Page 76 of Just Say Yes

I brushed past him, then turned with my arms crossed. “Did I do something wrong?”

Logan sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. “No.”

My eyes narrowed. “Are you sure, because the whiplash I’m experiencing right now is really confusing?” He wouldn’t look at me. “Was the phone call bad?” I stepped forward when a terrible kernel of a thought wedged into my brain. “Is Arthur okay?”

“Fuck,” he muttered. His green eyes lifted to meet mine. “Arthur is fine. It was Trent. He was asking about tomorrow’s game.”

Hearing Trent’s name fall from his lips was like a slap, angry and stinging. The walls of the room seemed to close in, squeezing the air from my lungs. I thought I’d buried him—buried what he did—but the sound of his name dug it all back up.

I had worked doubly hard to separate the two men in my mind.

In reality, I preferred to forget Trent ever existed.

He took one small step forward. “I would like to talk about Trent.”

I would very much like tonevertalk about that. Especially with you.

My cheeks heated, and the walls closed in around me. Even hearing his name out loud sucked the air from the room.

I lifted my chin. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

Logan shook his head. “Yes, Julep, I think there is.”

Self-preservation and pride reared its ugly head, slamming a wall between Logan and me. I had worked too long and too hard to go back to that dark place. The air grew uncomfortable, and I inched back, my body screaming for me to run and hide. The last thing I wanted to do was flay myself open and admit the mistakes that had allowed Trent to do what he had done.

Anxiety clawed up my spine. Logan was staring back at me, his expression stricken. If I wasn’t so frantic, I might almost think he lookedconcerned.

He took another step forward, and I retreated with my hand in the air. “Don’t.” I couldn’t focus on him—my thoughts muddled and tripped over each other.

Logan’s hands were in the air in silent surrender. “I spoke with him tonight. He remembers you.”

A disgusted scoff rattled in my throat as tears burned my eyes. “Oh, well, that’s a relief.”

“Look,” he said, and his stern voice had my gaze whipping up. “I’m not at all happy with the things he said, but it doesn’t change the fact that you slept with my best friend.”

Dread pooled in my stomach. I thought I could be the kind of woman who could keep sex and feelings separate. I thought I could do casual.

“This whole thing was a mistake.” I wasn’t entirely sure whether I was talking about the trip to Kenilworth, staying with him at the hotel, or whatever was blooming between us—everything.

My vision blurred with unshed tears. I needed to leave before I shattered completely, before Logan saw how deep my cracks ran.

I brushed past him, heading straight to the walk-in closet, where my duffel bag was lying empty on the floor. There wasn’t much to pack, so I quickly stuffed my clothes into the bag and hoisted it onto my shoulder. It was a long drive back home—far too long for a rideshare, but worst-case scenario I could call one of my brothers ... not that I would look forward tothatconversation.

I’ll call JP. He can keep his mouth shut and knows how to clean up a mess.

And, fuck, this had quickly become a mess.

When I moved to leave the room, Logan was blocking the doorway. He looked down at my bag and stepped aside.

His shoulders were slumped, and a single, frustrated tear betrayed me. I wanted to be a hot, roll-around-together good-time gal ... not the inexperienced sad sack who couldn’t rein in her emotions.

“He was wrong.” Logan’s voice was low, but angry, and it stopped me in my tracks. “I don’t even need to hear your side of it to know that.”

I turned to see him, a tortured expression marring his handsome face. My chest tightened.

Logan stuffed his hands in his pockets. “He said some things ... things I wasn’t prepared to hear or accept.” He let out a defeated sigh. “Look, Trent is an asshole. Deep down, I’ve always known that, but when you’ve got media attention and articles being written about you, it becomes harder and harder to know who really has your back and who is using you for your influence. Trent has been there from the beginning ...”

Something in the way he trailed off made me wonder if suddenly Trent wasn’t sitting so cleanly in thehas your backcategory.

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