“Amelia?” he said around the toothbrush.
It was the first time he’d ever sounded ridiculous. He looked ridiculous, albeit hot as fuck, with his hair sticking up everywhere and those grey sweatpants that clung low on his hips.
“I’m tired. I need a bed. Or a couch. Or the floor. I don’t care,” I said. He jogged over to the kitchen sink and spit, turning on the water. I made a face as I walked in. “That is disgusting.”
“What’s wrong with your bed, or couch, or floor?”
“It’s been compromised. I’m having a locksmith change the locks but I can’t keep my eyes open. I feel like I’m going to—”
“My bed is empty,” he said, walking over to his bedroom.
We had a similar layout, but my view was better, and I had two bedrooms, where he only had one. Same kitchen and living room though. His walls were dark gray, where mine were white. He had posters on the walls of different movies. His bedroom walls were bare, except for a shelf that seemed to go across the entire room and was filled with trophies and medals. He must have brought every single momentum they’d given him since birth. I must have said that aloud, because he chuckled.
“It keeps me working harder.”
“Oh. Wow.” I blinked hard, yawning. “It would make me want to quit.”
He chuckled again. “There’s the bed. Obviously. Don’t worry, I don’t do dirty things on it, so you’re safe.”
“What?” I frowned, then blinked fast. “Oh. Oh. I hadn’t even considered that.”
“It’s a germ-free zone. Well, my germs are on it, but you’ll have to live with that.”
“Sure.” I waved him off as I kicked off my slides and climbed into bed. “Holy crap this is comfortable.”
“Thanks.”
“Really comfortable.” I snuggled into the pillow, pulling the sheets tighter to my chin. “It smells like you.”
“I’m going to the gym,” he said. “I’ll be back in an hour and a half. You’ll be fine?”
“I’ll be sleeping.” I yawned again. “Thanks, Logan.”
“Any time, Amelia.”
With that, I shut my eyes and fell asleep.
Chapter 10
Logan
“I can’t just keep her in the dark about her own brother.” I lift the bar up and set it on the stand.
“So don’t.” Nolan wipes the sweat off his face, standing over me as he spots me. “Just tell her.”
“That’s against the rules, asshole. I’m not forfeiting my money or future for her. I’m just saying, I feel kind of bad.”
“Since when do you feel bad? You treat girls like they’re disposable.”
I sat up quickly, glaring at him. “I don’t treat anyone like they’re disposable.”
“Mandy was crying the other night because you didn’t invite her back to your place.”
“Please.” I rolled my eyes. “Not fucking someone hardly constitutes as treating them like they’re disposable.”
“Do you like her?” He started working on biceps with the free weights. “Mae, I mean.”
“I think she’s interesting.”
“Since when do you think girls you aren’t fucking are interesting?”
“I’ve never thought any of the ones I fucked were interesting, otherwise, I would be doing more than just fucking them.”
“You’re an asshole.” He chuckled.
I shrugged, going back to the bench press.
“So you think she’s interesting,” he said, setting down his weights and coming back over to where I was to spot me again. “You know she has a boyfriend, right?”
“When have I ever let that stop me?”
“You’re crazy, bro.” He shook his head. “He’s a big guy.”
“And I’m not?”
“I don’t know. I see you going slow on these weights today. Two-thirty? You can do better than that.”
“You’re an asshole.” I chuckled, shaking my head as he adjusted the plates. “You need to work on your motivational speeches.”
“We’ll have a meeting about it. Maybe it’s time,” he said once I started lifting again.
“Right.” I set the bar on the stand again. “I’m leaving after this rep.”
“What the hell? You just got here.”
“I have things to do today.”
“Like not train to kick Mae’s boyfriend’s ass?”
I flashed him the finger. The mention of her boyfriend was annoying me. I had seen her with him though, sitting by the pool of her parent’s house. I couldn’t just ignore his existence. Or maybe I could. I guess it all came down to just how interesting I found her and how much I was willing to put up with.
Chapter 11
Amelia
I awoke to the sound of my phone vibrating with text messages coming in, and sat up in a strange bed. Then I remembered. I was in Logan’s bed. In Logan’s apartment. I’d been seriously delirious when I decided to walk over here and make myself at home like we were buddies. Maybe I should leave before he got back. Yeah. I should. I stretched as I made my way out of bed and inhaled. The entire room smelled like him—clean soap and pine tree. I shut my eyes. Like Christmas. I picked up my phone and looked at it. Five text messages—one from my mother, one from Hailey, one from Celia, and two from an unknown number.
Mom: Everything is fine. The same. Love you.
Hailey: Hey, come by the coffee shop! Free coffee and gossip!
Celia: I didn’t see you leave last night. You okay?
Unknown number: Don’t you want to know what happened to Lana?
Unknown number: To your brother? She’s out there.
My heart was in my throat as I called the number back. Again, it said the number was disconnected. What the hell? I stood up, slid my feet back into my sandals, and walked out of the room, heading to the front door. I pulled it open just as Logan was pushing it.
“Hey,” he said, then frowned. “What happened?”
“I . . . I need to go. I have to go.” I brushed past him, but he grabbed my arm.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” He looked back into his apartment. “Is someone here? Fuck, Mae, you’re shaking.”
“I’ve had a long night. A long day. A long week. A long month,” I said quickly. My phone rang in my hand and I jumped, clutching it, but it was Travis’s face kissing my cheek that popped up as he called. I seriously needed to change that picture. “I ummm, I should go. Thank you.”
“Yeah. You should.” Logan’s scowl deepened.
I picked up the phone as I walked back to my own apartment.
“Hey, just calling to see how you’re doing. I know we said no calls and no texts after the breakup, but I feel like we need to make an exception,” Travis said. “How’s Lincoln?”
“The same.” I sighed as I unlocked and walked into my apartment.
“I’m sorry. What are the doctors saying? Have the seizures stopped?”