Just One Night (Black Alcove #2) (18 page)

Fuck.
How much more space does she need? Why hasn’t she called?

I slam the door once
I’m inside and pull my phone from my pocket. I pull up Sara’s
number and my thumb hovers over the call button. All I have to do it
tap it. One tap and I’m calling her and praying that she answers. I
stare at the little green button, confused, angry, and hurt. She’ll
call. She always does.

I click out of her
contact and to my main calls. This time, I stare long and hard at the
number I believe Alexis called me from a couple weeks ago. Would she
answer if I called it back? Putting effort into contacting her would
distract me from waiting on Sara.

Sara
or my sister?

Fuck.

That isn’t even a
question. I close out of my phone completely and toss it onto the
passenger seat. If I had chosen Sara on her birthday, instead of
wanted to build a career, none of this would be happening right now.

Sara

I step into the
brightly lit bar and don’t bother removing my sunglasses. No one
wants to see my puffy red eyes, and my eyes don’t want to see the
light. There isn’t anyone in view, which means if Liam and Andi are
here, they’re probably in the back room. As if I’m pulled by a
magnet, I head straight for the office. Thank goodness I don’t have
to put up with any awkward interactions this morning. The other day
was bad enough.

“Morning,” Liam
says, popping up from behind the bar.

“Jesus,” I sputter,
taking a step back and covering my heart with my hand. “What’re
you doing down there?”

He raises a broken
glass. “I thought it would be cool if I had some awesome glass
flipping move when we open.” He shrugs. “Bad idea.”

“Clearly,” I reply
in a less than friendly tone. He stares at me a minute before I
continue toward the office.

“How was the
reception, for real this time, Sara?” he asks, knowing exactly
where I’m heading. “I didn’t ask you about it more than once in
the last two days, but today I figured why not? You’ve had a few
days to cool down.”

“It was fine.” I
don’t turn around. I place my hand on the doorknob.

“Just fine?”

I ignore him. I don’t
want to talk about this. I twist the knob, but it stops. I twist
again and jiggle it a bit. He locked it.
Again
.

I flip around, crossing
my arms when I catch Liam with a smile on his face.

“I had a feeling you
were going to try to shut everyone out today. Not happening.”

“Nope, sure isn’t,”
Andi adds, stepping into view from the storage room.

“This isn’t funny.
Unlock the door.”

“No can do, boss,”
Liam says. “I may have misplaced the key.”

“Liam, I swear to
you, if you don’t unlock that door for me right now, you will be
demoted.”

“Ouch.” He laughs.
“You’re going to have to make a more serious threat than that.
Fixing whatever you have going on with your boyfriend, is worth
losing my job.”

“What am I missing?”
Brit scowls at Liam.

“Nothing,” I say,
giving up quickly. I’m not in the mood to argue with anyone right
now.

I pull up a seat at the
bar and bury my face in my elbow. “If I stay out here can I at
least not talk about my weekend?”

“What’s that? I
couldn’t hear you.” Andi laughs. “OH, this came for you on
Saturday. When are you changing your mailing address, by the way?”

I never changed it
because I didn’t plan on staying here long. Instead of answering
her, I peek up to see what she has. A manila envelope sits in front
of me.

There isn’t a return
address on it, but my name is written on it in the same handwriting I
spent hours of high school staring at.

“Open it,” she
says.

I hesitate. Whatever’s
inside is more than likely not going to help me feel better. Opening
this at home is the best idea.

Liam slides an envelope
opener at me.
Looks like I’m
opening this now.

I take my frustration
out on the opener and tear the top off. Then I give them both an “are
you happy now?” smile.

On top is a note from Logan.

Sara,

Things are rough right now. I feel like my entire world is falling
apart. That weekend when I was there, I was an idiot. I acted like a
crazy, jealous boyfriend. I never want to act like that again.

There’s no excuse for my behavior, but I think I realize how it
came to be. I’ve been keeping something from you and I assumed you
were doing the same. Finding my sister, Alexis, is something I’ve
wanted for a while now. When I contacted the agency that placed us
with our foster families, they couldn’t give me any information.
Tyler and his computer skills helped me get an address. I wrote to
her including my phone number and address, asking her to come to Wind
Valley. I chose your father’s offer over you because I wanted to be
here if she came. I chose finding my sister over you. That was the
biggest mistake I’ve ever made.

We’ve never had the typical relationship. Even when we were just
friends, you always meant more to me. I can’t imagine a life
without you. If friends is what you want, I’ll do it, but I’m
leaving the decision up to you.

I’ll love you forever,
Logan

Tears fall uncontrolled
down my face as I pull out the photos included with the letter.
Photos from when we were younger up to my birthday last month. Dance
photos, basketball games, barbeques, the lake, prom, and more. Logan
has been a huge part of my life and, like him, I can’t imagine my
life without him in it.

Not even attempting to
wipe the tears away, I excuse myself. How could we love each other
the way we do and still act like this? I have to make a decision
today. I’m either all in or all out; Logan deserves better than
this.

Logan

It could be my newfound
hate with the world that has made me stop caring, or I’ve been
hiding the real Logan for a very long time. Right now, I hope it’s
the former. Otherwise, I’m a total jackass.

“She has to go,” I
tell Conner. He’s sitting in the living room and I’m standing in
the kitchen. He looks away from the TV for this conversation. Having
someone’s full attention is a good start to a tough topic.

“I know, but I feel
bad. The only reason she’s staying here in the first place is
because she doesn’t have anywhere else to go. If we kick her out,
too, she could be homeless.”

“I don’t really
care where she goes as long as it isn’t anywhere in my apartment.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Her living here is not working
out.”

“She didn’t cause
you and Sara to split up, Logan. Sara trusts you.”

“Yeah, then why
aren’t we together right now?”

“Trust me, neither of
you have said ‘breakup,’ so you’re still together.”

“Her not calling me,
or texting me, or attempting any other form of contact is a close
runner up.”

“It’s only been a
week since the reception. Calm down.”

The front door slams
and the scent of rotten coconut fills the air. I fucking hate that
lotion. She wears it all the time.

Abby strolls right past
me, flipping through the mail.

“Don’t tell me you
changed your mailing address?” I ask harshly.

She pauses, glaring at
me. “No, dick, I didn’t. Conner asked me to grab it on the way
up.” She slaps the stack on the table and falls onto the couch next
to Conner. He stands and looks through the mail.

“I’m waiting on
that acceptance letter to the college here.”

“You’re going back
to school?” I ask.

“Yeah, it’s part of
my ‘I’m a fucking grown up’ plan for my son’s mother,” he
says, using quotes and rolling his eyes.

“You can just say his
name.” I laugh. “Jake sounds way better than ‘my son.’”

“And if you say that
line to her, remove the work ‘fucking.’ That word doesn’t sound
like you care enough to put in any effort,” Abby chimes in.

I nod. “She has a
point.”

Conner chuckles and
slouches onto one of the kitchen table chairs when he doesn’t find
what he’s looking for.

“Are you going to
apologize to me, Logan?” Abby whines from across the room.

“For what?”

“Being rude.”

“Fuck no, and you’re
moving out.”

Damn, this being a dick
thing feels really weird. I stare at Abby while her eyes widen.
Yeah,
I can’t believe I just spit that out either.

“Dude, seriously, you
could have eased in to it.”

I shrug. “No reason
to beat around the bush.”

“I’m not even going
to argue right now. I have a new place to live—you guys were just
easier to live with.”

I roll my eyes.

I’m about to say
something that I’ll probably regret when my phone rings.

“Hello?”

“Logan?”

His voice makes my skin
crawl and anger overwhelms me. What the fuck does he want? Taking
Sara from me and turning her against me wasn’t enough for him?

“Wow, you really are
stupid,” I snap at Liam and let out a small laugh.

“Don’t hang up. I
know I’m probably the last person you want to hear from, but I’m
calling about Sara.” He pauses, waiting for my response.

“If you’re calling
to tell me she picked you, I need to hear it from her.”

“Whoa, man, no,
that’s not it all. Sara and I … we never … we aren’t like
that, I swear. And even if I were into her, I was never an option for
her, Logan. It was always you, and she and I both know it.”

I grunt.
Now
he’s kissing my ass.

“If you’re calling
to remind me of your time together, you can call someone else,” I
say.

“Fuck. Okay, I’ll
get right to it. She’s depressed, and I know she misses you. She is
too proud to admit it, but I think she needs you, and I’m starting
to worry about her. You should come here as soon as you can. I think
it would be the best thing for her.”

“If she is that
upset, she’d call me. She said she would. Sorry, man, but you
wasted a phone call.”

“Logan, you know her
better than anyone. Is she really going to call you and admit she was
wrong? Or would she rather let it eat away at her until she sees you
again?” He pauses. “The bar can’t afford for her to be a mess,
and I’m just … I guess I just want you both to be happy. I’m
serious, Logan. She needs you.”

It should piss me off
that he has spent enough time with her to know this information, but
right now, he’s right. And I know exactly what I need to do.

“I’m on my way.”

Sara

Just
call him, Sara. Just pick up the phone, and dial his number. Tell him
you were wrong and that you love him. He’ll answer; he always does.

I grab my phone and
stare at it, the same way I’ve been staring at it for the last six
hours.

Why
can’t I call him?

The knock at my door
saves me from answering my own question. I jump from my sofa and rush
to the door, welcoming the distraction. It isn’t until I’ve swung
open the door and come face to face with Logan that I remember the
fact I’d been crying all afternoon.
And
he thinks he’s into me.

“Logan, what are you
doing here?” My voice is breathy. I take a step back and my hand
mindlessly begins to fix my hair and fidget with the thin shirt I’m
wearing. The one from high school, the one I kept with the tear in
the front and the missing buttons.

He brushes past me and
turns around. His hands land on his hips and he pins me with a stare.
“Liam called me, said I needed to get her soon and … look at you.
I can’t believe I waited this long. Fuck, I can’t believe I
believed you when you said you would call. You should have called me.
I should have called you. This isn’t us. We don’t torture each
other like this.”

I calmly close the door
and watch him pace the room. Just knowing he is here, makes me feel
like I’m right where I need to be. He’s right, we’re better
than this. He starts to pace faster, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I—”

“Sara, I don’t know
how many more times I have to say this, but I’ll say it every day
if I have to until we grow old and can no longer form sentences.”
He pauses and takes a step toward me. “You. Are. It. For. Me. You
are the only person I want to be with. You are the only person I want
to share my crazy unpredictable life with. You. It’s always been
you, Sara. I love you.” He doesn’t even wait for a response
before his lips crash down onto mine.

“Tell me you love me,
too,” he murmurs into my ear before peppering kisses against my
neck. “Tell me you never stopped.”

“I could never stop
loving you, Logan. Never.” I swallow hard at my admission and at
the fast work his hands are making. They touch the outside of my
thighs and slowly move their way up. He stops at my hips and grips
them right before he presses me into the wall. This time, there is no
denying the hunger and desperation that comes from his kiss as his
tongue tangles with mine intensely.

“Say it,” he
breathes, pulling away from my lips. His voice is deep as it sends a
shiver down my spine. My body responds to his every touch. From the
words, the way his eyes capture me, the way he touches me. There has
never been another man for me.

“I love you.”

He rips open my shirt,
tearing the remaining buttons to reveal my breasts. He steps back and
I come close to crumbling under his fiery gaze. When his eyes reach
mine, I smile. “That shirt always looked better on you, but it
looks best on the floor.”

He growls and then
grabs my arms, pulling me to my room. He doesn’t bother closing the
door and he doesn’t waste time stripping out of his clothes. Once
he’s naked, I absorb his beautiful, bare body. My desire radiates,
and he’s touching me again in two strides.