Logan's smile softened as he turned to walk down a separate path. His shirt was still missing the sleeve, but he strutted like he was wearing a tuxedo. I wished he wasn't so damn attractive. I didn't want to keep looking at him, but my eyes wouldn’t leave his form. When he finally turned the corner, I shook my head, trying to clear the image of him from my mind.
“Tyler?” I pulled my arm away and turned so that we were facing one another. He was no longer pale, but he still looked shaken by the day's events. I felt horribly for having scared him so badly. “I really want to thank you. You saved my life.”
I was expecting him to blush or shrug, but instead he bit his cheek and looked down at the ground. He looked like he had a terrible secret.
“What's wrong?” I asked, putting my hands on his shoulders. He fidgeted slightly, but didn't attempt to escape.
“I didn't save you. Logan did.” He dug the toe of his shoe into a small pile of sand, refusing to look up at me.
“What do you mean? Logan said you were the hero.” I squeezed his shoulders slightly and waited as he deepened the hole with his foot. He took a slow breath before he spoke.
“When I saw you fall, I swam over to you as fast as I could, screaming the whole way.” He looked up tentatively at me, his big brown eyes unsure of what I was going to think of him. “I got to you first, but with my life jacket and the waves, I could barely hold onto you. I was able to get your head above the water, but you would have drowned if Logan hadn't shown up.”
“So, Logan was the one who got me to calmer waters?” I asked, keeping my voice gentle.
Tyler nodded, his face crumpling. “I didn't even get the jet-ski and your life jacket until he told me to. I didn't know what to do. You weren't moving. All I could think was that you were dead.”
I pulled him to me in a hug, and his skinny arms wrapped around my waist in reciprocation as he buried his face in my shoulder. I held him tightly, smoothing the hair on the back of his head. I could feel his fear and shame vibrating through him. He thought he had somehow failed me.
The idea that Logan would forfeit the glory to a skinny teenager baffled me. The Logan Hayes I knew loved the spotlight. He relished being the golden boy who could do no wrong. If reporters were here, he would have posed for pictures and signed autographs as “Logan Hayes: Hero.” But, according to Tyler's story, he hadn't done that. He had given Tyler all the credit and accepted a supporting role. I was sure there had to be a trick behind it.
“Tyler,” I said quietly. He sniffled and pulled his face out of my shoulder to look at me. I smiled down at him. “Tyler, if you hadn't been there, I would have drowned regardless of Logan’s intervention. If he's giving you the credit, then you deserve it. I owe you a lot. If Logan says you saved me, then you saved me. He wouldn't lie about something like that. The man likes his spotlight too much.”
Tyler frowned. “But Aunt Liv, I really didn't do anything special.”
“I think you did. You are my hero, Tyler. I'm very proud of you.”
Tyler thought for a moment, and his frown slowly morphed into a bashful smile. “I'm glad you're okay, Aunt Liv.”
“Me too,” I said, giving him one last squeeze before releasing him. “Now, let's get you back to your mom.”
“You sure you want to do that? You know she's going to be furious with you,” Tyler told me, positioning my arm over his shoulder again. “I can't save you from her.”
I laughed. “It will be painful. But, I'd rather get her lecture on life jacket safety over with before we go to dinner.”
“The trick is to say you're sorry. A lot. And give her hugs. Whenever she gets mad, it's really just because she's actually worried,” Tyler said knowingly. I stopped short and he turned to look up at me.
“You are a smart kid, you know that?”
He shrugged. “Nah, I just know my mom.”
Chapter 8
I checked my hair in the mirror one last time before opening the door to leave. My injury was barely visible, but I was surprised my ears weren't still red from the lecture Maddy had given me. She delivered a talking to that would have made my own mother pat her on the back for a job well done.
I had followed Tyler's advice and apologized profusely, promising never to take my life jacket off again, and then hugged her. She had stared at me for a moment before hugging me back like I had just been resurrected from the dead, but that was the end of the lecture.
Smoothing one last flyaway strand of dirty-blonde hair up into my loose bun, I felt pleased with my overall appearance. I wore a light blue chiffon dress with a sparkly rhinestone belt that hid a multitude of sins but still showed my curves. It was casual and elegant at the same time. Maddy had suggested that I put my hair
up with this dress, and I had to admit that with the addition of some dangling earrings, I looked pretty darn good.
I gave one last photographer-ready smile to the mirror, opened the door, and promptly smacked into a wall of solid muscle in a suit.
“I'm so sorry,” I apologized as I backed away from the figure I had just run into. “I didn't see you there.”
“No problem at all, Olivia,” Logan said warmly. I felt my cheeks heat instantly. Of all the people to crash into, I had to crash into him. This was just not my day. With an appreciative eye, he ogled me up and down, making me want to hit him upside the head. “You are stunning.”
“Thank you,” I huffed, simultaneously enjoying and resenting the compliment. “You look nice yourself.”