Chloe
Being in Logan’s room and not Jace’s had only been strange for that first night, now it felt so natural I knew for sure that giving us a chance was right.
Logan stirred beside me and rolled over, wrapping me in his arms. “Not yet, Chlo,” he mumbled into my back, his sexy voice filled with sleep.
The sun had just risen and soft light drifted in through the gap between the curtains. Julia was an early riser and I didn’t want anyone to learn me and Logan were me and Logan before we sat them down and told them.
I didn’t want to leave. Since our first time four nights ago it had been a lot harder to leave his room in the mornings. Plus, he was a fan of replaying our twenty-minute bet and I was happy to report that he won every time.
“You know I have to.”
He sighed and I felt his hot breath cascade down my back. It did nothing to help me stay strong and get out of bed. In the last four days we’d barely been able to keep our hands off each other. If we were alone we were going to end up naked and sweaty.
“Chloe, I don’t want you sneaking out of the house.” He let go and sat up. I rolled onto my back. “Let’s tell them now.”
Was I ready for them to know?
“Come on,” he said. “I don’t want to wait. I don’t want to pretend we’re not together. My family loves you so what are you scared of?”
“They love me because I was Jace’s girlfriend.”
“You’re more to them than that and you know it. Why’re you holding back?”
“That is why? You’re intelligent, Logan, surely you can understand.”
“I do. I loved Jace as much as you.” He stopped and frowned. “But in a completely different way. We’re not going to get egged for being together though, you know that.”
“Please, just give me a little more time?”
He held his hands up. “Fine. I’ll speak to you later.”
There was no point in talking to him anymore, especially when he’d gone brooding, moody male so I got dressed as fast as I could and left his room without another word.
I reached the living room when Logan grabbed my wrist. I was too lost in thought and hadn’t heard him creeping down the stairs behind me. “Don’t leave,” he said, turning me around. “I’m sorry, okay. I was a dick. Please… just don’t leave, Chlo.”
Julia stepped out of the kitchen and I stopped breathing. She was up earlier than usual and she was staring at us. With both of us having a mini-domestic at half past five in the morning and Logan just in a pair of jeans it was more than obvious what had been going on.
Please, don’t hate me.
“Good morning,” she said.
Good morning? That was it? I didn’t know what to do, where to look or what to say. Was that all she had to say about the fact that I was now with Logan? I almost felt like crying with happiness. She wasn’t ordering me out of her house, screaming at me that I’d betrayed Jace. Either that or she really didn’t have a clue what was going on under her nose.
“Hey,” Logan said, letting go of my wrist. “You’re up early, even for you.”
“So are you two.”
He smiled. “Touché, Mother.”
Frowning, she said, “Don’t call me mother, you make me sound old. Is everything okay? Chloe?”
I opened my mouth to say speak but not a word came out. She was going to hate me, of course, she was. Even if she was glad Logan was happy she couldn’t think very highly of me, surely. I’d promised her I’d love Jace forever and while I still did that love had changed.
“Why don’t you two come in the kitchen for coffee and a chat?”
Oh, she was going to do the speech calmly. I wanted to run. Shit, shit, shit!
Logan agreed and walked past his mum. I wasn’t quite sure why he was so calm when I was full on panicking.
Silently, I sat at the table, listening to the thudding of my heart. Logan was beside me, watching me so intently I felt naked. “At least breathe, sweetheart,” he said.
Julia turned around. “Are you okay, Chloe?”
“I…” Licking my dry lips, I sat up straighter. How was I going to convince anyone that me and Logan were meant to be together when I looked ashamed of us? “I’m okay,” I replied.
“How long?” she asked, speaking softly.
“Not long,” I replied. “Just over three weeks. Are you mad?”
Cocking her head to the side, her eyes softened and she replied, “No. Of course I’m not mad. I love you both and I want you both to be happy.”
“What about Jace?”
“Jace is my baby, always has been and always will be. Nothing will change that, but he’s gone and nothing will change that either. If you and Logan have a chance at happiness then you take it because you never know what’s around the corner. I don’t believe everything happens for a reason, there’s far too much suffering for that to be true. I believe that if you want something you work for it. Little satisfaction comes from what just falls into your lap. You and Logan have worked damn hard at rebuilding your lives and through all the pain you’ve found each other. I could never be angry at that. Besides, who else is going to put up with him?”
I laughed and wiped a tear away. My emotions were all over the place recently. Logan was a complete head fuck and I was pretty sure he felt the same about me.
“Thank you,” I whispered, too choked up to speak properly.
Logan was quiet beside me but I took that as a good sign. Rather than crying he went quiet.
“No more sneaking around, okay. I don’t want you to have to hide what makes you both happy.”
“Yeah,” Logan said. “Chloe?”
“I never wanted to hide anything.”
He hesitated for a second too long before nodding. Did he not believe me? If the situation wasn’t complicated I wouldn’t have waited. It wasn’t something I wanted to do it was more something I needed to do.
“I know.” He said the words but didn’t look at all convinced.
“Thank you for understanding, Julia,” I said. “You don’t know how much it means to not have you throw me out of your house.”
She laughed and hugged me. “That would never happen. You’ll get no judgement from me. I can see it’s not been easy and I know that neither of you would risk creating a rift in the family over nothing. I won’t lie, when I first started suspecting I was surprised but I never felt angry, I guess that was my clue that I’m okay with it. And I can’t see Jace hating either of you.”
Shit. I swallowed hard, almost on the verge of tears again. I didn’t think he’d hate us, not really, but to hear his mum say it meant a lot and made it real. And when did she suspect?
“I am right that this is something serious, aren’t I?”
We hadn’t had that conversation about where we were going but we didn’t need to. We were in this for the long haul.
Logan looked at me, right into me, into every part it seemed. “It’s serious.”
Oh, it was definitely serious.