Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 109038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
He lifts his eyebrows. “She doesn’t know how badly you’ve been hurt, Chase.”
Something kicks in my chest.
I reach out and in a snap, I try to push past Julian again. He grips the front of my shirt and stops me from leaving. He releases me, glaring like a fierce tiger, like he’s challenging me.
“You’re right,” I tell him. “Mom doesn’t know what Dad did to me. But that has nothing to do with Logan.”
“It has everything to do with him. Logan makes you feel like you’re not a fuck-up, doesn’t he? He actually recognizes your talent. He likes who you are. But you need to realize that being obsessed with someone isn’t going to fix you. You’re valuable with him or without him. Would you know that, if he ditched you and went back to LA? Cutting you out of his life?”
“Logan wouldn’t cut me out.”
My throat feels tight as I say it.
Because I know what Julian’s going to say.
“He’s already done it once,” he tells me, and I want to claw out of my own skin. “And I know you. I know you’re more obsessed this time, even without any substances involved. You’re barely at home anymore because you’re at the Bellwood, hoping he’ll have time to hang out with you, and when you do come here you only talk about him.”
“Fuck this,” I mutter under my breath.
All of the fight inside me suddenly feels like it’s been zapped away.
And I’m just done.
I grab my laptop, push past Julian, and leave.
I take my bookbag and sling it over my shoulder, and I get out of the apartment as fast as I can, not looking back at my brother. I take the stairs down fast and out on the street, I duck down into the subway below ground.
The train comes quickly.
Once I’m above ground again, I’m right by the Bellwood. I pull out my phone, ignoring the 12 unread messages I have from Jules.
Chase
Your hotel room is empty, right?
Logan
Unfortunately. We’re already on the road trip up to the Catskills. Hi, by the way.
Please say yes to the question I’m about to ask you. Also hi.
Yes, yes, yes, to whatever it is.
Fuck, I hate how good he is.
A stormcloud of deeply held guilt is still kicked up inside me from everything my brother said, but when Logan treats me as kindly as he does, some small fraction of that seems to settle.
There’s an edge to it now that I hate. A seed of doubt that Jules planted in me, making me question fucking everything.
How long will Logan be that kind to me?
There’s no fucking shot he’d cut me off and just go back to LA like last year, right?
I try to push it out of my mind, finally responding to Logan.
You wouldn’t be deeply opposed to me using my employee card to get into your room while you’re gone, would you?
I need to edit the photos, and I just need a clear head.
I can’t be in my own apartment right now.
Use my suite for anything you’d like.
Thank you. Fuck, thank you so much.
Is everything okay? You can’t use your studio, either?
No.
Julian knows where that is, and I don’t want to see him right now.
My phone rings and I only see Logan’s name on the screen for a split second before immediately answering.
“Is everything really okay? What happened with Julian?” Logan asks right as I pick up.
“God, I hate how good your voice sounds, even on the phone,” I murmur.
“Yours sounds good, too. I don’t hate it.”
“Yeah. I don’t actually hate it at all, either.”
“What’s happening there, Chase?”
I sigh, waiting for a couple of police cars with their alarms blaring to whiz past me on the busy street outside the Bellwood.
“Julian and I got in a fight. He saw that photo of us online and noticed all of the alcohol on the bar.”
“Shit. I didn’t even think about that. I saw the picture, but I was only looking at you.”
Fuck you, Logan Stone, fuck you for saying the most perfect things when you’re not even here to let me hug you.
“Thank you, Logan,” I tell him. “I just need to finish the edits. I promise I’ll be good while I’m in your suite, okay?”
“You can be a little bit bad.”
My mouth breaks into a smile, and I’m surprised I’m even capable of that right now. “Always. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Um, Chase? Could you do me a favor before we hang up?”
“Yes.”
“Call me that thing you said last night?”
I draw a blank. “Hmm… did I say you were my beautiful cock-hungry slut or something in the heat of the moment?”
An old woman walking down the street glances up as I say that phrase and she cackles, giving me a thumbs-up before walking away.
“No, but I’d have liked that too. The other thing.”
“Oh.” It dawns on me, and suddenly my blood is calming even more. “Thank you for letting me use your suite, baby.”