Fifteen
Logan
It would have been nice to be able to slam the door to the barn, but even as angry as he was, Logan wasn’t going to do anything that would scare the horses. So he was forced to shut it slowly and carefully, more so even than usual because he didn’t trust his own muscles at the moment.
He was so stupid. So very, completely, ridiculously moronic. What had he thought would happen? The real surprise was that it hadn’t happened sooner.
Derrick wasn’t his. Derrick had really never been his.
The scene he had walked into as he came into the barn had made that more than clear. Derrick and Jessica had been all over each other. One thing was abundantly clear and had been for a while, and that was that Derrick would always choose Jessica.
So why hadn’t he learned that? Deep down, in the very center of himself, why hadn’t he figured out that it was all so hopeless? Why couldn’t he move on?
Why was he still so hopelessly in love with someone who had never, who could never, love him back? Especially since it seemed that Derrick wasn’t even a good person. He had been playing Logan while still being with Jessica, that much was clear to Logan.
“You look like you’re in a good mood.”
Logan hadn’t even noticed Wyatt approaching from the direction of the house. He had been too busy glaring at the ground as though it had personally offended him. He looked up, meeting Wyatt’s eyes.
“You are literally the last person I want to talk to right now,” Logan informed him. “So back off now, if you know what’s good for you.”
Of course, this being Wyatt, Logan didn’t have a lot of hope that his advice would be listened to, so it didn’t even surprise him when Wyatt stepped in front of him, blocking his way.
“I’m just going to see Derrick,” Wyatt commented, gazing up at Logan in a way that reminded Logan of some sort of predator. A hyena, maybe.
“He’s in there, but he’s busy,” Logan replied, his voice as cold and unwelcoming as he could possibly make it. He’d never had a lot of patience for being polite to Wyatt to start with, but right at the moment, he was just not in the mood.
“I know. He arranged to meet me there,” Wyatt said. “We’re planning our strategy for when Malcolm comes back.”
Logan didn’t want to know. More than anything, Logandid notwant to know. It was none of his business. It was irrelevant to him. He had nothing to do with it. And yet, no matter how many times he repeated those words to himself …
“What strategy?”
Wyatt’s smirk grew wider, almost cartoonishly so. No one had any business looking as pleased with themselves as he did, and Logan didn’t even really try to hold back the low growl that rose in the back of his throat. He was in no mood for this, but he did get a bit of a kick out of it when even Wyatt backed off a step or two in response to that growl.
“For how we’re going to get Malcolm to sell,” Wyatt answered, sidling pragmatically just a little bit back. “You should get in on this. There could be a nice amount of money in it for you, too.”
Logan’s hands balled up into fists and his teeth ground together so much that he could almost hear his jaw creaking in protest. He wasn’t going to punch this man. He wasn’t going to. He couldn’t afford to get sued.
Damned if it wouldn’t be almost worth it, though.
Wyatt was a smart guy, but he let his petty vindictiveness blind him sometimes. Anyone who was paying attention would not have kept right on going like Wyatt did. If Wyatt had known what was good for him, he would have stepped aside and let Logan leave before things got bad.
“I know that you’re not technically one of the Hart boys, but if you help me out, I’ll make it worth your while. Besides, you and Derrick seem pretty close these days. Maybe just a littletooclose, if you know what I mean?”
The offered money was the carrot; the threat was the stick. It was very clear to Logan what Wyatt was doing, but it didn’t stop him from knowing exactly what it meant to see red.
“Get the fuck out of my way,” Logan growled, though his jaw was still clenched so tightly that he could barely force the words out, and they came out small and strange. “If you know what’s good for you. Now.”
Something about that did get through to Wyatt, who clamped his mouth shut and, at long last, stepped out of the way. Logan didn’t even look back as he stormed away, everything that had just happened racing through his mind.
Seeing Jessica and Derrick together, seeing how blissfully they were cuddled up together, knowing just how thoroughly Derrick had moved on, that had been bad enough. Follow that up with Wyatt actually trying to convert Logan to his way of thinking, and that was so much worse.
“Come home, Malcolm,” he muttered to himself, though he knew that he couldn’t actually call his best friend back. It was the guy’s honeymoon, and nothing super critical had even happened. Wyatt might be working with Derrick, but the two of them alone couldn’t do anything.
He didn’t know about Craig, but even if Craig did get on his younger brothers’ side, Malcolm would never go for it. That was what Wyatt didn’t understand. Wyatt would do anything if there were enough money involved, so he naturally thought that throwing money at a problem was a completely legitimate way to solve anything.
He’d done it with Logan, after all.
