Of Love & Regret (Madison & Logan 1)

He opened the door and turned to me. His face was impassive when he spoke, and I couldn’t tell if he was being matter-of-fact or if he was trying to hurt me. “Your relationship with Logan will never last.”

I didn’t bother to respond to his parting words, and was relieved when I closed the door behind him. I winced as I grazed the cut inside my cheek with my tongue. I had never been scared of Adam while we had been together, and although I didn’t excuse the fact that he had gotten physically abusive, I attributed his uncharacteristic behavior today to alcohol.

Though Adam had left, my adrenaline was still running high, and I tried to calm myself with a glass of wine. I didn’t want Logan to see me upset, and I especially didn’t want to tell him about what had happened between me and Adam. I decided to tell him that Adam had come over because I didn’t want to hide anythi

ng from him, but I knew he wouldn’t be able to handle hearing that Adam had struck me, so I decided to omit that part.

It was past nine o’clock by the time Logan arrived bearing cartons of Thai take-out.

“You must be starving,” he said as he dropped a quick kiss on my mouth and set the bag of food on the coffee table. “Sorry I’m so late.”

“It’s okay.” Logan’s presence had a calming effect on me, and I could almost forget the ugliness of what had happened earlier with Adam. “I had a snack while I waited for you.”

Logan slipped his hand to the back of my neck and pulled me closer for a longer kiss when he stopped abruptly with a frown. “What happened to your face?”

The red, angry mark on my cheek where Adam had struck me had faded, but it was now turning into the beginnings of an ugly bruise.

“I tripped over my own feet, and my cheek hit the side of the coffee table.” I made a self-deprecating face. “I guess gracefulness isn’t one of my traits.”

Logan’s frown deepened as he tilted my head up by my chin and studied the bruise. “You must have hit it pretty hard to leave a mark like that. It must have been painful. You should have called me.”

I made a face at him. “For what? To tell you that I’m clumsy and apparently can’t walk without tripping over my own two feet? It looks a lot worse than it is. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Poor baby,” he murmured as his lips grazed my cheek lightly, the touch barely a whisper. I instinctively melted into him, stirred by how gentle this strong man could be. Despite my growing desire, my stomach interrupted with a loud grumbling.

“Sorry,” I said with a laugh, feeling slightly embarrassed. “I guess I’m hungrier than I thought.”

Logan grinned. “It’s okay. There’s plenty of time for that later.”

We laid out the take-out on the coffee table and dug into cartons of Pad Thai and chicken curry. We caught up on our daily happenings, and I purposely waited until we were done eating to bring up the topic of Adam.

“Adam stopped by today,” I said after we had cleaned up and settled back onto the couch. “I wasn’t expecting him, but I guess he felt like we still had some things we needed to talk about.”

Logan’s body went from relaxed to tense in a matter of seconds. “What exactly did he think you two needed to talk about?” His voice was calm, but I didn’t miss the tightening of his jaw.

“Nothing we hadn’t discussed before. I think because our relationship ended so abruptly, he needed some time to process it. He had some things he wanted to get off his chest.” There was no need to tell Logan about how drunk he had been or the ugly things he had revealed.

Logan didn’t accept my vague explanation and pushed for more. “Like what?”

“Well,” I started slowly, trying to determine how much I should tell him. “He wanted to see if we could give our relationship another try. Obviously, I told him there was no way that was going to happen. I wasn’t planning on telling him about us, because it’s none of his business, but he saw your cufflinks.” I gestured towards them on the coffee table. “He got upset and accused me of cheating on him with you while we were still together. I told him we didn’t start a relationship until after he and I had broken up and then he left.” I shrugged as I finished my explanation. “That’s about it.”

Logan’s expression had progressively darkened as I spoke until he was scowling fiercely. It reaffirmed my decision not to tell him everything. If he was this upset about the glossed-over version of what had happened, I didn’t want to see his reaction if he knew the entire truth.

“Call me the next time he decides to unexpectedly drop by. I have a few things I want to say to him.” His words weren’t necessarily menacing, but his tone and expression said otherwise.

“I doubt that’s going to happen. We said everything that needed to be said. There’s nothing left to talk about.”

Logan’s expression remained grim. “Then maybe I should pay him a visit. I don’t like the idea of him thinking that he can drop by whenever he wants. Plus, I never got to tell him what an asshole I think he is.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at his show of machismo. While I appreciated the sentiment behind it, I didn’t need Logan to act like a proprietary caveman. It was a trait that I was growing increasingly aware of, and I definitely didn’t like it.

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” I said, trying to hide my impatience with his attitude. “I made it clear to Adam that things are over between us. Besides, it’s not like I’m exactly guilt-free. If I’m being completely honest, things got complicated between us before I broke up with him, and I did refuse his proposal. I can understand why he’s upset.”

I had felt a lot guiltier about the circumstances of our breakup, but after Adam’s revelations today, I just felt lucky to have not wasted another minute on him. Logan didn’t seem pacified by my reasoning. Instead, he looked even more irritated.

“So, now you’re defending him? He wasted three years of your life, and now you’re on his side?”

“You’re not even making sense,” I said, not bothering to hide my exasperation anymore. “How am I defending him? And it’s not really fair to say he wasted three years of my life. I chose to spend three years with him. He didn’t hold me at gunpoint to have a relationship with him.”