Page 81 of Wild Catch
“Not an emergency,” I start with to bring her heart rate down. “But my head’s an absolute mess and I can’t function.”
“Espérate.” I can hear her bed creak as she sits up. “Okay, I’m all ears now but you’ll owe me brunch after this.”
“Deal.” The Rose in my bathroom mirror and I take a deep breath. “I just really, really wanted to tell you how thankful I am that you’re my mother.”
“That is an acceptable reason to call me at one in the morning, but I fail to see why it’s making your head into a mess.”
I set my phone on loud speaker, modulating the volume so that Hope can’t hear it next door, and as I talk I set out to open brand new makeup removing products. I have to use my stock, after staging my opened products in Logan’s bathroom in case his parents snooped around. I don’t regret making the effort, even if I do regret other aspects of the night.
Mainly how I didn’t hug him goodnight. And that man sure needs a freaking hug.
“I met a friend’s parents tonight,” I say and before I can add anything further, my mom chimes in.
“A guy friend?”
“I—yes. And before you ask, not my boyfriend. Just a friend.” If at all. I’m not sure that he’d consider me one.
“Uh huh.” I won’t acknowledge the skepticism in her voice.
“That’s not the point. What I’m trying to say is that his parents are just hateful people, which really puts into perspective how lucky I am that you raised me.”
“Should I be worried?” I hear her bed sheets rustle. “I know you’re an adult, mijita, but I don’t want you hanging out with bad people.”
“That’s the thing,” I whisper-exclaim, throwing my hands in the air and almost sending the cotton pad soaked in micellar water flying. “He is absolutely amazing. Kind of cranky if you don’t bother to look deep, but actually a genuinely good person whose parents happen to be garbage, and who obviously messed him up.”
Amusement laces her voice. “Seems like you care about this guy.”
“Mom.”
“If you don’t, why are you calling me at one in the morning to talk about him?”
Shots fired. Target hit. I double over from the pain in my chest, holding myself up by my hand on the vanity. “Maybe I do care about him but…”
“But?”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I take a deep breath and finally admit that this is what I really wanted to do all along: spill all the beans. Audrey knows the work part of the situation, but not everything else. Not the personal stuff.
I tell Mom everything… from the very first time Logan saved my life by making a wild catch that went viral, to the opportunity that opened up for me professionally, and how I roped him into helping me for nothing in return, other than the service I provided tonight of getting fans off him.
I do gloss over some details, for example me feeling up his thigh or how electricity shot down to my toes when our noses brushed. I definitely provide no commentary on how outrageously good looking he is, or the fact that he smells even better—good enough to drink.
Instead, I emphasize how the deal includes no kissing and restricted PDA that can only happen on my terms, and how he has respected all of that. And me.
Gosh, the way he defended me to his parents made my knees weak. If it hadn’t been because he grabbed my hand right after that, I might’ve melted on the spot.
“What’s the guy’s full name?” Mom asks.
“Logan Kim,” I respond in a daze after recounting the past couple of month’s worth of shenanigans.
There’s some tapping, which I’m sure is from Mom keying in his name into a browser. While I wait for the inevitable reaction, I work on removing my jewelry.
And there it is. “Oh my freaking goodness. This guy is a Greek god.”
“Even better in person.” I sigh.
“Husband him up. Right now.”
“Mom!” I whisper-hiss. “That’s not what’s going on here.”
