‘Shoot, honey,’ Logan replied, now seemingly enjoying his berry drink far more than he had anticipated after the wheatgrass experience.
‘I want to know what your deal is,’ Stella said, a hint of steely insistence in her voice. ‘You can’t honestly expect to show up looking a hot mess and ask to stay with me and then not explain what’s up. Come on, even for you that’s pushing it…’
Stella paused and waited for an answer.
Suddenly, Logan’s facial expression turned from one of flirtatious banter to something altogether sadder.
This was reallysomething, Stella could tell.
‘It’s okay, you can trust me,’ Stella said, reaching over and placing her soft hand on Logan’s far more rugged, not to mentioned tattooed, hand.
‘Well, it all began about nine months ago…’
Logan proceeded to explain that he had built something of a debt. He was gambling and losing. But instead of quitting while he wasn’t too far behind, Logan had decided to try and gamble his way out of the debt. Of course, this only led to more financial woes.
It turned out that Logan had got himself into so much debt that he had ended up homeless. His car was all he had left in the world. And speaking of Logan’s car…
‘I had to leave it,’ Logan said. ‘I was so fucking scared that the cops would show up. I mean… I’m not even insured currently. I’m screwed. The whole situation is fucked up. I could have been arrested. Maybe even ended up in county jail for a short sentence. Or worse. It was the way I just had no memories beyond winning that God damned drag race. It just makes no sense.’
‘Oh boy,’ Stella said, moving closer to Logan and putting her arm around him. ‘You’ve been a in a bad situation, that’s for sure. Don’t worry though, I’ll help you through it. That’s what friends are for.’
Logan nodded and the pair of them shared a moment.
There were deep feelings between Stella and Logan, there was no questioning that. Even in the times where their friendship had slipped off the radar, or where the lines had been blurred,it had never been in doubt that the pair of them cared about one another.
But as much as she wanted to be there for Logan, Stella couldn’t help but wonder whether being associated to someone with a dubious criminal record might actually hamper her career at EcoPlay.
Stella felt guilty for even thinking this, but her career was important to her.
Stella would have to tread carefully with how she handled this.
Stella’s only hope was that,for once, Logan might be ready to play it safe and stick to the rules…
Chapter 4
Drink Devinemay not exactly have been Logan’s usual kind of hangout spot, but Logan had to admit that it actually wasn’t all that bad. Terrible wheatgrass shot aside, Logan was enjoying his berry juice. But even more than that, Logan was simply enjoying hanging out with Stella again.
I left it too long.
Stella is great.
Any man would be lucky to have her…
However as the conversation progressed, Logan suddenly noticed a difference in Stella.
It was as if the mention of Logan’s problems had spooked Stella a little bit. This was confusing for Logan. His problems were his own, not Stella’s.
‘Is everything good?’ Logan said. ‘All of a sudden you seem… on edge.’
Logan paused and waited for a response from Stella.
Logan thought back to how his older brother used to give him the time and space to speak about his feelings. Jackson had been the best big brother a young boy could ask for and Logan missed him more and more as the years passed.
Sadly, Jackson had died when Logan was starting high school and it had impacted Logan’s life in the most significant way.
Jackson had been a guiding light in what was often a chaotic and challenging upbringing. With Jackson’s stability and attention gone, Logan had found himself often looking after his own interests.
To do this at such a young age wasn’t ideal, and Logan had made the decision at that point to simply focus on himself and having as much fun as possible.
