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“The asshole deserved it. He did the same to me,” he roars back.
“He didn’t drug you, Logan. He provided you with the opportunity to take drugs, and you took it! He may have set the stage, but you were the one who chose to perform. You chose it!”
“Fuck that. I may have chosen to take ecstasy, but I didn’t choose to be blackmailed into having an affair.”
“That’s where you are wrong,” I rebuke. “You did have a choice. You could have said no. You could have told me what happened instead of going along with it, and don’t insult my intelligence by denying the fact that you didn’t enjoy every minute of it. You did have a choice, and you made it. But Mason? You didn’t give him a choice. You drugged him without his knowledge and set it up to look like he fucked someone else, and if he had actually fucked her, it would have been against his will because there is no way he would have chosen to do that.”
“Ava… please,” he pleads, reaching out to touch me, but I bat his hand away.
“I told you not to touch me,” I snap, turning away and walking off again.
“Ava, please don’t leave me.”
I ignore him and keep going. Where exactly, I don’t know at this point, but my prom night is finished just like I’m finished with this whole fucked-up situation.
“I love you, Avabell,” he cries out. “Please don’t go.”
My heart stalls, stopping me dead in my tracks. Not from the use of the nickname but from the pure gut-wrenching agony in his tone. I slowly turn back to see his shoulders slumped and his whole body racking with sobs. Teardrops hit the pavement before him as his head bows down in defeat.
Logan never cries.
Never.
The last time I saw him cry was the day Blake passed away, and he held me in his arms and cried along with me. My anger slowly dissolves as memories roll through my mind like a movie reel. Memories of my life with Logan.
Playing tag together as children. Our adventures exploring the forest surrounding the log cabin in search of the Sasquatch he convinced me lived there. The spooky stories he would tell me when we had sleepovers—torch against his chin in the darkness—and scaring me out of my mind. The summers we spent playing in Steilacoom Lake and that one warm July afternoon when we shared our first kiss.
As I approach, I feel an overwhelming sense of loss for the boy who was once my everything but is now replaced with a man I don’t know anymore. I never dreamed he would be capable of the things he has done, and I never imagined this is where we would end up.
“Logan,” I say softly. He wipes away his tears and meets my eyes. “It’s time for us to go our separate ways. It’s time to let me go.”
“No.” He shakes his head furiously. “Don’t say that.”
I can’t seem to stop the ache in my chest at the sight of him looking so incredibly distraught. The bond we had was strong, and even though it’s broken, the remnants still remain. I will always love the boy he once was, but I will never love the man he has become.
“You know, I don’t think I have a single childhood memory that doesn’t have you in it. You were such a huge part of my life. You were my first in everything. My best friend and my first love, and I will always cherish every moment we had together, but… we are not each other’s forever. You have done things that are just too much to come back from. Part of me will always care for you, but if you really love me the way you say you do, then you will let me go. You will let me move on.”
Exhaling a breath and dropping his head, he takes a moment before meeting my eyes again. “I will never love anyone the way I loved you.”
“You will. I promise,” I assure him. “You will find someone you love more than you ever loved me, and when you find her, I want you to promise me something.”
“What?”
“Don’t fuck it up.”
He gives me a weak smile, an ocean of emotions rolling off of him and crashing into me. Pain, sorrow, defeat, but along with that is acceptance as the reality of our situation finally sinks in. “So this is it?”
I nod my head. “Yeah, it is.”
Wiping away the tears, he blows out a long breath and slowly nods his head before meeting my eyes. “Goodbye, Avabell.”
“Goodbye, Logi Bear.”
With nothing left to say, I walk away. Closure can be a funny thing. Part of you feels lighter as the weight bearing down on you has finally been lifted, but the other part also feels a sense of loss at its departure. A door has been closed, but I have another one in my sights. This one is still open but only by a fraction because my foot is still planted firmly in it.
ChapterThirty-Four
AVA
