“I don’t know, I . . . I didn’t know what to do. He didn’t really make me nervous until we were parked in front of the house.” I took in a breath. “He didn’t want me to go inside, he didn’t want the night to end. He said Iowedhim after all the time we'd spent together.” Logan scoffed and shook his head as more anger filled his eyes. “I was home though, and I was able to run inside. And then I found you and Adam in the basement with those girls and . . . I felt jealous and ashamed and I didn’t feel like you would want to hear it.”
“Amelia.” Logan’s voice was insistent. “I always wanted to hear it. I hated knowing you were with him that night. You looked so damn pretty, and I hated knowing he was dancing with you, holding your hand. I hated that it wasn’t me. Trust me, I always wanted to hearanythingfrom you.” He combed his fingers through his hair in frustration as he looked at the ground before his eyes rose to meet mine again. “I’m sorry I misunderstood. I was so focused on being angry that I failed to see what was right in front of me.”
“You couldn’t have known. There’s nothing for you to be sorry for. I just . . . I don’t want you to think he was my first love. He wasn’t.”
Logan huffed out a breath as he nodded. “I’m going to fuck his car up. I’m going to fuckhimup.”
I threw my hands out toward him, grabbing his shoulders. “No, Logan. No you’re not. You’re not going to risk your business because of something that happened a long time ago. He’s not worth it. He’s not worth an ounce of it because it’s only going to hurt you in the end.”
His body was still stiff with discomfort, and I could tell this was really bothering him, so I pulled his hand in mine and started moving us onward, hoping the physical activity would help him calm down.
We spent the next fifteen minutes or so in silence as we continued through the trailhead, our hands remaining intertwined. The air was still chilly, but fresh in a way that nurtured my body. Eventually, I thought of a question that would steer the subject away from Paul.
“What happened between you and Mara?” I asked, hoping my curiosity wasn’t too nosy. I had been surprised to hear her name come up again and wondered how she came back into Logan’s life after all this time, and if he might still have feelings for her.
“She came into the shop, not knowing that I owned it. Her car had died on the side of the road and she didn’t know what to do, so she walked through our door and asked if someone could help her tow it. We don’t normally tow cars—the business doesn’t have a tow truck or anything—but I heard her question from where I was underneath a van and decided to see if I could help.
“When I walked up to the front lobby I saw that it was her.” I felt him hesitate, fumbling in his mind for the right next words. “I noticed she had some bruises on her arms . . . small ones, in a row. I recognized the familiar way it looked. Fingertips, from a hand squeezing.”
I felt my breath catch, not expecting anything like this. But I stayed quiet, giving him room to tell the story.
“I hadn’t seen her since high school, over ten years ago. But we both recognized each other right away and I told her I would help. I borrowed a truck from one of the guys and was able to tow her car back to the shop, and then I took her to lunch while the guys took a look at it.
“She opened up to me while we ate burgers and explained that she’d been trying to leave her boyfriend for awhile. He was getting pretty handsy with her and she was fearful of him. She was finally able to pack all of her things and leave after a bad fight, and she was staying on a friend’s couch trying to navigate through her next steps. All she had was her car and whatever was in it. I don’t know . . . after hearing that, I felt compelled to help her.”
I nodded as I looked up at Logan, squeezing his palm in silent support as we continued on the trail.
“I made it a point to check in on her and be there for her, and after a few lunches—and then eventually a few dinners—we just sort of stuck together.”
“Wow.” I could feel my voice was tight. I knew an experience like that was probably really triggering for Logan. “Is she okay now?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Logan quickly responded. “She’s okay. She got a place of her own outside of the city and she’s pretty much back on her feet. We never actively talked about dating again, it just sort of happened. I think we fell into an old routine from when we were younger. But we realized before long that it wasn’t working and I finally told her that we’d do much better as friends.”
“Why wasn’t it working?” I heard myself ask before my brain could catch up to my mouth. “Sorry, that’s probably a little invasive . . .”
“No, it’s okay. It’s a fair question.” He gave me a small grin before he looked back down to his feet, Hook still marching faithfully at his side. He didn’t answer right away, and I thought maybe he wasn’t going to before I heard him say, “She wasn’t you.”
I felt the beat of those words in my heart like a kick-drum.
ChapterTwenty-Seven
I wokeup the next morning to a text from Logan.
Logan
My legs are sore.
Smiling at the screen, I typed a reply back.
Me: Big baby
I put my phone back down on the nightstand and covered my face with one of the many soft pillows that adorned the bed. Logan and I hiked for almost four miles yesterday morning, only turning around because he had to get to work. It had been one of the best mornings I’d had in a long time, wandering through the red rocks with Logan and Hook, like a beautiful glimpse at our potential future. Taking the pillow back off of my face, I sighed as I stared at the ceiling. I already wanted to see him again.
The bright, morning sun was shining through the bedroom window, casting a beam of light onto the bed. It was a bit blinding, so I sat up and put on my socks, figuring it was time to get up anyway.
I opened the bedroom door and made my way to the kitchen, finding Rachel cooking breakfast in a plush, pink bathrobe. Her face was fresh and free of makeup, and her hair was loose around her face. “Good morning,” I said, causing her to jump and clutch her chest.
“Oh my gosh—you scared me,” she said through shaky breaths. A brown lock of hair fell down in front of her eyes, and I watched as she tucked it behind her ear.
