Josh’s eyes darted to Logan, who reluctantly lifted his hat a bit. This man might not want the attention, but he wasn’t the type to hide from anyone.
Immediately I regretted inviting him.
Josh beamed at the man I was standing with. “Hey, Logan Danes,” he acknowledged with a nod and a stretched arm. “Josh—”
“Davenport. You play on the Gaters.” Logan took his hand for a firm shake. “I know who you are. Good seeing you again.”
“Yeah man. It’s uh—” he scratched his head at the awkwardness, “I heard you were living around here. And… a sporting goods store or something right?”
“Down by tenth and Main, yes.”
He nodded and turned back to me. “Hey, Jax was incredible out there. Did—”
“Logan,” I cut him off so fast they both jerked. “Logan helped train him—a little, for a few weeks.” I announced before Josh mentioned anyone else. Despite how loud it was, I was positive the pounding against my chest was louder. As much as I believed Josh was on my side, I still felt sick to my stomach with angst over what was happening right now.
Logan picked up on it. He didn’t reach out to touch me, but his eyes watched me. And Josh just gave me a wink as if to say my secret was safe with him.
I knew Josh was one of the good ones. But all this meant was that I couldn’t keep Logan my little secret much longer. Not that I hadanyidea what that little secret was.
“So what are you doing here?” I scanned the trail of children at the rink for a familiar kid.
“Brody’s second year as a mite.”
He nodded as if I knew what that meant. If I remembered correctly, his son was eight. “So what would that make Jax, do they go by age or skill level?”
“Age,” both men answered.
“Yeah, he’s not a mini-mite, that’s six and under.”
My eyes popped. “They’d hand a hockey stick to a five-year-old?”
Logan laughed and Josh shook his head. “I waited till Brody was six. Then started training him myself for a few months. He didn’t join until he was seven.”
I nodded, only half listening because I didn’t know where this conversation would go and needed to split asap. “I should go get Jax and head home, I’m sure he’s exhausted.”
“I’ll see you at practice this week. Game Friday.”
“See you then.”
Once he was gone, Logan’s gaze was still on me and I looked past him in avoidance. “I should go grab Jax’s things.”
Logan walked up with me and when we reached our secluded bench, gently tugged my arm to turn me.
“Rayne.”
I looked at him but couldn’t control my wandering eyes.
He seemed to accept it. “What am I missing?”
I didn’t bother playing dumb. “Nothing.” I replied simply and changed the subject. “Hey, would you like to have dinner with us tonight? I guess to…celebrate?”
His shoulders fell. “I would love that, but I have plans with my sister.”
I pressed my lips together and nodded, trying to believe it was true. Or that he just decided he didn’t trust me.
“No,” he chuckled. “Really, I do. It’s…it’s the anniversary of our brother’s death. We…we always have dinner together—and cake.”
My hand shot up to my chest and my eyes watered. Immediately I felt terrible for being selfish. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” I breathed. “Of course. That’s…” I blinked and looked into his eyes. “That’s beautiful.”
