Page 69 of This Is Love
I draw in a careful breath. “Whatever it is, I can handle it.” I walked out to center stage in a theater full of people, all eyes on me, battered and bruised with my arm hanging out of its socket. Surely, I can handle this. But then I search Logan’s eyes, and I know whatever he’s about to tell me, he truly believes has the power to hurt me. I exhale sharply. “Just say it.”
“I was almost surprised Hazel didn’t mention it in her tirade. But I think she also somehow orchestrated a power outage in the building so we’d be trapped in the elevator together in the dark.” He stops, halting to press his lips together.
“She’s manipulative, man. Just tell her.”
Logan heaves out a disturbed sigh. “The power finally came back on and as it did, she grabbed me and kissed me.”
I blink, air whooshing from between my lips. Hazel kissed Logan?
“And if that weren’t bad enough, when I pushed her away and asked what she was doing, she accused me?—”
My eyes crash shut for a moment as I shake my head in disbelief.That girl. I swear. Lifting my good arm to touch his lips with my fingertips, I murmur, “Logan, you can stop right there. She’s got something seriously wrong with her. You watched that psycho dancing my choreography on the stage as if she weren’t doing a damn thing wrong. I have no doubts when it comes to you.” I cup the side of his face, drawing him down to me, and press my lips to his. It’s soft and lingering and fueled on his end with what I believe to be a plea of sorts—to trust him. And on my end, I seek only to reassure him that I do.
The clearing of a throat wrenches us apart. Startled, all three of us turn our attention toward the doorway.
My parents stand there, my mom with her eyes wide and hand covering her mouth, and my dad with a grim set to his features along with a raised brow that tells me we’re about to be hit with a whole lot of questions.
Questions of the variety I really don’t want to answer for anyone, least of all my stern father. “Uh, Dad. Mom. Hi.”
“Mr. and Mrs. Monroe, nice to see you this morning.” The cheeky smile Jaxon shoots them would be hilarious if they hadn’t just walked in to see me kissing the man they know to be my best friend.
“Jaxon,” my father says curtly, his gaze never wavering from Logan.
“Dad—”
“I’d rather hear the explanation from Logan,” he growls. “Mind telling me what the hell is going on here?” His gaze shifts to Jaxon, who’s standing very close to Logan.
Logan reaches for my hand. “You know I love your daughter.” He locks eyes with me. “I kinda always have. Nothing has changed.”
My mother makes an odd little sound before wetting her lips, glancing at Jaxon. “But— I thought…”
I nod. “Please don’t freak out. I’m dating both of them. And we’re happy. All of us.”
My dad rubs a hand over his forehead, his gaze shifting to the ceiling as his face turns a mottled red color. “I’m not often speechless.” He exhales hard as his head snaps back to us. “This is disgraceful, Rya.”
From this angle, the hard twitch of Logan’s jaw tells me things are about to get interesting. “Sir, I’m gonna say this just once. If you’re more concerned about how your daughter is being loved and supported than you are about what her supposed friend did to her, then maybe you should rethink that.”
“She’s been through hell and back. And if you can’t be here for her, I promise you, we will be.” Jaxon aims his steely gaze on my father. “She doesn’t deserve to be surrounded by anything but protection and love… always.”
I never would have thoughtanything could fluster my father or make my mother squeak the way she had at Logan’s and Jaxon’s words, but that’s exactly what’d happened.
And from there, we were able to calmly discuss what had been going on around here, even though I felt like I was choking on the truth as I answered all their questions about Hazel’s offenses and all the reasons why I felt I couldn’t talk to them about the attack my own roommate had waged on me. The conversation hadn’t been easy, but I’d been endlessly supported by these two men. I have never felt so loved and cared for in my entire life, and I don’t quite know what to do with myself. Because I think the shitstorm might really be over now that Hazel’s been arrested. For the first time in forever, I’m no longer anxious that someone is out to get me.
As Jaxon lets us into his room several hours later, I turn, backing my way inside so I can see them both. “Thank you.” Everything I want to say is caught in my throat, and for several seconds, all I can do is focus on dragging air into my lungs. “For everything.”
Logan reaches me first, drawing me gently to his chest, and presses a kiss to my forehead. “Nah, Tiny Dancer. Thank you. For being ours. I’m only sorry it all went down like it did.”
“Same.” Jaxon comes in close and stoops to drop a slow, devastating kiss on my lips, then eases away.
My brow furrows. He’s been oddly quiet since last night, unless he absolutely has needed to say something. As I watch, he sits down on the edge of the mattress, lowering his head into his hands. He scrubs them through his hair. I glance at Logan, gesturing that we should sit with him. After we settle on either side, I put my hand on his back. “Jaxon… no holding back with us. Never again.” I angle my head to better see his expression. He looks so lost.
I meet Logan’s eyes over Jaxon’s bowed head, and I feel the concern radiating from him to match my own. Logan lets loose a sigh. “Whatever’s bothering you, spill it, man.”
A disturbed laugh huffs from between Jaxon’s lips. “To be honest, I’m a little weirded out.”
I cock my head as a line forms down the middle of my forehead. Whatever’s on his mind is no small thing, and that scares me. My mind scrambles for what could be plaguing him. “By what?”
Jaxon hesitates, peering at me first, almost as if he’s asking me for help.
