“Nuh-uh.” Maxine’s smile is shaky, her eyes unusually bright and out of focus. I wonder what she’s taking. “You can have your phone back, my gorgeous Prince Charming, when you give this froggy a kiss.”
I am never going to kiss another woman, just Lucy, only Lucy, forever.
Realizing how insane that would sound and not wanting to ruin what Lucy and I have by sharing it with another woman – I merely shake my head.
“Logan, I have to say, I’m a little confused.”
“Is that so?”
She nods, trying to be sexy, all breathy. All it does is make me think of Lucy. But that’s not saying a lot.
Everythingmakes me think of her.
“I was under the impression you were having wild, experimental, mutually enjoyable sex with all these starlets from your photographs.”
“Right,” I say, keeping my tone neutral. “Can I have my phone back?”
She does that annoying laugh. I can tell it’s supposed to be seductive, especially when she starts walking across my living room and out onto the balcony.
I grind my teeth, thinking of Lucy, wondering what she thought when she called me and this other woman answered. I’ve been waiting for that call, hardly able to sleep, trying to convince myself not to find a way to track her down.
I’ve got her name. I know a Never Alone lawyer worked with her.
I could find her.
I could go to her.
Now.
Instead, I’m following an entitled actress onto my balcony, repressing a sigh, hating the need for this.
It’s got me rethinking the past few years, ever since I lost sweet Anna in that hit-and-run.
And Rachael, I remind myself…I’malwaysreminding myself.
“What are you doing?” I snap when she dangles the phone off the edge of the balcony.
“I want a straight answer,” she replies, with that airy confidence that does nothing for me.
I think about how Lucy looked up at me, sassy but also reserved, as though she was holding as much back as I was.
I know that can’t literally be true. She can’t be as obsessed with me as I am with her, but it felt that way. I cling to it.
“We’re going to be late,” I tell Maxine, thinking of Bryce and Never Alone.
“Fine, then answer my question.”
She shakes the phone from side to side as if she’s going to let go any moment.
All I can think about is what I’m going to do if Lucy calls me again, and I’ve got no way of knowing, no way to respond.
“What question?” I ask gruffly.
“Why did you pick me?”
Her voice cracks a little at the end. There’s some sadness in her eyes, and suddenly I feel guilty, downright dirty, for agreeing to this. I’ve never felt that way before, able to wall off my feelings – hardly a challenge for me normally – but meeting Lucy has made that more difficult.
Everything is heightened, suddenly more important, as though every word could end the relationship Lucy and I haven’t even begun yet.