Page 115 of Frozen Hearts
“Riley.” He puts more of a demand behind his tone, and sighing, I reluctantly peel open my eyes.
“Logan,” I groan when I realize the room is bathed in weak light, indicating it’s barely dawn. “It’s not even morning yet. Why are you awake?”
“Trust me, Shortcake. I’m not happy about the early wake-up call either, but your mom won’t stop calling you.”
That immediately sweeps the cobwebs from my brain and I sit up, instantly alert.
“What? When? Did you answer?”
“No, I didn’t answer, but I figured you should.”
He holds the phone up to my face as it begins to ring again, and I blow out a breath before taking it from him.
“Ehh, privacy,” I snap, arching a brow when he remains crouched in front of me.
He shakes his head. “Not happening, Shortcake. I need to make sure you don’t tell your mom anything about our… situation.”
Yeah, like she’d come bounding to my rescue.
“Whatever,” I grumble, before gathering myself and pressinganswer.
“Mom,” I hedge.
“Speaker,” Logan mouths.
I roll my eyes as I hit the speaker button just in time for him to hear my mom snap, “Where the hell have you been, Riley?”
“Sleeping, Mom. It’s..” I glance at the time at the top of my screen, frustration giving way to concern when I realize just how early it is. “Is something wrong, Mom? Did something happen?”
“Yes, something has happened,” she snaps. “And if you’d answered my earlier calls, you’d know that.”
God, if I could reach through the phone and strangle her, I would.
“I’ve answered now,” I hiss through gritted teeth, silently praying that nothing is wrong with Aurora but unable to actually ask aloud with Logan listening in on every word.
I don’t know what Logan and I are. There are feelings there, on both ends, but Grayson’s anger is a toxic fuel dousing any potential we may have, and so long as that remains the case, I can’t trust him enough to tell him about my daughter. Protecting her is my primary goal. I’d sooner endure this bullshit a hundred times over than have them find out about her.
“Our heating went out last night,” she snipes, as though that’s somehow my fault.
“Okay… did you pay the heating bill?”
“Do you take me for an idiot, Riley? Yes, I paid the heating bill,” she mimics in a high-pitched voice that has me curling in on myself in shame at the mere fact Logan is listening to all of this. I can’t even bear to look at him to see what he’s thinking.
“You better fix this,” she demands.
“What do you expect me to do, Mom?” I sigh wearily.
“I don’t care, Riley, but unless you want me and—”
“I’ll sort it, Mom,” I exclaim, cutting her off before she can say something she shouldn’t. “I’ll see if I can get a heating repairman out to you today.”
“It better be today, Riley. We’re going to freeze if we have to sit in this cold house for much longer.”
“It’ll be today,” I promise her, even though it’s not one I can technically make. I’ll have to call around and see if anyone is available to have a look at it today. And God only knows how much an emergency call is going to cost.
“I need money to pay for it.”
“Of course,” I grit out.
