Page 215 of Sin Bin

Logan gave him a wary look. “I don’t think I’m ready for any of that chanting and humming shit—”

“Relax, man. We’re just gonna do some deep breathing exercises. Nothing scary.” Hunter sat cross-legged on the floor.

Logan reluctantly dropped down beside him, grumbling under his breath, “My own captain trying to injure me the night before playoffs. Ain’t that some shit?”

Hunter’s lips twitched. “If I wanted to hurt you, Bruiser, I would have. Now focus.” He closed his eyes and bowed his head slightly.

Logan sighed and mimicked the captain’s pose.

“Take a deep breath, hold it, exhale slowly,” Hunter quietly instructed. “Repeat.”

Logan closed his eyes and pushed out a deep breath. Tension tightened the muscles in his neck.

“You’re not focusing,” Hunter murmured.

“I’m trying,” Logan bit out.

“No, you’re not. Focus on your breathing.”

Logan screwed his eyes shut tighter and willed himself to concentrate on Hunter’s instructions.

“Take a long, slow breath in.” His voice was deep and soothing, laced with command. “As you exhale, release all the stress you’re holding in your body. Let out all that negative energy that’s poisoning you.”

With his eyes closed, Logan tried to push out of his mind the memory of sitting alone at that booth, waiting for his mother to return. His breathing quickened as he remembered the fear and confusion he’d felt, the rising sense of panic. He envisioned his mother driving away from the casino, tears shining in her eyes. He imagined her flying halfway around the world to Argentina, embarking on a new life without him, starting a new family while he was shuffled from home to home, always trying to fit in, always hoping to belong. He saw Cheyenne’s face looming above him, her blue eyes filled with desires he didn’t understand, her lips whispering secrets he didn’t want to keep—

“You’re not your past. It doesn’t define you.” The reassuring murmur of Hunter’s voice penetrated his thoughts, coaxing him away from the edge of the cliff. Away from the dark abyss he’d been staring into.

He pushed on with his breathing. Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

Hunter was talking quietly about his healing journey, about the need for him to take back his power and reclaim what was stolen from him. The hypnotic words began breaking through the wall of fury surrounding his heart, creating deep fissures and chiseling away at the foundation.

Suddenly he saw himself walking toward a flickering light. As he got closer, the light grew stronger, taking the form of a woman. It was Jupiter. Her aura was almost blindingly bright, obliterating everything around her. She was smiling radiantly at him, her eyes shimmering with laughter and love. So much love.

He smiled and started walking faster. And then he was running, his heart filling with light and hope. By the time he reached Jupiter, he was breathless with happy laughter. Just as he threw his arms around her, she exploded like a supernova, showering him with sparkling bursts of stardust—

He gasped sharply, his eyes flying open. He looked quickly around, his heart slamming away inside his chest.

Hunter put a calming hand on his shoulder, drawing his unfocused stare. “You okay?”

Logan inhaled a shaky breath and swiped at his watery eyes with the back of his hand. “Shit,” he whispered. “What was that?”

Hunter studied him. “What did you see?”

Logan shook his head to clear it, feeling as if he were waking from a dream. Dazed, he pushed himself unsteadily to his feet and looked over at the curling wisps of incense smoke, half wondering what kind of hallucinogens he’d been inhaling.

Hunter got up slowly. “Hey. Look at me.” He clapped his hands on either side of Logan’s head and peered intently into his eyes. “You can get through this. All right? It’s a process. It won’t happen overnight. But you got this.”

Logan swallowed hard and nodded. “I got this.”

“Atta boy.” Hunter grinned and kissed him on the cheek in that Italian way of his that always made Logan feel like he was in some mobster movie. “Now let’s go eat.”

Logan flashed a wobbly grin. “Now you’re speaking my language.”

As they shrugged back into their shirts, Logan pointed across the room. “Those are incense sticks, right?”

“Yeah.” Hunter gave him a puzzled look. “What else would they be?”

Logan chuckled quietly. “What indeed.”

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