Page 58 of Puck Drop
“Dinner’s here.” He grins at me, the adorable dimple in his cheek that I love so much making an appearance.
I move to the side to allow him to come in. He walks inside the apartment with confidence as he heads straight for my kitchen table where he places what is apparently our dinner. Hethen drops the duffel bag to the floor and turns around to look at me.
I move from side to side, too nervous to speak. When he reaches for my waist and pulls me into him, I let out a sharp yelp of surprise. He lifts me up until our faces are close together, then he kisses me hard on the lips.
“I can tell that you’re surprised that I’m back,” he tells me once he puts me back down. “But I told you I would be.”
Glancing away, I feel so much shame that I can’t even look at him. He witnessed my misery in such a low moment for me, I really wish he’d have gone home by the time I got back to the apartment after having been sacked.
My eyes fall to the bag on the floor. “Are you planning on moving in here?” I tease.
“I have a couple of days off,” he shrugs. “And this morning sucked. I didn’t want to have to run outside half naked again. Someone could report me.” He smiles, showing all his teeth.
With no little effort, I laugh nervously with him. Today is one of the worst days of my life. The only other one that would top this is when my father caught us naked in the locker room at the arena in New York.
Logan, as if he tries to give me some space, turns around and starts setting the table. It looks like he’s thought of everything as he pulls out containers of food, paper plates, plasticware and napkins. That’s all followed by a couple of bottles of water.
“I’ll put these in the fridge.” He lifts them up in the air to show me. “I was going to buy you a whole case of water, but I didn’t think of it until I was almost here.”
He puts the water in the refrigerator, then walks back to his duffle bag. He unzips it and pulls out what looks like a small bottle cooler.
“Wine,” he explains when I just stare. “To go with our dinner.”
My eyes feel blurry with unshed tears. “T-thank you,” I whisper.
Once he has the table set just as he wants it, he pulls out a chair in invitation for me to have a seat. It’s not like I have to be anywhere anyway, so I accept.
“It looks delicious,” I say when I glance down at my plate. “I might save some for later, too.”
He stares at me, like he’s processing my words. I feel like he can see right through me, sense the fakeness in my tone when I pretend I am excited about this meal.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about your… situation,” he says after a short hesitation. “Not just from today, but while I was away as well.”
I laugh nervously. “I didn’t realize I had a situation until today.”
He clears his throat a couple of times. “You mentioned not liking this job. I was brainstorming about how to help you.”
The smile dies on my lips. He actually listened to me before and cared.
“I thought maybe you could work in an art gallery,” he continues.
My eyes widen in surprise while my heart grows in my chest.
“That’s a really good idea.” The excitement in my voice is not fake this time. “Why did I not think of that?”
I can’t believe how sheltered and naïve I’ve been. I am blaming it all on my father. He coddled me for my entire life. He also gave me opportunities not too many people have, the other side of my brain reminds me.
“Well,” Logan sighs. “A job at an art gallery seems to be more up your alley…”
“It is,” I rush to assure him.
“I looked into it, and I called a couple of places,” he tells me, taking me completely by surprise.
My mouth drops open in surprise. “You did?”
He nods in confirmation. “Yeah… Unfortunately…”
Oh no, there’s always abutin there somewhere. Or ahowever. Or, in this case, anunfortunately.
