Page 74 of Anything but Mine

“Izzy?”

He scanned the area, but there were too many faces staring back at him. The barn. He needed to get to the stage. Behind the park’s main stage was the path up to the barn. His space. The familiar.

Where was Izzy?

He couldn’t remember a damn thing. Just that woman. Just Aimee in his space. Her spicy scent that stuck in his nose and to his skin. No matter how much he washed or scrubbed. It was there. On him.

Soaking inside him.

He climbed the steps to the stage and across. People shouted for him. He felt the beat of drums as he accidentally crashed a set. He rushed for the back of the gazebo and down the stairs. He ran because he could. Legs pumping up the incline, his breath ragged. Without warm-up, under a panic attack.

Finally, he gripped the steel barricade.

A man came running. “Mr. King. Are you all right?”

Logan nodded. “Aimee Collen. Add her to the do not admit list.”

The man scribbled into a notebook and also added it to his phone. Several phones around

the barricade went off and Logan breathed a little easier. He leaned against the doorway to the barn. Anger burned off the first licks of panic.

He was still carrying the damn stuffed dragon. He went up the stairs and set it on an amp.

Zeke flipped his guitar around his back. “There you are. Twitter has blown up, son. What the hell happened at the festival?”

Logan shook his head and headed backstage to the hallway. He pressed his palm to the wall and dug out his phone. With shaking fingers, he hit Izzy’s contact name.

“Pick up. Pick up.”

“Hi, this is Isabella Grace, please leave a message.”

He bowed his head. “Izzy, please. I can explain.” Christ, that sounded like a line. “I can’t do this over the phone and I can’t come find you. With…what happened, there will be so many more paparazzi on the way. Please.”

He hit the end button and slapped the wall hard enough that the pain shot up his arm, dissolved some of the shock.

Zeke found him. He wasn’t sure how much longer it was. He couldn’t focus long enough to even look at his phone. Just the white noise pushing at him.

“What the fuck, man?”

“I need to work.”

Z grasped his shoulder and turned Logan to face him. “What. Happened?”

Logan shook his head.

“Christ, Lo. Is it true? Freaking Twitter exploded and the stupid rags are reporting that you had an altercation at the festival.” He made little air quotes on the word, altercation.

Logan’s eyes shot to Zeke’s. Confused, he shook his head. “No. How?” He shoved his fingers through his hair. “It just happened.”

“Dude, you’ve been back here for an hour.”

The walls of the hallway were closing in on him. He pushed past his friend to the stage. Johnny and Lindsey were at the music stand going over lyrics. They shot worried looks at him. Where was Cole?

Logan went over to the piano and picked up his iPad. The setlist was there with the lineup. Right. Cole had a show in the city, but he’d be back for the finale the next night. Emerson and Morgan were sitting at a table near the bar at the back, eating. Everyone was settled except him.

Everyone seemed normal. Except him.

The crack of the back door slamming jolted him out of the fog.

---