Page 81 of Ice Dance Hockey

“Sure, you do. You love me, Rhett. It’s just changing. Guess I have to give you a little leeway there. It was weird for me too when the shift happened. Um, Logan’s not gonna give you leeway, though.”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.”

He smirks. “So, what are you going to do?”

Good question. I pull out my phone to check the calendar. Logan has filled all his spare time slots with “busy as fuck” and “way too fucking busy for lying gorillas”.

Hmmm. That’s not good.

“I haven’t a fucking clue.”

“That’s a bad start.” Jack pats me on the back.

He’s getting under my skin and not in a good way. “Do you have a helpful suggestion? He doesn’t even want to talk to me.”

“Big gesture of some kind, um, eventually. He needs to cool off. FYI, if he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have reacted like that.”

That’s actually helpful and brightens my world with hope. I’ve royally fucked up, but maybe I can win him over. I’m good at winning. Winning him will be fun.

Jack nudges me. “You’re Rhett Elkington. You’ve got this, okay?”

His belief in me warms my chest and I remember exactly why I loved him so much. I still do, but yeah, it’s changing for me. I smile.

“There we go. The Rhett Elkington ‘I’ve got you and the whole world’ smile. Keep that up and he won’t be able to resist. If anything, Logan just wants people he can rely on. He doesn’t have anyone like that in his life, except for me and Merc.”

“I know, which is why I’m doubtful that he’ll ever trust me again.”

Jack sighs. “I think the magic eight ball would say that the outlook is grim, but I’m an optimist. I believe in miracles. It won’t be easy, but if anyone can do it, you can.”

I nod.

“All right, you’d better go before Merc decides he’ll break the law just this once.”

Chapter18

No Time for Lying Gorillas

Logan

More rain. This is ridiculous. I feel like I’m living inside the Twilight books. The rain is cozy, though, inspiring me to sequester myself in my room and curl up in my nice cushy bed. I didn’t have anything nearly this nice where Mom and I lived. We lived in a trailer park, which I suppose was okay as far as trailer parks go, but the bed was small and sometimes damp. This one’s warm, always dry, and clean. Merc’s laundry schedule dictates that we wash the sheets often.

If only Merc would let me stay in the comfort of my bed. Theo bounds in and jumps on me with full intentions of interrupting my wallowing. I know Merc sent him. “Get up! Get up! Get up! We’re goin’ somewhere cool.”

Opening my puffy duvet, I grab him and trap him down with me. I’ll convince him of my ways. “It’s way better in here.”

“Noooooo.” He giggles. “It isn’t, Lo. C’mon. It’s funner with everyone. We’re goin’ on a forest walk.”

Ugh. The forest. I’m not sure I like the forest. Didn’t people invent houses so that we could stay out of the forest? I’m not going to get out of it, though, so I let Theo drag me out of bed and grab a hoodie that used to be Jack’s, but I’m pretty sure is mine now. I’ve inherited a few things, including Merc’s Motley Crüe T-shirt.

Theo races out of the room shouting, “Mission accomplished, Merc. C’n I have those gummy bears now?”

No honor among Meyers, I swear. Selling me out for a few gummy bears.

I take the time to check my phone. No, I’m not looking for anything from Rhett. Okay, yes, I am. He didn’t message me yesterday or last night. After Jack talked to him, I thought he’d at least try, but there’s nothing.

There is one from Scott.

Killer work today. We’ve got this year in the bag.

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