“You’re the one who sets all that out?” I ask, sliding into a chair at the kitchen table.
He looks over his shoulder and the tips of his ears grow red. “Guilty. You always seem to be running late.”
I laugh because he’s not wrong. Having an early morning show isn’t ideal for someone who loves to sleep in. “Thank you.”
It’s a thoughtful gesture. No one has ever done that for me before.
“You’re welcome.”
“Why are you up?” I ask.
He grabs a package of Twinkies from the cupboard and puts it in front of me. “I couldn’t sleep. You?”
“Same.” I’ve been having a horrible time sleeping since I moved in here and I can’t figure out why. The mattress is comfortable. I feel safe. Part of me has contemplated that it could be that Logan sleeps down the hall from me.
He joins me at the table with a Ho Ho in hand.
“Would Craig be okay with you eating that?”
He laughs and puts an entire Ho Ho into his mouth. “No,” he mumbles around it.
“You cheat a lot,” I say.
He shrugs. “I haven’t been able to find my groove yet. Doesn’t speak well for my fight.” He finishes off the other Ho Ho.
“Why do you think that is?” I take a bite of my Twinkie and bring my leg up so my foot rests on the end of the chair.
“You,” he says.
I scoff. “Let’s remember whose idea this fake marriage was. I was perfectly happy with a divorce.”
He laughs and holds up his hands. “I know, and it’s the truth.” He pauses. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Do you remember our wedding night at all?”
“I remember the balcony and not much else,” I admit, embarrassed.
“Consider yourself lucky.”
My foot drops to the floor and I lean over the table. “You remember marrying me?”
He shakes his head. “No.”
“Then what do you remember?”
His eyelids droop with desire and he shrugs as if suggesting I know what he remembers.
“Oh…”
“Yeah,” he says.
“Us?” I waggle a finger between us like I can’t form the word sex. He remembers having sex with me. Damn it, why am I jealous?
He nods.
“Oh… was it, um… good?” I hate not having the same memory he does.
“If it wasn’t, would I be here? Would I be struggling with my training?”
“Well, I mean, you’ve had sex with a lot of people during your life.”
His forehead crinkles and I think maybe I offended him.
“I can’t be the best.” My hand comes up and covers my mouth. What am I saying?
He laughs and moves to stand at the same time I get up to escape this conversation. Our chests brush and I stumble to find my footing, but Logan swings his arm around my waist, catching me.
The laughter dies in his throat and silence falls over the kitchen while he stares into my eyes. “You have no idea the torture you put me through.”
“What?” I whisper.
“Every night, all I want to do is walk down the hall into your bedroom and bury myself inside you. I want to feel the softness of your body pressed to mine. I want to kiss every inch of you. I want to taste you and spend the entire night fucking you until the sun comes up, then I want to sleep the day away with you in my arms.”
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.
“Say something?” he mumbles.
“Logan,” I sigh because I can’t think of anything but him right now.
He rights me so I’m on both feet then releases me, stepping away. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Just forget I said anything.”
“Logan,” I say after him, but he walks out of the room. Seconds later, his bedroom door shuts with a click and my heart sinks.
But I’m not sure what he expects. He asked me to agree to this fake arrangement, then he explains how desperately he wants me. I might as well just open up my chest, hand him my heart, and say I’m okay with him returning it in pieces.
Chapter Sixteen
“You and that girl aren’t even sleeping in the same bed.”
Logan
Craig and I finish a round of sparring and each sit down to drink water. “This past week, you’ve been on fire. Your jabs and kicks look good,” he says, then downs half of his water.
“Thanks.”
He doesn’t have to know I’ve been taking all my aggravation with Nikki out on him in the ring. I’ve added another workout to my day since Nikki doesn’t want anything to do with me. Her new routine is she doesn’t even come to the house for dinner, saying she’s putting together a business plan for her podcast or visiting with one person or another until late.
So I’ve been keeping my distance. I feel as though I’ve done so much to try to bridge the gap between us, and I was honest about remembering us having sex that night. But she doesn’t care because I’m not the kind of guy she sees herself marrying—regardless of the fact that I am the guy she’s married. At this point, I’m done.
“Wife not giving it up in bed?” Craig asks jokingly, although he’s hit the nail on the head.
“I just finally got my head out of my ass.” I finish my water.
Nikki’s brother Fisher walks into the gym with a brunette I don’t recognize. I’ve only met the guy one time and that was at Rylan’s soccer game. He’s the sheriff, so he only stopped by to see if they won, then he got a call he had to go out on.
“Hey.” He waves and walks over.
“You’re friends with the sheriff?” Craig asks with humor in his tone.
“He’s Nikki’s brother… er… stepbrother.” I’m finally starting to figure out who everyone is.
We shake hands and I introduce him to Craig.
“This is Allie,” Fisher says.
I nod. “Nice to meet you.”
“So you’re really in Sunrise Bay and you’re married to Fisher’s sister?” Allie asks. “We had bets going at the hospital that someone was making it up.”
I laugh. “Here in the flesh.” I don’t address the marriage part because who knows how much longer that’ll be true.
“Yes, you are,” Allie says.
Fisher gives her a look I’m way too familiar with. One that suggests he doesn’t like the fact she’s ogling my body.
“Well, we’re gonna work out. If you need me to jump in the ring with you, let me know.” Fisher bumps fists with me.
“Sure.”
Craig laughs and we watch them walk away. I jump into the ring again.
“I think you’ve done enough ring work today.” Craig hops down.
“Come on. One more round. I need work on my elbow jab.” I bounce from foot to foot, waving him into the cage.
He groans but joins me. “That’s it after this. You need a break. You’ve gone from twenty miles to one hundred.” He puts his gloves and helmet back on and his mouthpiece in.
“Come on.”