Logan #2
“I’m right there with you,” Rhodes added.
“Trust me,” I said on a breath, the weight of it all settling heavy in my chest. “I wanted to the second she told me.”
Mac’s jaw clenched. His eyes locked on mine, sharp and unrelenting. “And you didn’t go over there because… what? Because I don’t think I could’ve held back.”
Boone stepped in, his voice low and strained. “And you didn’t call me?”
I exhaled hard, rubbing a hand over the back of my neck. “She told me not to,” I admitted quietly. “My first instinct was to storm over there myself, but she stopped me. Then I asked to call you, but… she said no.”
And that moment wasn’t about me. Not then. Not now. Maybe not ever. It had always been about her. For her.
Every decision I made from that point on, every step I took, would be with her in mind. My choices, my future, were all tied to her. I was wrapped around her without a single thread left loose.
Boone nodded slowly, his gaze dropping as he processed. I could see the wheels turning, the battle waging inside him. He didn’t say anything for a beat, but the silence said enough. Hurt. Frustration. Loyalty.
“I just can’t believe you kept it from me,” he finally said. Boone’s shoulders sagged.
“It wasn’t my story to tell,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
I looked around at the guys—my brothers in every way but blood—and I saw it in all of them.
They cared about Ellie. They wanted to protect her.
But she’d come to me. Trusted me. And in that moment, I had to honor that. No matter what it cost.
Boone’s eyes narrowed. “But we all could’ve stepped in more.”
I met his gaze without flinching. “I took care of her,” I said firmly. “And I always will.”
I closed my eyes and let out a long breath, tilting my head back toward the ceiling. The truth was out now, at least part of it. Might as well say the rest.
“I love her.”
Three words. Simple, but the weight of them slammed into my chest like a sledgehammer.
It grounded me. Cleared the storm inside me.
“You love her? Of course you do.” Boone echoed like it was common news.
Silence fell between us all, and my eyes flicked to Mac, who was the one person I’d confided in these last few weeks when it came to how I felt about Ellie.
Boone saw. His features flickered through too many emotions to name. The other two stayed quiet. They knew this moment belonged to us.
“I’m in love with your sister.” I straightened, shoulders squared. “And I know she likes me too.”
The silence that followed felt sacred. Boone cleared his throat, eyes on the ground, then finally looked up and nodded.
“I always knew you had a thing for her,” he said quietly. “The moment it hit me? That day you yelled at me on the ranch for not telling you I’d heard from her.”
I cringed at the memory, ashamed all over again.
“She reached out to me after that too,” I added. “We met up.”
“Huh.”
That was Boone’s only response.
Mac brought the conversation back to the point. “So you held onto the fact that Miles did what he did for the last two weeks without saying a word?”
I nodded, the weight of it all dragging my shoulders down. “It wasn’t my choice not to tell you guys, it was to protect her.”
“I get it,” Boone said simply, and somehow, that was all the approval I needed. “I’m grateful she had you.”
His words hit harder than I expected, pressing into something soft and tender inside me. There was more there than just gratitude. It felt like quiet acceptance, a silent nod between us that I hadn’t screwed up beyond repair. That maybe, just maybe, he was okay with the idea of Ellie and me.
“I’d do anything for her,” I said, voice thick with truth.
Boone’s lips lifted in a subtle smile, followed by a short nod. That was all I needed to see.
“You got a good punch on him,” Rhodes added with a low whistle.
Mac grinned like he was proud. “It’s gonna leave a nasty mark.”
Despite the smirks, a flicker of worry passed through me. I just hoped I hadn’t upset Ellie. I hoped those tears hadn’t been because of me. If they were, I didn’t even know where to begin to make it right.
But I didn’t regret it—not one bit.
Miles needed to be put in his place. No man should get to lay his hands on a woman and walk away without consequence. Honestly, I wished I’d gotten in a few more hits.
Now that the adrenaline was ebbing, the dull throb in my knuckles was kicking in, each pulse reminding me of what had just happened. I flexed my hand, pain catching in my joints, and the guys all let out a chorus of knowing sounds.
“Hurts now, huh?” Rhodes asked, a teasing grin tugging at his mouth.
I gave a tight nod.
Mac moved to the freezer, pulled out an ice pack, and walked it over to me. I took it with a grunt of thanks and sat down, pressing it to my hand.
“I gotta head back downstairs. Make sure there’s no round two brewing,” Mac said, heading toward the door. “You stay up here as long as you need.”
“I’ll help him out,” Rhodes added, jerking his thumb over his shoulder before following Mac.
The door clicked closed behind them, leaving just Boone and me.
The silence that settled wasn’t awkward, just full. Full of everything that had been said. Everything that hadn’t.
I stayed in the chair, ice pack resting against my hand, legs stretched out in front of me. My head tilted back, and my eyes closed. I didn’t have it in me to say anything else. I’d laid it all out—my feelings, my truth—and the cat was out of the damn bag.
Boone spoke again, voice softer this time. “You know…” he started, pausing long enough that I didn’t bother to lift my head. “If anyone’s going to treat Ellie with the love and respect she deserves, it’s you.”
I smiled to myself, a slow tug at the corners of my mouth. That meant everything.
“Thanks, Boone.”
“If I had the capacity to be fully happy right now, I would be,” he added. “You two… you’re nothing but good together.”
That made the breath in my chest feel heavier and lighter all at once.
“She’s good for me.”
“But, no matter how much I love you both, if you hurt her… I swear to God—”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, dismissing him with a smile. “I have no intentions of ever losing out on a woman like her.”