Chapter 27
Twenty-Seven
Logan
My arms tighten around Lexi on instinct, clutching her against my bare chest while she sobs into my skin. Meanwhile, my brain is struggling to process the bombshell just dropped in the form of five words.
“Wyatt broke up with me.”
I hold Camden’s wide gaze as I attempt to soothe her, whispering soft nothings in her ear, but both of us are a bit like deer in headlights considering he’s still naked in my bed. I’m almost positive Lexi didn’t even see him when she flung herself—
She pulls back suddenly, only to let out a little squeak and cover her eyes.
“Oh, God. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize—” She steps back, shaking her head and wiping her face. “I can talk to you later, Logan. I’m sorry, Cam—”
“Hey, hey, hey,” I chant softly, grabbing her by the shoulders and ducking to meet her gaze. “It’s okay. Just give me a second to get dressed, and we can go downstairs to talk, all right?”
Her lips roll inward, tears still streaming down her face, and she nods.
“Okay,” I whisper, rubbing my palms over her arms. “Wait for me down there. I’ll make you some tea.”
She sniffles and nods, shooting Cam an apologetic look before ducking out of the room and pulling the door closed behind her.
Turning, I find Camden out of bed already, dragging his underwear up his muscular thighs. His expression showcases just as much confusion as I’m feeling when he meets my gaze.
“What the hell is going on? He broke up with her?”
I shake my head. “Fuck if I know.”
Grabbing my shirt from the floor, I yank it on and fix my sex-mussed hair as much as I can without a mirror.
When I glance back at him, he’s finished dressing too—or as much as he can since I stole his sweatpants.
He doesn’t seem too worried about that, though, if the concern etched into his features is anything to go by.
Him and that damn bleeding heart of his.
I cross the room to him and wrap my hand around the side of his neck. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m gonna go talk to her, okay?”
“It’s okay. It’s a bit more important than missing keys,” he whispers, a pained smile on his lips.
With a gentle kiss to my forehead, he slips out of my bedroom and heads toward his down the hall.
I’m only halfway down the stairs when I spot Lexi curled up on the sofa, holding her knees to her chest and her face buried in her arms. A pang of sympathy rushes through me at the desolate sight. I can’t recall a time I’ve ever seen her cry, let alone like this.
It’s heartbreaking.
Silently, I work on fixing a cup of her favorite tea—some Earl Grey she always keeps on hand for when she’s sick. At some point, I feel her watching me over the back of the couch, but neither of us speak, the only sounds coming from the kettle on the stove and her soft sniffles.
A few minutes later, I set the steeping tea on the coffee table in front of her, and she offers me the smallest hint of a smile.
“Thank you,” she whispers as I sit down beside her.
“Of course.”
Reaching over, I rest my hand on her forearm and give it a gentle squeeze. It’s meant to be reassuring, but the contact has her breath hitching a little, and she huffs out a squeaky sob before glancing away.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin your week with Camden. I just—”
“It’s fine, I promise,” I tell her earnestly.
A few more tears spill over her lashes, cascading down her face in streams, and she shakes her head.
“I just… I wasn’t expecting it. I don’t…” She takes a shaky breath to steady herself, and a soft little hiccup slips out. “I love him so much, and I…I don’t want to lose him.”
I nod and murmur, “I know, Lex. I know.”
If there was something more I could do to console her, I’d do it on a dime. But this? Heartbreak? It’s not my area of expertise. Willow would be her best option right now, but she’s already on a plane to Sedona for spring break.
“I just… I—”
She gasps on another sob, her entire body shaking from grief, and I instinctively pull her against me and just hold her, letting her cry into my shirt, her tears and mascara staining the fabric, for I don’t know how long.
Long enough, her tea on the coffee table is surely cold.
But I don’t say anything, just continue offering her my silent support, even long after her cries subside.
The stairs behind us creak out of nowhere, and both of us peer over the back of the couch to find Camden creeping down the stairs—thankfully wearing a new pair of sweats. His ocean eyes shift from me to Lexi, sympathy swirling in their depths, before he motions toward the kitchen.
“I’m sorry. It was so quiet, I thought you were in the basement. I’ll be gone in a sec—”
“No, no. Stay, Cam,” Lexi insists through her sniffles. She sits up, using her sleeves to wipe at her face. “I’m the one who ruined your night with Logan. It’s okay. I can go downstairs and—”
“Lex, no,” I tell her, holding her in place. “You don’t need to apologize for anything, okay? And you definitely don’t need to be alone right now.”
Cam nods in clear agreement. Reaching over the couch, he rests his hand on her back and rubs it soothingly, offering soft reassurance.
“Logan’s right. Don’t worry about me. I’m good, just grabbing something to drink. But if you really want me to stay down here with you, I will. Just say the word.”
More tears well in her eyes as she whispers, “Please, stay.”
Those two words have him abandoning any and all thoughts of why he came down here in the first place, rounding the couch to sit on Lexi’s other side instead.
There’s a tenderness in his gaze I recognize—one he’s aimed at me so many times over the last months.
Maybe that’s why I know the words that’ll leave him next before he can even speak.
“What do you need?”
Her lower lip trembles at his question, the sight slicing through my gut like razor blades. But it’s her response that cuts the deepest.
“For someone to wake me up from this nightmare.”
“I would if I could. In a heartbeat.” He layers his hand over hers and offers her a gentle smile. “Will talking about it help? Or would you rather just sit in silence like you were with Logan?”
All she does is shrug before burying her head in her arms again.
“Okay,” he says softly. “Then is there anything I can get you? Like maybe ice cream? A pillow to scream in? A punching bag?”
“Are you offering yourself up for the job as the last one?” she mutters, the question muffled.
“I might be a goalie, but I do take hits on the ice sometimes. I think I could handle your tiny, ineffectual fists.”
A watery laugh leaves her, and she turns to face him, resting her cheek on her forearms. “You must’ve forgotten I was raised with a brother. I’m scrappier than I look.”
“I have no doubt,” he confirms, unable to keep the amusement from his voice. “Then I can go track Wy down for a good beating, if you want. Seems like he might be deserving of it.”
She shakes her head, a few stray tears falling from the movement.
“No, no. It’s not like that. It’s just…” She sucks in a big breath, only for a soggy hiccup to come from her before she continues, “We were fighting about m-my plan to go home instead of seeing him over spring break, and it just started getting really…ugly. I didn’t see the issue, ‘cause I was just in Texas to see him over Valentine’s Day, and I haven’t seen my mom since Christmas. But apparently it was a big deal.”
Her lower lip trembles some more as Camden reaches over, wiping away her tears, only for more to replace them. Every time she goes to speak, another hiccup or squeak comes out, and she shakes her head. As if the movement is enough to dislodge the memory of what happened.
“Take your time. Just breathe, Lexi. We’re right here,” Cam whispers, his expression tight as he rubs his palm up and down her arm.
Something inside me cracks a little, seeing him with her like this.
Seeing how good he is in moments of need, how easy it is for him to get people to open up.
It makes me wonder what I did to deserve having someone like him in my life.
Someone so kind, compassionate, and empathetic.
Who takes on the burdens others are feeling without a second thought or care of what it might cost himself.
I’ve seen it firsthand when he’s done it for me.
And now, here he is, doing the same thing for Lexi—someone I love and care for. But the thing is, I don’t even think he’s doing it because of me or her being one of my favorite people. It’s just who he is as a person.
It’s impossible not to love someone like that.
Lexi sucks in another deep breath, coughing a little because of it, before she finally calms down enough to continue.
“He just started going off on this tangent. Like, on and on about how hard it is on him to do this long distance stuff, and I told him I understood. It’s not easy on me either, you know?
But I told him it was only for another year.
I kept saying that, over and over, because like…
what’s a year in the scheme of a life, right? ”
The question comes out all high pitched and squeaky, and she shakes her head helplessly.
“I mean, my brother did it. He and his husband were long distance for two years after he got drafted, so why couldn’t Wyatt and I do it too?
And with the way Wyatt idolizes Keene, I thought that’d be enough to convince him, you know?
But then he just said ‘they’re the exception, not the rule’ and then—”
Her breath hitches, her entire body vibrating with anguish and grief as another strangled sob spills from her lips. Before I can even act, Cam pulls her against his chest and starts rubbing small circles on her back, shushing her as she cries.
She clings to him, her fingers clawing at his hoodie as she gasps out the rest of the story, the words coming out more garbled with choked emotion.
“Then he told me…that we’re long past…our expiration date, and…n-no matter how much he loves me…he can’t do another year of this. And he said he was sorry…and he— He just hung up.”