Page 89 of The Lost and the Found

I let out a small, watery laugh then. “You like me stubborn.”

“I like you however you are,” he said, tweaking my nose.

I’m in love with you, I wanted to say, but didn’t. But I wanted to say it so bad, my tongue felt heavy with all the unspoken words.

“Breakfast?” Logan asked. I nodded and climbed off his lap. Then, I let him spoil me all morning before dropping me off at school.

* * *

I gotto work feeling lighter than I had before.

It was such a freeing feeling, to let Logan see all of my ugly side, and still have him care for me despite it.

Care, not love.

Having Logan love me was not something I’d ever entertained in my head. But now that I had fully admitted to myself how much I loved him, I wanted him to love me, too.

I wanted it all, and I didn’t want to settle for anything less.

He had to be, at the very least, halfway in love with me already, right?

Right?!

I told myself I couldn’t even entertain the thought of him loving me, yet I was doing it because the thought that he may not was much, much worse.

I let out a sigh, my hands moving around on autopilot as I made drinks. I’d done this for so long, I might even be able to bartend in my sleep. Besides, most of the customers here were men, and most of them liked simple drinks.

I turned to the man on my side of the bar, who looked to be in his late forties, wearing a Stetson on his head. I smiled and placed a glass of scotch on the rocks in front of him. He handed me a twenty and winked, while I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

“Thanks,” I said, shoving the cash in my pocket.

“Don’t mention it, sweetheart.”

John was working with me again, and he caught my eye just as I turned for some pre-cut fruit behind me. He smiled, performing his little tricks for a group of women in the far corner who were obviously here for a bachelorette party.

They seem enamored with him.

It was pretty busy for a Tuesday night, and luckily, it died down just as quickly as it ramped up. Around ten o’clock, Dave came out with a case of ice, and walked over to the bar. John left to clean while I attended to my one remaining customer—the Stetson man.

I pretended to be busy while Dave refilled the ice, unsure of where we stood. I hadn’t seen him at all today, and I was glad.

I didn’t know what to say to him, and I didn’t want things to be awkward between us, but they were. I should have told Dave about Logan when it started, not because I owed Dave anything, but because I considered him my friend, and I knew how he felt about me.

I’d been deluding myself into thinking Dave couldn’t be that interested in me, and because of it, I might have hurt my only friend.

Dave set the container on the floor when he was done, and just as he was about to walk past me, I grabbed his arm.

“Dave?”

“What is it, Hayden?” He sounded tired.

“Are we okay?”

He looked at me, and I missed the softness I’d seen in his eyes before. I hadn’t realized that look was saved solely for me until now. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

I kept my mouth shut. What was I supposed to say that?

When he made a move to walk away, I tightened my hold on him. “I’m sorry.”

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