Cassie had not expected to find herself in front of Logan’s house quite so soon after the fireworks, especially not this early in the morning. It was much too early to be anywhere, let alone awake and attempting any kind of serious conversation, but she’d spent a restless night trying to figure out what she wanted.

She didn’t want Spencer that was for sure. And she had wanted Marissa to hook up with him, hadn’t she? The anger and hurt she’d felt when she’d seen them together had to have been irritation, not jealousy. How could she be jealous when she had Logan?

Logan. Even thinking his name sent shivers through her body. She wanted him in that pure and perfect, all-consuming way that starts to eat away at you in little bits and pieces. Even when she was thinking of her former best friend, Logan hovered at the edge of her mind, tempering her anger with a giddy lightness. In the space of just a few weeks, she’d gone from not knowing his name to every time she pictured his face it felt like a vice around her heart. Did he feel the same? The thought filled her with both joy and dread.

She had to tell him what she’d done. He had to know. If this was going to be anything serious, if she was going to be different and not live the same life she’d had the past four years, and not live a life like her parents, she had to stop lying. Logan had never lied to her, not once; he didn’t have a reason to. She couldn’t let her feelings for him get too deep without him knowing everything.

So now here she was, in full makeup the night after the Fourth of July, a giant travel mug of tea next to her. She’d sent Logan a quick I need to see you as she’d quietly made her way out of the house less than fifteen minutes ago. Now she sent another, her fingers trembling.

I’m in front of your house.

Cassie vaguely noticed a blue car that hadn’t been there the night before, but brushed it aside when she saw Logan step out the front door. Her heart fluttered at the memory of his lips on hers, and she gripped the steering wheel to keep from running out to him.

She seriously had to get herself under control.

Of course, she launched herself at him the second he got in the car. Her attack was met with an equally eager response from Logan. His hands were in her hair and cradling her head, their mouths crashing into each other with an intensity that was borderline inappropriate for seven o’clock in the morning.

He seemed to realize this at the same time as she did, and pulled out of the embrace, breathless.

“We shouldn’t stay here.” He glanced back at the house, his eyebrows drawn together.

She pulled away from the house without a word, and headed down to the lake. It would still be full of campers from the night before, but at least they could park without the chance of his family witnessing their making out.

He didn’t say anything during the short trip, and if he hadn’t just greeted her with such enthusiasm, Cassie would have been worried that something was wrong. But his face was serious, his eyes and mouth pulled down in such a thoughtful expression, that her heart started to beat faster for a completely different reason.

“Is everything okay?” she said, pulling into a spot into the day lot. Did he already know what she wanted to tell him?

“Did your parents notice you were gone last night?” Logan was looking at his hands.

“I don’t think so, my sister covered for me,” she said. Not the entire truth, but he didn’t need to know how awful her family really was. Or that her parents still wanted to see her with Spencer. “But I caught Marissa and Spencer hooking up in my guest house last night when I got home.” Cassie let the words spill out of her in a rush. Logan looked up at her, an eyebrow raised. “Yeah, I know. I don’t really care but…” She shook her head. She’d sort through those feelings later. “Did you get grilled by your cousin when you got home?”

Logan bit his lip.

“No not Hideki…Hey, how’s your dad?”

Well that was a weird question.

“Fine. Better since mom and Di are here. Why?”

He sighed and looked out the window, away from her. Her heart beat faster at the faraway look in his eyes. They’d barely been apart for 8 hours. What could have possibly happened during that time? She leaned against her door, dizzy with anxious anticipation.

“My mom was there when I got home last night,” he said, still facing the window. “She said…She said I can’t see you anymore.”

Anger bubbled up inside of Cassie to replace the panic that had started to course through her veins. As if it wasn’t bad enough her parents were deciding her life for her, now Logan’s mom wanted in on the action?

“Why not?” She tried to keep her voice even. Cassie could think of a pretty big reason why not but her pride had been hurt. It was one thing to know she wasn’t good enough for Logan, but to have someone else say it was a harsh reminder of how the world saw her.

Logan shifted in the seat, still looking out the window. Cassie wished he would look at her. Not being able to see his eyes or his reactions was maddening. What was going on inside his head?

“She said…” He turned to look at her, at last. His downturned eyes and lips sent a chill through her. Pity was not something she was used to seeing aimed at her. “She said she’s suing your dad. That he forced her to quit when she complained about how he was treating the women at work.”

Cassie stared at him, open-mouthed, a cold wave of shock bursting in her chest. The vagueness of his answer sent her mind into overdrive. Her mouth was completely dry, and she had to swallow a few times to be able to squeak out her question.

“How…how was he treating them?”

Logan flushed.

“Did you really not know about this?”

She shook her head, trying to process the thought of her father doing … something to the women at his office. And being so horrible as to fire someone for complaining? He wasn’t like that. Maybe he was a little hard on his daughters sometimes, but he was their dad. He was supposed to be making sure they were prepared for life.

“Jokes and making them uncomfortable and…touching them,” Logan said as he shifted in the seat again, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. “No one said anything, except my mom. She thought maybe the men just didn’t realize what they were doing, but when she talked to them, they told her to keep her mouth shut or she’d never get another job.”

It was suddenly hard to breathe. Cassie fumbled to open the door, and leaned her head out, taking in big gulps of cool morning air. The salty tang of the lake bit her tongue. She replayed the words in her head. Uncomfortable…touching…bile rose in her throat and she choked it back.

She heard the passenger door click open and Logan’s quick step as he made his way around the car to her.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, pulling her out of the car and upright into his arms. “I thought you knew. My mom said you probably did.”

Tears had sprung up in her eyes and she tried to blink them away, grateful he couldn’t see her as she buried her face in his chest. He smelled just the same as he had the night before, all ginger and citrus.

“So your mom doesn’t want you to be with me because of the lawsuit?” Her voice was muffled but she was afraid to look up at him, to see even more pity in his eyes she did not deserve. “Or because my dad is an asshole and she thinks I am too?”

“I guess…I mean, I don’t know. She said other stuff about your family.”

That didn’t surprise her. She thought of the nice cozy house Logan’s aunt and uncle had and what a normal family they were. No pressure to be some perfect family with a perfect daughter hosting perfect parties. No lying about what they did, all the time. Logan could just be himself. And with him she’d started to feel like herself, too. A better version of herself. But now that was all slipping away.

The tears finally started to fall in between gasping breaths.

“I’m j-just like h-him,” she sobbed.

“No, you’re not,” He pulled her tight and kissed the top of her head. “I don’t care what my mom says. I know you’re different. You’re different than all of them.”

Her heart swelled at this. He had no idea how big a compliment that was.

And that it was completely untrue.