Chapter 11 #2
“Mox?” Mel calls, and I wonder if she’s sensing the same tension that I am.
Logan stops in the middle of the hall and looks up, grimacing in pain before he quickly hides it at the sight of Mel. But then his eyes slide to me, and a chill runs through me because there is anything but friendliness in his gaze.
Yeah, this is what I would have liked to avoid.
“What happened?” Mel asks, moving closer to the two men.
“Idiot tried to bench two twenty without a spotter and nearly got himself killed when his arm gave out on him,” Moxie growls as he releases Logan’s arm, though I’m not sure Moxie is capable of true fury.
Logan, on the other hand… The seething anger rolling off him in waves is tangible as he glares at me, like I’m the reason he’s in this mess.
I’m not the one who hit you, I try to tell him with narrowed eyes. Or the one who pretended he was fine. But my silent arguments are doing nothing to cool the searing heat from his rage, leaving me feeling raw.
“Hey!” Moxie snaps, whacking Logan on the back of the head in a show of aggression I didn’t expect from him. “Savannah’s the only reason you didn’t wind up breaking some ribs. Show her some respect.”
“What?” I choke, looking from him to Logan.
Moxie sighs. “I saw your text just in time to run over and spot the hero,” he tells me with another glare at Logan.
Logan opens his mouth, probably with some cheeky retort, but Mel speaks first. “Inside,” she orders, pointing at the room she came out of. “Now.”
Clenching his teeth, Logan stands motionless for a long time. Then his eyes jump over to me, and he growls low in his throat as he stalks past us into the room followed closely by Mel.
I should be glad that I helped Moxie save the day, but I feel nothing but heartache and queasiness as I stare at the open door Logan went through.
He hates me. I don’t know if I can say he’s ever liked me, but his anger feels so much worse than I thought it would.
That look in his eyes… It’s like he took hold of my heart and clenched it in his fist.
“Hey,” Moxie says, and his voice has softened beyond his usual calm demeanor. “I mean it when I say you prevented something catastrophic.”
He’s trying to make me feel better, but guilt still builds inside me.
“Yeah,” I breathe eventually, but I might throw up.
Under no circumstances would I feel better if I hadn’t gotten involved, but that doesn’t make this moment any easier to stomach.
“Is…” I swallow, all too aware of both Cole and Moxie looking at me.
“He’s not going to get in trouble, is he? ”
Moxie looks at Cole, who lifts an eyebrow and shrugs. They seem to have a silent conversation, then Moxie answers my question. “Not as much as he should. But one of these days he’s going to push me over the edge, and I…” He clenches his jaw, shaking his head.
“Don’t,” Cole says gruffly, apparently understanding what Moxie doesn’t say. “I’d get rid of Callahan in a heartbeat if keeping him meant we lost you. The team needs you, Mox.”
“Them and everyone else,” Moxie mutters to himself.
He turns to me and forces a smile that almost looks real.
I can’t imagine the stress of working full-time as a veterinarian and captaining a rugby team with egos like Logan’s running around, so I don’t blame him for being frustrated. “How’s Beef doing?”
It’s been a couple weeks since I had to take my cat to the clinic, which might be a new record.
“He’s…” I shrug. “Still moping.” And waiting by the door every Monday at ten.
How he knows what day of the week it is, I have no idea, but my ridiculous cat is determined to greet Logan the moment he knocks on my door.
When Logan changed the plan this morning, Beef almost didn’t let me leave the apartment so I could deliver Logan’s meals.
What’s going to happen to my cat now?
Moxie looks toward the room Logan and Mel went into and frowns. “And he didn’t start acting this way until after the bookshelf incident?”
I roll my eyes. “You mean until after he met Logan? Yeah.”
“Hmm.”
And as much as I want to fix my cat, this isn’t the time for it.
Clearing my throat, I smile at Moxie and take a step back, toward the exit.
“Maybe I’ll have to find a pet therapist or something,” I say with a forced laugh.
“I should get back to work. I’m glad you were there to help Logan, Moxie. Thanks for keeping him safe.”
“I’ll walk you out,” he says.
“I’ve got her,” Cole argues. “I’d rather you keep an eye on the hero in case Mel needs backup.”
Moxie nods and gives me a reassuring smile that doesn’t hide the worry still lurking in his eyes. Whether that worry is for Logan or my cat, I hate that I’m partially to blame for the stress in his tense shoulders. “Thanks again, Savannah.”
Cole and I are quiet as he takes me back to the front desk to get my phone, though my business mind is almost deafening, shouting at me to mention my meal services because this is likely my only chance. But using Logan’s injury as a leg up feels like kicking him when he’s down.
When the door closes behind me after I walk outside on my own, it takes everything in me not to cry. I just lost my biggest client, an incredible opportunity, and a budding friendship all at once.
And it sucks. But at least Logan didn’t get hurt.
I can’t say the same for myself.