”
He smirks. “Babygirl, if it’s sex you have in mind, I think this is the one and only time I’m ever gonna have to turn you down,” he jokes and I can’t help but laugh. I can’t believe that through all the pain, he can still remain positive and crack jokes.
I head to the freezer, and not finding any ice, I pull out a bag of frozen veg before wrapping it in a towel, and when I turn back around, Logan is shirtless, dark red and purple bruises mar his upper body and my breath hitches at the sight, but I remind myself that it could have ended a lot worse.
“I see that look, babygirl. It’s not that bad, I promise.” He gives me a small smile and a wink.
“Are you going to tell me what happened?” I ask, bringing the freezing bag up to his body, holding it over the worst of the bruises so they don’t swell any more than they already have. His body jerks, probably from the cold compress but he soon relaxes.
“A month ago, things were bad at the shop, we were losing money fast and I was close to losing it all, everything I’ve worked so hard for. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let everyone down.” He takes the bag from my hand and carries on while I go in search of a washcloth to wipe some of the blood from his face, all the while, he continues to speak, “I went to God knows how many banks for a loan and not one would give me anything. Donovan… he was my last resort. I knew he was a piece of shit, his reputation is known throughout the entire city. Drugs, guns, trafficking, prostitution, you name it, he’s into it.”
I return with a warm, damp washcloth, bringing it up to his face, swiping gently at the trail of dried blood on his chin from his split lip. “Why not ask Dwight, or your mom? They would have helped.”
He shakes his head. “No. Call me a stubborn bastard bu-”
“You’re a stubborn bastard,” I cut in and he laughs, wincing.
“The last thing I was gonna do was go grovelling to my family and friends,” he continues. “I’m an idiot. I knew damn well I wouldn’t be able to come up with that sort of money in time, but I decided to bury my head in the sand instead. I didn’t really have a plan in mind when I took his offer, and at worst, I’d have to pay it back with a good beating or, as much as I hated the idea, join him.”
“Join him? Like be in his little gang of thugs?”
He nods. “And if that was what I had to do then so be it, but then you came along and I had so much more to lose. It wasn’t just about me anymore, there was you. You remember that day in the garage when he was there?”
My mind wanders back to that day, finally putting it together of why I recognised Donovan, he was the guy at the garage. “Yeah.”
“Well, after I dropped you home he was waiting for me. I managed to get a week extension on the loan and he told me that if I didn’t pay up, he’d come after you, and I couldn’t let you get hurt for something thatIdid.” He swallows hard. “When you showed up tonight, my heart fucking stopped.” His face contorts in pain and he drops his gaze. “I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”
I level myself in front of him, looking into his eyes. “AndIdon’t know what I would have done if I’d lostyou. I can’t lose anyone else. If you had this huge debt hanging over your head, why didn’t you let me pay you for fixing up the car?”
“There was no way I was taking money from you, Ames. Not even if I was down to my last dime. Sure, I could have spent all that time I spent with you trying to come up with the money to pay Donovan off, but when you asked for my help, I couldn’t let you down. You’ve always meant so much to me, even more than you know, there was no way I was saying no to you.”
“You should have told me the truth. I could have helped.”
“I wasn’t gonna bring you into my shit, Ames.” He clears his throat reaches up to cup my cheek and I lean into his touch. “Did you mean what you said earlier? When you said that… that you loved me?”
“Yes,” I say, and I don’t get chance to say anything more before he cuts me off with his lips. I try to pull back, not wanting him to worsen his split lip but he grips the back of my neck harder, his tongue seeking entrance into my mouth.
“I love you too, Ames,” he whispers against my lips and I can’t even begin to describe the feeling of hearing him say those words. “Love you so fucking much."
“That night, when you made me promise not to fall in love with you… I lied. I lied because I was already falling. That day when I heard my dad’s favourite song playing on the radio and you held me in your arms while I cried... that was the moment I knew that I loved you.” My voice begins to crack and he presses his lips to mine again.
“Don’t ever leave me, babygirl,” he pleads.
“Never.”
He smirks. “I’m one lucky bastard aren’t I?”
“Damn right,” I say with a giggle.
He rises from the chair and takes the now cold washcloth from my hands and tosses it into the sink. “Will you stay with me tonight?”
I nod. “Of course. I don’t think I could face going home anyway, not after everything that’s happened tonight.”
He leads me by the hand through the house and up to his bedroom where we lie side by side on his bed, with my head resting on his chest.
It’s not long before his breathing evens out and he falls asleep, but sleep is the furthest thing from my mind right now. My brain is very much awake, and as much as I try shutting it off, my brain just isn’t having any of it. Questions swirl around my mind.
Should I tell Graham what happened?
