Situating himself in the corner of his sectional couch, he pulls her to rest against his side, offering her comfort. He waits patiently as Avery takes deep breaths, hoping to calm herself down.
"You're not going to like what I have to tell you."
"I doubt that's true, but we won't know until you tell me."
"Right."
She takes a few more deeps breaths - in through her nose, out through her mouth - and then she rests her head on his chest, pulling his arm tighter around her lithe body, using him as a shield from her demons.
"My grandmother passed away last week."
Logan looks down at her during her admission, but she offers no moment of silence for his commiserations.
"I hated her. With every fiber of my being, I hated her."
And then she launches into the story of her childhood, and of her sister, Aria. Logan is in complete awe at how strong this woman is - his woman. Because now, after listening to only a portion of her story, he can't help but feel an even deeper need to protect her.
"I was eighteen when I took Aria away from that hell. It's also when I met Nick. He was the sweetest guy I never knew I could have. And when he proposed I never thought twice about my answer."
Spurts of jealousy detonate beneath his skin, but Logan quickly squashes the emotion. He already knows the nature of this tale won't be a good one.
"I blame myself; one-hundred percent blame myself. Aria had a dentist appointment and I didn't think to reschedule my meeting to take her, so Nick offered. I hated having to depend on him to do it. But instead of coming up with another way, I thanked him and went on my way. And it was the weirdest thing; when we were all saying goodbye that morning, it was like we all knew something bad was going to happen. Nick and Aria were crushed at an intersection when a tractor-trailer overturned, taking a right-handed turn too tight. He was carrying some big highway concrete material. Nick's little car didn't stand a chance.”
"Oh, Avery. I'm so sorry, sweetheart."
Avery doesn't even acknowledge his sympathy. She shrugs her shoulders and continues.
"I don't remember grieving, per se, I simply lived day-to-day to finish school and get a job. It's what Mila had worked so hard for and I refused to disappoint her. I got a job working with Nikki's cousin, Melanie, and her now-husband, Max. Of course, I worked with them prior to their elopement.” For a moment, she chuckles quietly, a whisper of a smile crossing her lips.
“Ha, I didn't even know they were interested in each other. That's how much I paid attention to the goings on around me.
“Anyway, we were all working one day, when this guy Declan is at the main desk talking to Max. I hadn't met anyone like him before and he really wasn't what I would have thought I'd ever be attracted to, but I was. He was totally cocky and didn't even give me a chance to turn down a date. He pulled me out of the fog I had been in and I thought that finally, my life was going to turn around.
“We talked about marriage about six months after we started dating. We were both really excited.” She stares into the distance, unblinking
. “Then he got sick - really sick. He had an inoperable brain tumor that continued to grow, crushing everything in its path. As you can imagine, he didn't last much longer after the diagnosis. I lasted two more years after he passed away before Melanie gave me the chance to move here and start over.
“I kill the people I love Logan and I refuse to let something happen to you. I don't even know if I have anything left to give you, but I know I don’t have any more strength to watch you die."
Logan sits there in silence as she wipes the tears from under her eyes. He can't say it doesn't hurt to hear that she had been claimed before, that if not for these horrific accidents in her life, they never would have crossed paths.
"I'm sorry, Avery. No one should ever have to go through what you've been through, heck, not even a smidgen of what you've been through. I wish I would have had the chance to meet Aria, Nick, and Declan, especially seeing how much you loved them."
"You probably didn't want to hear about other men, but I needed you to understand."
"Understand what?"
She looks up at him, a shocked and confused expression on her face.
"Understand why I can't be more than friends with you."
"Avery," Logan says, reaching up and bringing her face closer to his. "We're already more than friends."
And then he seals his lips over hers to prove his point. And just as he expected, her body responds immediately. She makes no move to touch him, but her kiss says everything she refuses to verbalize.
Pulling herself away, she keeps her face a few inches from his.
"I don't want anything to happen to you. I wouldn't be able to handle it. I don't know when or how, but you already mean more than anyone else has, ever."