Page 153 of Shattered Souls
Aurora tries the drill again; this time, she gets it right. She squeals with delight, and I find myself cheering alongside her. Logan’s face lights up with a proud smile, and he gives her a high five. My heart melts a little more each time I see them together. The way he interacts with her so effortlessly makes it seem like he’s always known how to be this wonderful with kids.
Ava chats about the dance studio, and I tell her about my class load, but even as we discuss mundane things, my eyes keep drifting back to Logan and Aurora. Logan looks up and catches my eye, giving me a wink that sends a flutter through my stomach. I smile back, feeling the warmth of his gaze even from across the rink.
Life has been pretty perfect these past few weeks. Bertram is still in the hospital, although Grayson got a call today to say they were taking him off the intubation. I’m not sure what exactly it will mean for us if he starts to heal. I’d honestly been hoping he’d just die or have a cardiac arrest when they tried to remove the tube from his throat. Unfortunately, it seems I’m not that lucky. However, we have time to figure it out.
Otherwise, I’ve been happy. Blissfully so.
Yeah, there are still kinks to work out. Aurora has taken over my room, meaning I bedhop most nights after she falls asleep. The four of us struggle to fit in one bed comfortably, except for the odd night when we all pass out. Then, I usually sleep withtwo of the guys and switch over the next night. But for the most part, we’ve settled into a comfortable routine that suits us.
Royce refuses to let anyone but him escort me to Lux for my shifts, and Logan and Grayson tend to take turns staying home with Aurora while the other attends Royce’s fights with me. Grayson is managing to balance work and class, and is back to enjoying his CEO role at Van Doren Holdings now that his father is not constantly undermining him. As for me? My grades have been steadily improving, and I’m once again loving being in a learning environment.
“Mommy, did you see me!” Aurora shouts as she clomps off the ice.
She tries to run toward me, but Logan loops an arm around her waist, nearly lifting her off the floor. “Hold on there, Pumpkin. Let’s get those skates off you before you take someone’s eye out.”
She giggles but drops to the bench and begins talking animatedly to Isabella as if they haven’t spent the last hour on the ice together. Logan crouches to help her out of her skates, and Ava moves to do the same with Isabella.
“Ready to go home?” Logan asks a short while later, once he’s said goodbye to the other kids and parents, and we’re the only ones left in the rink.
Aurora yawns, tuckered out after her busy day. She’s already bundled in Logan’s arms, her head resting against his chest as she nods.
Throwing his bag containing his and Aurora’s brand new skates over his shoulder, he takes my hand, and together we walk out to his car.
It’s perfect. Him. Them. This life we have.
Everything.
“There we go,” I say later that night as I tuck the covers around Aurora. “Snug as a bug in a rug.” I give her my best attempt at a smile, but damn, I’m tired.
Bath and bedtime were not the smoothest tonight. After crashing when we got home from the ice rink, Aurora found a second wind and threw a tantrum when I mentioned it was bathtime. Even Logan couldn’t sweet-talk her into the tub. It took me, him, and Royce promising her everything under the sun before she finally relented. Lucky for Grayson, he is working late in the office tonight, so he missed out on all the mayhem.
“Mommy!” Aurora suddenly cries, sitting upright. “Hank!”
“Where is he?” I ask, exasperated, as I gather her scattered clothes off the floor. She’s talking about the stuffed husky toy Logan gave to her. She’s carried it with her everywhere ever since.
“I don’t know.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose.
“Well, when do you last remember seeing him?”
Pouting, she gives me a helpless shrug.
“You had him when you got home from daycare,” I tell her, remembering him being strangled in the crook of her arm when she walked in with Grayson earlier. “Did you take him skating?”
“Oh!” I take that as a yes.
“You probably left him in the car. I’ll go get him, you stay here. I mean it, Aurora. Do not move from that bed.”
With a stern look, I leave her in bed, pulling the door over most of the way before hurrying down the stairs and snatching Logan’s keys from the hall table. On my way past, I heard the water running in the bathroom, so he’s probably showering.Royce retreated to the solitude of his bedroom when Aurora dictated she wanted me to read her bedtime story tonight.
Light spills out from the hall when I open the front door, leaving it wide as I hurry down the steps toward the SUV parked at the curb. Pressing the clicker, the headlights flash, and the car makes thatclicknoise that indicates it’s unlocked.
I’m not paying attention to my surroundings as I yank open the back door and begin feeling around in the semi-darkness for the stuffed toy.
“Come on,” I groan, not feeling it anywhere. “Where are you?”
I know she won’t settle without him, and if she doesn’t relax, then I won’t sleep, and I really,reallylike sleep.
