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“What are you talking about?” Everly loved pizza and dogs and being around Logan. She had everything she needed. Except maybe his face on hers.
But they’d get there.
“You probably wanted to go out somewhere in the city. Put on one of those new dresses and have a nice meal or whatever.”
“Good god, no.” She reacted without thinking, her voice loud and emphatic. It bounced off the empty walls of the dining room, but she didn’t let herself cringe. Everly was so tired of being embarrassed of who she was. And Logan had never made her feel like she needed to be. “I’ve been peopling all day. All I want to do is take off my bra and flop down in front of the TV.”
His left eyebrow arched at the mention of her bra, and Everly wanted to climb under the table. She coughed, then took a big bite of her pizza. The time it took to chew gave her the space to find a suitable non sequitur.
“You said this apartment was only one of the reasons you came back east. What could possibly ever drag you back to the land of winter?”Cold was fine, but snow and ice were Everly’s nemeses. They made driving precarious and walking outside an extreme sport, and what started out as a beautiful blanket of soft white too soon transformed into a desolate gray landscape right out of a dystopian novel. She would not choose to live somewhere that looked like the world of1984for half the year if she had options.
He chuckled. “Just wait. I’ll teach you to love snow.”
Her heart hiccupped. It was only the beginning of November. Her filming would be over long before the snow came. But Logan didn’t seem to think they would be.
“Doubtful.” Trying to sound indifferent was a task when her body buzzed with his words and what they implied.
“You’ve yet to experience Raviolibaskingin a pile of snow. It changes everything.”
Everly looked down at the wrinkly monster lounging at their feet. Dammit. That would do it.
Logan folded a circle of pepperoni into his mouth. “Not paying rent was big, but really it was for Sady. When she got this gig, she asked me to come with her, and we’d been working together long enough at that point that it only made sense.”
“You two are close, huh?”
His lips pressed flat, and his eyes skipped to the window. “She gave me a purpose.”
“What do you mean?”
Logan rose abruptly and dragged his chair halfway around the table so they were sitting as close as possible. His knee pressed gently against hers. “I don’t know if we’re at the place yet where we’re talking about exes…”
Everly snorted. “You told me about LA girl like two weeks ago.”
That little smile she loved so much teased the corner of his lips. Hisleg sank a little more solidly into hers, like he wanted to feel her there. “When I moved out west with Annie, I thought we were it. Looking back now, I know how dumb it was, but I was eighteen and thinking with my heart, not my head. I was lost after that. I made a lot of bad choices, threw away a lot of money partying and running with people who didn’t care about anything but what I could give them.”
For once, Everly didn’t fight the urge to smooth the wrinkle between his eyebrows. His head angled forward, drawn to her touch. When she stopped, he took her hand in his and brushed his mouth lightly to her knuckles. He seemed grateful to have her there. To be able to talk. To have someone listen. The tautness in his frame softened with every word, melting into her wherever their bodies met.
“The first time I was a PA on one of Sady’s sets, she randomly chose me to help with some filming, and then she kept calling me back for more episodes, more shows. The next thing I knew, she was asking me to be her DP on a new project. It got canceled, but it’s where we realized how well we worked together.”
He shrugged, and his eyes lifted to Everly’s face. “She saw something in me, like your grandmother with you. I owe her everything. And she still gives me room to do what I really want, no matter how crushed our schedule gets.”
Everly didn’t realize she was leaning toward him until she could feel the warmth of his breath on her nose. “What do you mean, what you really want? This isn’t it?” It seemed like such a fun, exciting life. Always going to new places, meeting new people. Not sitting at the same desk day in and out because it was safe.
Logan shook his head. “A buddy of mine and I are starting a facility for dogs.”
Everly coughed in surprise. “Wow, you’retrulya dog person, huh?” She wondered if he had socks and underwear with prints of variousbreeds. Then, of course, she was picturing him injustsocks and a pair of boxers, the image painting heat into her cheeks.
“It’s like you said. They help us remember what matters.” He ran the palms of his hands over his beard. “I had a pretty shit childhood. My parents were strict. There was no pleasing them.” His frown turned into something deeper, more like a grimace. The pain in it squeezed Everly’s heart. She increased the pressure of her knee on his to remind him she was there. “We had a dog for a long time, and he was the only good thing about that house.” His voice hitched, and he cleared his throat loudly. There seemed to be more to this story, but his whole body had stiffened, his expression shuttered, as if he wasn’t ready to share the rest.
Everly didn’t push him. She just leaned closer. “That’s why you need the show to do well. More money for the facility.”
He nodded. “Dogs rely on us. Brian and I want to make sure more of them get adopted, and that those who don’t, live comfortably. He’s a vet, so we’re going to make it part clinic, part rescue, part daycare.” His eyes dipped to Alan and Ravioli. “That way, as many as possible can get the care they deserve.”
Everly pulled back from him enough to dig her phone out of her pocket. “What’s it called?”
“It’s not open yet, but we’ll probably name it something boring like the Wheaton-Samuel Center for Dogs.”
That sounded more like a research center. Or a college building. It made Everly’s brain yawn. “Logan.” She braced her hands on his arm. “We can do better than that. I work for amarketingfirm.”
