“Yeah, see you.”
I heard his footsteps carry him away. My eyes slid to Blake’s. He looked stunned.
“That was interesting.” I must have made a face that mirrored the sickening feeling I had inside, because Blake’s face filled with concern. “I’m sure it’ll be okay.”
I took a deep breath before turning my key in his lock, steeling myself. I’d gotten a text from Logan at twenty to five:
It wasn’t a question.
The train ride to his apartment had been spent mapping out a way to not make me seem like a lovesick, moon-eyed girl who wanted to have ten thousand of his babies.
He wasn’t in the kitchen or the living area beyond. I set my purse down on the entry table, then thought better of it and tucked it in the closet where he liked it.
“Logan?”
There wasn’t an answer. I checked my phone for text messages or a missed call. Nothing. Where was he? I sent a text asking when to expect him, and he replied he was stuck in traffic and would be home shortly.
I called Payton, frantic, revealing the whole mess. She tried to calm me, but wasn’t much help. Payton was always honest, and given Logan’s history, she was worried for me.
Behind me, the front door creaked opened as Logan came in. I turned to face him and almost dropped the phone. “Logan’s home, I gotta call you back.”
“Hi,” he said, setting the plastic bags carrying what I assumed was our dinner on the counter. He set the other item down too – a glass vase bursting with gorgeous red roses. “These are for you.”
My shaky hand shoved my phone in my back pocket. “Why?”
He paused. “Why? I can’t buy you flowers?”
“It’s suspect. Are you breaking up with me for the crazy things you overheard come out of my mouth?”
His smile was mesmerizing. “It didn’t sound like you want that.” He approached, his arms wrapping around my back and drawing me in. “I was being overly-protective. I came down to that restaurant thinking . . .”
“You were going to challenge Blake to a duel?”
His eyes glinted with amusement, then sobered. “I thought he was going to talk you into leaving me.”
“No. He wanted my advice on how to propose to his girlfriend, who’s pregnant.”
His eyes softened. “So, I bought flowers.” He motioned to the vase. “I should have trusted you to have it under control.”
“What about what I said? Can you pretend you didn’t hear it?”
“Why would I want to?”
He made everything upside-down again. “I don’t know, because it goes against the general rules of dating.”
The devious look he had made my mouth water. “I thought you knew I liked it when you break the rules.”
I’d forgotten to call Payton back, and the next morning she broke down and called me at work.
“What happened?”
“We’re okay. He was surprisingly cool about it.”
Jamie dropped a birthday card on my desk. It seemed like it was always someone’s birthday in the office, and I signed it before reading who it was addressed to.
“Who’s birthday is it?” I asked her.
She collected the card from me. “Logan’s.” She disappeared, and the gasp on the other end of the phon