“I thought I was doing it for Sam’s benefit,” Logan said gruffly.
“But it’s not for her,” Trent acknowledged.
Logan shook his head. “What I want from him…”
“You don’t want it to always involve her,” Luke said, understanding.
Logan’s gaze slid over, and Luke saw the pain of that acknowledgment.
“What did you think you’d find by coming here?” Luke asked, curious how it had evolved into such a mess.
“I have no fucking clue. I thought … I thought if I could understand the dynamic of others in a similar situation, it might help me figure it out.”
Luke chuckled. “And I’m not enough of a role model for you?”
For the first time tonight, Logan smiled.
Trent leaned toward Logan, resting his elbow on the arm of the chair. “You want my honest opinion, or did you come here for me to placate you?”
“Honest opinion,” Logan replied, keeping his gaze intently focused on Trent.
“I think you’re complicating matters.”
Luke would agree with that assessment.
“You don’t even know what you want from Elijah yet.”
“I knowexactlywhat I want from him,” Logan countered, his voice low. “And what I want doesn’t involve Sam. Not all the time.”
Trent’s blue eyes widened infinitesimally. “You think you’re betraying her because you want Elijah to yourself.”
Luke watched Logan, saw the guilt plastered all over his face.
“I could never betray her,” he argued.
Trent’s expression reflected his agreement. “I’m sure the same could be said for her, could it not?”
“She wouldn’t betray me, no.”
Trent’s voice lowered once more. “Yet she’s in love with another man.”
“She’s… Yes. But that’s different.”
A smirk formed as Trent’s eyebrows rose slowly. “Is it?”
Luke knew from experience that it wasn’t easy to accept the simplicity of it. Trent was right in that regard. Logan’s relationship was no longer that much different than Luke’s.
“Master Ramsey?”
Trent looked up at the submissive who’d delivered their drinks.
“Troy and Clarissa have arrived.”
He nodded, then turned back to them. “If you’ll excuse me. I haven’t seen them all day.”
Luke smiled.
As Trent was getting to his feet, he looked down at Logan. “I suggest you do some serious soul searching. There’s only so much you can learn from anyone else’s situation.” He nodded in Luke’s direction. “But if you look in the mirror sitting beside you, you might already see exactly how it can play out. If you’d stop being so goddamn stubborn.”
