One minute I’m standing at the curb, about to call my daddy to come pick me up, and the next, I wake up, lying down, with something covering my eyes and my hands and ankles bound together tightly with what feels like rope. The back of my head hurts like an absolute bitch.
“Oh my god,” I whisper. What’s happened?
“Oh, good. You’re awake,” a man says. “Don’t panic, Kayla. You’re in my backseat and we’re driving around the city. I’ll take you home soon. I only wanted to talk to you for a little while and, well, you gave me the perfect opportunity. How does your head feel? I’m truly sorry about that.”
When I don’t answer, he taps the brakes hard enough that I move forward, nearly falling into the floor. If my hands were tied in front, I could’ve stopped myself, but he has my wrists bound behind my back. A horn blares behind us.
“Answer me, Kayla,” he demands.
“It hurts,” I snap. “I want to go home.” What if he’s lying and he doesn’t plan to take me home? Oh, god. What if I never see my dad or my mom or my brother or...? I gasp as I think about Logan. My heart hammers in my chest, but before I can get carried away into a panic attack, my stalker speaks again.
“Not yet. I will take you home, but not yet. What were you doing outside all by yourself anyway?” He chuckles. “Don’t you know it’s dangerous out there?”
Like hell am I telling him I got into a fight with Logan. “I was going home.”
“And that stupid boyfriend of yours wouldn’t take you?” He makes a tsking sound. “He sucks. Look what happened because he wouldn’t. How much longer are you going to make me watch you be with him? He obviously doesn’t deserve you.”
“Can we talk about something else?” I interrupt, tears streaming down my cheeks. Logan is a sore subject right now and if he wants to talk, then maybe we can talk about anything but him. Besides, it’s just making me wish I hadn’t walked out on him tonight.
“Sure,” he says easily. “What’s it like to know that he keeps choosing that other girl over you? I’m assuming that’s what happens, at least. I saw her show up tonight a few minutes before you stormed to the elevators. He didn’t follow you. I waited a moment to see if he would. He didn’t.”
“Shut up, you stupid asshole, and take me home!” I shout with more conviction than I should have. My heart clenches in a vise because the air feels like it’s been sucked from the vehicle at my words. I’ve made a mistake. I shouldn’t have said anything.
He slams on the brakes so suddenly that I have no time to prepare myself. I hit the back of the front seats and fall onto the floor, my body exploding with pain. His voice is a deadly sort of calm and serious. “Don’t raise your voice at me and don’t call me names.” The car slowly accelerates.
My body aches, my head dizzies, and I’m in an awkward position here. He doesn’t say anything until he comes to a stop some time later and I hear him shift gears, maybe putting the car in park.
“This isn’t over, Kayla. I love you and I’ll make you see it,” is all he says before opening his door and getting out, slamming it closed. What’s happening now? Where are we? What will he do to me? The door at my head opens and hands grab me under my armpits. “Don’t scream or I’ll change my mind,” he warns. “And I’m sorry you’re hurt.” His tone is soft and I swear, I think he means it. He pulls me out of the car until he’s cradling me against his body.
A body that feels muscular. Not good. That means he could easily overpower me. Dread fills me as I realize he’s already overpowered me. He could do it again. He sets me down on...the ground? He turns me on my stomach, so I’m lying flat on the ground. There’s definitely grass brushing against my face. I flinch when I feel a pair of lips kiss my cheek.
He chuckles. “I’ll be watching.”
A moment later, silence engulfs me. Is he gone?
I want to roll over and try to get up, but what am I going to do? I can’t see. I could scream, but what if this is some kind of sick trick and he’s waiting to see what I’ll do, so he can react and punish me for it?
A car goes by, the horn held down, and then it stops. A brief second passes before I hear the best thing I could possibly hear right now.
“Kayla!” Dad’s shout causes me to relax completely on the ground. I’m home. Must be. “Kayla! What the hell?”
Then, I hear another voice that sounds more terrified than Dad’s. “Kayla!”
Logan’s here?
My blindfold is yanked off and I blink up at my dad. “I’m going to untie you, okay?” he says and I nod. My eyes move to Logan running toward me, my dad’s house behind him. I’m home. He actually brought me home. I rest my face against the ground again as Dad and now Logan attempt to untie me, both of them cursing.
“Answer me, Kayla!” Dad snaps at me as he pulls me into a sitting position, my hands and feet now free.
“What?” I ask with confusion.
“Are you okay?” he repeats with worried eyes. “Did he hurt you?”
“A little.” I reach up to the sore spot on the back of my head and find a knot has already formed.
“Let’s get inside. Taylor’s already on his way.” Ah, the man assigned to take all the reports on my stalker.
Dad helps me to my feet and I wince. My body hurts. I must’ve hit the floor of the car harder than I thought. I roll my shoulders and gently caress the other sore spots, like my hip and my ribs. Dad leads me to the couch and sits me down. He and Logan each sit on either side of me.
“What hurts?” Dad asks quietly. “Other than your head?” He finds that spot I touched and I flinch from his light and brief inspection.
“I’m fine. Can I go to bed? Do I have to talk to Taylor?”
Dad frowns. “You’re the only one who knows what happened, Kayla.”
Ugh. I bring my feet up and slip them underneath me as I lean over and lay my head on Logan’s lap. I don’t want to do this. Logan rubs my shoulder while I close my eyes. The couch jostles. I open my eyes to see it’s because my dad stands and walks away.
“Hey, come here,” Logan whispers. He makes me sit up, tugs me to straddle his lap, and wraps one arm around my shoulders, the other pulling me closer from around my waist. I bury my face into his neck, somehow feeling like I’m able to hide like this. “I’m sorry,” he says so quietly I almost don’t hear him, even though his mouth is right at my ear. “I’m so fucking sorry, Kayla.” His words, his sincerity, and his guilt is what breaks me.
The tears come so suddenly, I suck in a lungful of air as I sob. Logan doesn’t say anything else. He holds me as tight and as close as he can. He rests his cheek against mine. He lets me cry all of my terrified tears. I don’t know how long it takes for the waterworks to slow, for me to sit up and look at him and see his entire shoulder wet from my tears, my hands gripping his shirt so tightly that they begin to ache. I release the fabric and attempt to smooth the wrinkles.
“Taylor’s here.”
I glance over my shoulder and find Taylor looking slightly uncomfortable in one of the chairs and my dad at the other end of the couch once again. Dad hands me a handful of tissues.
“Are you ready to tell me what happened?” Taylor asks.
“I guess.” Logan rubs my back in a silent move of support. “I was standing outside, about to call my dad to pick me up, and then I woke up in the backseat of a vehicle, the way they found me.”
Taylor looks at my father questioningly and Dad says, “She was tied up and blindfolded. Feet were together and hands, too, behind her back; they were tied with rope.”
I rub my wrists, remembering how it felt. “He heard me panic and started talking to me. He said we were driving around, that he just wanted to talk to me, and then he’d take me home. He apologized for hitting me in the head. If I didn’t answer him, he’d hit the brakes, so I talked to him. He said some stuff about Logan and when I told him to shut up and called him a stupid asshole, he slammed on the brakes, I fell into the floor, and he told me not to call him names or raise my voice. He didn’t say anything else after that until he stopped the car.” I take a deep breath. “He said something about how it’s not over, he loves me, and then he carried me until he set me down on the ground. He...” I clear my throat. “He kissed my cheek and left. Then, Dad came for me.”
Taylor frowns. “How’d you know she was outside?” he asks my dad.
“Someone drove by, laying on the horn, and I went outside. It stopped the moment I opened the door, and that’s when I saw her.”
Taylor nods and looks at me. “I need to know exactly what he said to you.”
“It’s not important,” I quickly say. “I still don’t know who he might be. He kept talking about Logan and me. Nothing about himself.”
“It is important,” Taylor insists.
“Tell him,” Dad commands me.
“Go ahead, Kayla,” Logan adds in a much softer voice than either of them.
I sigh and repeat the entire ordeal again, but in greater detail. Dad starts pacing the moment I get to the part about how Logan didn’t follow me. He has to know we got into an argument. He’s smart enough to read between the lines and figure it out. When I finish, Dad points a finger at Logan.
“This is your fault! What the fuck were you doing, letting her go somewhere by herself? I told you to take care of her!” I flinch at the rage in his voice. I can’t remember the last time my dad was this pissed off. “You gave him the opportunity to do something to her! To my little girl! You son of a bitch!” He shakes his head and storms into the kitchen.
“I’m going to see if I can track this guy down; maybe we can get a trace on the number he’s using to contact you, but we’ll definitely look further into this. Stay aware of your surroundings and try not to go anywhere by yourself. I’ll keep you posted,” Taylor says, standing. “I’ll see myself out.” He leaves as quietly as he entered.
“I need to talk to my dad.” I try to disentangle from Logan, but he keeps his hold firm.
“He’s right; why do you think I apologized to you?” Logan sighs. “I should talk to him myself.”
I shake my head. “Let me do it. It’ll be better that way.”
After a moment of hesitation, he nods. “I should go home then.”
My lungs seize mid-breath at the thought. “Wait. I want to go with you.” Logan’s brows shoot up. “I don’t want to stay here without you.”
He nods. “I’ll wait then.”
His arms fall and I get up. Dad is seriously pissed and upset. There’s a glass with amber liquid clutched in his hand. He doesn’t normally drink anything more than a beer, but he does have it on hand for special occasions.
“Break up with him,” he says, staring at the liquid as he swirls it around.
“Daddy,” I chastise. “If I wasn’t pissed off and was thinking clearly, then I wouldn’t have gone outside by myself. There’s two people you should be mad at.”
His eyes lift to meet mine as he takes a sip of his drink. “Don’t think I’m not irked with you, but I’m still more pissed with him. I asked him to do one thing and he failed.”
“Forgive him? This once? For me?” When Dad doesn’t answer me and instead downs the rest of his alcohol, I add, “Please, Daddy?”
“I’ll think about it.”
Well, that’s better than a no. “Thank you. Logan is taking me back to his place for the night.” Dad glares hard at me at this. “We obviously have some things to deal with and,” I shrug, “I’d rather be there,” I admit.
He says nothing. He turns in his seat and holds his arms out. I walk over and give him a long hug.
“If that jackass comes over here again, expecting you to be here and you aren’t, I’m killing him.”
I laugh as he releases me. One quick kiss on the cheek and then Logan and I finally head back to his apartment. The ride is silent and the air thick with tension. As we take the elevator up to his apartment, I realize Logan is still in his swim trunks, but he’s also wearing a hoodie. He didn’t take the time to change when he drove to my dad’s house.
“I need a shower,” I say the moment we’re inside his apartment. A shudder runs through me as I remember being touched and getting that kiss on the cheek. I need to wash all of that off. My skin crawls thinking about it.
“I’m coming with,” Logan says, but I’m already halfway to the bathroom.
I don’t care what he does. Now that I’ve thought it, I can’t stop. My skin burns where I was tied, where it hurts, where he touched me. My body needs to get so freaking clean that there’s not a trace of this day left. I strip my clothes and turn only the hot water on. Stepping in, the water pelts down and relaxes my muscles, even as it stings my skin. Steam curls and rolls through the air. I breathe in the dampness, thankful that this is a space where the stalker has never been.
A hand on my hip startles me, but it’s just Logan pushing me toward the back of the tub as he steps under the spray.
“Damn it, Kayla. What are you trying to do? Burn your skin off?”
I glance down at my blotchy red skin and shrug. If it makes me feel better, why does it matter? He reaches out to add some cold water to the mix, but I grab his arm to stop him. “Don’t.”
“It’s too hot.” He ignores me and within moments, goosebumps form little hills on my skin from how cool the water suddenly becomes.
This isn’t working the way I want it to. “I feel dirty,” I whisper.
Logan whirls around. “Why?”
“It’s like I have my own peeping tom, and he’s relentless. Knowing he’s waiting for me and always waiting to take a picture, I feel dirty and disgusting from him watching me. And now, he’s touched me. He kissed me.” I rub at my cheek with my knuckles.
Logan grabs my wrist to make me stop. He switches places with me, placing me back underneath the water. “Let’s get you clean then,” he says softly. He takes my wash rag, pumps soap onto it, and lathers it up. “Relax, baby. I’ll take care of you.”
I nod and believe him. Logan keeps his word. We clean our bodies and he massages me. My shoulders, my arms, my hands, my legs, anything he can get his hands on to massage, he’s working those muscles until I’m so relaxed, the stress of today is nearly forgotten.
Nearly.
“What happened with Carey?” I ask as we step out of the tub and change into pajamas.
“I told her what I should’ve told her after we talked.” Logan takes a deep breath and then sighs, walking into his bedroom. “The only reason I didn’t immediately run after you, Kayla, is because she dropped a bomb on me. She said she thought her boyfriend was cheating on her and that’s why they broke up in the first place. She only gave him a second chance because she thought he truly changed. It threw me for a loop.”
He sits on the edge of his bed, grabs my hand, and pulls me to stand between his knees. “I don’t have a good reason for not telling her sooner. But I promise, it’ll be the last time I worry about someone else instead of you; that I put someone’s feelings above yours. And I’m sorry I didn’t talk to her sooner and that I might’ve caused you to doubt me or my word. I’m sorry that because of it, you got hurt.”
“Well, I’m sorry I got so angry, didn’t let you get a word in edge-wise, and walked away before we could work it out.”
Logan shrugs. “You’re forgiven.”
“So are you.”
He frowns and I cover his mouth with my hand before he can tell me I shouldn’t be so quick about it or something of the sort. At this point, I want to forget about tonight and forgiving him helps me do that.
“You said you love me,” I say as I drop my hand.
“I do.”
I pull his shirt up until he’s free of it. What I want right now is more than his words. I want his touch, in combination with his words. Logan grabs my hips and whirls us around until I’m flat on my back and he hovers over me. His worried eyes aren’t what I want to see.
“You sure?” he asks.
I lift my head up off the bed to meet his mouth and answer him that way. What starts as a way to feel and celebrate the fact he loves me feels more like passion exploding as we reassure ourselves that both of us are still here, together, and an apology for a night not turning out the way it should have.
After, I’m in a much better mood. A playful one, even. I hover over Logan’s hips, stroking his dick. “I love you.”
“Really?” Logan asks with excitement.
“Of course I love your dick.”
The smile on his face falls and he glares at me. “That’s not funny, Kayla.” He smacks my hand away from him.
Oh, man. My joke hurt his feelings. I crawl up his body, lie down, and rest my chin on his chest. “I’m sorry.” He plays with my hair down my back, deciding not to respond. He’s a good man. He really is. When I think about life before Logan, though it wasn’t too long ago, it’s blurry. It’s bland. It’s hard to remember how things were without him. When I think about a future, he’s definitely there. To try to imagine what life would be like without him just sucks and my mind, heart, and soul reject the idea immediately. “Handsome?”
“Hm?”
“I’m glad you love me because I love you too.”
“Not falling for your tricks again, baby.”
I prop up with my hands on his chest. “But I’m serious this time!”
He cracks a grin. “I know. Not so funny when the tables are turned, is it?”
“You’re mean.” I lie back down, my ear to his chest so I can listen to his heartbeat.
“You were mean first. This mean you’ll move in with me?”
I sigh. The man is relentless. “Logan, have you thought that through?” I don’t think he has. I think he only wants me here and hasn’t considered the logistics. And now? Well, maybe he’s trying to make up for what happened tonight.
“What’s there to think about?”
“The fact that I don’t have a job.” That should be a big concern for him. It is for me.
“I already cover expenses. You wouldn’t have to do that.”
“Okay, but who’s to say that my parents will keep paying for my car and my phone if I move out? That wasn’t part of my agreement with them. You don’t realize how much I rely on my parents. If they won’t pay for those, I’ll have to get a job. I wouldn’t blame them if I’m not living with one of them, but—”
“But you’re not sure if you want to do that?”
“No, I would for you. It’s just with—”
“Don’t say it,” he interrupts. “He’s not allowed to be a reason why. Let’s go to sleep.” He reaches over to turn off the light.
I feel bad and like I’ve done something wrong. It’s not fair to Logan to not move in because of my stalker, but if I have to get a job to pay some bills, then I think he’d agree now isn’t the best time either. The air around us feels heavy. Again. I don’t want to end things on that note, so I ask him another question.
“Logan, what’s the rush? Why do you want me to move in now and not later?” Because it does feel like he’s rushing things just a bit, even if his feelings are legit. Not to mention, I thought the saying was good things come to those who wait. Not that we shouldn’t wait for the good things to come. Logan seems to want to act now and make it work to have the good things now, rather than wait for a possibly better time.
Logan sighs, obviously not too thrilled with my question. He humors me with a serious answer anyway. “I don’t look at it as rushing. Do you know what I learned from watching my sister with her relationship with Ian? They wasted a lot of time. They’ll tell you they got together when it was finally time for them to be together, but I don’t see it that way. I think they wasted their time, and I don’t want to do that with you.
“The day my sister met Ian, there was something about him that she couldn’t let go of. It sealed their fate. She couldn’t forget about him. She couldn’t let him go, even during the darkest times of their relationship. She always knew he was the one for her, even when she didn’t think she wanted him to be. My point is they wasted time in various ways.
“I don’t want to do that. That’s one reason why when you pointed out how you thought there should be better boundaries with Carey, I didn’t argue. Not to mention you were right. I’ll pick my battles very carefully, Kayla, because I don’t want to waste time on things that aren’t that important or those that could jeopardize us for no reason, or a reason that isn’t good enough. I’m not rushing. I simply don’t want to waste any time when I know you’re the one for me.”
And now I feel worse. Logan seems to be doing almost everything right while I’m over here hesitating and turning him down every time he asks. What is wrong with me?