“I’m not going out with Logan.”
“She’s not going out with Logan,” Addy mocked. “Is she crazy?”
“She is right here, you know!”
“I’m not talking to you. We’re supposed to be friends. Friends call their friends when they land the hot guy they’ve been crushing over. Friends call their friends when they hook up with the hot guy they’ve been lusting after for-freaking-ever. And friends call their friends when the hot guy practically moves in. But, no, not you. You don’t call. I have to hear it from Shiloh.”
“Logan hasn’t moved in,” I said to Addy but I was now staring at Shiloh.
“Don’t look at me. I thought she knew. I mean, everyone else knows. How was I supposed to know that her man’s not keeping her up-to-date like Luke’s keeping me?”
The man Shiloh was referring to was Trey. He was another former SEAL who worked at Triple Canopy.
“Brice talked to Jackson who got it from Carter that Logan’s spent every night at your house since Balls last Friday,” Quinn put in. “That’s basically living together.”
Brice was Quinn’s very-soon-to-be-husband. He was a firefighter who worked with Jackson Clark. Obviously, neither of those men worked at Triple Canopy but Carter Lenox did, and not only was he one of Logan’s best friends he was also Jackson’s cousin.
“I’m sorry, but do the men that work here have nothing better to do than gossip?” I asked snidely.
“You’ve worked here longer than I have,” Quinn pointed out.
And she need not explain further. All of the men gossiped worse than old church ladies.
“Logan’s not living with me. We’re not in a relationship. We’re not…” I stopped and reconsidered. “Okay, we’re hooking up. But that’s it. Nothing else.”
“Um…I’m sorry, was she not here when that man called her ‘Ren, baby’?” Chelsea asked. “Because I was and I swooned a little. Which is code for my panties got a little damp and the ‘baby’ wasn’t even directed at me.”
“You just wish Matt would call you ‘baby’,” Addy snapped.
“Hell yes, I’d like for Matt to call me baby. Have you seen him? You know the only reason I’m still rehabbing with you is so I have an excuse to come here. Can you say, eye candy?”
“You have the hots for Matt?” I chirped. “That’s cool. Matt’s a great guy.”
“Stop trying to change the subject. You’re not off the hook.” Addy pointed at me.
Jeez.
Someone had their panties in a twist.
“Fine, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I haven’t actually told anyone.”
“And why is that, exactly?” Quinn asked.
“Because we’re…” I trailed off.
What were Logan and me? Bed buddies? Fuck friends? Were we even friends? Yes, I could admit we were friends, which was one of the reasons it was going to hurt so badly when this ended. I genuinely liked Logan as a person. That was when we were alone and he let down the stone wall he kept around him.
“Lauren?” Addy called.
“We’re just having fun,” I answered. “It’ll never be serious and I’m okay with that. I don’t want a relationship.”
Quinn busted out laughing. Her body shook so violently she bent at the waist and slapped her thighs. “It’s like déjà vu,” she sputtered. “I’m having flashbacks. Only…Logan’s me and Lauren’s Brice.”
“What does that mean?”
“Stop freaking her out,” Liberty spoke up.
“Too late, I’m already freaked. What does that mean: I’m Brice and you’re Logan?”
Before Quinn, Brice Lancaster was the quintessential playboy. With his good looks, it was no surprise women had fallen at his feet, or into his bed as it were. But after Quinn had talked him into a neighborly friends-with-benefits arrangement, an arrangement that made Brice admit he had feelings for her and get over some deep-seated internal struggles that were holding him back. Now they were getting married in a few weeks.
Wait.
What?
“I am not Brice and holding out on Logan. And trust me, friend, Logan’s not you. He legit doesn’t want anything more than what he’s getting from me.”
“And what’s he getting from you?” Liberty inquired.
“Lots of sex.”
“You know I love you, girly,” Liberty started. “From the bottom of my soul like a sister but you need to open your eyes. Logan does not, for any reason, ever, spend the night with a woman. And he doesn’t spark up friendships with the women he sleeps with.”
A funny sensation—one that felt a lot like betrayal—rumbled in my belly.
“He told me he hadn’t slept with a woman since he’d been in Georgia.” I heard Addy suck in a breath and Quinn made a strangled sound that sounded like a laugh. “So how would you know that?”
Liberty’s eyes slowly drifted closed but not before pain flashed and her mouth turned down.
“Liberty?”
“What has he told you about his dad?” she asked when she opened her eyes.
“He said his dad was dead.”
And that was it; Logan hadn’t elaborated but his non-verbal reaction to my question had left me feeling horrible for asking so I didn’t push. I loved my dad so I could totally understand the topic being a sore subject, and from the way Logan’s body had turned to stone I knew he wasn’t over his father’s death.
“He is,” Liberty confirmed. “I wasn’t speaking from firsthand knowledge, I’ve never seen him with a woman. I just know what Drake has told me. And Logan does not get involved with women. Not ever, Lauren. I mean that he actively avoids getting into a relationship and he has his reasons. I don’t agree with them, but Logan wholeheartedly believes down to his bones he should never be close to a woman.”
I’m never gonna love you, baby.
“What does ‘should never be close to a woman’ mean?”
“That’s not my story to tell,” she whispered.
“But there’s a story?”
“Yes. One that he needs to tell you. I thought you knew.”
I didn’t know. And I was thinking I should know.
My gaze went to Addy and she looked deep in thought. “Do you know what she’s talking about?”
“No. Trey just said Logan has his reasons and I should leave it be.”
No help there—Addy would never lie. I glanced at Quinn, but before I could ask her she was shaking her head.
“I don’t know anything and if Logan has shared something with Brice he hasn’t told me.”
A thought struck me. After Logan had laid out all of the things he didn’t do with women he was adamant that was not how he was with me. That implied I was different. I just didn’t know what different meant. Why did he insist on spending the night? Why did he insist on coming over every night? As far as mixed signals went, the ones he was giving off were so twisted and knotted I couldn’t figure out what he truly wanted.
“After what happened with Guy I’m not looking for anything serious. Logan has his reasons and those are not my business. I don’t want a relationship—”