“We’ll fight them, too. Together.”
Chapter Eleven
LOGAN
Ten days later and we were finding some sense of normal. Bex had arranged with one of the high school teachers to pass on assignments and homework, so Dom didn’t fall too far behind. It wasn’t formal since it was a different school district entirely, but it would help. Eventually, we would need to enroll him, but that could wait a little longer. Bex worked from home – since the apartment had become her home – most days, unless she had a meeting. And I continued working in the ER.
I picked up my backpack and made my way out of the hospital locker room. As I walked through the hallway to the staff entrance, I was grateful no one interrupted me. It had been a long shift. I’d been working for about sixteen hours. All I wanted was to get home and find my bed. As it was the middle of the day, Bex would be awake and I’d be able to take a nap in comfort and I wouldn’t disturb her.
I turned into the staff parking lot and stopped in my tracks. “For fuck’s sakes.” In front of my truck was a six foot three, pissed off hulk, in a baseball cap. Or more accurately, Oliver Salinger.
Nick had already cornered me in the parking lot of my apartment building earlier in the week. That was a loudconversation. He’d been waiting for me in roughly the same position as Ollie. Feet apart, arms crossed, eyes narrowed.
“Ollie, I don’t have the energy for this. I promise tomorrow you can shout and scream and even take a swing at me.”
“Now, Lo.” That was all he said as he made his way around to the passenger’s side, waiting for me to unlock it. “I RideShared here, so we can talk on the way.”
“You RideShared?” I chanced a smile, knowing it would likely piss him off. It was well known he had big issues with the ride-sharing company since his wife had been kidnapped by someone pretending to be a driver.
“Don’t get cute. Just open the door.”
A thought occurred to me. “If you’re going to yell and scream at me, the least you can do is drive. I did a double shift and don’t have the energy to focus on the road and listen to you.”
He raised his hand and I tossed the key fob in his direction as we switched sides. Since I started kindergarten, this is what I’d known family to be. Ollie was pissed, and rightfully so. He was going to make it about the fact that I knocked up his sister and then left town. That was the easiest thing to attack after all. But we both knew that was not the real issue. What he wouldn’t do was make me drive when I told him how tired I was. Because we both knew the reason he was pissed was because he loved me like a brother and expected more than the deception he’d been dealt.
The car started and we drove from the parking lot in silence. Once we hit the main road, he spoke.
“How could you let her give up that baby? And then you left and carried on with your life.”
Slowly I turned to him. “Let? No oneletsBex do anything. She was pregnant. Yes, we both made that happen. But I wasn’t about to tell Bex what she should do. Maybe I should’ve taken the kid myself but…”
“But what?” Oliver turned me, his brown eyes cold.
“I didn’t want to lose Bex, okay. I didn’t want to do anything that would push her away from me.”
Oliver’s shoulders sagged. “The more I think about it, the more pissed I get.”
He slammed the steering wheel… And then he ranted. And I let him. He shouted about how stupid we were. About how his family could’ve helped. He made sure to mention that I still enjoyed my full ride to an Ivy League school and went on to live my dream.
I didn’t mention that being an ER doctor was only part of my dream. I wanted to marry Bex and have kids with her. I wanted us to navigate the difficulty of our jobs. My awkward shifts and her being away on deployments would have taken its toll. But I looked forward to figuring it out with her.
Since the night we made love, I hadn’t had an opportunity to do anything more. Not even a stolen kiss here and there.
Living in my small apartment with three children was not conducive to any sort of seduction or romance. Still, watching her with those kids, it felt like a family. Not the most functional one since Landon still refused to speak to anyone but his older brother and said older brother was resentful as hell.
By the time I pulled myself out of my thoughts, Ollie was winding down and completely out of breath. He turned to me. “Have you heard a word of what I said?”
“I heard most of it.” It wasn't really a lie. I imagined what he had to say was not much different from Nick’s rant earlier in the week.
He pulled into my building’s driveway. “How do I get into the resident’s parking lot?
“Just drop me off at the entrance. You can take my car home or wherever. I’ll get it from you sometime tomorrow. It’s my day off.”
To his credit, he didn’t argue. I knew he still wasn’t speaking to his wife since she also kept the secret from him. It was unlikely he’d call her to pick him up. Instead, he just nodded. “Thanks.” Before I could close the passenger side door he called me. “Lo, we will keep them safe.”
“I know.”
I greeted the extra guard outside the building before I keyed in my entrance code and dragged my heels to the elevator. I rested my eyes as I rode to the third floor. Thedingstartled me and before too long I was unlocking my front door.
