Page 79 of Half Truths (Secret Society 1)
“Why do you care?” I sniffed. “You’re not my friend, remember?”
“I’m not your friend.” He put his hand on mine and held it. “I’m your blood, remember?”
I felt a crack in my chest as the tears trickled down my cheeks, as if it had grown a little, enough to fit him in, and that scared me. I hadn’t known him long enough to feel this way. I didn’t know him well enough to feel this deeply for him, yet I did. In the past, I’d fallen slowly, after being friends with guys for a while. This felt different. Maybe it was the fact that instead of turning his back on me, he’d helped me when I was on the floor vomiting. Maybe it was realizing that I couldn’t carry the weight of my fucked-up family and really needed someone in my corner. Maybe it was the alcohol, still coursing through my veins despite my body’s attempt to get it out. Whatever the case, Logan had taken ownership of a part of me and even though I couldn’t understand it entirely, I knew there was no use in questioning these emotions. The heart never asked for permission, it just felt.
“Can we get out of here?” I whispered.
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
“I just miss my brother. I miss him so much.” I started to cry again. Logan let go of my hand and wrapped an arm around me. There was a knock on the door, then another. Someone on the other side started yelling.
“Shut the fuck up and leave,” Logan roared back. I flinched at his voice beside my ear. He held my head to his shoulder again. “Sorry.”
“Maybe we should just go,” I said. “I feel like brushing my teeth anyway.”
“Not a bad idea.”
He stood up and offered me his hand. I placed mine in it, meeting his gaze. It was the same hand he’d touched just a minute ago, the same hands we’d held during our blood oath earlier. I was really grateful to have him pulling me up and keeping me steady. He handed me the bottle of water as we walked out of the bathroom, and I took it gratefully, twisting the cap and gulping down half the contents. We beelined toward the front door, but on the way, we were stopped by numerous people—guys asking where he was going, girls pressing themselves provocatively onto him as I watched.
One of them, in particular, couldn’t seem to catch a clue and brought his hand up to her breast. If Logan was caught off guard, he didn’t show it. Instead, he lowered his hand and walked away until another stopped him and grabbed at him. It was a ridiculous sight, the kind of thing you’d expect from fangirls at a BTS concert, not from students toward an athlete. I forced myself to turn and walk away. I couldn’t stomach seeing it any longer—the groping, the flailing—it was all too much for me tonight.
Chapter Thirty-Three
The crisp air hit me the moment I opened the door, reminding me that it was fall and I was completely underdressed for this weather. I pulled the towel tighter around myself. The screen in front of the front door shut with a squeak and a clank behind me.
“You heading out?” It was Hailey’s voice, coming from the direction of the porch, where we’d been sitting earlier.
“Yeah. Tired.”
“You look it.” She eyed me up and down. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this . . . distressed before.”
“Thanks for that.” I drank the rest of the water.
A small smile tugged her lips, as if she was enjoying this. It made me frown. Even the bitchiest friends I had back home wouldn’t be happy to see me like this, not to my face anyway.
“I should be heading out soon too,” she said. “You want a ride?”
“No, thanks.” I crunched the water bottle. “Did you even go inside?”
“Of course I did. I was taking shots with Travis.” Her eyes gleamed at my obvious loss of words.
Maybe Hailey was a mean drunk. No, Hailey was definitely a mean drunk. The door opened and shut again before I could try to form a response to that. She looked away from me, eyes wide at the sight of Logan.
“You’re leaving with him?”
“How is that any of your business?” Logan asked, walking to stand beside me. “Don’t you have a bar to tend to?”
“Don’t you have some random woman to accost?”
“I don’t accost women.”
“Oh, so it’s only your brother who does that and your father? You know what they say about apples and trees.”
I put my hand on Logan’s arm when I saw him inch forward as if he was going to step up to her.
“Hey, let’s go.” I squeezed his arm.
“You’re just mad that I never gave you the time of day,” he spat.
