Chapter Twenty-Four
Knox
T hanks for bringing me home," she says softly, folding her arms over her chest. She's looking at the floor, suddenly defeated and sad .
This isn't the Rose I know, the Rose I love, the spirited girl who kicks my ass at board games and begs me to do dirty things to her .
"Is there anything else we can do?" I ask, reaching out and touching her cheek gently .
She shakes her head .
"I'm fine," she says .
"With him ?"
She frowns a little, then almost rolls her eyes .
"Dad's not violent or anything," she says. "He's never, you know, touched me. He'd just rather be somewhere that's not here with someone who's not me. I'm saving money to move out, and then I'll live in town, go to community college. I'm fine. Really ."
I nearly say he didn't even report you missing, but I don't. I have a feeling she already knows, and if she doesn't, I don't want to tell her that .
"You'll radio us?" I ask .
Rose smiles and holds up the paper with the complicated instructions .
"Promise," she says, and even though she's smiling, her eyes are bright and shiny .
I feel like there's a fist tightening around my gut, squeezing so hard I can barely breathe .
"Good," Logan says .
I kiss her. He kisses her .
And then I force myself to walk back out of her house, past her father who didn't care that his daughter nearly died .
As I get into the car and crank the engine, I swear to myself: we're going to figure something out .
* * *
Neither of us says a word for the entire trip back. It's already getting dark when we arrive — it's a very slow drive with the snow — and we get out of the car, head into the cabin, and both simply sit on the couch in the dark for a long time, staring into the cold fireplace .
I think about the three of us on the bearskin rug in front of it, how when I got back from that journey I was cold and hungry, but the second I saw her there, naked, she was all I wanted .
I think about the way she begs us when she's so turned on she can't take any more, about how there's something so alluring about a girl that dirty and that sweet at the same time. How her filthy, wicked side makes everything else better .
I miss Rose already. Even though she was only here for a few days, the cabin suddenly seems empty without her here. I feel empty without her here .
After a long time, Logan gets up. I follow. We make dinner in silence, grunting at each other to pass the salt and pepper, and afterward we clean up in silence, then each do some work in silence .
I don't sleep well. I'm not surprised .
When I wake up at four in the morning, Logan's bed is already empty and I smell coffee. I pull on some clothes and go out into the kitchen, where he's standing in silence, leaning against the counter where Rose and I... well, you know .
I get a cup myself. I sit in a chair at the table and drink it black. I feel even worse than I thought I would .
After a long time, Logan suddenly speaks up .
"I don't think I can do this," he says, his voice low and gravelly with disuse .
I stare into my empty coffee mug .
"I don't think I can either," I say .
There's a long, long pause. What I'm about to say seems insane, and it doesn't seem like it'll work, but I know I have to try .
"So we're going to ask her if she'll stay ?"
Logan puts his mug into the sink with a clunk .
"Let's go," he says .