But her dad was starting to get really scary. A flare of protectiveness shot through Logan, and he sat back down next to her on the bed.
“Well, I need to talk to you again on the subject. Please leave, Logan.”
Logan took a deep breath. Please don’t let it be my last, he prayed.
“If Cassie wants me to stay, I’ll stay.” He looked right into his eyes. The volcano looked close to erupting and a rock settled in Logan’s stomach. This was definitely not how he’d pictured the evening going. But he remembered what this man had done. What men like him did all the time. They hurt women like his mom and let girls like Cassie think that it was okay for guys to treat them like crap. Logan had seen how Spencer talked to her, and he’d probably learned it from his dad. Cassie just accepted that kind of behavior from hers.
“I won’t say it again,” her dad said, every word weighty with danger.
Their eyes met, both filled to the brim with barely controlled rage, but Logan burst first.
“Don’t tell me what to do!” Logan cried. “You can’t bully people just because you’re rich! Money doesn’t make you above the law.” Cassie gasped next to him and dropped his hand.
Okay, maybe that had been too far.
“I can certainly ask someone to get out of my own house. Which I have multiple times now.”
Logan stood his ground and set his jaw. He didn’t know what her father’s lowered eyes meant, but Cassie obviously did. She stood up and tugged on Logan’s arm.
“Come on, I’ll just take you home,” she begged. His arm flexed beneath her hand. She tugged harder.
Logan took a deep breath and tried to still his beating heart. Yelling was one thing. But if he took a swing at her dad, not only would Columbia be out of the picture, so would any possible future he had, and everyone in the room knew it. Logan hated how much power her dad still had in this situation. It didn’t matter if they were in his house, it would have been the same no matter where this had gone down.
But Cassie’s dad looked at him with so much anger, it was impossible for Logan to not want to respond somehow. He had put up with so much crap at the restaurant and while cleaning houses over the years. People talking to him like he was nothing, like he didn’t matter. He thought of the person who’d nearly ran him off the road, in their fancy red sports car, probably hadn’t even noticed they’d nearly killed someone, so involved in their own perfect life. He thought of his dad, abandoning him just for wanting to spend time with him.
Cassie tugged a final time at his arm, and Logan shook his head, relaxing the fist his hand had made unconsciously. Her dad wasn’t worth losing everything over. None of them were. Throwing away his future wasn’t going to change how they acted.
Thank goodness Cassie was different. She was there for him, worried about him. She cared about him. And if she asked him to stay, he’d stay. But right now, she was begging him to go.
“Come on!” she said, her hand on his back now.
With a final last glare at her dad, Logan let her push him out of the room.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Cassie dragged Logan out of the house as fast as she could, hoping that by the time she got back, her dad would have cooled down.
And hopefully by then she’d know what to say to him. Logan had spilled his guts tonight to her, revealing so much more than she’d ever guessed about his father. She couldn’t exactly betray that trust and tell her dad that ‘sorry my new boyfriend was a jerk, but his own dad kind of sucks.’
Despite the current predicament, her heart leapt when she thought the word “boyfriend.” They hadn’t said anything official, but what else could he be? They were both leaving for New York in a few weeks, talking nonstop about what they’d do together once they were there, and had basically been attached at the lips for weeks on end. And Logan had been right on the verge of telling her how he felt. Her stomach clenched at the thought of three little words she’d never heard from any guy, ever. What would she have said in return? Cassie had never been this happy and excited with Spencer. She hoped Logan realized that.
At this precise moment, however, she was not particularly happy or excited. She was pretty freaking pissed off.
The rain had gotten harder as the night went on, and they were soaked before they even got to the car. She turned the heat on full blast, shivering a little as she started the engine. Logan trembled next to her, from cold or anger she wasn’t sure.
“We didn’t have to leave!”
Anger, then.
The rain was spattering against the windshield as the wipers struggled to keep up.
“Logan, you can’t just say something like that to my dad.” She tried to keep her voice calm. If there was a worse way for her parents to find out about Logan, she couldn’t think of it. And then for him to mouth off like that to her dad… There was no coming back from that. The complete and total opposite of Spencer, her dad would hate Logan forever. She was already being made to choose between him and her family, and it had just gotten a million times harder.
“Of course I can! You know what he did to my mom!”
Cassie’s face grew hot.
“What she says he did.”
The silence that filled the car was deadly and thick. Cassie’s heart fell into her stomach. She hadn’t meant to say that. At least not in that way. She wanted to explain that she was still processing everything Diana had told her earlier, that she had to reconcile the image of her dad as loving father and horrible boss. Couldn’t he see how hard it was to take a stand against her own family, and side with someone who she hadn’t even met?
But as each second ticked by without any other sound but the pounding of rain against the car, it felt too late to take it back.
“Just let me out up here,” Logan finally said, his voice an empty monotone. He gestured to a side street but she drove right past it without even slowing down.
Cassie’s eyes darted to his, but he was facing straight ahead, his arms folded against his chest.
“Don’t be ridiculous, it’s pouring,” she said, trying to keep her voice light and free of any residual anger she may have. But there was no undoing the damage she’d done with just five little words.
“Just let me out.”
“No.”
“Let. Me. Out.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Cassie.” From the corner of her eyes, she could see that he’d finally turned to face her. She dared another glance and his eyes were blazing, the hurt she’d caused him visible even in the darkness. “Stop the car right now.”
She fixed her own glare right back at him.
“I said no.”
Turning away from his angry face, she spotted a flash of neon green coming at her fast.
“Watch out!” Logan cried, as she swerved to avoid the biker.
With a gasp and a curse, she pulled the steering wheel over with a jerk, bumping along the edge of the road in a horribly familiar way. She cursed as branches swiped at the side of the car.
This can’t be happening again.
With a few more bumps, she finally pulled to a stop. She leaned her face against the steering wheel, tears already starting to fall. A sob escaped her, and Logan’s arm circled her shoulders.
“Hey, it’s okay, the guy is fine.” His voice was low and soothing, his anger gone in the face of her distress. “He gave us the finger as he rode away.”
She curled into him awkwardly across the seats, but the weight of his arms caressing her back was a comfort. Already feeling queasy from the rollercoaster of emotions tonight, the last bit of fight left her in an instant.
“I just can’t believe I did it again,” she whispered, almost to herself.
His arms stilled against her back.
“What?” his voice was soft. Cassie gasped and sat up, taking in his wide eyes and open mouth.
“I mean…” She trailed off and took a deep breath.
This was it. She couldn’t lie, not now. It wasn’t how
she’d planned on telling him, but had she ever really intended to? There had been countless times over the past few weeks she could have said something and she never had. She didn’t have to think too hard about why. She was terrified that she would lose him. The one thing that was making her happy, the one person who made her feel like she could be something more than what everyone thought she was. The one person who didn’t expect her to be anything but herself.
And now that one person was looking at her as a thousand emotions flashed across his face. Confusion, comprehension and finally…complete and total anguish. She held her breath, waiting for the final hammer to fall.
“My accident…that was you?” Her heart was breaking at his eyes so full of hurt. Hurt that she’d caused.
Tears traced jagged lines down her cheeks and her lips were trembling so much she could barely speak. All she could do was nod.
Pain and astonishment rippled across his face.
Another few beats of agonizing silence passed as he took this in. Her heart was beating harder than the rain hammering on the roof of the car.
“Is that why you were so crazy about getting me to the doctor?”
Hope gushed through her like a waterfall. Was he giving her a chance to explain?
“I wanted to be sure you were okay!” she cried, reaching out to him and taking his hand. “I was driving Spencer and Marissa home that night, I hadn’t even been drinking. And then suddenly you were there and I swerved and—”
He pulled back and she withdrew her hand. The waterfall of hope dried up in an instant, leaving her empty inside, cracking around the edges.
“So you decided to pay me off, to make sure I didn’t think it was you?” His face was twisted in rage.
He had jumped so quickly to the idea, it seemed ridiculous she’d ever been able to pull off the lie in the first place.
“My dad—”
“I don’t want to hear about that asshole right now!”
Anger flared inside of her, despite everything. She didn’t know how she felt about her dad right now but she didn’t like to hear anyone else insulting him.
“He told me to do it,” she tumbled over her words as they burst out as quickly as possible. He needed to hear everything in order to understand. “I dropped off Marissa and came back to check on you. I wanted to help, but you were so upset. When I went back home, my dad was there, and I told him what had happened. He was worried you’d ask for money if you knew it was me. He told me to spend time with you, so that you’d think I was nice and not suspect me.”
“And the Columbia match program? Was that even real?” His eyebrows were drawn together as he slowly realized just how devious and horrible she was.
She shook her head.
“I thought up the Columbia thing, that wasn’t him.” She could have said that was her dad’s idea, too, but there had been enough lies between them. And it wasn’t like he could hate her dad any more than he already did. “I saw your name in the new student group online and so I knew we had at least one thing in common.”
Logan let out a choked laugh as he raked his hands through his hair.
“So there was no match. You just tricked me into fall—into liking you?”
Her heart twisted. He had been so close to telling her less than an hour ago how he felt. She should have known better than to think it could have been possible. He was so good, and so smart, and his family was so normal. Nothing fake or manipulative about any of them. She was stupid to think someone like her could ever have something so real with someone like Logan.
But what she felt for him was most definitely real, and the thought of losing him burned a wide hole inside of her.
“It wasn’t a trick, Logan! I like you. I really like you.” She reached out for him again, but he drew back against the car door. The rain lashed against the window. “I hadn’t even officially chosen Columbia, and now, it’s all I can think about. Going to New York with you and—”
He shook his head, and she stopped talking, her mouth going dry. Fissures started to appear around the edges of her heart.
“How can you expect me to believe that? I don’t know what to believe.” His eyes hardened and narrowed. “You seem to believe your dad, though, and do whatever he says.”
“I don’t want to, I want to change.” The tears had started to fall again and she wiped them away, trying to keep her vision of him clear. She knew this would be the last time she’d see him and wanted to remember every angle of his gorgeous face, even twisted in anger the way it was now. “I felt like I was changing, with you. I could be someone different and New York would be so different and—”
He held up a hand, stopping her again.
“Don’t. Just don’t, Cassie.”
His empty voice filled her with dread.
“Why should I believe anything some rich asshole has to say?”
And with that, he pushed open the door and stepped out into the rain.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Walking home in the rain was a horrible, long, wet idea.
But Logan was so relieved to be away from Cassie that he didn’t even notice the weather. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket a half dozen times, but didn’t bother to take it out to see who it was. There was no way he was ruining his phone in the rain just so Cassie could give him some half-assed excuse for her lies.
He’d heard them all too many times from his dad.
Of course, tonight would be the night he finally told someone about that pain. He’d never even talked to Hideki about it. About growing up knowing that the man who was supposed to love you and be there for you was full of crap. Logan had learned how to see through the lies of others his entire life. All the fake happy smiles of people at school and at the restaurant were so clearly hiding something; he’d assumed everyone in that world of privilege was like that.
He thought he’d finally found someone who was real, despite the fake life she lived. It had taken a while to break down her joking and bossy defenses, but behind it she was glorious. She was funny and sweet and sexy and actually liked him, Logan Hanes, the poor kid without a father.
But all of that was a lie. He balled his fists into his jacket pockets, hunching against the biting rain. He should have known better. This is what he got for being stupid enough to trust someone like her. Walking home alone in the rain with his shoulder twinging because of an injury she’d fussed over while conveniently omitting the fact that she’d actually caused it nearly two months ago.
He would have felt sick if the burning rage would settle down.
Instead, he leaned into the rage, letting it warm him through the last mile of the dark and wet walk.
When he finally got home, it was much later than he realized. His aunt and uncle were waiting for him in the kitchen, their faces lined with worry.
“Logan!” cried his Aunt Caroline, shooting out of her chair when she heard the squelch of his shoes in the entryway. “What happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he mumbled, unzipping his soaking jacket. He let it drop at his feet, but picked it up when he heard his aunt’s annoyed huff.
“I’ll get you a towel,” she said as she turned back toward the half bath right off the entryway. “Then you better call your mom.”
Logan’s burning rage was doused in an instant. Caroline grabbed the wet jacket out of his hand. He reached for the offered towel and rubbed it through his hair.
“Into the bathroom, everything off,” she said. “Now.” Her concerned tone from earlier had been replaced with an annoyance that was eerily like his mom’s.
Logan obeyed silently, stripping to his boxers and wrapping the towel around his waist. He handed off his clothes to his aunt, who was now giving him the stink eye.
Like this night could possibly get any worse.
“Call your mom,” she repeated sternly as she rummaged in his wet clothes to pull out his phone. He took it with a small smile, his eyebrows raised.
“I’m really
sorry for not calling. I didn’t mean to make you worry.”
“Hmm,” was all she said as she looked him up and down, her eyebrows drawn together. As she made her way to the laundry room off the kitchen she called over her shoulder, “I’ll make you some hot chocolate so you don’t catch pneumonia.”
His heart lifted a little. She couldn’t be that mad at him if she was offering hot beverages.
At least Hideki was out and he’d only have his mom’s questions to deal with. He made his way to the office and put on dry clothes before sitting down on the futon with his phone in hand.
Fifteen missed calls. He sighed and scrolled through them but his heart dropped when he realized they were all from his mom. Worry about what was happening overrode the aching pang that Cassie hadn’t even tried to call him.
His mom answered on the first ring.
“What the hell, Logan!” She sounded furious. Worse than that time Hideki had convinced him to ride their bikes off a ramp into the lake when they were thirteen.
“I’m sorry?” he tried. What could she possibly have to be this mad about? Walking home in the rain hardly seemed to warrant this kind of anger.
“Cassie Hart? Really?”
A rock had suddenly taken the place of his stomach.
“Look it’s not—”
“I called Caroline when you didn’t pick up tonight.” He cringed as the heat in her voice singed even from through the phone. He had never heard her this angry. “She said you’ve been sneaking off for weeks. Weeks! Logan, I know you’re an adult now, and can make your own choices but I thought with everything going on you’d understand why it just isn’t possible for you two to—”
“It’s over, Mom!” he cried, his words catching in his throat. He wasn’t going to cry, not about Cassie and not in front of his mom. “She’s not who I thought she was. So don’t waste your breath. I should have listened to you.”
There was a weighty silence on the other end. He could hear her breathing, slightly out of breath. She’d been preparing for a fight, and now, faced with his anger and hurt, he knew she’d want to protect him. Soothe him.
This Summer At The Lake Page 15
