Page 91 of Coff

“Four twelve,” he says.

I march ahead, eager to see both my brother and friend. Logan walks up next to me. The door to the room is ajar, and I’m about to push it open when I hear Sam.

“Why the hell did you leave Delaney with him?”

I stop and glance at Logan, who is frowning.

“Hello, I got shot. Not like I had a lot of options,” Duke says.

“She’s going to fall for him again,” Sam says.

Heat creeps up my neck to my cheeks. This isn’t what I want him overhearing. Maybe I should walk in.

“It’s your fault for putting them together in the first place,” Duke says.

What is he talking about? I continue to listen.

“My fault?” Sam asks. “You told me to make sure she flirted with him that night. You were the one who told me where to take her. If I’d known it would have broken her heart, I wouldn’t have done it.”

I take a step back, numb. Is she talking about the night I met Logan?

“Yes, you would have. You would do anything for me, remember? Come here,” Duke says.

Wet smacking comes through the open door. Are they kissing? Then my brother moans. “God, I’ve missed you,” Duke says.

Duke and Sam are together? Since when? She’s always told me she can’t stand him and that he’s an asshole.

“I’m serious, Duke. It’s not a good idea for her to be with him.”

Duke sighs. “I know, but she’s safe with him. Hopefully, she won’t get caught up by him again like last time.”

“God, what a mistake that was.”

“Yeah, she got hurt, and for nothing. It didn’t stop his brother from pursuing my family.”

I can’t be hearing this right. Bile rises in my throat, and I run down the hall to the restroom. Logan is right behind me. I throw open the door, and he comes in, too. I make it to the toilet just as the coffee I had comes back up.

When I finish, Logan hands me a wet paper towel. Fortunately, the bathroom is a single, so no one else will walk in.

“I heard wrong, didn’t I?” I ask.

Logan leans against the door. “It sounds like your brother and friend somehow planned for us to meet that night in the bar.”

I turn to him. “But why? And how would they have known who you were? Or that I would go up to you? I never do that. You were the only time.”

Memories flood my mind. Sam bought drinks that night and kept insisting we do shots. That was not something she normally did, but she said we needed to enjoy the night. Then she was the one who pointed out Logan.

“See that guy?” she said. “I dare you to go talk to him.”

She pointed me in his direction and gave me a little push. I walked up to him but then started to chicken out. Until he turned around. The moment his eyes locked on mine, I was done.

“She pointed you out to me and kept buying me shots,” I say.

“Look, I have no idea how she found out who my brother is or how I would be there on leave. But everything that happened between us was real. Maybe she did give you a push for all the wrong reasons. Just don’t lose sight of the fact that what we had was good.”

I glance up, and he’s staring at me so intensely that it brings me back to that time. “It was good, wasn’t it?” I ask.

He nods. “The best.”

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