Page 2 of Sins or Secrets
I rush up to Logan’s door and ring the bell.Moments later the door swings open, and he’s standing before me, looking tall and foreboding as he shrugs into his t-shirt, ruffling his dark blonde hair.The instant he sees me, his handsome, beautiful face contorts with worry.Even though I’m doing my best to hide the terror embedded in my soul, I know he can tell something’s wrong.
His attention to the slightest detail is off the charts, and probably why the Marines snapped him up the moment he enlisted.Logan Savage didn’t have to wait any time at all to hear back from them.
Last night when we spoke, the thing I was worried about seemed like a mountain of a problem.Little did I know what was waiting for me.
“Baby, are you okay? You look pale,” he states, cupping my face.
“I have to talk to you,” I answer, stepping out of his grasp.Number one dead giveaway that something is definitely wrong with me.
“What’s happening?”
Where do I begin?
How do I speak the words I need to say to him to make sure he doesn’t follow me.Dad was clear about that. Very clear.
“We can’t go to New York together,” I answer, and his eyes widen, the lighter edges of blue darkening.
He looks like I just slapped him in his face.Those words feel exactly like that to me too.Because this can’t be real, it doesn’t feel right.It feels evil.
“What’s going on, Quinn? We’ve been planning this since last year.We talked about everything and you’ve never expressed any worries.”
“I know.” I wasn’t worried because I was willing to do anything to be with him.
Our plan was to leave after my high school graduation.I graduated last month and the last part of the plan was to wait for him to return from Afghanistan.He’s on leave for two weeks so we can head to New York and get a place together.
I start my studies at Juilliard in two months, but we were also going to New York to start our lives.We were supposed to leave next week.That was the plan until Dad found out about our secret relationship.The relationship he tried so desperately to forbid.
“Is it your father? Did you speak to him?”
“Yes, I spoke to him.”
“And he was furious, wasn’t he?” His nostrils flare.
“Yes, but he had reason to be.” I’m still trying to think about what I need to say, but everything in my mind is scrambling together in a cacophony of shit.
“Quinn, you insisted on talking to your father.I wanted to do it myself and tell him about us.”
It’s important that I choose my next words very, very carefully.
If I get this wrong and blow everything to hell, I’ll never forgive myself.
“I spoke to both my parents and they’re worried.My father is worried I’ll get hurt.” That’s the first lie.Nothing that came from my father’s lips tonight expressed anything of the sort.And Mom didn’t care. She cares more for her dog than me.
“Hurt? Quinn, you know I would never hurt you.”
“They were talking about your job.It’s dangerous, anything could happen to you.” Now to put the spin on the lie.“Logan, my father raised some good points I need to consider.Things I didn’t really think about.”
“Like what?”
“What my life will be like if I stay with you.”
This is a conversation we’ve had before.He knows I worry myself sick about him when he’s on duty and so far away from me.
It’s an unfair conversation because I’ve known him since we were kids and the only thing Logan has ever wanted to do with his life was follow in his Uncle Barry’s footsteps and become a marine.His uncle’s death a few years ago didn’t even deter him.If anything, it made him more determined than ever to enlist.
Much as I’ve expressed my worries, I’ve never tried to sway him into doing anything other than what he wanted to do.He’s been the same way with me.We knew what each other wanted and accepted that it was part of the package.Me, the dancer, and him the marine.
But it can’t be that way.
