Page 79 of Keepsake

She punched the bag. Not bad, but I made a few corrections and nodded so she would try again. As Logan punched, I let myself talk.

“I wasn’t good at school or any other sport. I tried football because everyone thought I’d be great.”

“Cause you were truck sized even as a teen?” she asked, blowing a strand of hair falling in front of her eyes.

I smirked. “Of course.”

Logan punched the bag again, much better this time. I stopped her, afraid she’d hurt her hands since she had no gloves.

“Just one more?” she asked.

It was becoming obvious I couldn’t say no to her. I nodded my permission.

She tried a couple of times more.

“Football wasn’t for me. Nothing was for me, but when I got my ass inside the cage for the first time?” I couldn’t stop the smile. “It felt good to be good at something.”

She punched the bag again. “I know what you mean.”

I arched an eyebrow, looking straight at her Harvard sweatshirt. Logan stopped punching and followed my eyes. Brushing her hair back, she shrugged.

“That was my MMA. I never had many friends besides Sofia. I wasn’t pretty, and I was my mother’s disappointment.”

I laughed. “I know you’re pulling my leg. You couldn’t be a disappointment even if you tried hard.”

“Now, that’s the sweetest thing you ever said to me.” She stepped away and reached for the bottle of water by the weights. “My mom is the head of multiple clubs. She plans events for charity. She’s… she’s likable. Everyone loves her. And her only daughter is…” Logan blew out a breath. “Academics were the only place I felt like I could manage. Maybe I wasn’t as smiling and likable as my mom wanted me to be. Maybe I didn’t care about the same things, but I was smart, and I could handle school.”

I nodded. “I guess you do know what I mean.”

“Was it worth it?” she asked next.

I wondered how much she knew of the situation. I never stopped talking to my parents, and they didn’t exclude me from the major holidays. We were Cubans, there was no escaping your family. But Mamá was always clear how good I could have turned out. A career as a professional athlete and a business of my own wasn’t enough.

“At times. What about you?”

“I regret.”

“Regret being smart and going to Harvard?” I snorted. Why would she regret that?

“I should have stayed and insisted on Sofia leaving him,” she told me at once, her jaw set.

I hated Sofia’s ex as much as the next guy, but I doubt her shitty relationship was enough to throw Harvard out the window. “Logan—”

“No.” She shook her head. “Your mom always wanted me out and my mom thought I could have better friends at Harvard. Everything fell so perfectly into place for him. He wanted me away from Sofia, and he got his wish.”

I swallowed something bad, my skin prickling with raised hairs as I asked. “What do you mean by that? Why did David want to end your friendship with Sofia?”

“Because that’s what they do, right? They isolated their victim and they…”

“Stop right there,” I urged her.

Logan stepped closer, tilting her head and looking at me like we were seeing each other for the first time. “How much do you know about David and Sofia?”

I knew enough. He was a piece of crap. Bad partner, shitty dad. Two years ago, she finally left, and he disappeared into thin air. Never came to visit his children. He barely knew Lachlan. He wasn’t at the funeral and wasn’t interested in taking the kids to raise.

“Tell me what you mean by that?” I asked instead of answering her.

Logan hugged herself. “David, at school…” she closed her eyes for a second. “I never liked him.” I nodded. I suspected that much. “He was always bossing Sofia around, telling her what she could do or how to dress. At first, she would listen to me and ask him to shut up. But she was a teenager. She was in love. And then…”

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