“You know I think it’s great that you’ve been seeing Selene exclusively. Chloe and I both support this relationship of yours, even if the rest of the family doesn’t. I’ll always support you, Neil. But you can’t just keep her trapped in the bedroom all the time. I’d like to hang out with her, and our friends want to see her too. The gang’s been asking about her ever since they found out she’s in town, and they want to know why she never comes out with us,” he said chidingly. Ever since he became single again, Logan had been going out every night to various clubs and bars with his group of friends. It wasn’t the first time he’d asked me to share Selene with him and the others, but I’d never agreed to it.
My time with Babygirl was limited; I couldn’t afford to waste it.
“She’s here for me,” I said roughly, like the overbearing asshole I was. I had no right to keep her isolated from the world, but she’d be back to her normal life soon enough when I left her.
For now, she had to stay with me.
“And that makes it right? You could go with her, you know. Let’s all go out together. Are you really so selfish that you’re fine with keeping her locked up in here like your sex slave?” he scolded me darkly.
“That’s not how it is. We have conversations and—” I attempted to defend myself, but Logan spoke over me.
“Oh yeah, totally. I bet you even let her have a break when she’s on her period if she asks. You’re a real prince, Neil,” he said with pointed sarcasm. I fumed at him, a look of annoyance on my face, but he just shook his head.
“She’s so crazy about you that even the landscaping can tell.” He gestured at the view out the window as if to illustrate his point. “And, meanwhile, what are you doing? Have you even told her about the internship yet?” he demanded. My prolonged silence and indifferent posture gave him all the answers he needed. “For fuck’s sake, Neil!” he blurted out.
“Don’t yell,” I said menacingly, getting to my feet. Logan, however, was one of the few people who wasn’t scared when I tried to use my size to intimidate him.
He knew that, no matter what he said or did, I was never going to lay a finger on him.
“You’re making a mistake. She needs to know that all of this is just a…last hurrah before you go. You don’t have to tell her about her mother if you don’t want them to fight, but she deserves to know about the rest of it.” He waved his hands through the air, tired of saying the same thing to me over and over, as he’d been doing for the last month. I rubbed my face in frustration and turned away, looking instead at the mess I’d made tossing my breakfast all over the floor.
“Not once in my life have I ever focused exclusively on just one woman. I’ve never wanted to share my space with someone else,” I admitted, thinking about how nice it was that Selene just liked being with me and liked taking care of me even more. In the evenings, she ordered my favorites for dinner and made sure I ate. In the mornings, she attempted breakfasts, and at night she comforted me when I was unsettled by another nightmare about Kim. When I got mad and went off on her because of my mood swings, she knew no resentment or anger; even after the most heated argument, she’d come running into my arms the moment I asked.
“I know,” Logan murmured behind my back. “And you know it’s going to break her heart, but you’re going on ahead anyway,” he scolded me. I turned to see the sadness creeping over his face.
“She asked to be with me,” I said defensively.
“Neil, we both know you’re smarter than that. Selene didn’t sign up to be with you for just a few weeks while you fuck her all you want and let her think she’s your girlfriend,” he answered shortly. Described in those words, the whole thing made me sound like a son of a bitch.
“She’s knows that she’s not my girlfriend. That there is no fucking relationship,” I corrected him before glancing at the closed bedroom door to make sure Selene wasn’t about to rejoin us. “I never promised her anything, never declared any nonexistent feelings. You know what I’m like,” I pressed, stepping toward him.
“No, Neil. I don’t. Not anymore. I would have said you weren’t a liar.” He gave me a disappointed look, his jaw tight.
“I’m not lying to her. I just held back one detail,” I snapped back.
“You’re hiding an important part of your future. If you start working in Chicago, you’re not going to come back here. Have you actually thoughtabout that? Plus, you’ll be sharing an apartment with another woman,” he went on, and I grimaced.
“What is wrong with you?” I dragged a hand over my face. “I have zero interest in Megan, and I never fucking will. That would be completely out of bounds.” I shook my head, disturbed at just the thought of the two of us in bed together.
To me, she would always be that little girl in the basement. I hadn’t touched her when I was ten years old, and I wasn’t going to touch her now at twenty-five.
“You don’t know what might happen. You’re going to be living together, and whether you want to or not, you’ll be spending a lot of time with her.”
“That doesn’t mean I’ll sleep with her,” I said confidently. Megan was a beautiful woman, compelling and sexy, but I’d never go there, no matter what she tried.
I had always been stronger than her and her games.
Logan would undoubtedly see that for himself soon, and then he’d apologize to me for insinuating something so insane.
“We’ll see,” he said challengingly before looking away thoughtfully. “As far as Selene goes…try to act like a man. Not just someone who wants to fuck her.” With that said, he started to leave, shoulder-checking me on his way to the door.
17
“Why don’t you go fly into someone else’s heart, Tinkerbell?”
Neil
It was eight o’clock at night, and I had no idea what the hell I was doing.
