Logan (Carolina Reapers 4)

“Tommy Trunkle is...he’s...a jerk.” Each word was deliberate.

My eyebrows lifted. “Do you need me to kill him?” Tommy lived next door and was the same grade as Kaitlynn—a junior in high school, but he’d never been mean.

“No. I don’t want him dead.”

“Okay, then what’s going on? Did you tell Mom and Dad?” I pulled off the interstate and made the turn that had almost become second nature to me.

“Yeah. Mom says I can’t hate him just because he has a girlfriend. But I do.”

My stomach plummeted. Her differences were becoming more and more apparent to her, and high school was already a bitch to the neurotypical teens, let alone one with her differences.

“Yeah, Mom’s right. Having a girlfriend isn’t really hate-him material, but I’ll tell you what. I’ll glare at him really hard when I’m home next, okay?”

“We can do it together,” she replied, a laugh in her voice.

“I’m down with that.” I pulled into the parking lot of the library and heard Mom’s voice in the background.

“Mom says it’s dinner time,” Kaitlynn said with a sigh.

“Then you’d better go eat dinner. I love you, Kate.” I found a spot and parked the R8.

“I love you, Logan. Mom!”

There was a shuffling sound, and Mom came onto the line.

“Logan?”

“Hey, Mom.” A pang of homesickness struck me. Usually I was good living here. Hell, I’d spent four years at the University of Denver once I’d finally given myself permission to leave them and go to college, but some days I just really missed them.

“Where are you headed off to? A Valentine’s Day date?” Her tone lifted into that tone that put me on alert.

“No, Mom. I’m dropping off a gift to a friend and picking up a book at the library, and then I’m headed to the airport. We play in LA tomorrow.” I glanced toward the small package on the passenger seat and straightened my tie in the rear-view mirror.

“Oh, come on. Surely there’s some girl that’s caught your eye. They’re not all as heinous as the last one, you know.”

“Right.” It was definitely time to change the subject. “Mom, what’s up with Tommy and Kate? She seems pretty miffed.” I grabbed Delaney’s present and killed the engine, waiting the requisite second for the call to transfer to my cell.

“I think she has a crush. It’s...he just doesn’t see her like that.”

That drop-bottomed-stomach feeling hit me again as I stepped out of the car and closed the door behind me. “I hate that for her.”

“Me, too. But she’s spending more time at the life skills house after school, so hopefully that will keep her from dwelling on it too much.”

I sighed as I locked the R8’s doors and headed toward the library.

“Logan, don’t take this on. Don’t. I know you’re going to want to fix it, and you just can’t, honey.” How many times had she said that in the past?

“It’s just not fair. It never is to her.”

“I know. No, he doesn’t have a date!” she called out.

There was a shuffling sound again as I opened the back door and walked into the library.

“Don’t listen to your mother. If you want to be single, go be single. You want to date, go date,” Dad lectured with a laugh. “No, I’m not telling him that. I don’t care who he’s giving a gift to, Sally. No.” His chuckling brought a smile to my face, and I could picture them there, setting up for dinner, joking about the day.

“Gotcha. I’m actually here now,” I said as I turned the corner into the main part of the library. Delaney stood at the circulation desk talking to a customer who was leaned over a little too much of the counter for my comfort.

“Well, don’t let us stop you from gift-giving. No, Sally, I’m not saying that, either. You’ll see him next month. You get in your mama hen preaching then. No, he’s not going to go infertile in the next ten years if he doesn’t give you grandbabies. Ahh! Don’t!”

“Ha! I got the phone back!” Mom exclaimed.

I grinned. “Tickled him in the side, didn’t you?” I asked, staying back and letting Delaney finish with Mr. Too-Close-For-Just-Business.

“Works like a charm every time. Okay, go do your thing, Logan. We love you.”

“I love you.”

“Text when you get there!” She hung up before I could respond, just like she did every time. She always thought saying goodbye was bad luck, and therefore used the abrupt cutoff.

“What are you so happy about?” Delaney asked as she came around the desk, a smile on her incredible lips. She was pulling off a buttoned-up fifties vibe today with a fluffed-out skirt and red sweater with hearts.

“My family,” I answered. “They always put me in a good mood.”

“Whoa, so no dark and tortured broody past for you, huh?” She cocked her head to the side. “Funny, we always talk about the nows and never the befores. We should work on that.”