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“Okay, like what?” I encouraged, proudly waving my hands at him to continue.
“The first one is to take you home,” he said seriously.
That one was easy. “And after that?” I prompted him, impatiently waiting to hear more.
“Well, my Uncle Jeff is the one renovating this building. He owns a construction company that’s converting the units into lofts. He’s been trying to get me to leave my house for years, but I didn’t think I could leave my mom,” he paused, studying me.
What is it with guys? I totally understood why my mom used to say it was like pulling teeth to get anything out of my father.
“And now?” I urged, hoping to hear the rest of his plan.
“Now…I know I can leave my mom. She has to make her own choices. I’m eighteen years old and I need to be responsible for myself. I’ve spent too much time trying to take care of her and ignored what I needed to do for myself. I’m going to quit drinking to cover up my pain, since you may have noticed it’s not really working anyway,” he smirked.
I nodded, meaningfully.
Logan continued.
“I can’t blame my parents for my anger. I have to address it. Maybe I wasn’t dealt the best hand, but it’s not going to be a crutch any longer. My uncle said I could work for him part time and stay at his house until I can finish school. I’m definitely going to take him up on the offer. I already called him,” he finished, finally.
My heart sang. I was so proud of him.
“Logan that’s great. I’m so happy for you.” And I was. He deserved more than he had been handed, and he finally realized it.
He opened the door gesturing we should leave now. The hallway outside the door was dimly lit. I noticed a door across the hall freshly sanded and smelt the wood. I hesitated, stopping just before walking out of the door.
“Logan, I can’t go home. Kace is looking for me and it won’t be safe there,” I explained.
“I’ll take you anywhere you want to go,” he offered.
“I’m not sure where that is. I need to find Brent,” I told him, praying my mention of Brent wouldn’t upset him.
With no trace of anger he said, “My cell phone is in the car. You can call him.”
He turned and faced me, brushing my overgrown bangs out of my eyes. “I’m so sorry for everything, Claire. I know I can’t change what’s happened, but I’ll spend my life indebted to you for your kindness.”
His expression was thoughtful and his smile genuine. The joyful feelings I had for him were surprising, considering where we started. He gazed at me and I smiled happily, noticing the warm amber ton
e in his eyes. They were glowing. The dark cold stare I had always associated with Logan was gone. I threw my arms around him, holding him tightly. We had shared this crazy journey together and my heart had helped to heal his. I reveled in how that felt. He kissed me gently on the forehead and whispered. “I’m sorry.”
I pulled back and looked at him so he could see the sincerity on my face. “I know this was a good thing Logan, for both of us.”
He smiled faintly.
“You are an amazing girl, Claire.” he complimented and I blushed. “Brent is a lucky man.”
He leaned down to kiss my cheek just as I was turning my head. Our lips brushed against one another’s and time stood still. I should’ve pulled away, it was wrong, but when he kissed me, I let him. Softly and warmly, he pressed his lips to mine. Not anything at all like the last time he kissed me, violating my mouth. This time he was gentle and sweet. I kissed him back, not with desire, but with reassurance that he would be okay.
As he started to pull away, I watched him fly backwards through the air and hit the floor like a bomb. Standing there, I saw Brent leap on top of Logan and watched as Brent’s fist landed blow after blow to Logan’s face. Reece’s arms were around me reassuring me that I was all right. But I wasn’t. Brent was going to kill Logan.
I pushed Reese away from me and ran over to Brent, jumping on his back, trying like crazy to pull him from Logan. He was angrily shouting at Logan. Logan held his hands up defensively but didn’t fight back. It shattered my heart into a million pieces knowing that Logan thought he earned this. He was allowing it to happen, so sure that he deserved the punishment.
“Brent! Get off him. You don’t understand,” I screamed, but my voice wasn’t loud enough through the chaos. Without considering the consequences, I slid off Brent and threw myself in front of Logan. Brent’s fist hit the side of my jaw with enough force to knock me back a couple of feet, and I was sure I saw stars.
Logan was the first to reach me and held me tight. “Claire?….Claire, oh my God. Are you okay?”
I was in shock and the pain in my jaw was like nothing I had ever felt. Logan was in a frenzy, frantic with worry.
“Jesus, Brent, what did you do to her?” Logan yelled.
