Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 42576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 213(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 213(@200wpm)___ 170(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
“Hey.”
His eyes raise to mine, and I point at my face. “This is it. He punched me twice. He didn’t… touch me,” I tell him.
He bites his lower lip as if he’s trying to hold himself together.
I tremble, and he helps me into the shower. I reach for him. “Will you please get in with me?”
He nods and makes quick work of removing his clothes. He doesn’t say a word as he steps into the shower. He washes my hair first, and I moan as he massages my scalp. Once he’s done there, he moves to my body. My body reacts, nipples erect, but he acts like he’s a man on a mission. He’s more clinical than anything.
When he’s washed all of me, he cleans himself up quickly and turns the water off. His silence is overwhelming. “Lo.”
He steps out of the shower and wraps a towel around his waist. His cock is flaccid, and I’m trying not to take it personally.
He grabs another towel and dries me off. “I’ll be right back,” he grunts.
He comes back wearing a pair of shorts, and he takes my towel off and pulls one of his T-shirts over my head and down my body.
“Lo… talk to me.”
He forces a clenched smile to his face. “I’m going to dry your hair, okay?”
I bite my lip, trying to get a hold of my emotions. “Yeah… yeah, okay.”
I keep trying to catch his eyes in the mirror as he dries my hair, but he won’t even look at me. It’s as if he regrets bringing me here and maybe thinking I’m more trouble than I’m worth.
CHAPTER 19
LOGAN
I grip the hair dryer until my knuckles are white.
I didn’t protect her.
I didn’t trust her when she said she didn’t cheat on me.
I said things to her that I’ll regret until my dying day.
Even though I’m feeling all these emotions, I brush through her hair gently, determined that she never feels pain from me again.
I can feel her eyes on me, but I can’t look at her. I’ve never been so ashamed of myself in all my life.
When her hair is dry, I put the blow dryer away and then finally meet her eyes in the mirror. “Are you hungry? Or do you want to watch—”
She turns to look at me. “I just want to lie down… is that okay?”
“Fuck, honey, that’s more than okay.”
I pull her gently from the bathroom and turn off the light as we go. I pull the covers down and tuck her into bed. I turn off the light and then walk around to the other side of the bed and lie down next to her.
“Can I hold you?”
I barely get the words out and she throws her body against mine. Instantly, I’m wrapping my arms and my legs around her like I always do. I sigh as she melts into me. My cock twitches, but I do my best to ignore it.
The room is quiet, and Bree whispers my name softly. “Logan.”
I stroke my hand down her back. “Yeah, honey?”
Her finger is drawing circles on my chest. “I’m sorry… for everything. For putting you in danger, for putting your family, your friends, your community—”
“Stop,” I demand. The fact that she’s apologizing to me makes me feel even worse. “Bree… baby… please.”
She leans up and looks into my eyes. “I would have never forgiven myself if something had happened to you.”
I push her gently to her back and hover over her. I look at her bruised eye and busted lip. “I’m the one that should be apologizing. I should have listened to you, Bree. I should have let you explain—”
She shakes her head. “I did lie to you, Lo. You didn’t owe me anything.” She huffs out a big breath. “Going against the Antonelli family is not something I wanted to do, but I couldn’t say no. I had to—”
I ask her the one question that’s been on my mind all night. “Why didn’t you tell me? Did you not trust me? Or—”
She puts a finger to my lip. “I trusted you. Heck, I know the kind of man you are. If I had told you, what would you have done?”
I lean toward her. “I wouldn’t have left your side.”
She nods, not surprised in the least. “Yeah, and that would have put you in danger. I couldn’t—I wouldn’t—do that to you.”
I shake my head. “You don’t get it, do you?”
Her eyebrows lift. “Get what?”
“Baby, I love you—”
She cuts me off. “You mean loved…”
I shake my head. “I mean love. I loved you then and I love you now, Bree. Even when I thought you cheated on me and I wanted to hate you, I couldn’t. If something had happened to you—” My voice breaks because just talking about it makes me physically ill.
She cups my cheek. “I feel the same way, Lo. When we broke up, I knew I had to stay in New York for the trial, but as soon as it was over, I came to Whiskey Run. I thought about you every day, and I knew that I had to try. I couldn’t lose you. Not like that.”