“Is that what you told her?”
“Basically.”
Relief washed over his face. “Okay, then, we’re fine. I’ll call her and confirm that’s what happened.” When I continued to stare at him, he looked confused. How could he be so clueless?
“The amount, Logan.”
The relief vanished in a heartbeat. “Oh.”
“Oh?” I repeated. “Can you please explain?”
He wadded up the printout and tossed it in the trash. But he couldn’t stall forever. “I was able to get the printer to do the job at-cost.”
“But you—” Rising anger closed my throat.
“I lied to you. I thought when you heard how much money you were going to have to come up with, you’d back down. But you didn’t. So I was going to let you sweat it for a couple days and then tell you the truth.” The color faded from him like a gradient washing from pale to completely white. “But when I learned how you were planning to get the money . . . then I couldn’t tell you the truth. I didn’t want you to back down.”
He didn’t want me to have any other option. He’d forced me into that club and onto that table. If I had known it was less than four thousand, I probably could have scraped that money up in between my parents and Payton. I couldn’t look at his lying face another second.
“Evie, stop,” he said, hushed. “Please. I should have told you, and I tried, but I was so worried I was going to lose you, and then too much time went by . . .”
Surely he was trying to get me to look at him, but I refused. It wasn’t so much the initial lie that hurt, but the time he continued to let it exist that had me so upset.
“People in love don’t keep secrets from each other.”
“I didn’t want to hurt you—”
“Bullshit. You weren’t protecting me, you were protecting yourself.” I set my gaze on him, finally meeting his eyes. He stood a few feet from me with his hands on his hips, like he wasn’t sure where else to put them, worry streaking his face.
“Yes,” he admitted. “I’m sorry.”
An actual apology.
My brain went to war with itself. If he hadn’t lied, I wouldn’t have gone to that club, and who knows if we’d have ever gotten together. The night he’d met Payton and confessed his guilt about what he’d done showed even then he was filled with regret about the lie.
I believed you didn’t get to pick and choose the parts of a person you loved. You loved the good and the bad. All of it. So, he’d been bad and he’d hurt me, and while I wasn’t happy with him right now, I still loved him.
“You lied to me. Don’t do it again.”
He seemed to swallow hard, and nodded in agreement. As I reached for the doorknob –
“Wait.” His hollow voice lined my stomach with lead. “My lunch appointment, it’s with April.”
Everything went cold.
“Why are you having lunch with your ex?” I bit the words out. If I hadn’t caught him in that previous lie, was the plan to get away with this one, too?
“Her father passed away on Sunday night. It was very sudden, and she’s having a hard time. She’s falling apart.” His words got me to stop and focus on what he was saying. In spite of my anger, it was difficult not to feel heartache for her. “I told you that I cut her out completely.” His gorgeous brown eyes never left mine, but there was guilt behind them. “I think her father’s death made her realize she needs closure. A conversation for us both to reflect on why it went wrong, and to say goodbye.”
I took a deep breath to remain rational. “All right, you need to see her, fine. If you’d explained that, I would’ve understood. But you were going to –”
“I went crazy when you went out with Blake, and you two were only friends. I thought you were going to say no, and I owed her, so I’d planned to tell you . . . after.”
“God, Logan. I trust you completely, I mean . . . ” My voice fell to almost nothing. “The stuff we did with Payton. How can you not trust me?”
I chose to ignore the pained look in his eyes. “I was going to tell you, you have to believe me.”
“Why should I? You’ve been lying to me for months.” My voice sounded as cold as I felt. “Go. Have your lunch with April and give her the closure she needs. You and I can discuss this later. After I’ve cooled off.”