“Love you, too. Go and deal with that woman before the cops do,” I tell him as I rest my head back down on the pillow.
“I guess I should. Bye, baby.” He kisses me Goodbye, and I watch him walk out of the room. Again.
Logan
Fuck, I hated leaving her. If I hadn’t of been such an asshole earlier, I could have spent most of the day with her. Instead, I cracked the shits and went to cool off.
I miss her so much. Never have we spent so much time apart since we’ve been together. It’s not just the sex I miss. I miss talking to her, I miss holding her while we sleep.
The second I pull the Buick to a stop at the front of my house, I jump out and race inside the front door. Immediately, I hear Celeste screaming. What? I don’t know because she’s wasted. “Celeste,” I yell.
“Up here,” Lucas calls back. So I take the stairs two at a time and when I reach the second story landing, I see my six-foot-one, blond-haired brother holding a shovel up in defense. “She’s fucking lost it, Logan. Dad’s divorcing her, so she’s smashing up the place.” He looks almost scared. “Don’t hate on me, bro, but I called the cops a minute ago. I didn’t know what else to do. Hopefully, they’ll put the bitch in the drunk tank for the night.”
I shake my head. “You did the right thing.” It’s the one thing I’ve been trying to avoid doing, but I can’t be upset with him. Hell, he feels threatened enough to be holding a shovel for fuck's sake.
“Fucken asshole thinks he can leave me!” I hear Celeste yell.
I grab my phone out of my pocket and throw it to Lucas who immediately drops the shovel to catch it. “What do you want me to do?”
As I walk down the hall to face Celeste, I tell him, “Call Hayley. Tell her to get Stef on a plane, and do whatever she has to do, to arrange an intervention ASAP!”
Hayley
After Logan had left me, again, I threw on my silk shorts and matching black camisole and went back to my homework. How pathetic, Friday night, and I’m at home doing homework. Alone.
Not twenty minutes after Logan went back to his place, my phone rings. I panic when I see that it’s him. “Babe, what’s the matter?”
“Wrong brother.”
“Lucas, why are you on Logan’s phone?”
“No time. He told me to ask you to get Stef on a plane and organize the intervention ASAP. I called the cops. We’re going to get them to take her in for the night. Do you think you can manage it?”
“Of course. I’ll call Stef, and your dad now.”
“Thanks, Hayley,” he sounds beaten down. He sounds like Logan. Even though the boys are twins, Logan acts more like a big brother to Lucas. Lucas doesn’t have a care in the world, and he glides through life living off his father’s money, where Logan wants to make his own.
“No problem. Come here if you need to, okay?”
“Okay.” We hang up.
Immediately, I dial Stef’s number, I can’t remember the time difference, but right now, it doesn’t matter.
“Hello.”
“Stef, I’m sorry to call you like this,” I start.
“What did she do now?” I can hear the frustration in her voice.
“Your dad just told her he’s filing for divorce and she’s tearing the house apart.”
“Well, it’s about time.”
“I know. Logan’s given me the go-ahead to arrange an intervention. They’re having her locked up for the night, so I have to do this as fast as freaking possible. Logan asked that you be here. Will you come?” God, I hope she says yes.
I hear her sigh. “I’ll come for you and the boys, but not for her. Never for her.”
My head falls with relief. “Thank you. I have to find someone to come out to do the intervention. It could take a couple of hours. Would you be able to ask your dad to come? I’d call him myself, but I need to lock in an intervention specialist as soon as possible.”
“No problem. I’ll play the guilt card. We’ll be there. And Hayley.”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for loving Logan as much as you do. I know that if it weren't for you, he would have cracked under the pressure long ago.”
I take a couple of cleansing breaths to calm myself, I can’t cry. There’s too much to do. “I do love him. More than I ever thought possible. I’ll text you and your father the details. I think we should do it at their house, in the middle of the destruction she has caused so she can see it from a sober point of view. What do you think?”
“Agreed.”
“Okay, thanks, Stef.”
“No, thank you. Bye.”
“Bye.” We hang up, and immediately, I begin texting Logan.
Me: Stef’s coming, she’ll bring your dad too.
Logan: Thanks, baby. I knew she’d say yes to you. I love you.
Me: Love you, too.
It took two hours to find
someone that could come out to the house. Apparently, interventions are highly sought after these days. Especially, at the last minute. But I was able to get a woman. I figured Celeste would be more comfortable with a woman.
The interventionist’s name is Carol, and she’s already on her way to the police station to get more information about what charges Celeste could be facing. She thinks it will help our case more.
The boys need her to go into treatment. They need to have their family back in one place. They deserve that. Before alcohol, Celeste was sweet, kind, and caring. On the few occasions I’ve caught her sober, she was nothing but nice to me. She even likes Logan and me being together when she’s straight.
So I shot off the details to all involved. I received a few thank you texts, but I hadn't heard from the one person I needed to hear from, but I figured Logan was probably dealing with the police.
By one AM, I still hadn’t heard from him, and my body was tired, so I sent him a Goodnight text, and climbed into bed.
Logan
Once the police had taken her away, I felt relief. In jail, she can’t destroy us. I’d talked to the officers after Celeste was cuffed and in the cop car. I told them what Hayley was putting together for us, and that the woman conducting the intervention would be stopping by to talk to the arresting officers.
When they’d left, I check my phone for the time, and my heart sinks when I see Hayley texted me Goodnight. “You going over there?” I hear Lucas ask.
I drop the phone onto my leg and rub my face with my hands. “I want to.”
He comes into view. “You should. She’s really gone to bat for us. She deserves you going to at least say thank you in person. She misses you, dude.”
“I know. I fucking miss her too, but Celeste keeps getting in the way. I swear she’s doing this shit deliberately, just for fucking attention.” I meet his gaze. “If she doesn’t go with that woman in the morning, I’m going to pull a Stef. I can’t deal with this shit anymore. Fuck, she’s going to ruin my career before it even starts.”
“Really? You’d leave?”
“Not without you, bro,” I assure him.
“Where the fuck would we go?”
“I’m not worried about the where part. The only thing I do know is that it wouldn’t be far from here. I couldn’t just up and leave Hayley like that.” That girl stole my heart the second I saw her sitting on the bleachers reading a book six months ago. I’d never used the term girlfriend before her, but she’s more than just a girlfriend, she’s my heart.
“Go to her, dude. I’ll stay here and get some sleep. You two need some alone time. And text coach, tell him what’s going down and that you’re skipping practice. Just be sure to hit the gym tomorrow, and he won’t care.”
I nod and stand. “Thanks,” I give him a bro hug and leave the house.
IT WAS JUST AFTER TWO AM when I pulled up to her house. I cut the lights before I entered the driveway. I knew it probably wouldn’t have made a difference. Her house is just as big, if not bigger than my family’s home.
I climb the front steps, shove the ke
y in the lock, and enter the house. She’d left the lights on. Either she knew I’d be coming back, or she was hoping I would.
Once I reach the second-floor landing, I see her bedroom door is still open. I strip off, and carefully climb into bed beside her.
Hayley
I FEEL THE BED DIP, and I smile. I hoped he’d come back. “Hey,” I whisper.
He slides his arm under my
pillow, and his other is now draped over my midsection. “Thank you,” he says as he kisses my cheek.
“Anytime. Everyone okay?” I edge closer to him.
“They will be.” His lips find mine, and he pulls me against him. “Fuck, I’ve missed you,” he murmurs.
I melt into him. “So much. I’ve missed you so goddamn much. I didn’t think I was ever going to get you back from that woman.”
His leg moves between mine, “Me either. Tomorrow is it, baby. If she doesn’t take the help, then I’m leaving. I can’t do it anymore.”
My body stiffens with fear. He’d leave? Where would he go? Would he leave Orange County? Holy shit, I can’t live without him. Since moving to this town, there are only three people I can count on. Logan, Lucas, and my best friend, Abby. If I were to lose the boys, I wouldn’t cope. They’d take my shredded heart with them.
“Hey,” he soothes. “I’d never leave you. That is one thing you can always count on.” Physically, I relax, and I feel him smile against my lips.
“Don’t say shit like that to me,” I say, frustrated. I pull away, I lay on my back, and my eyes close. I can’t handle even the thought of being without him.
Feeling him move, I open my eyes, and he’s hovering over me. Staring down at me. “I promise you here, and now that I will never leave you. You own me, all of me.”
I wish I could believe him. Ashleigh, a girl he used to fuck, is always on my ass. She’s always telling me how hot the sex they had together was, and how Logan always went back to her when shit didn’t work out with him and another girl he’d see for a few months. She also told me he’d eventually become bored of being with just me, and I thought I believed her. If he’s left so many girls in the past, then what would make him stay around for the long run? My heart would be crushed if he ever left me.
“Has that bitch been in your head again?” he knows my looks. I stare up into those moonlit eyes, and I have no words. The lump in my throat that’s formed, won’t let me speak. “Fuck!” he shakes his head and then lowers it, resting on my shoulder. “I love you.” He lifts his head again, his eyes are on mine, “Never have I ever called someone my girlfriend. Never have I said I love you. To anyone. And never have I wanted to spend my life with someone, but with you, I do. I want to be with you every minute of every day. I want to build a life with you away from all the assholes that try to keep us apart. The only way we won’t be together is if you walk away because I never will. You are my heart.” He kisses me and then pulls back again. “Please believe me.”
The tears that had welled in my eyes are now streaming down the sides of my face. Never has anyone said anything like that to me. I was a virgin when we first got together, and Logan is the only guy I have ever been with. Sure, I’d kissed a few boys, but I never slept with them. He is my all.
I smile up at him, and my need for him grows. His hand skims my side until it’s resting on my cheek. “It’s only you,” he whispers. He tilts his head to the side, his lips meeting mine, and he takes control of the kiss.
My leg lifts and wraps around his, but he pulls me until I’m on top of him, staring up at me. So much love sparkles in his eyes. He is it. He is my everything.
Lifting my camisole up and over my head, I throw it to the side. His eyes drink me in, and they linger on my breasts for a moment, but then he sits up, and his mouth meets mine again. My hands become lost in his hair, his arms enveloping me.
My core is throbbing, I want him inside me. Now. Abruptly, I use his shoulders to push myself up until I’m standing on the bed, my feet on either side of him. “What are you doing?” he asks in barely a whisper as his teeth nibble on my thigh, his hands moving upwards until he hooks his fingers in the waistband of my shorts and slowly, so freaking slowly, he pulls them down until I’d step out of them.
As I go to kneel, he stops me. His hands are firmly planted on my ass, and he uses it to bring my body closer to him. Then, his tongue licks the sweet spot causing my head to fall back. I run my hands through his hair, but then I grip it. I need to keep steady as he keeps licking and sucking until I feel I’m about to burst. “No, no, no. Stop,” I cry. I don’t want to cum without him.
“We have hours, baby,” he whispers. I want to interject, but the vibration from words sends the waves crashing over me. My knees buckle, “I’ve got you,” he assures me as he gently lowers me down until I’m straddling his lap. My forehead is now resting on his shoulder.
Then I remember, and my head snaps up, so I’m looking at him. “What did you mean when you said we had hours? Don’t you have to go to training?” I ask, breathless.
Slowly, he shakes his head, “I spoke to coach. He was cool with me skipping. I told him I’d probably end up back here anyway, and he knows you have a sweet setup downstairs.” He leans in and kisses me. “Workout with me tomorrow?” he asks.
“Of course.”
My goal has always been to obtain a scholarship for swimming, and when Logan was scouted for Stanford, I almost gave up and enrolled, but he pushed me to be my best, and I did it. I landed a scholarship to Stanford also, so we’ll never have to be apart.
Lucas, on the other hand, isn’t into playing sports or doing any form of work, so he had his father, Thomas, make a generous donation to the school, and all of a sudden, an acceptance email was sent through.
Suddenly, Logan’s hands grip my ass again, and it’s all I need to be ready to go. The moment he slips inside me, all my tension is gone and forgotten. I rock my hips with his, my lips on his.
Logan flips us until he’s back, and I’m on top. His hand is resting on my cheek, “I love you.”
I take a breath and smile. “I love you, too.” Then his lips are back on mine. My legs wrap around his waist, tensing when I’m close. I grab onto him, and he knows I’m about to push over the edge, because he moves faster, but still gentle.
Logan moves in and out again and again until I hit that peak and cry his name.
His body collapses onto mine as his body finishes convulsing.
“God, I love you,” he whispers, out of breath.
“Me too, baby.” I tilt my head backward and catch a glimpse of the clock that rests on my bedside table. “We need to sleep. We can’t be only half awake when we have to face Celeste,” I yawn.
He lets go of a sigh. “I know how much you loathe her, so I don’t expect you to be at the house. It’s up to you. I know what that woman can be like. I don’t want her to make you feel like you don’t belong there, because you do. You are my family, and she needs to get used to that.”
He’s still laying on me, his arms now around me. “I said I’d be there, so I will. I’m not going to let her bully me. I’m done with it. I'll go so I can support the family, that’s it.”
“I won’t let her attack you, not even verbally. If she doesn’t get help, I’m out of that house.” He presses a kiss to my naked shoulder.
“You could stay here,” I offer. I hate being in this huge house without him.
He continues to kiss the skin. “That’s only a short-term solution.”
He’s right. It is only a short-term solution. My father is due back from New York next week. He’s only coming back for a few days, but when he’s home, he wants to see me, and he doesn’t want to see my boyfriend, or my boyfriend's brother. The two men in my life that make it worth living. I keep trying to think of solutions, ones that mean he won’t be far from me, but nothing comes to me. I’m simply too exhausted.
Logan lifts so he’s hovering over me, again. “Let’s just see which way Celeste will go, and ta
ke it from there. If I do have to leave because I can’t get somewhere closer, then you’ll be coming with me. If that’s what you’d want to do.”
I nod my head. “It is something I want.” We both know I’ll go to the end of the earth to stay with him.
He smiles and only moments later, I fall asleep.
Chapter Two
Logan
Stef called Hayley’s phone just after seven in the morning. She and my father were already at the house and wanted to let us know that our mother should be back in the next hour. We jumped out of bed, showered, changed, and hopped into the car.
On the way over, Hayley calls the woman that’s doing the intervention. “Yes, so you will be there on time?” I hear her ask. “I’m worried that she’ll snap. Her whole family hangs in the balance. If she doesn’t seek treatment, she may just lose them all.” Her sweet eyes catch mine, and she reaches over, taking my free hand in hers and squeezes it. What I wouldn’t do for this girl. Despite the shit my mother gives her, she’s still trying to help her. Celeste had better pucker up and kiss Hayley’s ass because if she doesn’t, she will lose me. “Great. I sent you the details last night. We’re only five minutes away from the house.”
Suddenly, I begin to feel nervous, and I don’t get nervous. My emotions are overwhelming me, and they’re starting to make me feel sick. “Babe?”
I’m pulled from my thoughts, “Yeah?” I glance over at her, she looks concerned.
“Are you okay?” she must have finished her call because my hand is now cupped between hers.
I let out a sigh. “I want her to choose us. I want her to give the shit up and choose her family.” I must admit, I do feel a little better after saying the words out loud.
“God, I hope she does,” she whispers.
THE HOUSE LOOKS TO be in worse shape now that I see in the light of day. “Holy fuck,” Hayley gasps.
“Yep.” I snake my arm around her waist and take a good look around. The drapes are ripped to shreds. My father’s favorite seat has been hacked with a butcher knife, and the knife is still sticking out of the cushion. Celeste also ripped up the carpets and managed to smash the lamps. And all that damage is only in the living room. “Come on, let’s find the others.” I remove my arm and take her hand, lacing our fingers.
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