Page 55 of Logan

A monstrosity of a playground stood at the very center of the building, surrounded with walls like a courtyard. It had been built to look like a massive tree, with the playground built in like a tree house.

Logan guided me over to the swings that hung from one of the branches, convincing me to sit in one of the plastic seats before claiming the other for himself.

The structure was made for kids, so our knees came up ridiculously high when our feet were planted on the ground. Logan stretched his legs out over the ground and crossed his ankles as he swayed back and forth on the swing.

“Hey, Clay? Are you really all right? You seem… more subdued than usual.”

Rather than copy his posture, I stood on the seat of the swing and gripped the chains in both hands to keep my balance.

“To be honest, I’m jealous.”

Standing on the seat while he was sitting had the advantage of putting my head far above his, so I didn’t have to look directly into his eyes. It almost gave me the courage to admit everything I’d been feeling.

Almost.

The words were right on the tip of my tongue, but at the last second, I chickened out and swallowed them again.

Instead, I tapped his shoulder with my foot and adopted a joking tone.

“I’ve never ridden in an airplane before. If you’ve got access to a plane, how come you’ve never offered to take me for a flight?”

“Okay.”

His easy answer nearly knocked me off the swing, and chains rattled as I clung to them to stay upright.

“What?”

Without even looking, I knew Logan was smiling up at me.

“I’ve got to fly the social worker back when she’s done here, but it’s going to take several days to get the kids settled into their new place, so I’m stuck here for the time being. If you want to go for a flight, then sure, I can take you. Just say when.”

Climbing down from the swing, I sat on the seat properly instead, so this time my eye line was equal with his.

“When.” My joke went over his head and he looked at me with the confusion of a puppy dog that didn’t understand why its treat had disappeared. “You said ‘say when’. So… when.”

It was a lame joke, but once Logan understood what I meant, he laughed anyway.

“You want to go right now? Sure. Just let me get checked into my hotel and I’ll come back to pick you up in about an hour.”

When we left the playground, the hallways were suspiciously absent of people. I suspected that everyone else was keeping out of our way to give us space. I would have been embarrassed, but I was too grateful for the illusion of privacy.

At the front door, just before he left, Logan turned back to me and grabbed my hand. “Since you were honest with me, I should be honest as well. I lied to you earlier.”

My hand clenched tight around his.

He’d lied?

Was he not happy to see me, or had he changed his mind about taking me on his plane?

Still holding onto my hand, his other hand rubbed nervously at the back of his head. “I didn’tknowfor certain that you were going to be here, but I also wasn’t surprised. I just had a feeling that if I made this trip, I’d run into you. It was part of the reason I volunteered. I hope that’s not weird.” Pink colored his cheeks at the admission.

My heartbeat was still in my ears when I bumped our shoulders together.

“It’s not weird. I’m glad you wanted to see me.” I flashed him a smile.

With his confession out in the open, Logan seemed much happier, and walked away from the building with smile on his lips and a bounce in his step.

I watched him leave, wishing I could feel as carefree as he looked, but my own thoughts still weighed heavily on me.

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