Page 20 of Fighting Happily Ever After

Logan exhaled hard. He was pretty sure he’d never be able to explainthatto his cousin, but he could certainly let him in on the details of everything else. It didn’t matter that it was already way past midnight; it had been way too long since the men had caught up. Over the next hour, and a handful of beers each, Logan told Levi exactly what was going on between him and Faith—at least to the best of his ability to explain it—starting with the news article, which he already knew about, and the bet he’d used to trick Faith into pretending to be his girlfriend and finishing with his concussion over the cold shoulder she’d given him after they’d spent what could only be described as an amazing night together.

“I don’t know what to tell you, man.” Levi shook his head. “I love Faith, she’s like my sister, but as much as her and Hope share similarities, there are a few things where they are fundamentally different, and I have no idea why that is.”

Logan dropped his head into his hands, the exhaustion of the long day, lack of sleep, and the effects of a few beers finally starting to take their toll. “I don’t know either, Levi. I really don’t. I thought I’d been getting through to her. Finally cracking that tough shell, but…I’m starting to think it can’t be done. At least not by me.”

Levi got up from the table and smacked him on the shoulder before giving it a squeeze. “Don’t give up, Logan. Some of the very best things in life are worth fighting for. I gotta go to bed. Jet lag is going to be a killer. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Logan lifted his head.

“Don’t stay up too late driving yourself crazy, okay?”

Logan nodded, but he couldn’t make any promises. It was going to be another long night on the couch, because there was no way he could imagine Faith letting him share her bed again and he wasn’t sure he had the energy to push her.

Faith lay awake in bed. Once in a while, Levi and Logan’s voices would drift up the stairs to her, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. Not that she needed to. There was no doubt in her mind that Logan was sharing all the gory details of their…whatever it was. She sighed and tried not to let it bother her, especially because she planned to share all of those very same details with her sister the first chance she had.

Before she’d gone to bed, Faith had checked in on Hope, who was already set up in her room, having arrived home from the airport while Faith and Logan were still working the wedding in the barn. Hope’s eyes had fluttered open a little and she’d smiled when she’d seen her sister, but she was clearly exhausted, and given the late hour, Faith didn’t want her to feel like she had to stay up. So they’d had a quick hug and Faith had left her to sleep. There would be lots of time for talking now that she was home.

She was still lying awake, unable to shut her mind off long enough to sleep, when she heard the bedroom door open. She stiffened, and tried to hold her breath as Logan moved quietly past the bed and into the attached bathroom.

There was no way he was going to try to crawl in next to her. He wouldn’t dare. Not after their argument in the barn.Duringthe event.She shook her head. That had been so ridiculously unprofessional. She had to try harder to keep their personal life outside of that barn. Especially during events, or it wouldn’t matter whether they hosted Stephanie Starz’s wedding or not—their reputation would be shot. No bride wanted another couple causing drama in the middle of her wedding. Especially the wedding planners.

A few minutes later, Faith heard the toilet flush, and the bathroom door opened. She lay on her side in the dark. Her eyes were open a crack, but she was sure that Logan couldn’t see her. He paused at the foot of the bed and for a moment, she was sure he was going to pull the covers back and get in. She could say something. Let him know she wasn’t asleep and he wasn’t welcome in her bed.

But at the same time…wasn’t he?

Conflicted feelings raced through her. It was so easy to be angry and keep him at arm’s length. It was like a reflex. But letting him in, that had been nice too.Morethan nice. Making love with Logan had been unlike anything else she’d ever experienced. It had been every single cliché she’d ever heard. She’d heard it before, but never believed it. Maybe sex really was even better with someone you cared about? Maybe shedidcare about Logan. Maybe she—

Logan sighed loudly, turned, and walked away.

As the door clicked shut softly behind him, Faith let out the breath she’d been holding and an overwhelming sense of loss filled her. Her bed seemed a little bit bigger all of a sudden. And colder. And as she wrapped her arms around herself, she felt a little bit lonelier, too.

ChapterNine

Somewhere beyond his dream,Logan heard the knock on the door, followed by voices. Vaguely, he recognized that he should probably get up, but after tossing and turning most of the night, he’d finally fallen into a deep sleep and the last thing he wanted to do was—

“Logan? Oh, I’m sorry. I—”

He jumped to his feet. The blanket fell down onto the couch, leaving him standing in only his boxer briefs as he turned to see Stephanie Starz in the living room.

Shit.

“Hey.” He rubbed his hand over his face and searched his brain for words that would make sense in the situation, but nothing came to him. “I was just—”

“I’m so sorry to…well…I didn’t mean to wake you…I just…”

“No,” he said quickly as he reached for his T-shirt and jeans, tugging both pieces of clothing on. “You’re fine. I was just—”

“Oh, there you are.” Levi appeared behind her in the hall. His eyes were wide and behind her, he shook his head in a sort of apology to Logan, although it was clear he had no idea what he was apologizing for. “I just ran up to see if Hope was awake yet,” he said in explanation. “I didn’t realize that Logan was…well, why don’t we sit down in the kitchen and visit instead.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Faith had said something to him about how she’d told Stephanie that Levi and Hope were coming home and because the star was so excited to meet them both, she’d told Stephanie to come over for a coffee in the morning and…fuck.He’d completely forgotten and now…

“That sounds great,” Logan said as smoothly as he could. “I’ll go see if my love is awake yet.” He knew he was laying it on thick, and judging by the way Levi rolled his eyes, his cousin also had an opinion. “It was so late last night when we were done catching up that I hadn’t wanted to wake her up, so I just slept down here.” It was a lame excuse, but it would have to do.

Stephanie’s face still read a mixture of horror at waking him up and confusion, because why would a couple who was supposed to be madly in love be sleeping separately? Logan knew exactly how it looked.Shit.

Before she could say anything more, Logan grabbed up the blanket, pasted a grin on his face, and quickly excused himself. He took the stairs two at a time.

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