Broken

by Teigen Harper

  He nods, “I do. What was he going to do with her after the airport? Put her in a hotel while he stayed here? I don’t think so. He pushed you out so that he could bring her in. He knew Toni was on the other side of the world. He used me as an excuse to get you out.” His arms wrap around me, and my head rests against his chest, his hand cupping the back of my neck.

  “Thank god, I have you,” I tell him as I look up at him. His beautiful blue eyes are on mine then his mouth closes over mine, he is my home. Even through all the shit, he’s here, and he wants to be here. Most guys would have packed their shit and walk away, but not my Logan. “I think I’m ready for that ring, if you still want me to have it,” I tell him.

  His smile overwhelms me, tears well in the corners of my eyes. I need to trust him more. Two weeks after being home from the hospital, Logan sat me down and told me every single secret he’s held. Some I wished he kept to himself, but he did it.

  “Really?” his smile stays in place.

  “Really.”

  A moment later, he pulls it out of his pocket and slips it on my finger. “Please don’t take it off again. If something happens or someone tries to cause shit,” he rests his hand on my face, “Come to me. Please?”

  Raising on my toes, I kiss him. “I promise, I will come to you first,” I whisper against his lips.

  Logan’s arms envelop me again, and he spins us around, I can’t help but chuckle. He does make everything better.

  AFTER ANOTHER TWO HOURS, my mother was worn, she couldn’t look at one more image. “Okay,” she says as she stands and pushes the images away from her, but then she turns to me. “If it’s okay with you, I’m going to call one of my girlfriends, hit the bar, and get drunk.”

  “You deserve it. Do you want me to make an appointment with your lawyer?” I ask, as I bring the glass to my lips and take a drink. I’m not drunk, but I do have a nice buzz going on.

  She shakes her head. “I’ll call him tomorrow. I’m going to have a long shower and get drunk.”

  Lucas jumps up and drapes his arm across my mother’s shoulders. “Want some male company Toni?” he does that wiggly eyebrow thing he does when he’s trying to stir my mother up.

  It worked because she laughs. “I think I’ll be okay with the girls. I know,” she turns to him, and his arm drops. “Why don’t you call Abby and tell her you love her?”

  My eyes widen, and Logan chuckles as he stands beside me. I always give Lucas hell about Abbs. They do share a bond, but Lucas loves to sleep with as many whores as he can. Apparently, that’s what high school’s all about.

  Lucas seems taken back. “Abby is a cool chick, but love? I don’t think so,” he says in a not very convincing tone.

  My mother waves him off. “One day you will wake up, and it will hit you like a slap in the face.” She may as well have dropped the mic because she just turns and walks away. “You love her, Lucas. You’re wasting time, what if she finds someone else while you’re whoring around?” my mother calls over her shoulder.

  Lucas stands still, his expression perplexed. Does he not know that he loves her? Maybe my mother’s right. Maybe it will slap him in the face one day. I know Abby loves him, of course, she hasn’t come out and said it, but why would she continuously turn down dates with nice, unbelievably hot guys if she wasn’t waiting for him? Why does she avoid every party she is invited to if she knows he’s taking someone else?

  Logan’s grip on my hand tightens, he too wants Lucas to settle with Abby. He thinks it will tame him, something I’m not sure will happen. Lucas is Lucas, unpredictable. You never know what trouble he’s going to get himself into day after day.

  Logan wants his brother to settle because of me, and I know it. He wants to be sure someone will be my protector while we’re at college and Logan is playing baseball in New York.

  Lucas turns on his heels to face us. “I think your mom’s drunk,” he’s deflecting.

  “Could be,” I shrug. I see the boy’s eyes lock, I know there’s going to be a conversation between the brothers later when I’m not around.

  “I was going to call Abby until your mother blurted shit about loving her, so, what should we do instead?” He’s trying hard to hide his feelings.

  “You really should call her and stop sticking your dick in randoms.” Logan turns to face me, “Zac’s throwing some bash tonight at his. You want to go?” he asks.

  My eyes find his. “I need to get the hell out of here. I love this house, but I’m tired of looking at the same four walls.” I stand. “I’m in.” I then turn my attention to Lucas. “Are you calling Abb’s or am I?”

  He waves me off, “You can. If I do it, you’ll read something into it,” he moves to the staircase, taking two steps at a time.

  “Why won’t he admit it?” I ask Logan, my gaze still following Lucas.

  His arms come around my waist, his chin resting on my shoulder. “He’s afraid,” he says as he brushes his lips across my neck, making me weak under his touch.

  “Afraid of what?” My eyes close, and my breath quickens as his lips move over my skin.

  “He’s petrified of the L-word when it comes to chicks. Until you, so was I.” He turns me in his arms. “I know he loves Abby, but I don’t think he realizes that what he does feel for her is love. He’ll keep his distance, I know he will, but Toni’s right. He’ll wake up one day, and he’ll just know.” He presses his lips to mine. “The second I saw you, I knew I loved you,” Logan shifts and rests his forehead against mine, our gazes locked. “But he hasn’t figured it all out. If she finds someone else while waiting, he will beat himself up inside. When we get home later, I’ll talk with him.”

  “Okay. I’m going to go and shower and find something to wear.” My lips are on his again.

  When we finally manage to pull away from each other, he says, almost breathless, “I might go talk to him now because if I follow you up there, we’re not coming out for the rest of the night.” His mouth closes over mine, yet again. We’re shocking, but I hope I never get used to the feeling I have when he kisses me.

  “Okay, you pair,” I reluctantly pull my mouth away from Logan’s, and turn my attention to my mother who’s changed into a little black dress, black stilettoes, and her hair is swept up at the back of her head. She looks stunning.

  “You look hot, mom,” I let go of Logan and help mom with the top part of her zipper.

  “Thank you. Okay, I have a car on its way, and I’ll send it back so you can take it to your party. Get the driver's number and call him to bring you home.”

  I lean in and kiss her on the cheek. “Thank you. I’m going to get showered and changed. Have a nice time and don’t bring any strange men home. Dad could be having you followed too.”

  She shakes her head. “He’s the cheater, not me. Until things are settled, I won’t look at another man. Right now, anything that has a penis is off-limits,” she states as she places her phone in her clutch.

  My face cringes. “Penis, really?”

  She rolls her eyes. “What, doesn’t Logan have one?” she laughs, and my eyes widen. Kill me. Please kill me?

  “Not something I want to discuss with my mother.” My body shivers with disgust. “I’m going to go and wash off the filth you just threw at me.” As I move towards the staircase, I hear Logan and my mom laugh.

  I STAYED IN THE SHOWER for at least a half-hour. It was so nice under the water, I never wanted to emerge, but I did in the end.

  As soon as I was dressed and my makeup was applied, I grabbed my black pumps and walked down the stairs with bare feet. I could hear the boys talking in the kitchen, so that’s where I headed.

  The moment I round the corner, I see Logan has changed into his jeans and a black, fitted V-neck shirt that accentuates every muscle and not to mention his trim waist, but when he sees me coming, his smile is gone, and I stand in place.

  “What the hell is that look for?” Do I stink? What the hell’s going on?

  Lucas turns to face m
e, and when he does, he laughs. “That’s a look that tells me I should leave the room.” And that’s what he does. He turns on his heels and leaves the room.

  “What the fuck was that?” I ask as I move forward and place my pumps on the island counter.

  Logan comes closer, and his eyes skim my body. Now I understand the look he’s giving me.

  I’m wearing a sleeveless, black, chiffon blouse and a very short gold sequin skirt that looks amazing against my tanned legs.

  Logan's hands rest on my hips. He pulls me closer to him, his lips meeting mine while I tilt my head giving him more access to me. His hand moves from my hip to my ass, pulling me even closer to him as I cup his neck, my body melting against his.

  “Hey you two horny kids, the car is here,” Lucas calls as Logan’s tongue explores my mouth.

  He pulls away just enough to rub his nose against mine, but he doesn’t say a word because he starts kissing me again until I’m breathless.

  Lucas is going to have to tear us apart.

  “Come on. You can fuck the brains out of each other when we get back. Let’s go!” Lucas yells from the foyer.

  “You are so fucking beautiful,” Logan whispers against my cheek.

  “I love you,” I whisper in return. “Come on, baby, let’s go.” I take his hand in one of mine, but I make sure I grab my pumps in the other. It feels as if I’m dragging him along. “Why won’t you speed up?” I laugh but continue walking towards the front entrance.

  “If I speed up, I can’t stare at your ass.”

  “Then you'd better stay back there,” I chuckle.

  Once we’re in the car, Logan pulls me into his lap. Lucas already assumed this would happen, so he sat up front.

  Logan and I made out like our plane was going down, and I hadn’t noticed the car had stopped until Lucas opened the back door and told us to get out. I slipped my feet into my shoes and hopped out.

  The party was well underway at Zac’s. He had fairy lights woven through the trees, and I could see that the sorority sluts were already drunk and hanging off the boys.

  Logan has my hand in his, he’s still in overprotective mode. As we make our way through the crowd, a few of the boys tried to stop us to say hi, but all Logan did was give them a polite nod as we continue to beeline through to the front entrance.

  “Hayley,” I hear Abby call when we find the kitchen.

  My gaze works the crowd until I spot her by the far wall. “I’m going to see Abb’s,” I tell Logan.

  He uses his hand to pull me until I’m flush against him. “Don’t go far, I don’t trust anyone with you,” he whispers into my ear, but then he catches my lobe between his teeth, my eyes close for a brief moment.

  “You are going to get fucked so hard later,” I whisper in return.

  “Fuck this, let’s go,” he’s serious.

  “I’m sure you'll live for a couple of more hours,” I chuckle and turn, but he uses the hem of my skirt to hold me in place. His chin rests on my shoulder, my head moves to the side. “You’d better stop pulling on my skirt. I’m not wearing anything else underneath.” He lets go of a groan, and his fingers skim the back of my thigh.

  “My God,” Abby comes over and grabs my hand. “She’ll fuck you later, Logan. For now, she’s all mine.”

  “I’d pay to watch that,” Lucas calls, and I shake my head.

  Abby pulls on my arm until we reach the bench in the kitchen where the hard liquor is, and she pours me a drink. “So, how are you and Logan now? I see you have the ring on,” she points out as she hands me a glass of bourbon and Coke. Bringing it to my lips, I take a long sip.

  “We’re good. More than good. Now that the shit's out of the way, we can spend time focused on us,” I explain as I take another sip.

  “Good. Come on,” she takes my free hand in hers and leads me out to the backyard where a group of frat boys is gathered. “Oi,” Abby calls, and they turn to face us. “Be gentlemen and fuck off.” I laugh at how fast they scatter. Those boys know who I am and they know who Abby’s sleeping with.

  We take a seat together away from the madness. There’s girly, shitty music playing, and it’s making me cringe. “They could have better tunes,” I tell Abby.

  “It’s not that bad Miss, I don’t know any other artists other than Eminem and Yelawolf.” She rolls her eyes.

  “I don’t need to know any other music. Anyway, I have to tell you what my mother said to Lucas this afternoon,” I start as I go to take a sip of my drink.

  Abby rests against the back of the chair. “God, what did Toni say?”

  “Well, she told him to stop screwing around and admit that he loves you.”

  Her reaction is gold. Abby spat her drink, and I thought I was going to pee myself from laughter. “Stop laughing,” she says as she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. “Is that why he hasn’t called me? Normally he’s the one that calls and tells me that there’s a party, but he didn’t. You did. OMG, he’s going to ignore me from now on, isn’t he?” She’s worried, and my smile is wide. “What is that fucking smile all about?” her brows bunch together.

  “You do love him!” I exclaim.

  She buries her head. “Yes, I do, but he doesn’t want that. Lucas isn’t finished sleeping around. I want him, but I won’t wait forever.”

  Taking a breath, I drape my arm across her shoulder. We sit and talk about the Lucas situation, but we’re interrupted soon enough.

  Ashleigh’s slutty followers have approached us. “What the fuck do you want?” Abby seethes as she stands in front of me, blocking me from their view.

  But I can take care of myself, so I do just that. I stand and gently move her aside. “So, come to finish me off?” I ask. My hands crossed at my chest.

  Cassandra comes a foot closer and visually takes a breath, the bitch is nervous. “I wanted to apologize. We wanted to apologize.” She throws her thumb over her shoulder to where the other followers stand. “Never would we have thought that Ashleigh was capable of doing what she did to you. We want to make peace. That’s it, pure and simple.”

  My gaze shifts as Logan comes up beside me, snaking his arm around my waist. “Simple, is it?” he says.

  Leah, one of the other followers with platinum blond hair and a barely-there dress, steps forward. “We didn’t know how twisted in the head she was.”

  “But you didn’t tell her to stop. You did her bidding. You treated Hayley like shit because some slut told you to. The whole lot of you are jealous, ass-sucking followers. Whether Hayley forgives you or not, is up to her. And if she does, because that’s the type of person she is, she forgives, she loves and protects with her all, it won’t be that way with me. Never will I forgive and forget. Each one of you bitches was out to get the woman I love. What did she do to you?” his voice raises. “What did she ever do to anyone of you?!” he’s yelling now, and I’m not going to stop him. He needs to let it out.

  The girls all take a step back. “She didn’t do shit. She was targeted because she is with you, Logan. That’s it. We’ll get out of the way. All we wanted to do was apologize,” Leah speaks with a soft, yet scared tone.

  “Why not apologize straight after it happened?” his arm leaves my waist as he moves closer to them. “Why didn’t you do it straight after the surgeons had to bring her back to life, twice? Twice she died, and she never did anything to deserve it. She was a target because I love her. Because you bitches think you have some sick dibs on me. Get the fuck out of here and never speak to her again.” His hands are now by his sides, balled into fists.

  My feet shift forward, I rest my hands on his waist, and I see him relax. “Get out of here. Now,” it’s barely louder than a whisper, but they heard him, and they left.

  Logan turns and takes me in his arms. “Are you okay?” his eyes on mine.

  “I’m fine. I have you. They can’t hurt me anymore.” His hand cups the back of my neck as his lips come down onto mine.

  “I love you,” he tells me wit
h his lips brushing against mine.

  My smile is wide. “Love you, too. Come on, I need a drink after that.”

  He kisses me once more, then pulls away. “Sit with Abb’s, I’ll go and get you one.” So I do.

  The rest of the night was calm, but by midnight, I was wasted. “Come on you,” Logan laughs as he pulls me up against him. My hands move under his shirt, and I run them over his abs.

  “Take her home and fuck her, Logan,” Abby laughs.

  “I plan too,” he chuckles. “You good to get home?” he asks her as I move my hands around to his back.

  “I’ll make sure she gets home safe,” Lucas says as he comes out of nowhere.

  My drunken gaze shifts to Abby, and she seems taken back. “What, you didn’t find a whore to fuck, so I’ll do?” My eyes widen. I know she’d had a few drinks, but that was blatant for her. She always plays along, but not tonight.

  Logan holds me a little tighter as we watch the scene unfold. We won't leave until we know she will have a safe ride home. Yes, Lucas offered, but I'm not sure she'll let him take care of her.

  Lucas shakes his head. “I didn’t try to pick anyone up. Come on, let me get you home safely. I’ve already called a cab. If you want, I’ll drop you off at your door and head straight back to Toni’s.”

  “Shit,” I say under my breath, and Logan knows what I mean. I don’t know what Logan said to Lucas while I was in the shower, but shit just got real. I can feel it.

  Her eyes meet mine, and she knows what’s going to happen. They’re going to have 'the talk.' “I’ll go with Lucas. You go home and fuck him senseless. I’ll call you tomorrow,” she says as she stands and hugs me goodbye.

  Once Logan has said his goodbyes to the boys, we headed home.

  The house is silent, and mom isn’t home. The second we’re in the door, I climb up him, his hands on my ass, keeping me against him.