Page 118 of Everything Has Changed
I go—rocking back a few steps to give her some space. Her fingers reach up, tracing the evidence of us on her lower lip.
“I’m going to stay with my grandmother,” she says softly. “Probably best if we aren’t near each other for a bit.”
It doesn’t matter how much time or space we put between us, nothing will ever change how badly I want this woman. How she has woven herself into my DNA at this point, and just the thought of not being near her makes my bones ache.
I swallow thickly against the emotion building within me. “If that’s what you want.”
“I can’t have what I want, Logan. Not when it comes with strings.”
And I do the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. I watch her walk away from me.
40
Gwendolyn
“Spill it, Gwenny.”
I jolt from my thoughts when Piper nudges my arm. We are sitting under the hair dryer in her mom’s salon, waiting for our curls to set and our nails to dry. The room is filled with women of all ages from town. Everyone is getting glammed up for the gala tonight.
It’s a big deal, seeing as the gala was never part of the festival events before. But after finding out there’s something going on inside Town Hall, more things are falling into place within my mind. Like why I was encouraged to bring in more money than ever and make it the best event the town had ever seen. Or why the Spencers wanted to host such a lavish event in our small town. The word that Logan used last night bounces around my head.Optics.Whatever deal is going down must require some deep pockets.
Not that I would know because instead of asking for more information, I set fire to my relationship with the man I loved. Though he gave me the matches to do the job, it still didn’t hurt any less. And that’s why I’ve been quiet and keeping to myself all day.
Piper has been trying to get me to engage in conversation, going so far as to bring up something related to me every time someone stoppedby to say hello. I never bite, though, just smiled and continued to fall into the dark depths of my mind.
And clearly my best friend is over it.
“I gave you all day to pout without giving me a reason, but I’m starting to get tired of talking to myself over here.” Her hand reaches over and pries my fingers from the armrest. “Why don’t you tell me why you are mutilating my mother’s furniture so I can give her a good excuse later when we have to reupholster.”
I cringe and try my best to smooth away the wrinkles I put in place. “Sorry, just a lot on my mind.”
“I can see that. But what I can’t see is why. Your event went amazingly well. The whole town is still talking about it, in case you were disassociating so much you didn’t hear them earlier. And you got your date with your man last night. So tell me what’s wrong, babe.”
I sigh heavily, looking around to make sure no one could possibly overhear me when I admit to my best friend what’s going on.
“Logan and I…” my breath hitches on his name, and I will my eyes to not shed any tears right now. I did enough of that last night. “We broke up, if that’s what you can even call it.”
“What!” she screeches so loud, the elderly ladies nearby getting their nails done jump in their seats. “Sorry,” she mouths to them, then leans closer to me. Her eyes scan over every inch of me with worry. “What happened? Are you okay? Do I need to kill him?”
I chuckle slightly. “No, you don’t need to kill him. And I’m fine. Or at least I will be.”
“Things were going so well between you two. What happened?”
In the most abridged version ever, I give Piper the rundown. Her eyes pop out of her head, and her jaw drops open when I tell her that Camila was winning again.
“That fucking liar.” She scoffs in outrage. “How dare he string you along like that?!”
“It’s fine, Piper. At least I found out now and not when it was too late.” I stare down at my dark nails, wishing I could nibble on them but not wanting to ruin the hard work the tech put into them.
“What exactly is too late? When you fall in love with the man? Newsflash, Gwen, you already did. And honestly, he’s a fucking idiot if he didn’t realize that. But even worse if he did and still continued on without letting you in on the truth.”
That’s what makes it even worse, because I know he realized it. Just like I realized he loved me back.
Piper shakes her head, her face pinching in disgust. “Fucking men.”
“Yeah,” I agree quietly. “Fucking men.”
“Wait,” she turns to me again. “Do you think something is going to happen at this gala? Like whatever they are planning might come out?”
