Jill, being the sister with no boundaries, opened the fridge and helped herself to half and half before answering.
“I doubt Lauren would mind. She’s practically family.”
It was at that moment Lauren appeared at the mouth of the hallway looking freaked the fuck out. She was, as ever, beautiful in a knee-length sundress, her hair down, makeup-free, with flip-flops on her feet. Beautiful but freaked.
“Ren, baby, come here so I can introduce you.”
I ignored my mother’s sharp intake of air and my sisters’ very loud, very overexaggerated sigh and focused on Lauren. She was glancing around her house full of my family with wide eyes.
With no one saying anything and Lauren not moving, fucking Ian spoke up.
“Lauren, right?”
Lauren did a slow blink then her gaze went to him and my jaw clenched when she smiled.
“Yes. Sorry. I was…”
“Overwhelmed?” Ian supplied. “My apologies for taking over your home without notice.”
“No, it’s fine.” Lauren waved her hand and I felt a molar crack.
Who the fuck did this asshole think he was—the head of the family, the patriarch, the goddamn mouthpiece for my family?
“Yes, Lauren, our apologies,” my mother piped up. “I was under the impression you knew we were coming.” My mom’s gaze sliced to Jill and lingered before she walked to Lauren with her hand extended. “I’m Dee by the way.”
“Dee, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Lauren returned the handshake and the room plunged into awkward silence.
Yeah, I couldn’t do this. Not even with Lauren by my side. Between wanting to strangle my sisters and my ever-growing need to punch Ian in the face it was safe to say I was struggling with not ordering everyone to leave.
“Oh my God,” Jill groaned. “This is the best coffee I’ve ever tasted.”
“It should be considering it’s forty bucks for half a pound.” Lauren smiled. “I stopped getting weekly manicures just so I could afford my expensive coffee addiction.”
“You spend forty dollars on coffee?”
“Yes, Logan, you’ve tasted it and you can’t deny it’s worth every penny.”
I wouldn’t go that far. It was good but I’d still reach for the fifteen-dollar brand at the store.
“I’m Jackie. The rude one who helped herself to your kitchen is Jill.”
“So I’m just gonna put this out there now. Please don’t be offended if I see you again and you have to tell me who is who. Logan said you were twins but not identical.”
“We’re used to it,” the twins said in unison.
“So, Tybee?” Jill pushed.
“Jill, there’s no way we’re gonna find a hotel.” My mom injected wisdom.
“I’m sure we can get a VRBO or one of those Airbnbs, DeeDee.”
Fucking DeeDee again.
No fucking way was I sharing a house with my mom, sisters, Lauren, and Ian. I’d poke out my eyeballs before that shit happened.
“The kids wouldn’t want to stay with us, Ian.”
The kids.
Jesus fuck. I was going to vomit.
“Jill,” I snapped but got no further because Lauren loudly cleared her throat.
“There’s a six-bedroom VRBO on the beach right next to that ice cream shop Mom loves,” Jackie said and looked up from her phone. “And it has a pool and hot tub.”
“Jack—”
“Logan.” Lauren smiled sweetly.
“Ren,” I warned.
“Zap. Zap,” she returned her own warning with an edge to her voice but the smile still firmly in place.
I was going to zap her ass as soon as my family left.
“Lauren, would you like to spend the weekend in Tybee with us?” my mom asked.
“Um. Thank you but I couldn’t impose on family time.”
“Oh, no, baby, you’re imposing,” I told her.
If looks could kill I’d be severely maimed by the daggers Lauren was aiming my way. I could almost feel the heat from her anger radiating from her.
“Great, that’s settled. I’ll book the house before someone else does.” Jackie’s thumbs flew over the phone’s screen.
I didn’t miss the cat-like smile that tipped up the corners of her mouth.
My sister outplayed me.
Fucking shit.
“Cool, we’ll have lunch at the beach,” Jill bossed.
“Jackie, use my card, sweetie,” Ian offered and reached for his wallet.
Sweetie?
I felt that fire in my gut ignite, the burn that would turn into an out-of-control blaze sparked to life and I took a step closer to Ian. The man had to leave.
“Lauren, you have a beautiful home,” my mom commented.
“It’s totally boring but I appreciate you saying so. I rent so I’ve never really decorated. I have a great landlord and every year he has the carpets professionally cleaned and last year he had the inside repainted but it still feels…I don’t know, boring’s the only word for it. One day I’ll buy something.”
“Logan just lives around the corner,” Jill helpfully put in. “That’s convenient.”
“Yes, my son, the homeowner. Mind you, I’ve never seen his house and he didn’t even invite us down for the housewarming party,” my mom told Lauren.
Lauren’s gaze came to me, one eyebrow quirked up, expression set straight to I told you so.
“I didn’t have one,” I reminded her.
“That’s just crazy. Who doesn’t have a housewarming party?” Mom chided and Lauren’s brows went up higher.
“Since Jill and I Ubered here we’ll drive with Mom and Ian. That will give you and Lauren time to pack and we’ll meet you there.” Jackie cut into the ridiculous housewarming conversation. “I texted you the address.”
Sure enough, my phone vibrated in my back pocket.
This was happening. I was going to spend the night in the same house as Ian Webster. Totally fucked. See-you-laters and nice-to-meet-yous were exchanged and two minutes later Lauren and I were alone.
She looked seriously displeased. If I wasn’t such a selfish asshole I would’ve let her off the hook and told her she didn’t have to come. But the disturbing truth was as much as I loved my mom and sisters and wanted to spend time with them, I couldn’t bear the notion of Lauren not being there. I needed her and that need went beyond anything that was healthy. I was a grown-ass man, I’d lived through a plethora of dangerous situations, but I couldn’t face one night and two days with my mom and her boyfriend without Lauren by my side.
“Logan?” Lauren called. “Are you all right?”
“Fuck no.”
At that, Lauren rushed to me and didn’t stop until her chest was fitted to mine. Her arms went around me and she held tight.
“What do you need from me?”
Christ.
I had to force air into my lungs before I could answer, “I just need you.”
Lauren tipped her head back but she kept her arms locked tight.
“No, Logan, I mean how do I help you?”
A new kind of pain burned, a different kind of agony, the kind that felt so damn good you’d do everything in your power to feel it over and over. To keep it, to feed on it, to drink it in and savor it.