Page 138 of Bad Love

“Way to go, Rory!” Logan hollers, hands cupped around his mouth to ensure the sound reaches every dark corner of thegym.

I turn back to the stage, my chest tingling as I shout, "Go,Rory!"

The rest of the room grudgingly jumps in as my kid's smile broadens an inch at a time until it’sblinding.

A little while later, after the show ends, my kid runs out, and I wrap him in ahug.

"You were the best, Rory." I look over his head for Logan, but he's gone. I shake that off for the moment. "You save any of thosescones?"

He holds two bowls of scones. "That bowl’s not baked. They’re just for show. Want one, Grandma?" He offers the bowl of baked scones to mymother.

She looks between us, then gives in. “Oh, allright.”

It's amazing what lemon blueberry can do to mendfences.

"Kendall." I turn, and there's Nadine, standing with a pasted-on smile on her face. "Rory’s talent wasn’t what I expected, but I should’ve known you’d go for something unorthodox. Especially given your video that’s been making therounds.”

"I understand completely," I say. “Scone? They’re lemonblueberry."

With a moment’s hesitation, she reaches into thebowl.

“Not that one! Those… aren’t baked.” I wince as she lifts her hand, covered in goop. “Sorry,” I murmur as she turns on her heel with a painedsmile.

"What video?" my mother asks as Nadineleaves.

"She didn’t show you, Mrs. Sullivan?” I shut my eyes at the sound of Blake's voice. Of course he came back in time to embarrassme.

He holds up his phone with my video. My parents watch in growing horror as I set the bowls on a chair and hold my hands over my kid'sears.

I knew this was a risk of making that video. Especially when I proceeded to distribute it through the mom networks. When it went viral… that was something I hadn’tanticipated.

But in place of the humiliation I’d expected to burn my stomach as my parents watch, a feeling of calm washes over me. "I’m sorry you found that, Blake. I never meant to publicly confess that I'm having better sex now than I ever had withyou."

His face goes satisfyinglypale.

As I turn to reach for the bowl, I spot a familiar head over the crowd that makes the rest of my thoughtsevaporate.

Rory shouts, "Logan!"

He runs across the room to the man I can’t stop thinking about, who looks breathtakingly handsome in a crisp, blue button-down over khakis, his hair tamed a little more than I remember it. Logan’s face splits into a grin when my son pulls up in front ofhim.

“Excuse me a moment,” I say to no one in particular as I follow my son across thegym.

I haven’t seen Logan in two weeks, and when I pull up in front of him, I take a moment to soak himin.

He’s still the most gorgeous man I’ve ever met, but it’s so much more than skin deep. It’s the way he carries himself, the confidence, the caring in hisexpression.

"Hey, Rory. You were boss out there. Gordon Ramsay's got nothing onyou."

"Bloody hell," Rory agreeshappily.

Logan’s gaze meets mine. It’s full of warmth and other emotions that feel way too personal to process in the middle of agym.

A boyish smile curves the corner of his mouth. "I wanted to be the one to tell you we hit ten thousand sales. But you know that because you made ithappen.”

I’m melting like the blueberries in Rory’s scones. "I might’veheard.”

Someone bumps me from behind, and I step closer. Not close enough to touch him, but close enough I can smell his freshscent.

---