Chapter 30

LOGAN

~FIVE YEARS AGO~

“What do you want?” Maggie asks me as soon as I take a step toward her. “Why are you here?”

I push a small duffel toward her. “You left some of your clothes there, so I thought I should return them.”

She snatches it out of my hands. “Thanks. Anything else?”

Her hostility is something I was expecting, especially after the way I ended things.

I love Maggie with every fiber of my being, but after that maid sent the video to me, I realized the mistake I was making and the things that were at stake.

Maggie’s young, and if things about us got out, her life would be ruined. If I don’t put distance between us now, she’s going to hate me in the future.

“I did what I thought was the right thing to do,” I tell her. “I don’t want to lead you on.”

“You don’t want to lead me on?” She huffs, and the next words she says in a whisper, “Logan, you took my virginity! You told me we could make things work without having to tell anybody, and now you’re doing this to me!”

“I’m sorry you feel this way…”

“Go to hell!” she screams on the verge of tears. “You just…you just wanted a plaything for two weeks, and you got what you wanted.

“Now that you’re bored and knew I was leaving, you didn’t think it was useful, so you discarded me from your life like trash.”

“That’s not true and you know it.”

“I’m not interested in talking to you, Logan.” She flips her hair and starts walking away. Maggie is usually bratty when she doesn’t get what she wants, and now that I’ve broken up with her, she’s ten times over.

I give her a nod. “Since you have Carter, you have no use for me, even as a friend.”

She turns on her heels and stomps her way toward me.

“How dare you say that to me when you’re the one who pushed me away? Carter is my friend, too, and he was here for me when you”—she jabs an accusing finger into my chest—“when you broke my heart!”

“Maggie…”

“I don’t want to talk to you! Ever!” she screams and makes her way inside the house.

I know for a fact that Maggie can’t stay mad at me for a long time. She will message me as soon as I get home, because that’s how she’s always been.

I make my way toward the car when someone steps out of the shadows. I don’t have to look up to know it’s Carter.

He’s trouble, all right. I’ve known that since the first time I laid eyes on him at the party, but he’s someone the girls could never resist.

With soft brown eyes and a killer smile, he knows how to use his charm to lure people in until they get a closer look and a taste of his true personality.

I had someone do a background check on Carter just to make sure Maggie wasn’t associating with criminals.

Carter’s background was pristine, nothing to indicate that he’s associated with anything shady. His parents are divorced, and he moved here with his mother.

Nothing in his background is out of the ordinary, yet somehow there’s something strange about him. I can’t put my finger on it.

“Caleb, was it?” I ask, even though I know his real name.

“Carter,” he corrects me and then smirks. “You know what my name is, Mr. Malory. I was here all along to hear your conversation just now with Maggie.”

He’s leaning against my car, and he looks up at me. He’s got that smug look on his face, like he’s special.

God, I fucking hate teenagers.

I’ve also never seen him with that look. With Maggie around, he’s hiding behind a persona. It’s like he’s putting up an act. I’m pretty sure this is the real him.

“Why are you here?”

“I just wanted you to know that I’m aware of what exactly is going on between you and Maggie.”

My body freezes, but I’m not called the Ice Prince for nothing. I keep my face stoic. “And what exactly is going on between us?”

He laughs and not kindly as he pushes off from my car. “The fact that you like playing with pretty girls half your age.”

“Mind your fucking language.”

His gaze pierces through me. “Oh, I hit the mark, didn’t I?”

“There’s nothing going on between us.”

“You can drop the act, Mr. Malory. Maggie told me everything.”

Don’t go there, Logan. It’s a trap.

“Told you what?”

The punk holds his ground. If he’s a liar, he’s a good one. “She told me all the dirty things you’ve been doing alone for weeks. I don’t think I need to elaborate.”

It’s because of that statement I know Carter’s a liar.

I trust Maggie enough to know that she wouldn’t talk about us to anyone, especially since it would jeopardize everything in my life.

Before she ever slept with me, we promised each other that whatever happened between us within those four walls was going to stay there.

Carter is a jealous guy who’s looking for trouble.

“There’s nothing between us. Stop making up stories,” I say.

He looks furious. “Just stay away from her.”

The last thing I need is for a kid to tell me that.

“I’m her family, Caleb. I’ll always be there for Maggie whenever she needs me. You, on the other hand, be careful, because if I hear that you’re playing nasty games with her, you’ll be sorry.”

He walks away from my car, but I’m close enough to notice his hands curled up in tight fists.

Boy’s got a nasty temper.

MAGGIE

In the days that follow, Logan disappears from my life completely. He means what he’s promised me. He doesn’t want to be in a relationship with me, and he’s not a friend now, and all this is my fault.

I’ve stopped beating myself up for that and acknowledged that he wants to move on. I haven’t even texted him for weeks, which is such an improvement.

It’s clear that the time I spent in his house means nothing to him. He only views me as a bratty rich girl who gets whatever she wants, and at the time I wanted him, and I got it, which is not the truth.

I have feelings for Logan, and those feelings have only grown stronger.

Most nights, I lie on my bed thinking of him, of how he used to smile at me, or make me laugh. The feel of his lips on mine. The vulnerable expressions he made when he made slow love to me.

Those blissful times when his eyes wouldn’t leave mine as they conveyed what he couldn’t put into words.

My nipples pebble at the thought of Logan. It’s been a week since he’s held me in his arms and I’m starting to crave his touch.

I reach for the bedside drawer and find the toy that I have hiding inside. Amelia gave it to me as a joke, and I’ve never used it before.

I discard my bra and peel off my panties, which are already soaking wet thinking of Logan. I slide inside the covers, spread my legs, and bring the vibrator to my center, pushing the tip of it inside.

My eyes roll back in my head with the pleasure of it.

I try to accommodate the toy as it stretches me, and when the pressure increases, I close my eyes. I imagine it’s Logan’s thick cock ramming into me.

“Hmmm…Logan…”

I squeeze my nipples while I pull the dildo out of me and push it back in, this time so much deeper until I’m moaning his name. The delicious vibrations on my clit make me cum several times before I’m riding the toy.

“I love you…,” I whisper.

I imagine his huge body gliding over mine, saying sweet and dirty things to me as I increase the speed of it until I’m delirious with the orgasms.

“Logan…faster, Logan…oh god…”

When I come down from the frenzy and open my eyes, I’m met with a dark room filled with emptiness.

I’m pathetic. I don’t know if anyone will be okay for me after this.

Tears gather in my eyes. I’m in love with him, and I’m a slut for him. I don’t know what to do with these emotions. I’m so much stronger, but nothing hurts worse than knowing how badly I’ve fallen for him.

As weeks pass by, the hollowness that I feel inside me because of Logan starts getting filled up with Carter. He’s been so nice to me. He’s caring and listens to me rant from midnight until the wee hours of morning.

He even offers to stay on the phone with me, something that Amelia never does, and she mostly prefers hanging out with Dawson, and I’m usually not in the mood to become a third wheel.

I hate to admit it, but Carter’s become my friend and the person I can rely on.