“Damn, she was a badass.” I bite my lip, details of the story still bouncing in my head. “But you said it yourself. Her family ran the town. What happened?”
“They battled it out in court. I dropped the homeschooling and went to a private school while the lawsuit went on.”
“I never pictured you in private school.”
He flashes a tight smile. “It was a nest of delinquents who’d been kicked out of every other school. But at least the news coverage gave me street cred there. Everyone was terrified of me.”
“News coverage?”
“Oh, yeah, her grandfather’s newspaper ran several pieces about the lawsuit and me. I was fucking mortified.” He glances down and flicks bits of sand off his jeans. “I loved Em for caring so damn much.”
“What’d Jigsaw do?”
“They couldn’t afford to send both of us to the private school.” He scoffs. “Jiggy wanted to stay put anyway.”
“Let me guess, he wanted to exact revenge? Oh, God, what did Jiggy do?”
He smirks. “Nothing he didn’t enjoy.”
“Oh my God! Ew. So he really…”
Rooster shrugs.
“Poor Jiggy.” I sigh. “You know, when he told that happy-go-lucky version of losing his virginity at the bonfire, I thought he was a jerk for screwin’ your girlfriend, but now…”
“What?”
“I feel kinda sorry for him.”
He snorts as if he’s not surprised at my reaction. “I’m sure he’d tell you a much more flattering version of events.”
“Everyone has their own version of the truth.”
“Now that’s a song if I’ve ever heard one.” He taps my arm. “Got your notebook on you?”
Damn it, he’s right. I tug the tiny purple notebook out of my pocket and matching mini pen. The sea breeze ruffles the pages and I hurry to jot the line down.
“Thank you.” I tuck the notebook into my sweatshirt pocket and tip my head back. “You really get me.”
He kisses my forehead.
“Go on. Please tell me someone finally whooped Ashley’s ass?”
“I wish.” His shoulders tense up again. “Maybe six or eight months into the lawsuit, the judge pulled all the parties in for a conference. He was a friend of Ashley’s father—”
“How the hell—”
He holds up a hand, cutting me off. “Our lawyers were worried about it too but couldn’t get him removed. I guess it didn’t matter. That day, he berated everyone involved in kicking me out of school. The principal, Ashley’s parents, the school board. The judge strongly advised the school and Ashley’s parents to settle with my family. It wasn’t going to be a jury trial like on television. The judge made it clear which way he was leaning.”
“Wow. Someone finally had some common sense.”
“Yeah, I got to sit in on the conference that day.” Logan’s mouth twitches into a bitter-sweet smile. “He tore into her parents for raising such a spoiled brat. After all the humiliation, it was vindicating in a way.”
“They upended your whole life. Ruined your reputation. Over nothing. No amount of money could repair the damage they caused.”
“No, but at least it was something. The newspaper went bankrupt. Ashley’s parents lost everything. Her father was removed from the mayor’s office. The bank took their home and the lake house.”
“Ahhh, so the princess lost her fancy lifestyle. Now I understand why she’s still such a salty bitch.”
He shrugs. “We ended up moving. The settlement gave my aunt and uncle enough to buy a house. Some vehicles for Jiggy and me. My uncle bought the bar. The rest of the money they socked away. Jiggy and I returned to public school but we kept to ourselves.”
“So things had a happy ending of sorts.”
He blows out a long, slow breath. “I guess you could say that. Sure made me never want to get close to another person again.”
I give him an affectionate poke in the side. “I dunno, it sounds like you were a bit of a player.”
He tilts his head, a sheepish smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Maybe.” More seriously he adds, “I never got close enough to anyone I trusted with my parents’ story again, though.”
“Logan,” I sigh. “I love you so, so much.” I think over his statement. “Until me, you hadn’t had a serious girlfriend since high school?”
“Ah,” his gaze slips to the side. “No. My first charter, the club I patched-in to, there was a girl there…” his voice trails off.
Wait a second, we’re supposed to stop by that clubhouse when we pass through Washington, aren’t we?
“You break her heart?” I ask.
“No.” He slicks his hands through his hair. “But her dad tried to shoot me.” He coughs and looks away. “Hopper was the president of the charter at the time.”
I’m probably going to hell, but I burst into giggles. “Isn’t that a serious no-no? Dating the president’s daughter?”
He shrugs. “It was worse because I was a prospect. He didn’t find out until after they patched me in, though. And he was pissed.”