Page 82 of Sporting Goods

“I somehow managed to get past security.” Her lip quirked as she pointed to the front of the store where Tisch and Jake were.

I pulled my gaze off her and reached for the box by her feet. “Remind me to fire her,” I mumbled and turned, striding away.

“I don’t suppose you’ve been reading any of my messages,” she called after me.

I held up a hand. “If saying no means you’ll repeat them all, then the answer is yes.”

It had been six days, seventeen text messages and one voicemail. Those were easy to ignore. Those I could turn away from and deal with later. Now that she’d shown up, I wanted to look at her, confront her, fuck I wanted to touch her.

Thank goodness for my lifeline. I reached for my phone again, glancing at it for a hot second before sliding it in my back pocket.

There. Now I can handle you.

My eyes lifted to hers and I took two steps forward. “Why are you here? I’d already heard about the deliriously long message you delivered at my doorstep to my sister. Was there something else?”

Her bottom lip dropped. “I never got the chance to apologize.”

“Was I supposed to give you one? Must’ve been an oversight.” I motion forward. “By all means.”

“Logan, please.”

“That sounds more like begging. Are you sure you’re doing it right?”

She shut her eyes and squeezed her fingers. When she opened them, they were wetter than before. My fingers itched and I used them to rub my forehead, closing my eyes and forcing the image of her and Max in my head.

“You deserved the truth from the very beginning. And I’m so sorry I denied you that. I’m so sorry I lied to you, Logan.”

I swallowed and lifted another box. “There, your conscience is clear. Please leave.”

She shook her head, at this point, looking past my shoulder instead of in my dead eyes. I didn’t blame her.

Her voice was low and her words were slow. As though she were afraid to break. “What would you have said?”

I tossed down the box and snapped. “I don’t know Rayne. You don’t think I’ve thought of that? I have no fucking clue, but what I can tell you for damn sure is that it would have been a hell of a lot easier than finding out the way I did.”

“I wanted to. You just made it so hard. I finally found something so good and, yes, I know it was selfish, but I wasn’t ready to lose it.” She raised her voice slightly. “Obviously I knew I had to tell you soon, I just—oh my God, what the hell do you keep looking at over there?”

I held my phone in my hand, staring at the image. “I realize that, Rayne. I knew you were hiding something. And to be honest I almost called you back that night to let you explain.” My eyes snapped to hers. “But then I got this.” I flipped my screen and handed the thing to her.

“Wasn’t that the same bra you were wearing when you spent the night with me, showing up out of the blue after the game?”

I wasn’t sure what I expected. Maybe for her face to pale, redden, or more excuses to come flooding out of her. Instead, she looked at the image with sadness and misery. Like that one image was a message telling her she’d lost everything. Immediately, I regretted showing it to her.

She was in pain.

With an unsteady hand, she placed it on a shelf within reach and closed her eyes, letting a tear fall. “I wasn’t kissing him. He…he tricked me,” her voice fell to a whisper.

I was going to hate myself for this. “Was he the reason you came by that night?”

Her response was quick. “No.”

I raised a brow.Really think about this one, Rayne. I pressed with my eyes.

After a moment another tear fell and a new response. “Maybe.”

She blinked a few times, shaking her head. Suddenly looking completely lost and I fought to stand still instead of going to her.

A phone rang from her purse. She ignored it.

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