Page 71 of Wild Catch
“Logan.” Why is she looking at me funny? “You’re a really bad host, you know that? You stare at my ass and don’t even offer me a drink.”
“Shit.” I spring from the couch. “You’re right, I’m not used to this.”
“Aren’t you?” Rose follows me to the kitchen. “That’s surprising.”
Ignoring the dig, I stop at the fridge and open it. “I have still and sparkling water, orange and apple juice, almond milk, and chocolate milk. No alcohol.”
Another smile stretches her lips, now a deeper pink than her natural tone. “Does a kid live here?”
“Yes, me.” I reach for a sparkling water for me and she motions at me to offer her another one. Opening the first bottle and handing it to her, I change the topic by saying, “Listen, Rose. There’s something you should know about my parents.”
“Are they serial killers? Is that why you’re single, because they keep killing your girls?” she jokes.
I open my bottle and my voice lowers. “No, but it’d be a lot easier if they were. They’d just be in jail.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t trust people with dead eyes and fake smiles. Remember that?” I ask before closing the fridge and leaning back against it. “Wanna know how I learned that?”
She can sense that I’m not playing around right now. Before I get too worked up about this whole situation again, I take a good swig from the bottle and force myself to take a few deep breaths.
Slowly, I lift my eyes to her curious ones. “My parents are narcissists. I don’t mean the kind of people who stare at themselves in the mirror too much—I’m talking about the freaky ones. The ones who will make your life a living hell if you let them in.”
Air rushes between her lips. “Logan?—”
“Don’t be interesting,” I say vehemently. “Don’t give them anything to latch on—not anything funny or clever, certainly not anything personal that they can use against you.” I set my bottle behind me on the counter. “Don’t talk back at them even if they’re rude or they insult you. Be so boring as to make them sure that I’ll break up with you soon and they’ll never have to see you again. Please.
“It’s for your own sake,” I finish, realizing that as I spoke I got so much closer, until her hand that holds her water pushes against my stomach. Rose’s head is tilted back as she meets my eyes, and even though she’s not wearing heels, our height difference isn’t so drastic that this is uncomfortable for her.
And she’s not moving away.
“Are you trying to protect me?”
“Yes,” I respond right away. “I’d protect the whole world from them if I could.”
“Then…” Her big brown eyes roam all over my face, trying to read between lines to decipher the deepest parts of my psyche. And she does, because she asks, “Who is protecting you from them?”
I freeze.
And blink hard.
“Myself.” And the prescription I’m loaded up on.
“What if you accepted help?” Her eyes fill up with warmth, genuine and unbridled. “From me, that is.”
I open my mouth, but I still don’t get enough air into my lungs. My throat works with a heavy swallow and I try to refute the offer, but no sound comes from my throat.
Instead, the doorbell goes off.
CHAPTER25
ROSE
Part of me wonders if I’m hallucinating what I’m seeing, except the small contact of the back of my fingers against his rock solid stomach reminds me that no, this is very much real life.
Yet here he is, Logan Kim, the most intimidating guy in the Orlando Wild organization, whose plays make whole teams crumble irreparably, who is tatted up and a biker and stronger than an ox…
And there’s no way I can mistake the flash of fear that passes over his eyes.
