“Never again,” I agree.
Logan takes my hands and pins them above my head with one hand, and with the other, he holds my hip in place. I love being completely at his mercy.
My third orgasm builds slowly in my belly, and when it breaks, I scream his name as my body clamps around him. He comes right after me, burying himself deep and groaning my name into my neck.
After, I hold him tightly against me.
“Welcome home,” he says against my collarbone.
“If that's how you greet me after a week, I should go away more often,” I say with a tired laugh.
“Don't you dare.”
He rolls off me and pulls me into his side. His apartment is dark except for the light from the kitchen spilling down the hallway.
“I told my parents I'm bringing someone to dinner tomorrow,” he says.
Everything in me goes still. I know we spoke about not keeping secrets, but we didn’t make any concrete plans. Fear courses through me. “Tomorrow?”
“Yeah, it’s perfect. Everyone will be there,” he says.
I’m not a coward, but facing Cat at her own dinner table, where she holds every advantage — her house, her food, her family — is not a fair fight.
“So they don’t know that the ‘someone’ is me?” I ask.
“I said I'd confirm. I wanted to talk to you first,” Logan says.
I press my hands over my face.Okay, breathe Jasmine. This is something that Logan and I have to do if we plan on having a future together.
First things first. “I need to tell my mother first.”
“I agree.”
“Which means I need to drive to Long Island tomorrow morning to tell Mom. Then drive back to the city. Then drive back to Long Island again for dinner at your parents' house.” I drop my hands from my face and stare at him. “Logan, that's three trips to Long Island in one day.”
He grins. “I'll pay for gas.”
“This isn't funny.”
“It's a little funny.”
“I'm going to spend my entire Sunday on the Long Island Expressway.”
“Let me drive you. We'll go to your mom's place in the morning together, then head to my parents' from there.”
“No. Absolutely not. If I show up at my mother's boutique with you standing beside me, she'll lose her mind before I get asingle word out. I need to do this alone. She needs to hear it from me, without you there, so she can react honestly.”
“And by react honestly, you mean yell.”
“My mother doesn't yell. She gets quiet. That's worse.”
He takes my hand and brings it to his lips. “Are you okay with this? All of it? If you're not ready, I'll call my mother and tell her plans changed.”
It is so tempting to opt for the coward’s way out, but I'm done hiding.
Toronto showed me what it costs. Philadelphia showed me how much I miss him when he's not beside me. The only thing scarier than telling my mother is not telling her. The secret is heavier than the truth. It's time to put it down.
“I'm okay with it,” I say. “We do it all tomorrow.”
