Page 6 of Paradise

“Gary coming home?” Hayden asks, looking at Logan to gauge how she’s feeling.

They have a weird connection lately. I almost feel like Hayden trusts Logan more than anyone else in the world. After a few months of Logan and I dating, Hayden and Levi stopped making perverse jokes and welcomed her into their lives like a sister. They look out for her and care for her like she’s officially part of our family, making our connection that much stronger.

It's cute, the way Hayden looks at her.

I’m barely jealous anymore, because I realized that Logan can give Hayden something that neither Levi nor I can give him—a bond so rare that it’s changing him. He’s…differentlately. He still has that dead look behind his eyes, but I catch him laughing a lot more. Logan has given him someone to care about besides the small circle we’ve formed, and I really do think he would step in front of a bullet for her.

“Yep,” Logan answers, rolling her eyes a little bit at him.

“Don’t try to act tough and roll your eyes at me.” He chuckles, slapping a hand on her arm. “This is what you’ve wanted.”

Logan has missed her dad, no matter how much she denies it on the surface. There’s been more than one night where she’s woken me up crying over him. She’s hurt by her family falling apart twice in a row—first, her mom dying, and then her dad moving back to Franklin—and who can blame her? I’m glad she has someone she can confide in outside the two of us. She still hasn’t really made any friends in Luxington, and the constant trips to Franklin so she could hang with Giuliana were starting to get tiring.

I think Hayden might be her best friend.

“I know,” she answers, then looks at me. “We should get going.”

I nod. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Hayden slaps me on the arm. “Listen, remember I’m leaving to visit Travis in New York tomorrow. If we’re partying, it needs to be tonight. I’ll be back in a week, so let me know wherever you guys end up for vacation, and I’ll meet you there.”

“You got it. We’ll figure something out for tonight.” I clap hands with my friends again, and then get into the passenger side of Logan’s Beamer as Levi and Hayden get into the Maserati.

Logan cranks the engine, and the AC kicks on at full force, making me take a deep breath in. Once she’s reversed out of the spot and pulled onto the road, I slide my hand onto her thigh and tap the beat of the song that’s playing with my fingers.

“You nervous?” I ask as she gets onto the highway.

“No.” She looks at me out of the corner of her eye. “You?”

“No.” I shrug. “It’ll be good to finally have him home, right?”

She nods, looking back out to the road and sliding her fingers around the steering wheel. “Yeah.”

I stare at her for the rest of the drive, studying the shape of her face and her features—even though I could probably draw an accurate portrait with my eyes closed at this point. She looks stressed, like there’s an endless stream of anxiety-induced thoughts running through her mind and torturing her. When she’s pulling into our neighborhood, I squeeze her thigh to get her attention. “What’s on your mind, baby?”

She sighs, her voice strained. “Iamnervous.”

I chuckle. “I know, me too.”

She looks at me, her brow furrowed. “I think I’m still mad at him for everything, you know? Even though I’ve spent time with him in Franklin while he’s been gone, it just doesn’t feel the same as it did, and that sucks.”

“I know.” I rub her thigh, and she seems to relax just a bit, her hand falling to mine and squeezing it. “But maybe this can be a fresh start, babe. Maybe it’s time to wipe the slate and really give him another chance.”

She sighs again, then thinks over my words as she pulls into our driveway. When she’s finally parked, she turns to look at me. “I know that you’re right, but I still have all of this anxiety making me feel unstable.”

Reaching over, I put my hand on her jaw, my thumb caressing her cheek. “What can I do to help?”

Her eyes flick over my head to the house quickly, then focus back on my face. “Do you think they’re already here?”

“I doubt it,” I answer, staring into her golden eyes.

She grabs my hand from her jaw, then slowly lowers it between her legs. “Distract me, then.”

I grin, looking her over and knowing that this is the way I can help my girl right now. “Yes, ma’am.”

She spreads her legs as I slide my fingers underneath the lace of her panties, and a little moan leaves her lips when I slip a finger inside her.

“You cleaned up,” I muse. “I thought I told you not to.”

---