Chapter 4
FOUR
Elizabeth
The last few months have been some of the most stressful of my entire life. In fact, I was never stressed before I found myself in the middle of such turmoil. I didn’t know how to react to any of it.
To start, my relationship with my father is pretty much nonexistent right now.
After spending a couple of weeks trying to convince him that what I had with Logan was real, and that he shouldn’t punish him for being with me, I realized that my efforts were futile.
In that moment, I shut down, especially after I figured out that he’d messed with my cell phone by calling the carrier and blocking any calls from Logan.
I was absolutely devastated when I heard the news of him being traded to the Aces. I thought my life was over, and that we’d never see each other again.
“What I would do if I were you,” my friend, Mona, commented in her always laconic tone, “is follow him there.”
I stared at her in surprise, almost unable to process what she was telling me.
“My father would never allow that,” I argued at the time. That only made Mona roll her eyes at me.
“You are an adult, Elizabeth,” she informed me, like I wasn’t aware of it. “You have a birthday coming up soon that’ll put you at a quarter of a century old.”
I rolled my eyes at that because when she put it that way, it sounded like I was becoming ancient.
“You’re about to be twenty-five years old, and you still live with your father,” Mona continued without giving me a chance to say anything. “He pays for everything for you. All you do is attend random charity events.”
My eyes widened in shock. She presented me like some sort of a superficial human, someone who had nothing to show for existing.
I started thinking, realizing that she was right.
I went to college, but I was never too serious about starting a career.
I was always interested in art, painting being my favorite, but my father said it was a waste of time, so I never pursued it.
I don’t know how me doing nothing was not a waste of time, though.
“If I follow Logan to Texas,” I started thinking out loud. “How am I going to support myself?”
“Well…”
Mona stared at me for a few long seconds, chewing on her bottom lip in concentration. Suddenly, her eyes widened with excitement.
“You could use that nutritionist certificate you got a couple of years ago.”
“Thanks to you,” I laughed.
A couple of years ago, I took a break from college. Mona wanted to take this online course on nutrition, and she talked me into taking it with her. It took us a year to complete.
“Do you think I could find a job doing that? I don’t even have that much experience. Any, actually,” I laughed nervously.
Mona sighed and shook her head at me in disappointment.
“Elizabeth, you have so many resources at your fingertips. Use them!”
I stared at her in bewilderment. “Like what?”
“Like all the people at the arena!”
And that’s how I ended up connecting with Leyla, the publicist for the New York Sliders. She never asked any follow up questions past my qualifications for a job. Two days later, she texted me that someone from the Aces would be contacting me for an interview.
It was all a complete whirlwind, and now that I find myself staring at Logan Mantei, the man I put myself through all that for, I wonder if I made a mistake.
“Hi, Logan.”
His mouth opens and closes a couple of times, and his eyes bug out of his head. It is obvious that seeing me here was the last thing he expected.
“You two know each other?” one of the players sitting at a table nearby asks.
Logan’s eyes widen even more at hearing the question. He looks at me for a sign on how to answer. I don’t know either. I don’t see why it should be a secret that we more than we know each other.
“Not really,” Logan finally mutters.
My heart drops to my stomach, making me feel queasy. The nervous smile I had on my face is now gone.
“If you’re on a first name basis with the lady,” the other player continues. “Can you do me a solid and introduce me to her?”
Logan is still staring at me, no words passing his lips. I wipe my suddenly clammy hands on the material of my linen trousers before turning to face the table full of players who are staring at us with interest.
“Hi, everyone.” I give them a small and awkward wave. “I’m Elizabeth, and I just started working at the Aces arena as a junior nutritionist.”
“How do we get appointments with you?”
I let out a nervous laugh at hearing the question, glancing around the table, hoping they’re just teasing me. But then I realize that was a serious question.
“Uh, you can request an appointment through the player portal,” I tell them. “Or you can just walk over to my office at the arena, and I can make the appointment for you.”
“Sweet!” They all nod in unison.
I glance at Logan, who is still staring at me like I dropped from the sky.
I can’t tell how he feels about me being here, but I have a hunch that it’s not a positive one.
With Mona’s encouragement, I convinced myself that Logan would be so taken with my presence, he’d want to whisk us both away.
Him pretending like he doesn’t really know me was not on the list.
“It was really nice meeting you all.” My voice doesn’t sound confident at all. I need to snap out of it. “I was about to head out,” I explain. “But I wanted to make sure I said hi to everyone.”
I give them another smile that I am certain doesn’t reach my eyes, then turn around, ready to walk away.
My chin feels wobbly as I make my way to the door, and I try not to look at anyone in particular for fear that I will burst into tears.
I still have hope that Logan is following me out, so I push the door open, moving slower to give him enough time to catch up to me.
When no one grabs my arm to stop me, I finally walk outside, letting the door slam shut behind me.
“Oh, God,” I mutter to myself as soon as fresh air hits my face. Unfortunately, it is not the cool air I am used to from back home. The air here is different, way too warm for this time of the year.
I stumble upon a rock when I walk toward the parking lot, almost twisting my ankle in the process.
“This sucks,” I continue talking to myself. “Everything sucks.”
I am almost to my car when I hear heavy steps jogging toward me.
“Elizabeth!”
I freeze in spot, scared to hope that it’s really Logan who’s calling my name.
“Elizabeth,” he repeats when he’s close enough.
I finally turn around to face him, so incredibly happy to see his handsome face again.
“Logan,” I murmur. I don’t know what else to say. From the way he stares at me, I think he is at a loss for words as well.
“I’m sorry about…” He throws a thumb over his shoulder. “I’m not sure what happened in there. But I was caught completely off guard,” he admits.
I nod in understanding. “I get it. And I’m sorry. I wanted to surprise you,” I explain. “But I should’ve let you know before tonight that I was here.”
Logan continues staring at me, but then he glances around, like he is making sure there’s no one around. Taking a step forward, he places a gentle hand on my waist.
My heart beats a mile a minute the second the scent of him invades all my senses. I look up at him, glad that while he is taller than me, he is not as tall as a lot of his teammates.
I bring a hand up, sliding a finger inside the waistband of his jeans, enjoying the way his eyes dilate with pleasure when I do so.
“I missed you so fucking much,” he murmurs right before slamming his mouth over mine.
I moan as my lips open up for him with no hesitation. My entire hand is now clenched inside the waistband of his pants, making sure that he can’t change his mind and step away from me.
As if he can read my mind, Logan’s hands dive into my hair, assuring me that this is real. He has my head in a very tight grip while kissing me with all the passion I’ve been craving for the last six months.
“We can’t do this here,” he somehow manages to say in between heated kisses. “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
His words are sweet, and I love that he still cares about me. I have no idea why he thinks I would get in trouble over this, though. They also serve as a reminder that us kissing like this is what got him in trouble when my father caught us.
Against my better judgement now, I refuse to allow him to stop the kiss. I want to feel him all over and around me, and I don’t care about the location.
When he tries to say something more, my tongue slips into his mouth. I don’t want to pull back when he begs me with no words to do so. A small squeak of excitement escapes me when he blindly walks me backward until I feel something like a wall behind me.
My head drops back, finding myself staring into Logan’s eyes.
“I missed your kisses so much,” I whisper. “I want more of them.”
With a devilish grin, he picks me up and brings my legs around his waist right before my back hits the wall behind. His lips are back over mine, just as hungry as I am.
“You taste so good,” he moans in between open-mouthed kisses.
He licks and sucks down my jawline right before sliding down the side of my throat.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” he continues. “It’s like I’m dreaming.”
I dig my nails into his shoulders when I press myself harder against the wall in an effort to give him more room to do what he’s doing.
“You’re not dreaming.” I gasp for air when he sucks on the sensitive skin of my neck just a little too hard. “It’s so real, Lo,” I assure him.
Suddenly, a car alarm goes off somewhere in the parking lot, and we both jump in distress, looking around as if to try and locate it.
“Oh my gosh, it’s my car,” I realize with a start.
Logan lets go of me in an instant. As soon as my feet hit the ground, I dig for the car keys that I have the front pocket of the trousers I am wearing. It takes me a few seconds to figure out which button would actually deactivate the alarm, and the silence makes my ears ring when it’s finally off.
I let out a long puff of air and turn back around to face Logan. He is staring at me again, just like when we were inside the bar, and it makes me just a tad uneasy despite the passionate kissing we just shared.
“I’m sorry I ambushed you in there like that,” I finally say when the silence is on the verge of getting uncomfortable.
Logan shakes his head before letting out a sort of nervous laugh. “We should probably talk before this goes any further.”
An instant knot forms in the pit of my stomach. I feel almost sick from it, knowing that whatever he has to talk to me about is not good.
“Come with me,” he says before I can think of how I should respond to him.
He grabs me by the hand and marches us away from where my car is located. Before long, we are standing in front of a massive pick-up truck.
“This is yours?” My eyebrows go up in surprise when I ask.
Logan lets out a goofy snicker. “It’s the most Texas thing I could think of when I moved here.”
He unlocks the doors before helping me up since I definitely need a boost getting into the passenger seat.
“What do you think?” he asks me once he’s on the driver’s side. He revs the engine a couple of times
“It’s…” I glance around, taking in the shiny interior and bright lights on the dashboard. “Overwhelming. But nice,” I rush to recover.
Logan busts out laughing. “I am still learning how to work all this. It’s like a massive computer. I’m not good at computers,” he informs me. “My head is only good for busting other people’s faces.”
A giggle escapes me, and I place a trembling hand over my lips.
I am extremely nervous, mostly because our reunion is nothing like I had imagined.
The kiss out in the parking lot was amazing, but Logan saying we need to talk was the equivalent to a bucket of ice-cold water being thrown over my head.
I stare at him with a suddenly dry mouth. My teeth are picking on my chapped bottom lip, and I feel like I am in high school, about to be dumped by my very first boyfriend.
“Where are you taking me?” I force myself to ask.
Logan, looking just as out of it as me, shakes his head as if to clear it.
“To my new place here,” he explains in his always scratchy voice. “It’s a good spot for us to talk. It’ll be quiet.”
He pulls out into the road, and that’s when I remember that we’re leaving my car behind.
“How am I going to get back here?” I ask him.
“I will bring you back,” he chuckles. “It’s not like you’re about to disappear without a trace. Besides…” He pauses while checking the traffic and merging lanes. “In today’s world, with all the cameras all over the city, it’s literally impossible to vanish without a trace.”
“It’s comforting to know that the only reason you’re not kidnapping me is because you’d get caught really fast.”
He laughs again, and I take a moment to take him in. I love the way he leans forward over the steering wheel as he laughs. He has this carefree way about him that I love. I’ve loved it from the very first time we met, and I thought about it all the while we’ve been apart.
But now I’m scared, and my head is in a very chaotic space. I wonder if maybe I tried too hard to reconnect with him. Maybe I saw more into our relationship than he did, because I’m the one who followed him here while he just left New York and never looked back.
Maybe I made a huge mistake.