Seven of Hearts

14. Logan

14

LOGAN

“ I know you’re not asleep,” I mumbled into Leah’s hair as morning light bathed us in a bluish glow from the teal curtains covering her bedroom windows.

She was quiet, and I wondered how long she was planning to keep up the charade.

I didn’t mind. I loved holding her like this, snuggled under the covers. Leah had laid in my arms all night long. Sometime right before dawn, she had rolled over and buried herself in my chest.

The feeling of her small bump pressed against my stomach was something I had never thought about experiencing. But now that I had, I couldn’t think of anywhere else I wanted to be.

Now we were chest to back, with my hand covering her bump.

Leah huffed. “I really have to pee. But I’m too comfortable to get up.”

I chuckled. “Can’t help you there, honeybee. But I can make you something to eat while you get up.”

She threw the covers back and eased out of bed. “You didn’t have to stay last night, and you don’t have to make me breakfast. I never eat breakfast anyway.”

I stretched out on my back and laced my hands together behind my head as I watched her. Somewhere right before midnight, she had slipped out of bed to brush her teeth, and I had lost my jeans and shirt, opting to sleep in my boxers.

Watching Leah strip out of her pajamas and wiggle into a pair of leggings was something else, and it made me wish I was still in my jeans. Morning wood wasn’t easy to hide.

She was so fucking hot.

If the voice note recording of the two of us having sex had been a cassette, I would have ruined the tape from how much I had listened to it.

Leah paused, wearing only leggings and a bra. She clutched an oversized sweatshirt to her chest. “Why are you staring at me?”

“You just started changing in front of me.”

“Yeah. Who cares? But you’re staring.”

“You wanna know why I’m staring?” I eased out of bed, thankful when my erection didn’t completely tent my boxers. I pulled my jeans on, but didn’t bother zipping them or buckling my belt. “Because it doesn’t matter if I’m drunk off my ass or sober as a judge. You are, hands-down, the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen.”

She rolled her eyes, and I wasn’t having that.

“I’m serious, Leah. I haven’t stopped thinking about you since that night we spent together. Not once.” I slid my hand across her belly and up her waist. “I haven’t stopped wanting you.”

Leah pushed away from me, yanking the sweatshirt over her head. “So that’s what this is about? You’re sticking around town to see if you can get laid since I’m not seeing anyone else? Great. Thank you for making your intentions abundantly clear.”

That’s what she thought I wanted?

“Leah, stop,” I said as she stormed through her apartment and ripped the front door open.

“You can go now,” she snapped. “I don’t want the ‘boyfriend treatment’ because you feel guilty. I certainly don’t want it simply because you want to stick your dick in something other than your hand.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” I said as I hurried to fasten my belt. I was still shirtless and would have to walk-of-shame it back to my sister’s house if Leah didn’t give me a chance to explain.

“No,” she said with a firmness I’d never heard her use before. “I’m not going to accept half-assed actions and guilty effort. If you feel guilty because I’m in this situation, then you’re forgiven. But I’m not going to have my heart dragged around because you’re sitting on the fence. So, stay in Beaufort or go back to Chicago. I really don’t care. We can figure out the co-parenting thing when it’s time. But I will not be led on. Either you’re all in with me, or you’re not. There’s no middle ground.”

She was giving me an out. A clever man would have taken it. But there was a difference between being a clever man and being a wise one.

My dad was a clever man, and it had landed him in prison.

But the man I credited with raising me was wise. And that made all the difference.

“I’m in, Leah.” I grabbed the seven of hearts playing card that was still sitting on her kitchen counter with the message I had scribbled on it. “I promised you I would do better. Let me prove it to you. I can’t promise I’m going to be great at this, but I’m going to be better than my parents were.”

That gave her pause. For a split second, I had hope. But Leah just shook her head. “Jumping into a relationship just because we fucked around and found out is a colossally stupid idea. There’s no way this ends other than the three of us getting hurt.”

“I’m not saying we should date. I don’t think it’s best for us right now.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Then why are we even having this conversation?”

“Because whether we want to admit it or not, we both need each other. Even if it’s not romantically.”

Leah huffed as I took a chance and moved closer, sliding my hands onto her hips.

“You shoulder burdens that aren’t yours to carry, and now you have a baby to think about too. Our baby. You do everything for everyone. Let me think about you.”

“Logan...” Her defenses were waning. She wanted this. Wanted the companionship.

“I mean it, honeybee.” I kissed her forehead. “And you know what you made me realize? That I need someone in my life that I can talk to. I don’t have friends. But I’d really like for you to be my first. So what do you say? Can I be your help? Can you be my friend?”

Hesitantly, she nodded.

“Yeah?”

“Okay,” she croaked.

“You don’t have to do this alone, Leah. I don’t know how this ends for us, but I know how it ends for this little one,” I said as I laid my hand protectively over her belly. “With two people who will go to the ends of the earth for their child because they know what it feels like to have parents who don’t. I think, in time, we can find what works for us.”

“I really have to pee now,” she whispered.

I chuckled. “Go pee. I’ve gotta get back to Kristin’s house to get online for work.”

Leah chewed on her lip. “I’ll be at the Lawsons’ house today, so I won’t be next door.”

I dipped back into her bedroom to grab my shirt. “Then maybe I’ll have to text you again sometime.”

“Tomorrow we need to get on a call with the Chicago development team to discuss the next steps,” Bryan said. “Logan, do you want to head it up or have someone else take point?”

I peeled my eyes away from my phone and looked over the cluster of laptops that littered Will and Kristin’s dining room table. Since Will, Bryan, and I were all in town, it made sense to work together.

“What was that?” I muttered as I glanced at the screen to see where we were. I had zoned out somewhere around the thirty-three percent mark of yet another slide deck.

Will stifled a smile, but didn’t say anything.

Bryan huffed. “Do you want to run the development meeting with your team back in Chicago, or do you want someone else to do it?”

“Paisley should do it. She’s been the driving force behind the scenes. I want to give her a chance to step up into a leadership role,” I said as I fired off a text to Leah, letting her know I had plans this evening, but I’d be around if she needed anything.

Will nodded. “Good observation.”

“Would have been better if you had paid attention to my slide deck,” Bryan grumbled.

I closed my laptop and pushed away from the dining room table. “Dude, call it a PowerPoint. They’ve been around since the 90s. Calling it a ‘slide deck’ doesn’t make it special. And it could’ve been an email.”

Bryan just glowered.

“You’ve been missed,” Will snickered.

Bryan turned to Will. “You thought my slide deck was good, right?”

Will wavered for a moment. “It was good. It definitely could have been an email, though.” He looked up at me as I stood. “You heading out?”

I grabbed my keys. “Yeah, I’m gonna go kidnap Bryan’s wife and yell at her.”

“You’re only allowed to return her if you feed her,” he said. “Congrats, by the way. Kylie told me the news. More like she yelled the news, but she’ll get over it.”

“I’m gonna make her get over it,” I grumbled as I headed out the door.

My timing was perfect. Over the few days I had stayed here, I had come to learn that Will and Kristin’s house was a meeting place of sorts. Kylie and Bryan often came over for dinner or to socialize. Although Hunter had his own place, he and his girlfriend made frequent appearances just to hang out. Zoey was here the least, and she actually lived here. Such was the social calendar of a budding adult.

Kylie pulled into the driveway to meet Bryan as I jogged down the porch.

She got out and teetered on her heels as I dragged her to my car. “Geez. What the hell, Lo?”

“Get in,” I said as I ripped the passenger door open and shoved her inside.

Kylie spat out a mouthful of her hair. “But I told Bryan I was?—”

“He’s been informed you’re being kidnapped until you have a fucking attitude adjustment. Buckle up.”

Kylie glowered as I hopped behind the wheel and backed out of the drive, but she didn’t open the door and tuck and roll to get away.

“You’d better be feeding me,” she snapped. “I’m starving.”

I pulled the ready-to-eat PB&J from my pocket that I had pilfered from the freezer on my way out the door and threw it at her.

“ Spend time with your brother ,” she mewed in a sarcastic, high-pitched voice as she pulled the plastic wrapper open. “ You don’t get to see him enough. ”

Kylie pouted in the passenger’s seat as I made my way to Jokers—the bar that had been in the same gravel lot since before I was born. It looked a lot better now that Chase and Bridget, Kristin and Will’s friends, had taken it over a few years ago.

I pulled into a parking spot, opened Kylie’s door, and death-marched her inside. “Let’s go.”

“Well, hey,” Bridget said with a bright smile when Kylie and I walked into the dimly lit bar. “What can I get for you kids?”

“Water for me, and an old fashioned with an orange slice for Ky,” I said.

“And chicken fingers and fries, please,” Kylie said.

Bridget nodded. “You got it. I’ll bring it over to y’all in a sec. Make yourselves at home.”

We weaved through the pool tables and across the dance floor to a high-top table in the back corner by the dart boards.

“Sit,” I ordered as I pulled out her chair for her.

To my surprise, Kylie sat without me having to WWE body slam her into the chair. Bridget waltzed over with a tray piled high with fried food. She dropped the plate between the two of us, the water in front of me, and the cocktail in front of Kylie.

As Bridget disappeared to check on the rest of the barflies, Kylie reached for her old fashioned. I snatched it away. She made a move for the chicken fingers, but I pulled the plate over to my side.

“You can have these when you pull your head out of your ass,” I said.

Kylie crossed her arms. “I should’ve known this was coming.”

“Good. Since we’re on the same page, what the fuck is your problem?”

She huffed. “My brother and my best friend lied to me for months. I’m supposed to get over that?”

“Yeah. You are. Because you’re a fucking adult and Leah needs you. I need you,” I snapped as I tossed a fry into my mouth.

Kylie reached for one, and I swatted her hand away.

“I’m not mad at Leah,” she admitted. “I’m hurt that she didn’t tell me. But that’s between the two of us.”

Okay. That was progress. I could work with that.

“In my defense, I found out a week ago.”

Her face fell. “When I mentioned it to you at your birthday?”

I nodded. “I did the math. Figured it out. Had to go see her and make sure she was okay.”

Kylie dug her hands into her hair. “Shit...”

“Yeah. But it is what it is. At least I was in town when I found out. It could’ve been worse.”

She worked her fingernail into a groove in the wooden tabletop. “You flew back out here to be close to her.”

I nodded. “And the baby. But Leah . . . she’s?—”

“Perfect for you.”

I could have been knocked over by a light breeze.

“What did you say?”

Kylie shrugged. “I’m just saying. I’ve known you two longer than almost any other people on earth. I love you guys and I want good things for you. Besides...You always looked at her a little differently than you looked at my other friends.”

Busted. I had always harbored a crush on Leah Holloway. An innocent one that I never let fester or grow.

My sister’s best friend had always been on the other side of a line I wasn’t supposed to cross. But now there were two more lines. And they were pink.

“I tried not to,” I admitted.

Kylie stole a chicken finger and took a bite. Since things seemed to be moving in an amicable direction, I let her.

“Why?” she asked.

I grabbed one myself. “Because you needed her. All the shit with Mom and Dad put us through...She was one of your only friends who stuck by you. I didn’t want to take her away from you.”

Kylie stopped chewing. “You didn’t take her from me.” She let out an unexpected laugh as realization dawned on her. “My best friend is having my niece or nephew. She has a place in our lives forever.” She jammed the half-eaten chicken finger into the cup of ranch dressing. “But if you hurt her, I will murder you. Slowly and painfully. I’ll restrain you, then pluck out all your nose hairs, one by one, with tweezers until you’re crying. Then I’ll take floral pins and jam them into your nail beds. I’ll have to dismember you to dispose of the body in a way where it’ll never be found, and I’ll definitely be doing that when you’re still alive. Would you like me to start with your fingers or toes? I think I’ll start with your toes so you can’t slip out of the wrist restraints. And even if you get free after I start chopping off your fingers, you won’t be able to run away. I think I’ll disembowel you next. I’ll strangle you with your entrails as you bleed out. It won’t take long, but it will be very satisfying. After that, it’s just slicing and dicing, shaving off your fingertips, smashing your teeth with a hammer so no one can match them to dental records. Then I’ll drive around to all the boatyards up and down the coast to leave little bits of you to decompose under decommissioned fishing trawlers.”

I pushed the plate away from me as my stomach lurched. “That was rather vivid.”

She pointed a French fry at me. “Don’t fuck this up.”

I offered her the old fashioned. “Then help me.”

Kylie lifted an eyebrow as she sipped her drink. “You want a crash course in Leah 101?”

I nodded.

She laced her hands together. “I will take payment in mozzarella sticks, and you need to take notes.”

I flagged down Bridget and put in Kylie’s request, then pulled out my phone, opened the voice note app, and hit record.

“Okay,” Kylie said. “Starting with the basics. Leah loves food. She loves going to restaurants. Morning sickness was a bitch, but I think she’s coming out of it now. She never eats breakfast because she’s always running late. Gio and Ellie are her world, but she is exhausted after work if she’s not with them overnight. Get used to it. When she goes home, she usually wants to rot in bed. She loves bananas, but hates when they’re mixed with things because it overpowers them. Banana pancakes? Good. Strawberry-banana smoothie? Bad. The only exception is bananas and peanut butter. She loves them together. If the question is movies or TV shows, she’ll always pick a TV show that she’s watched before. Don’t even bother asking her out to the movies. She hates theaters. Saturdays are for thrift shopping and the farmer’s market. She will buy furniture, which means you’ll also have to go with her to the hardware store. It’s a real ‘ If You Give a Mouse a Cooki e’ situation. Her apartment is her nest. I know you’re like a weird minimalist monk who survives on unflavored oatmeal and a single blanket on your bed. So, I’m warning you: she is going to introduce you to the world of throw pillows, and you will love them. Are we clear?”

I grabbed a chicken finger and used the bite to hide my grin. “We’re clear. Keep going.”