Either he could take her home or she would drive herself. It didn’t matter, but she needed to get away from all the prying eyes.
***
Elijah looked up in time to seeSam hurrying toward him, her face pinched in a frown, her eyes glittering with what looked a hell of a lot like tears.
He was on his feet in a second, moving toward her. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head but didn’t respond. Elijah looked past her to see where she’d come from, and that was when he noticed Logan standing at the table Sam had been sitting at, his focus on them.
Well, damn. That was the last person he expected to show up here tonight.
Their eyes met across the distance, and Elijah saw the man’s pain. Whatever he’d done, or for whatever reason, he was beating himself up about it. Probably deserved to be, but Elijah couldn’t fault the man entirely.
Yes, he was angry that Logan had left for a fucking week without warning, but more so because he’d hurt Sam in the process. Elijah didn’t fully understand Logan’s reason for doing something so drastic, but he knew it had everything to do with him. Unfortunately, Sam had been caught in the crossfire.
“Please take me home,” Sam finally said, leaning in but not quite touching him.
“Of course.”
After a quick goodbye to Cole and without a word to Logan, Elijah steered Sam out of the club and to the car. He had expected the man to follow them, but he wasn’t behind them. Not even when they were pulling out of the parking lot.
Half an hour later, they were home, and Sam headed straight for the bedroom, claiming she was tired. He considered following her to calm her down but decided it was best to give her some space.
Elijah grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and headed out to the back porch. He sat in one of the chairs near the back door, staring out at the red lights in the pool. He wondered if Sam had been angry when she changed the color this time. She rarely used red, but it seemed somehow fitting to her mood. If he had selected the color, it would’ve been dark blue because it reminded him of her tears.
Where the fuck had things gone so horribly wrong? Not counting the beginning of their relationship, this was the biggest hurdle they’d ever come up against. Never had he considered that one kiss in the cabin all those months ago would’ve led them here, caused such a massive rift between them.
Where the hell were they supposed to go from here? Elijah saw only two options: move forward or move back. There was no standing still, because if they did, there was a good chance it would all implode. He loved Sam and in no way wanted to risk losing her, but as he’d admitted at the cemetery, he was sure he’d gone and fallen in love with Logan somewhere along the way. By taking a step back, rewinding to the point before they’d changed the very foundation of their relationship, Elijah would still have them both. Even if that meant loving Logan from afar and pretending his feelings didn’t exist. He could do it, and he would if it came down to it. Above all else, Sam held his heart, and he would do nothing to forsake her.
The back door opened, drawing his attention. He looked over, expecting to see Sam, but found Logan standing in the doorway, his eyes downcast, his shoulders slumped.
“She’s not out here,” Elijah told him, settling his gaze back on the water.
“Can we talk?”
“If you’re asking whether we’re capable…” Elijah sighed. “It’s long overdue.”
However, if they were going to have a heart-to-heart, Elijah was going to need another beer. Rather than mention it, he got to his feet and headed into the house, moving past Logan without so much as brushing the front of his shirt.
He grabbed another beer from the refrigerator and popped the top, then turned and leaned against the counter.
Elijah decided not to pull his punches. “You hurt her. Badly.”
The man who usually kept his emotions masked looked like he’d been sucker-punched with that one. Elijah didn’t feel bad about it because that was his main point of contention with this entire fucked-up situation. Sam was their heart and soul, and he’d long ago understood that the main objective in keeping this thing between them working smoothly was to ensure she was happy. With his actions, Logan had taken that rule, snapped it in half over his knee, and tossed it into a fire.
Could they even come back from this? Would it take Elijah making the sacrifice in order to fix things?
Fuck, he hoped not.
Elijah refrained from telling Logan that he was willing to go back to the way things had been before. Although it was an option, it wasn’t something he wanted to resort to unless absolutely necessary.
Minutes ticked by until it became apparent that Logan wasn’t going to talk. The man was a fucking wreck, and Elijah couldn’t help but feel some sympathy for him. He was about to tell him as much when Logan cleared his throat.
“I remember the first night you took Sam out. Just the two of you.”
Elijah took a pull on his beer, keeping the bottle low so he could hold Logan’s stare.
“An art gallery of all fucking places. You and your class and sophistication and that goddamn accent.” Logan swallowed hard. “It was hard for me, although I put on a good front. I knew before that night that Sam had feelings for you. We talked about it. Talked about everything because that’s how Sam does things.”
