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“You won’t tell me who you are, will you?”
“My friends call me Will. But I like the way you call me Logan.”
He blushed and his expression darkened. “Don’t joke about this. I’ve been lied to enough in my life. That may be your name, but whoareyou? Really.”
He was upset but how could I tell him anything he’d believe anyway?
I shrugged. “I’m sorry, Jace. I can’t talk about it. Not yet.”
He turned back to the window, and I stepped up beside him.
“I will tell you,” I said softly. “Soon.”
He shook his head and kept staring out the window. “I said I didn’t want to be hurt again. God, what’s wrong with me? Why do I keep doing this to myself?”
“I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Maybe not, but like you said, you can’t even tell me who you really are. It’s my own damn fault. I should have my head examined—I really should.” He shot me an accusing look. “Besides, I don’t even think you’re gay.”
“Oh yeah? What we did just now wasn’t gay enough for you?”
He ran a hand through his hair, clearly feeling hurt and uncomfortable, but I was in no mood to help him out. I was feeling frustrated myself. Damn it, I shouldn’t have made love to him. What did I think I was doing?
He sighed and kept on, killing me with every word. “I have no one to blame but myself. You told me that we can’t be in a relationship. You’ve made it pretty clear. Then again, you did bring me here, knowing this would happen. Hell, who am I kidding? I knew it too, and I still came with you. What did you think would happen next? What did I?”
“I tried to tell you,” I said. “I thought you understood this has to be just a one-off. A one-time thing.”
“Oh, I certainly do now. I don’t understand why you couldn’t have tried a little harder to explain that before I got fucked though.”
He turned to glare at me, and I tried again. “I told you before that I didn’t want this to happen. Any of it. I don’t mean to hurt you.”
“And yet here we are. And you came afterme, you know. Every step of the way.”
Of course, I did, and I knew it. I blew out a breath. “You’re a person of interest at the moment as far as my organization is concerned. I know you’re a victim, but I needtime,Jace. Time to convince my partner, not to mention everyone else.”
“Convince him of what?”
That you’re not too far gone to be saved. That I’d never allow you to be put down until everything possible has been done to save you.
Of course, I couldn’t say any of that. “Maybe later on, after all of this is settled, we can…”
He laughed. It sounded bitter and forced. “I need to go.”
“I made a mistake.”
“Oh, now I’m a mistake. Thanks for saying so.”
“I’m sorry.” I snapped at him again. I didn’t mean to, but he was hitting me pretty hard with some uncomfortable truths. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. Youknowthat.”
“Yes, I do know. I’m being overly sensitive. This was the equivalent of a booty call. You were scratching an itch, and I need to just realize that and stop making waves. It will make it so much easier for you.”
I frowned at him, trying not to let him see how much his words bothered me when suddenly my cellphone started ringing.
I fumbled for it on the nightstand and looked down at it. It was Vanessa and I’d totally forgotten we were supposed to meet later that evening. There had been another murder of a homeless person, this time on the north side of Atlanta. We had to keep trying to find the bastard who was doing this. We strongly suspected it was Malone, but whoever it was had to be stopped.
“I need to take this.”
Jace shrugged and I stepped back into the bathroom and closed the door. I arranged a time to meet her and I was only on the call a few minutes. But when I went back in the room, Jace was already gone.I guess he’d learned how to use that Uber app.
