Page 62 of One More Chance
“It’s hard to put into words. I’m a hockey player, not a poet,” Logan rubbed his hands on his jeans, trying to find the words to describe how he felt about Charlotte.
“Try.” Serena didn’t break her stare.
Logan thought back to the moment he knew he loved Charlotte. As a teenager, he didn’t know that what he was feeling was love. He just knew that being with Charlotte came easily. Living with an addicted mother, he was coiled under tension at home and being with Charlotte made him feel like he could truly exhale, let his defenses down. “She makes me want to be a better man.” Logan shook his head. “I mean, I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s true. She’s one of the few people I can be myself around. She lets me be me, who I really am deep down and doesn’t expect anything more. And that, that just makes me want to be better, for her. She deserves the best, and she makes me want to be that, to do it for...” Logan heard the quiver in his voice, the falter.
“And she’s hot,” Freddie interjected. He gave Logan a soft punch in the arm. He saved him from crying in front of this woman.
“She is pretty for her age, I guess,” Serena said quietly. “You know what, Logan. I will let you out of the contract.”
Logan’s head snapped up. He couldn’t believe his ears; she had seemed so angry.
“On two conditions.” She leaned on her elbows and held up two fingers.
“Shoot.” Logan was prepared to give her anything.
“One. You give me the money back with twenty percent interest.” Her eyes flashed.
“Ouch,” Logan replied. “And?”
“You’re going to replace the dress your girlfriend ruined with any dress I choose.”
“Done.”
“And...” she continued.
“Wait,” Freddie said. “You said two things.”
“I know.” Serena stood up and walked around the kitchen island and leaned back against the marble countertop, suddenly finding a lot of interest in her nails again. “But I just thought of something else.”
“Alright,” Logan sighed. “You’re taking me to the cleaners with the first two things. Not even a loan shark would charge me twenty points, and I know how much a high-end designer gown is going to set me back because I’m guessing you’re not going to go pick a department store dress.”
“Probably Dolce, actually, but this last thing isn’t going to cost you a thing,” she smiled without showing her teeth. “I’m happy to get out of that wedding, but I need a date for the film festival premiere.”
Logan held up his hands in front of him. Was she slow? That was the whole reason he was here. “We’re doing this, so I don’t have to go out on a ‘date’ with you.” He used air quotes.
“Not you,” she replied and then she pointed to Freddie. “You.”
