by S. H. Kolee
I smiled a genuine smile. Logan was right. Mack was definitely charming. “I’m never one to turn down a hug, especially from one of Logan’s friends.”
“Hey, now. Hands off. There’s a strict look but don’t touch policy here.” Despite Logan’s words, he was smiling and I was surprised by his laidback demeanor. These past few months, I had noticed that Logan had a tendency to become jealous over innocent things, but evidently he regarded Mack highly enough that he trusted him and his intentions.
Logan pulled out a chair for me and we all sat down. Mack was already working on a bourbon, so Logan and I both ordered drinks from the waiter hovering at our elbow.
“It’s good to see you,” Mack said when the waiter left, but then shook his head. “But it’s damn cold here. I forget how good we have it in L.A.”
Logan grimaced. “Tell me about it. I have to get used to putting on ten layers of clothing plus a coat to go outside. That’s one thing I definitely miss about the West Coast.”
For some reason, hearing Logan complain about the weather in Chicago bothered me. It made me feel like he preferred living in L.A. and that annoyed me, especially since there was a particular woman in L.A. whom I never wanted him to have contact with again.
“I think it’s nice having actual seasons,” I countered. “There’s something wrong with wearing shorts and t-shirts during Christmastime.” I realized that I was getting uptight over a trivial conversation about the weather, of all things, and forced myself to smile. “I’m surprised Santa Claus even visits you guys. Do you have chimneys for him to slide down?”
Mack laughed. “Sure we do. We need something to keep us warm when it gets down to the sixties.”
I shook my head in dismay. “You’ll never survive a real winter in the Midwest. Sixties is shorts weather here.”
Logan raised an eyebrow. “Funny you say that since you always complain about the winters here.”
I playfully smacked him on the arm. “Traitor. You’re Midwest born and bred. You should represent better than that.”
It was almost easy to forget that I had an ulterior motive for coming to dinner. I wished that tonight was nothing more than friends getting together to enjoy a meal. Mack was funny and friendly and Logan was in a good mood. This should have been a fun night, but instead, it was going to be tainted by Kristina and my suspicions about what had happened in L.A.
Almost as if he had read my mind, Mack turned to Logan with a serious look on his face. “How are you feeling? Honestly, I thought it was a bad idea for you to fly so soon after your accident, but I guess you were right. You seem to be fine.”
My pulse jumped at the mention of the accident. Logan shrugged his shoulders, not looking concerned.
“I am fine. It was no big deal.”
Mack gave him a skeptical look. “You being unconscious isn’t ‘no big deal.’ You’re lucky that you woke up without any serious issues.”
Logan gave him a look that I interpreted to mean shut up, and then he glanced at me. He definitely wanted the conversation about the accident to end, but I didn’t know if it was because he didn’t want me to become worried or if he didn’t want Kristina to come up. I decided I wasn’t going to let him drop the subject.
“What exactly happened?” I asked, looking at Mack. “Logan said a car going the opposite direction hit him when the driver fell asleep, but that’s about all he’s told me.”
Mack’s glance at Logan before answering my question wasn’t lost on me. “That’s about all I know, too. I was just worried about him since he was drifting in and out of consciousness. But the doctors there gave him the clearance to fly so I guess it wasn’t very serious.” Mack smiled at me and winked. “I’m just a worrywart by nature, I guess. Don’t let my manliness fool you. I’m a softie at heart. I cry at Hallmark commercials, too.”
I didn’t smile at his joke. It was obvious that Mack was censoring what he was saying, because he had gone from concerned to joking in a matter of seconds, all from a glance at Logan.
“Let’s not talk about the accident,” Logan interjected. “It sucks that it happened but I’m fine. I’m sure there are a lot more interesting things to talk about.” Logan looked at Mack and grinned. “Like your love life. Is it as dismal as ever?”
Before Mack could answer, we were interrupted by the waiter. After he spent ten minutes listing all the specials before letting us order, Mack smirked at Logan.
“Since when is my love life dismal? I personally think my love life is terrific.”
Logan shook his head and turned to me. “Every time I see this guy, he’s with another woman.”
“And the problem with that is…?” Mack asked with a grin. He winked at me before continuing. “Just because you found the love of your life doesn’t mean we’re all so lucky. Or maybe I just have a lot of soulmates. Who says you just have to have one?”
“I guess that means you have a soulmate for every day of the week,” Logan replied drily. “I don’t know how you have time for anything else, when you’re juggling so many women.”
Mack leaned towards me conspiratorially. “Don’t listen to him. I’m a true romantic at heart. I’m just looking for the perfect woman. I have to kiss a lot of frogs before I meet my princess, right?”
I arched a brow. “I don’t think the perfect woman exists. And if she does, I doubt her ideal match is a Lothario. Or a lawyer, while we’re at it.”
Instead of being offended, Mack laughed. “Which is more offensive: being a lawyer or a so-called Lothario?”
I pretended to give it serious thought as I furrowed my brow. “It’s hard to say since both are similar in so many ways. They both take advantage of people, they’re too smooth to trust, and they always tell you what you want to hear, even if it’s a lie.”
Mack smiled even wider and nodded his head towards Logan. “Need I remind you that your soulmate is a lawyer as well?”
I laughed, putting my hand on Logan’s arm. “Logan is an exception. He’s a noble lawyer.”
Mack raised his eyebrows. “Isn’t that an oxymoron?”
My laugh fizzled out when I saw the way Logan was looking at us. He didn’t look displeased, exactly, but he didn’t look too pleased either. I wondered if I was being too chummy with Mack.
My thoughts were interrupted by the waiter bringing our food to the table. Before my fork was even raised, a cell phone started ringing. Logan sighed and pulled out his phone, frowning at the screen.
“I’m sorry, guys. I have to take this call for work. It’s from an international time zone, so it’s my only chance to talk to them.”
I gave Logan a quick smile. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I’ll take this out into the lobby so it doesn’t interrupt your dinner.” Logan dropped me a quick kiss before standing up. “Go ahead and start without me.”
My pulse quickened as I watched him walk across the restaurant. This was my chance. I was alone with Mack and I could finally ask him about Kristina. The problem was that my throat felt like it was closing up from nervousness.
I was aware of Mack watching me so I gave him a forced smile, wracking my brain as to how to bring up the subject.
“Logan told me you guys became friends during law school.” It was a lame start, but it was all I could come up with at the moment.
Mack nodded his head. “Yeah. We lost touch afterwards, but when he moved to L.A. we started hanging out again.”
That was my in. Mack had brought up L.A. so I went with it.
“Did you guys spend a lot of time together when Logan lived in L.A.? I know how crazy Logan’s work schedule can be, and I can only imagine yours is the same.”
Mack leaned back in his chair with a grin. “I believe in a balance between work and play. Logan, on the other hand, tends to lean more towards all work and no play.” He raised an eyebrow. “Although I guess things are different now with you in the picture. He seems to value his personal life more than work now.”
“So, he wa
sn’t like that in L.A.?” I took a deep breath before continuing. I had to hurry up and move this conversation along before Logan came back. “I know he was dating Kristina while he lived there. They seemed like they had a pretty good connection.”
Mack’s expression became guarded. “I don’t really know much about their relationship.”
I frowned. “But I got the impression that you and Logan hung out a lot in L.A. That means you must have spent time with Kristina as well.”
He shrugged his shoulders noncommittally. “I mean, I spent time with her because of Logan, but we didn’t have any deep, meaningful conversations or anything. She was just Logan’s girlfriend.”
Coupled with his apparent penchant for being a playboy, I started to wonder if Mack was some sort of misogynist by the way he referred to Kristina as just Logan’s girlfriend. I pushed the thought aside, since it didn’t really matter to me.
“But you were close enough to tell her about Logan’s accident.”
Mack’s face was expressionless but I saw the way his eyes were assessing me. “Logan told you that?”
“It really doesn’t matter how I found out. I know that you told her about his accident and that she visited him in the hospital.”
He shifted uncomfortably and looked down at his plate, although he hadn’t touched his ribeye. “You should talk to Logan about that, not me.”
I pressed further. Now that I had started, I couldn’t stop until I got some answers. “You’re the one who told her about the accident, so you chose to be involved. I just need you to tell me if there’s anything going on between the two of them.”
Mack’s gaze shot up to meet mine. He frowned. “Are you asking me if Logan is cheating on you with Kristina? Of course not.”
Despite his tone sounding incredulous, I wasn’t sure if I believed him. His track record with women, which had previously been a joke in the conversation, now made me wonder if he was too good of a liar for me to see through. He sounded sincere, but now I knew that he went through women like a bag of chips.
“Mack, I’m going to find out the truth sooner or later. I know you’re Logan’s friend, but I’m asking you to be honest with me.”
“Don’t you know that you mean everything to Logan?” He shook his head with a sigh. “Even when he was with Kristina, he talked about you. Hell, I knew all about you when we were in law school. I’ve never known a guy to be so focused on one woman. He would do anything for you and you’re questioning his faithfulness?”
I wanted to believe his words, to believe that there was nothing going on between Logan and Kristina, but I couldn’t get past the fact that she had visited him in the hospital.
“Then why was she at the hospital? Why did you even tell her about the accident?”
Mack grimaced. “The way Logan feels about you is the way Kristina felt about Logan. She heard he was in town and was pestering me about setting up a meeting between them. I told her there was no way I would do that, but I was pretty upset when I heard about Logan’s accident and she happened to call, so it just came out.”
“But then Logan let her visit him in the hospital,” I said accusingly, as if Mack were responsible for that, too. “Why would he do that?”
Mack paused before answering. “I know Logan tried to minimize his accident, but his condition was pretty serious. His doctors were trying to prepare us for Logan not waking up for a while. I was actually getting ready to contact you to let you know about the accident when he woke up. Even though he was in and out of consciousness, he was adamant that we not call you because he said you would make yourself crazy with worry. In the midst of all that, Kristina kept pestering to visit, and I guess it was just easier for Logan to say yes instead of fight it.”
I felt a surge of anger hearing that Logan hadn’t wanted me to know what had happened. He would do anything for me, yet he didn’t want me to know about his accident, knowing how upset I would be to be left in the dark. Mack’s explanation pissed me off rather than reassuring me. A part of me wanted to confront Logan as soon as he came back to the table, but I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down. Despite what Mack was telling me about Logan’s faithfulness, I needed time to think it over before I talked to Logan about it.
“This is probably a lot to ask from you, considering you’re Logan’s friend, not mine, but I would appreciate it if you don’t tell him about this conversation. I need to talk to him about it in my own time, when I’m ready.”
Mack gave me a disappointed look. “You’re still doubting him? Look, Madison, if there’s one thing you can count on, it’s Logan only having eyes for you.”
I shook my head, not wanting to discuss it anymore. I was afraid Logan would pop up any second and overhear us. “Just promise me you won’t tell him that I asked you about him and Kristina.”
He sighed but acquiesced. “I won’t mention this conversation to him. It would serve no purpose except to upset him.”
I was relieved that he agreed to keep this between us, but I didn’t miss the way he was looking at me now. Before, his face had been open and inviting, but it was closed off now. I couldn’t help feeling like I had disappointed him somehow, but I shrugged it off. It didn’t matter since I barely knew him, and I doubted I would see him again after tonight.
I saw Logan walking towards us and I tried to muster up a smile. I saw Mack look at him, but his face was still dark. I wanted to kick him under the table so that he would stop looking so suspicious.
“Sorry it took so long,” Logan apologized as he sat back down. He glanced at our plates. “You guys didn’t need to wait for me.”
Neither Mack nor I had touched our food, but it wasn’t because we were being polite and waiting for his return. I had forgotten about the food in front of me during our brief, but intense, conversation.
“We just got caught up in conversation,” I said with a smile as I took a bite of my swordfish. My appetite was gone and I might as well have been eating cardboard.
“What were you guys talking about?” Logan dug into his steak enthusiastically.
I glanced at Mack and he looked back at me with an impassive expression. He was silent, apparently waiting for me to come up with a lie, which I figured was only fair since I was the one asking to keep our conversation private.
“Just about law school and your wild partying days,” I lied.
Logan raised his eyebrows. “I think Mack did enough partying for both of us. I spent most of my time studying.”
Mack laughed, apparently deciding to push aside whatever issues he had in regards to my questioning him about Logan and Kristina. The rest of dinner went well, but I noticed that Mack wasn’t so quick to joke around with me anymore. I told myself I didn’t care, but I had instantly liked him, and it was a little disappointing that he obviously didn’t care for me anymore. But in the scheme of things, it really didn’t matter. All that mattered was Logan and finding out the truth about his relationship with Kristina.
I was full and tired after dinner was over, and was relieved when the check was settled and it was time to leave. We said our goodbyes as we waited for our cars at the valet. I was thankful when Logan’s car came up first because I was more than ready to escape Mack’s scrutiny.
“It was good seeing you,” Logan said after he took the keys from the valet. “Let’s try to get lunch sometime this week before you leave.”
“Definitely.” Mack slapped his back, in what was, I guess, a man hug. He turned to me, and he was still smiling, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “It was nice meeting you, Madison.”
I forced a quick smile. “You, too. Have a good rest of the night.”
I didn’t look back as Logan helped me into the car, but I could feel Mack’s gaze on me and I knew it was full of censure.
“That was a nice dinner,” I said, as we drove home, wanting to make sure Logan didn’t suspect anything.
“I’m glad you liked Mack. He’s a good guy. Of course, I knew he would like you.�
��
I stared at the road ahead. It was getting late and there weren’t too many cars on the road, but the lights of the city kept it from being too dark.
“Yeah,” I finally answered. “He seems like a good guy.”
My chest felt tight. I was keeping too many things from Logan. I wasn’t going about this the right way. What did I think I would accomplish by interrogating Mack? I was just too scared to confront Logan. I was scared that he would tell me something I wouldn’t be able to bear hearing, whether it was a truth too painful, or a lie too transparent. But all I was doing was putting more walls between us. I needed to be brave enough to be honest with him, and deal with the aftermath.
I turned to him, taking a deep breath before I took the plunge and asked him about Kristina. The next thing I knew, there was a blinding light careening towards us, and then a screeching explosion of metal.
Chapter Six
The beeping of Logan’s monitor terrified me. I was constantly afraid that the next beep indicating his heartbeat wouldn’t come. I tightened my grip on his hand and dropped my head, resting my forehead against his bed. I couldn’t believe what had happened. How could life change so completely in a matter of seconds? As furious as I was at the drunk driver who had crashed into us, it was also hard to come to terms with his death, even though he had been wholly responsible for it. The fact that we had been involved in an accident where someone had died was unsettling.
But Logan would be okay, I told myself. He had bruises and scratches from the impact, but the worst thing was the blow to his head that had rendered him unconscious. It was like some cosmic joke that I had regretted not being able to be by his bedside in L.A., and now I had gotten what I had wished for, in a sick and twisted way.
I had been lucky to get only a few minor cuts and abrasions, and had been released pretty quickly after being treated. It had been hard not to break down when I was told Logan was unconscious, but I knew that would do nothing to help the situation. That didn’t stop the tears from silently slipping down my face onto the bed sheet as worry made my heart heavy. Logan had to be okay. There was no other alternative.
