Page 68 of On the Plus Side
“It was the best.” Everly rested on her palms, her gaze drifting to the ceiling as if she might find sketches of her memories in the white paint. “She had all this land. You couldn’t even see any of her neighbors’ houses. It was like being on our own little island. Only the sea was maple and fir trees.”
“Freedom.” Logan said the word softly. Carefully. Like it was breakable.
Everly nodded. “Grandma Helen turned it into an animal sanctuary after my grandfather died. I didn’t find out until she passed that her friend June, who worked there with her, was actually her girlfriend.” It was this whole other side to Grandma Helen that Everly wished she’d gotten the chance to know. But her grandmother had always been so private. She kept the things that mattered most to her locked tightly inside. “She and my mom never got along, but that woman was my favorite person in the world.” Logan had been there when she’d opened up to Jazzy on wardrobe day. He already knew this. But Everly wanted to say it again, to him, as if that might tether them closer together. “I hopeOTPShelps me be more like her. I want to care so little about what others think that I can’t even hear them.”
“She sounds great.”
Everly blew out a long breath. Grandma Helen had died almost four years ago, yet the loss was as fresh as an open wound. Some grief clung to you like a ghost, never quite disappearing.
Tears bit at the corners of her eyes. She blinked them back and concentrated on scratching Alan, who had squirmed into her lap and lay belly-up, flapping his tail.
“You two would have gotten along well. She loved plaid, too.” And monosyllables.
Logan snorted. “I’m going to tell Jazzy to build your entire new wardrobe out of plaid now.”
Everly straightened her shoulders and shot him a flirty smirk. “And I’d look incredible in all of it.” The words felt like another kind of freedom on her tongue. Because she meant them. She’d never looked in the mirror and hated what she saw. It was more that she hadn’t wanted to see anything at all. And she didn’t want anyone else to, either. But these last few weeks on the show had changed that. She was ready to be visible again. To be seen.
And right now, there was no one she wanted to see her more than Logan.
His blue eyes caught hers, and the weight of his stare buckled her knees. This man could dismantle her with a mere glance.
“Yeah, you would.” His voice was soft but rough. Feathers and sandpaper. Every rumble reverberated through Everly’s core.
Heat rushed to her face, and she almost fell as her arms went slack. They were too close together for him to be talking to her in that tone. Like he wanted to devour every inch of her. She was liable to pounce on him and do unconscionable things to this man she’d only kissed three times.
She stumbled to her feet and cleared her throat. “Does your fancy apartment come equipped with water?” Her whole mouth was dry as sand.
“We should probably eat, too, before the pizza gets cold.” His face had regained that stoic expression, except for this tiny tip to the right corner of his lips that told her he knewexactlywhat effect he’d had on her, and he was enjoying it.
As he unearthed some glasses and plates, Everly wandered a little deeper into the apartment. The open floor plan was sparsely filled and decorated in neutral shades of gray and blue with white accents. The fewpieces of furniture that filled the space were mostly sleek and modern, everything clean lines and leather and steel. She would have believed she was standing in a store showroom rather than a home, if not for the dog toys and blankets strewn everywhere, which added a lived-in feel. On the walls, New England sports memorabilia and movie posters (mostly older action films likeDie HardandPredatorandCon Air) hung in perfectly symmetrical lines and rows.
The sound of shuffling behind her pulled Everly’s attention to her feet, where she spotted Alan face-deep in her purse. She tried to shoo him away, but he emerged with a pen and beelined for an open doorway off the living room.
Logan was setting plates on the bar that separated the kitchen from the dining area. “Oh, that’s going in the toilet,” he said.
His words were followed by the distinctplopof plastic meeting water. Everly ducked into the (incredibly clean) bathroom to retrieve her pen, only to have the Chihuahua mix prance back in behind her, this time with her compact in his mouth.
She pried the silver case from between his teeth and returned to the kitchen. “Your dogs are oddballs,” she declared as she moved her purse safely to the counter. “I’m surprised you don’t come home to find everything you own in the toilet.”
“I leave them with a babysitter to avoid that fate.”
“What’s the worst thing he’s thrown in there?”
Logan scratched at his beard. The skritching sound sent a pleasant tremor up Everly’s spine. “He likes to ‘help’ me unpack the groceries,” he threw some air quotes, “so probably a loaf of bread.”
Everly crouched in front of Alan. “Not the bread. Bread is sacred, buddy.”
Alan balanced his front paws on her knees and licked the tip of her nose. A valid response.
Everly felt Logan’s gaze settling on her. “He doesn’t do that for everyone. Just the really good people.”
His tone suggested there was more to what he was saying than the words that came out of his mouth. Her stomach flipped. Not knowing what else to do, she gathered the plates and set them at the four-seat glass table in the dining area.
He followed with the pizza, and for a few minutes, they were quiet as they ate.
“Hey, this is kind of our first date.” It was, after all, the first time they’d shared a meal. Everly held out her half-eaten slice for a toast.
Logan frowned. “I’m sorry.” He rubbed at the back of his neck. “It’s been a long day. I just wanted to come home. I didn’t even think—”
