Page 33 of Whenever You Call

“I know, but I’m sorry you sound messed up over it.”

“Are you? Are you sorry, Logan?”

“No.”

“Then why lie?”

My eyes scrunched together, the knot of dread tightening in my stomach at the thought of me having to tell her who I was and why we’d first made contact.

“I’ll try not to do that again.” Another fucking lie. “Of course, I’m glad you called. You probably have questions, and I want to be the one to answer them.”

“Let’s get straight into it then. Why were you with Jasper Jacobson the other night?”

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around that myself.”

“The truth, Logan. That’s all it takes.”

It was the very least I could give her, so that’s what I did. I told her about my recent sign up to Creed’s MMA gym, and about how I’d met my new trainer, and we’d struck up an instant friendship that made little sense to me. I told her the truth about how I didn’t think they’d let me into Alter Egos, never mind let me stay there, and how Creed seems to know every name and face from any trashy celebrity magazine to exist, and that’s how we came to be in Jasper’s company.

“Once Jasper was put in his car, Creed drove me home. He said that was enough drama for the year for him, and I agreed.” I ran my hand through my hair and fisted it. “I know what you must have thought when you saw me, Hannah. That I was another fame-hungry wannabe who’d somehow found a way to get close to you when you felt weak.”

“I’m not weak, Logan. I’m tired. I’m tired of being confused. I’m tired of overthinking. I’m tired of having such contradictory feelings. I’m tired of wondering when the next panic attack is going to hit. I’m tired of wondering if I’m good enough for Bella now. But do you know what I’m tired of more than anything? I’m tired of being stuck in this house, too afraid to go out in case someone sees me and judges what I’ve become, how I act, or what I look like. I just want someone to knock on my door and tell me they’re breaking me out of this fancy prison I’ve become stuck in. I need…”

“What? You need what?”Tell me, and I’ll give it to you.

“I need to escape.”

My heart hammered in my chest, heavy and hard, fighting to be heard over every other thought in my mind that told me not to do or say what I was about to do or say.

“Do you know what I hated the most about seeing you out with Jasper?” she asked. “I was jealous. I was jealous of your freedom. Of his, too. He can fuck up and be forgiven by the media in the morning. Me? I’m supposed to be a grieving widow, dressed in black, staring out of her bedroom window through a black veil untiltheytell me I can live again.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way. Just give me the word, and I’ll help you break free,” I said without thought.

She took her time to respond before she quietly asked, “You’d do that for me?”

“In a heartbeat.”

“How do I know that I can trust you?”

“You can’t know. Not yet. You just have to take a few risks first.”

“Is that what you are, Logan? A risk?”

My mind raced with cheesy lines, clichés, and a thousand other things that didn’t feel right until all I had left to offer her was the truth. All I could offer her was the very thing she seemed to offer me whenever we spoke.

“Everyone you meet is a risk, but maybe I’m the guy who accidentally came into your life to help you breathe easier for a while. It doesn’t have to be forever, Hannah. It just has to be now.”

A few seconds passed, the words I’d spoken lingering between us until she exhaled heavily and whispered. “Get me out of this place, Logan. Please.”

Chapter14

LOGAN

She climbed into my car later that night wearing a black cap with her short blonde hair tucked behind her ears. Her jeans hugged her thighs and ass in a way that made me look the other way so that I didn’t have to try and control my expressions. The big, black hoodie she wore hung off her slender frame as though it had belonged to Cole. When she shut the passenger door and turned to face me, a breath caught in my throat, and I had to clear it away quickly.

The woman didn’t know just how insanely beautiful she was.

She fastened her seatbelt and sat back in the seat with a heavy sigh, her delicate hands landing on her thighs. “Am I stupid for doing this?” she asked, staring straight ahead at the garage that looked eleven times bigger than my condo. “No, wait. Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know. Let’s just go.”

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