Page 43 of Shattered
I peeked around Logan's shoulder to find Chase looking at us, amusement brightening his features. Logan, on the other hand, did not look impressed at all. Shooting his brother a look, he gritted out, "Give us a minute." Chase opened his mouth, possibly to make some smartass remark, but quickly shut it again before disappearing into the house.
When I was the sole focus of those whiskey-eyes again, my heart started to beat furiously. I watched his Adam's apple bob up and down in a hard swallow; I swear I'd never get used to seeing this man display nervousness.
"Harper," he said after a while. "About what happened-" He paused and jerked his head in the direction of the woods we just came from, woods where we'd just made love!
I wasn't sure where he was going with this, but he didn't sound overly excited. The only things I could presume were that he either regretted sleeping with me or now that he had had me, I was out of his system. It didn't matter which one it was, I wasn't about to let him see the hurt I suddenly felt.
Stepping to the side, I broke the physical contact we had. I met his gaze and let an expressionless veil fall over my face. "I get it," I lifted my shoulder nonchalantly. "It was what it was and we don't have to talk about it."
"Whoa," his head snapped back as if I'd just slapped him across the face. "Sugar, if you think I don't want to talk about it, you're absolutely misreading the situation. In fact," he reached for me and wrapped an arm around my waist before dragging me closer. "I don't just wanna talk about it; I would very much like for it to happen again sometime soon."
His dark head stooped until our lips were just a breath apart. "Wedohave some things to talk about, though." After giving me a quick kiss, Logan grabbed my hand. "But first we need to get through this BBQ."
Yeah, I had no idea how I was going to do that. Nevertheless, I followed him through the house to the backyard where everyone was engrossed in their own conversations. Chase and his mother were huddled over the salad table, Eli and his father were staring at the grill with beers in hand and my boy was enjoying the company of his new best friends; Dozer and Eli's little girl, Molly.
Flynn looked so happy without a care in the world. His little head thrown back in laughter while the pup excitedly barked at him was by far the most beautiful thing I'd seen that day. I tried my very best to ignore the little voice telling me that this was what my life could look like if I trusted Logan with my secret.
"C'mon," I was relieved when he pulled me in the direction of the salad table instead of the grill. The longer I could avoid Eli the better. It was also not lost on me that when Logan wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me to him, I went without resistance. I was starting to feel a little too comfortable wrapped up in him.
"At long last, the lovebirds return." Chase shoved his hands in his back pockets and showed his teeth in a wide smile, the only other person whose smile could rival his was Daisy.
Logan lifted his middle finger and scratched his nose with it. The youngest Jackson burst out laughing, clearly getting the not-so-subtle message.
"Think you can detach yourself from the poor woman long enough to grab a beer with me?" Chase jerked his head in the direction of the other men.
"You gonna be alright, Sugar?" His words were just for me to hear and I honestly had no idea why he'd be worried to leave me with his mother now, I'd just spent the morning helping her with the salads.
Still, I cocked my head and stared up into those eyes and said, "Yeah."
After dropping a quick kiss on my head, Logan and Chase made their way to the grill. I couldn't help but stare after him like an idiot, and not just because he was good looking. The things this man was making me feel were both terrifying and exciting.
"He's pretty special."
Snapping my head to the side I found Daisy looking at me with a soft smile on her face. It was almost as if she knew what I was thinking but she also understood that I was afraid. Jerking her head toward the kids and the dog, she repeated, "He's pretty special."
I followed her gaze and couldn't help the smile on my lips. "He is," It was true for both Flynn and Logan. I felt Daisy move in closer next to me as we watched the children squeal while being chased by the Rottweiler.
"It's a shame," Logan's mom said. "It's truly a shame that you have to raise that little man by yourself. Not that you've done a bad job," she added when I turned to look at her. "It's just that we all need someone to help carry our burdens."
I was confused and feeling a little defensive. "Flynn is not a burden."
Daisy's face turned the brightest shade of red. "Of course not, honey." Her gaze snapped to where the men were laughing about something before returning to mine. "That boy of mine will disown me for saying this, but I can't not say it."
Reaching forward, she gripped both my hands in hers. "Logan isn't too good at communicating with words but that boy's eyes could never hide anything…not from me anyway." Over my shoulder, she gave the men a quick glance. "The way he looks at you and your son…He wants to be part of your little unit."
Her eyes found mine again, and I could see the distress in them. It was that special kind of concern that parents reserved for their children. "He might look unbreakable but I can assure you, he isn't. I'm not telling you what to do or who to be with. I'm just asking you to be careful with my boy's heart."
She might as well have wrapped her hands around my throat and squeezed. Her words had the same suffocating effect. Every single time I'd thought that I'd found my footing around Logan, something happened that showed me I was still crawling while everyone else was sprinting.
It was unnerving!
Pulling free from her grip, I searched for Flynn. The moment I spotted him, I started to move. I made two steps before warm hands cupped my shoulders. "Oh, honey, I didn't mean to upset you. You shouldn't bother with the ramblings of an old woman."
Daisy moved to my front and pulled me in for a hug, I was too shell-shocked to even bring my arms up to return her embrace. "Please forget I said anything." I heard the plea in her voice and I found myself nodding just to appease her. The truth was I couldn't forget and now I had to figure out where I was going to go from here.
What I needed was to get out of there and clear my mind. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option as Logan's mother started walking toward the men with her arm still wrapped around me. As expected the greeting between me and Eli was a bit stiff but if anyone noticed they didn't show it.
"So, Harper had this idea that we set up a find-your-match-website for the shelter animals," Chase announced. "It's gonna be like Tinder but just with animals."
