Page 65 of Breathless

Thisagain.

“Sam,” I say gently, “you know we’ve talked about havingboundaries.”

Her eyes well with tears, and it makes me feel like shit. I know this isn’t entirely her fault, but this isn’t an ideal situation for meeither.

“I just…” She sobs quietly. “I’m lonely, Logan. Why can’t we keep each other company? It’s not like you’re a saint. I thought you might wantto…”

God, please don’t finish thatthought.

I’m gonna have to give her a hard pass. For so manyreasons.

I start talking before she can say anything else. “I know moving here was tough and you miss your family. Did you enroll in classes like I suggested? You’ll meet more people like that. Just send me the bill, and I can reimburse you for thecredits.”

“I don’t care about the fucking money, okay?” She lowers her voice when she realizes she might wake up Zach. “I mean, yes, I need the cash, but why do you only care about Zach and the bills? Why don’t you care aboutme?”

I’m not really sure how to answer that tactfully. I take a deep breath. “Sam, come on now. You know I care. I give you a huge check every month to make sure you can afford everything you need. I take Zach to lunch every week and fix the broken shit in your apartment. Don’t say I don’t care. I just can’t be what you need in a man. That’s not me. That will never be me, okay? But I will support you each and every step of the way until you get on your feet. I care. As afriend.”

A wild look in her eyes flashes for a moment, but then it’s gone. She nods slowly as she wipes away the tears, and Irelax.

There are only so many ways I can emphasize that she and I will never get together. Not in this lifetime or thenext.

Samantha is a beautiful woman with red hair, a curvy figure, and big green eyes. Which she bats at me every chance shegets.

Still, I’m notinterested.

I hope Sam understands. That she really gets it thistime.

More importantly, I hope Joey understands when I tell her aboutSamantha.

26

Joey

Awarm,hard body slides behind mine under the covers, and I smile sleepily into thepillow.

“What time is it?” I ask, my voice arasp.

“It’s late. Sorry I woke you, baby.” Logan’s cold nose presses to my neck, and I wiggle back to nestle against him in our cocoon oftwo.

“Missed you.” A sad admission since we’ve been glued at the hip the whole weekend, but stilltrue.

“So much that you’re not in mybed?”

I chuckle and rub the gunk out of my eyes. “You should’ve heard the internal debate I had about that atbedtime.”

“I bet.” He kisses my shoulder, rests his giant palm on my breast, makes a manly sound of contentment, and passesout.

Poor baby. I want to ask him a million questions, like why it took him so long to get the meds and if Bev is really okay. I worried he had car trouble or couldn’t get the prescription, but right now I’m just glad he’s home and wrapped aroundme.

In the morning, there’s a note on my pillow to call him when I’m up, and he’ll try to join me for lunch. I forgot to tell him Tori was picking me up today so I can test out a hairstyle for the wedding, so I send him a text that I’m headed hisway.

The house is filled with people when I get there—Tori’s parents, her cousins, Bev, and the kids, who perch on their dad’s lap in the kitchen. This might be Ethan’s second marriage, but I never saw him this happy with Allison. His smile is wide and relaxed even though Mila and Cody hang off him like he’s their personal junglegym.

Although the wedding is a few days away, you’d think it was this afternoon from the smiles on everyone’sfaces.

When the kids spot me, they bound over and tackle me for a hug. “Hey, guys.” I smooch their little heads. “I just saw you last night, youknow.”

Mila grabs my hand. “Yeah, but Uncle Logan says we hafta convince you to stay in Texas.” She leans up to me like she wants to tell me a secret and whisper-yells, “He says he’ll die if you leave. So don’t leave, okay? Plus, Cody and I loveyou.”

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