Page 71 of Tell Me Lies

She nods quickly. “Can you snuggle Clyde, Daddy?” She looks worried as her bottom lip pokes out. “He must be so sad. Can you give him a kiss for me?”

“A kiss, really?” Logan widens his eyes. “Have you ever smelled that dude’s breath? He’s gross.”

“Daddy! You have to!” she scolds him.

Kneeling next to her, Logan drops his voice low. “The other day, I saw him drinking out of the toilet. And you want me to kiss him? Are you forgetting that you are the queen of not flushing after you use the bathroom?”

“Daaaad,” she says, clearly annoyed.

He sighs. “Fine, fine. But not on the lips. Only on, like … the forehead. Deal?”

“Deal,” she says, happy with his answer.

“If they bring you some more chocolate pudding, you’d better tell them you want double because you’re hungry.” He winks. “You know how much I love my pudding.”

She giggles, wheezing slightly. “I will.”

Kissing her forehead, he stands. “I’ll be back in a bit, Mighty A. Love you lots.”

“Love you too, Daddy,” she says sweetly.

And then he leaves the room without looking my way, and yet I watch him as he gets farther down the hall, just to make sure he never glances back. Even though he still walks the same, he carries himself differently. Logan always moves like he doesn’t have a care in the world. Right now, with his shoulders tense and his body rigid, it’s the opposite.

And it’s all my fault.

“Maci?” Amelia manages to bark out through a cough.

“Yeah, babe?” I tear my eyes from Logan and turn toward her.

“Do you love my daddy?” she asks. Her bright eyes look so much more tired than usual as she stares up at me. “Because I think my daddy loves you.” She gives me an exhausted smile. “And I love you too.”

I don’t have any idea what to say that won’t be overstepping. And the last thing I want to do is anything that will upset Logan. So, when the nurse walks in to check her vitals, I sigh in relief even though my heart still aches, knowing I might never get to tell her the truth.

Iget to the house at the same time Poppy and Walker are walking out with the stuff I asked them to bring me.

“Fuck,” I say, jumping out. “Sorry, guys. I forgot to call you back and let you know I was coming home, so you didn’t need to come over.”

“No worries,” Poppy says, a hand resting on her belly. Every time I see her, it seems to get a little bigger, even though it’s still quite small and she has a long way to go. The rest of her is tiny, making it stand out more. “We got our Clyde snuggles in anyway. Drool and all.”

“Fucker does drool a lot.” I nod. “Well, I guess I’ll go inside. I’m going to shower and change and head back to the hospital.”

“Logan, take a nap. Maci is there with her, right? You need your rest.” Poppy gives me a warning look, telling me not to argue with her.

“She’s right, man. You look like absolute shit,” Walker adds. “Take a quick nap. Maci’s got it, I’m sure.”

The normal Logan would crack a joke, saying that he doesn’t look like shit. But that Logan seems to be gone right now, and left behind is a grumpy fucker. One that feels like everyone has been hiding shit from him—which is my number one trigger.

When my mom’s cancer returned, my parents hid just how bad things really were until she was dying. And ever since then, I can’t fucking stand being left in the dark.

“How long have you two known that she was the one who got in a fucking wreck with Amelia’s mother?” I snap, blurting the words out aggressively. “Or did you know the whole fucking time, even when you suggested she take the job?”

“Wait, what?” Walker utters, his gaze shifting from me to Poppy and back again. “What the hell are you even talking about, Sterns?”

My eyes are no longer on him, but instead on Poppy. Who stands there, her face paling the slightest bit. The last thing I want to do is upset a pregnant woman, but right now, I’m blinded by my own anger.

“Shit,” she whispers, setting the bag of clothes down on the doorstep. “You, uh … she told you?”

“So, you did know?” I growl, shaking my head. “Jesus Christ, Poppy. Really? I thought I could trust you.”

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