Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56885 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56885 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Elliot stands, paces, grabbing his vape pen, and taking a long inhale. His expression hides in a cloud of vapor for a few moments. I almost want it to stay like this so I don’t have to see the resentment in his eyes.
But then it clears, and I see the pain. “Now I’m the bad guy for wanting to know what the hell’s going on between you two,” he snaps. “Logan, you’re a goddamn hero. Piper, your life… you could’ve…” He trembles. “I guess I’m expected to ignore this, then. Pretend I didn’t see what I saw, hear what I heard.”
Before I can reply, my phone buzzes from the table. It’s Ruby.
Ruby: Oh my God! When can you call me? Mom wanted to take a trip out of town, anyway. Do you think I should leave tonight?
“Ruby’s going to skip town until this blows over,” I say. “Maybe you should go with her.”
Elliot clenches his jaw. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“What? Nothing. I just thought you might want to be with her.”
“So, because I’m with Ruby, I’m supposed to swallow this. No complaints, no questions. Is that it?”
“Nobody’s saying that, Elliot,” Logan says, sounding tired.
Now that the adrenaline has worn off, he’s been far less affectionate with me in front of Elliot.
Elliot drops into the chair Agent Waller vacated, resting his forehead against his hand. “Explain, Logan. This is Piper we’re talking about. Fair enough, I can’t exactly take the moral high ground. I get that. But I didn’t watch Ruby grow up. I barely knew her. She’s not my best friend’s goddamn sister.”
“But she’s your sister’s best friend,” I snap.
“So, I am just supposed to swallow this, then?.”
Logan touches my hand. A moment later, he realizes his mistake and lets it drop. But the damage has been done. Elliot glares like he’s getting himself ready for a fight.
“Nobody’s saying that,” Logan mutters. “Elliot, I never wanted to hurt you.”
“When did it start?”
“Recently,” I say. “That’s when it really started.”
“What do you mean, really?”
“We kissed before she went to college,” Logan says, dropping the bomb. “No, that’s not fair. I kissed her. It just… happened. I walked into the living room. We were alone. Suddenly, it was like I was seeing her for the first time. Beautiful. Angelic. Somehow confident and shy at the same time. I tried to forget about it, about her, but when she came home, I couldn’t.”
“It’s been a two-way street,” I say quickly, not wanting Logan to take all the blame.
Thinking of it as ‘blame’ is sick, though. It’s not blame—more like credit for starting this beautiful relationship.
Elliot sits back, sighing darkly. “Piper and Logan. I can’t even fit that into my head. I know I’m being a hypocrite. You were happy for me, Piper; at least, I think you were.”
“I am,” I snap. “I didn’t say that just because I want you to be okay with this.”
“I never said that.”
“But you just implied it. Don’t play games with me.”
“What is this, then?” Elliot snaps. “A fling? Something more?”
“It’s everything,” Logan says passionately. “Before Piper, I thought I was broken. I thought my childhood, our childhood…”
“Don’t use that against me,” Elliot snaps. “This is Piper. She’s my sister. I just can’t…” Elliot shakes his head again. “This has to stop.”
I gasp. “What?”
“If you have any respect for me, you’ll stop this until I can make some sense of it. Maybe until after the investigation.”
“And what if you can’t ever ‘make sense’ of it?” I demand.
“I don’t know, Piper,” he says. “And I get it. You didn’t ask me to cut things off with Ruby. But if you’re telling the truth, if you were genuinely happy for us—”
“I was. I am.”
“Then you’ll understand why I need you to stop because I feel genuinely sick to my stomach. I can’t process this right now. I was just gagged and shoved into a closet. I thought I was going to die. Please.”
“We’ve all been through a lot,” I say. “Logan risked his life to save us.”
“Piper,” Logan says, his voice heavy with emotion. “If Elliot wants us to pause this, we must give him that courtesy.”
“You want this too?”
He looks down at me, his eyes swelling with the same emotion in his husky voice. He shakes his head. “I want you. I want us to do what we always have: take this hell and turn it into a little slice of heaven. I want us to read and write and work on Do It All. I want us to love, Piper, something I never thought I was capable of before I met you. But I don’t want to keep betraying Elliot, either.”
Tears well in my eyes. What if this is the end?
“Can we have a last kiss, at least?” I snap.
Elliot stands, walking toward the balcony garden. “Fine. And, sis, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m not as selfless and understanding as you.”