Chapter 12

12

M orning meant a gradual slide into consciousness—sunshine drenching the backs of my lids in orange, my arm around Logan’s chest where I lay tucked up against his back. Slowly, I shifted away and raised myself up to study him.

Sleep had wiped all tension from his features. His lips were parted to release quietly snuffling breaths, gold-tipped lashes fanned out against his cheeks, rays of morning light glinting in his hair and on his forehead, sharpening the bridge of his nose. In five days, he’d be gone.

It didn’t carry the same urgency as the three-seconds-to- boom moment that action movies loved to exploit. But to me, it loomed just as large.

I wanted to keep him.

After Michael, I’d trained myself out of needing anyone—or rather, I’d trained myself out of needing a guy to hold my hand. Friends, though? Nia and Katie were my chosen family. My life was better because of them. Was it wrong to want people like that in my life? People who lifted me up rather than knocked me down.

Logan didn’t stifle me. He...

He made me happy .

‘Isn’t that what most people want?’

I shoved the tangled sheet off my body, slid out of bed, and gathered my clothes. For a long moment, I stood in the doorway to study him, my skin paper-thin and taut with something like hope.

I needed to talk to Nia. It was her turn to take the Blueberry Seas for a refill, so she’d be up and out already. If I hurried, I might just catch her before she left. I dressed quickly and thought about leaving a note but couldn’t find the words, thoughts buzzing like flies. So I tore a blank page out of a notebook Logan had half-filled with his chicken scratch thesis scribbles, drew a smiling face, and left it on my side of the bed.

My side of the bed . God.

The door clicked shut with a strange sort of poignance as I left the cabin. As usual, there was something magical about the resort this early in the morning—a slumbering giant, set to wake once the first guests called for breakfast. A hummingbird darted over the path, butterflies staggering between blossoms as though drunk on nectar, the surrounding jungle jostling with life.

I skipped a coffee detour—fortunate, as I found Nia already on the boat, about to start the engine. She waited for me to hop aboard, both of us quiet until we’d made it out of the bay. I hugged her from behind, hunching to rest my chin on her shoulder, and she leaned back. A gentle breeze rushed through the open windows of the wheelhouse, the radio crackling with occasional static. Quiet hour on the marine channel.

Sunlight bounced off the waves, and I blinked into the brightness. “I’m in love with Logan.”

“Yeah.” Nia hummed. “I figured.”

“Thought you considered love a Hollywood special?”

“I said most of the time. Like, nine out of ten. Also, interesting discussions need strong opinions.” She raised her hand to greet a passing fishing boat.

“And you think…” I wasn’t sure how to continue, too many questions bumping up against each other. The sun was iridescent in my eyes, the sea a band of white gold that melted into the horizon .

“I think so many things,” Nia said. “Take your pick.”

“How did you know?” I asked.

She was quiet for a second. “You don’t let people in easily. Once you do, you’re all in—but for me, it took a year to sneak past those walls you built. And being a woman, that probably helped. Because I’m safe, you know.”

My thoughts were in a tangled heap, blurred around the edges. I settled on the most important. “You’re also my best friend.”

“There’s that, yeah.” She pressed a smile against my cheek. “But, to answer your question: Logan’s different. It’s like something about him just clicked for you. You trust him. You tell him things you haven’t told anyone here other than me—like about your parents. Also, you look at him like the sun shines out of his arse.”

“It’s a nice ass,” I said because that part… That part was easy.

“I won’t argue with the truth.”

We were silent for a moment, the engine rumbling gently under our feet.

“I haven’t told him about Michael,” I said then.

“Do you want to?” Nia asked.

“I…” I trailed off because yeah, maybe. But also, what if it changed things? What if Logan saw me differently once he knew—as weaker, as naive and stupid, easily manipulated?

God, if only I’d approached him back then, the first time I’d seen him. I’d been painfully insecure, sure, but something might have clicked anyway, we might have made plans to meet up in Miami, too young to really stand a chance. But what if we’d lasted long enough for my life to take a better turn? What if we’d lasted ?

If and when and might have—just guideposts to avoiding reality.

“I think he cares.” I hesitated, grappling for words that proved capricious. “Logan, I mean. About me. Like… He told me he wouldn’t hook up with anyone else, that there is no one else. That’s… something. Right?”

“That’s a lot.” Nia snorted. “And for the record, he looks at you like he’ll buy whatever you’re willing to sell. ”

“Yeah?” I didn’t love the uncertainty coloring my tone, but there it was.

She nodded. “Yeah.”

I licked salty sea air off my lips and inhaled, brightness filling my eyes. “Then I’ll tell him. If he reacts badly?—”

“He won’t,” she cut in.

“—then at least I tried, you know? To be honest. Because if I’m not…” I paused, my stupid heart thumping against my ribs. “Like, if I want to hold on to him somehow—and I don’t even know how—but I gotta be honest, right? It’s part of who I am. And he lives in Miami, so if I ever visit him…”

“Deep breath, babe. One step at a time.”

Right. Okay. I closed my eyes and leaned into her, the familiar thrum of the boat vibrating from the soles of my feet all the way up to my stomach and collarbones. The gentle sway of the waves was grounding.

“There you go,” Nia murmured. “That’s a good boy.”

I hitched up one corner of my mouth. “Don’t patronize me.”

“It would never even occur to me.” The words carried a smile. I blinked my eyes open to return it, my stomach a little light with the idea of it all—opening myself up, trying for a future. But I would. I would .

“What about you?” I asked Nia.

“Me?” She slowed down the Blueberry Seas, Luis’s station already in sight.

“You and Tom,” I said. “What about that?”

“I feel like we’ve turned into an episode of Gossip Girl .”

“You’re ducking the question.”

For a second, she was silent. Then she sighed. “I really like him.”

“Oh my God.” I moved back just enough to stare at her, and she fluttered a dismissive hand in the air.

”Oh, piss off.”

“I’ll do no such thing.” I grinned. “Oh my God .”

”Sound any more gay, I dare you.”

“ Darling .” I let my voice go breathy and enthusiastic. “I am flummoxed. Flabbergasted. Drowning in a fabulous, sparkly ocean of wonder.”

“You are an embarrassment to your people,” she told me, lips twitching.

“I’m a spectacle ,” I corrected, then clasped her elbow. “You want to date Tom. You ! In a relationship!”

“I don’t want a relationship.” She narrowed her eyes, sunlight catching flecks of amber in her dark irises. “I just want to hang around him a lot. And have hot sex. Also a lot.”

“Sounds like a relationship to me,” I said.

She frowned, slowing down even further as the pier drew close. “No label, though. No... I don’t know. No promises.”

“You said you wouldn’t be fine with him sleeping around.”

Her frown deepened. “No.”

“Are you planning to hook up with anyone other than him?”

“No.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“Labels come with rules, Milo. And expectations.” She squinted at the bright surface of the sea, the shoreline unfurling before us. Lush trees tumbled down to meet the water. “Like checking in on the regular, talking about my feelings and all. I’m not wired to think of myself as part of a ‘we’.”

“You’re still you. It’s not… You’re still you .” Fuck. This hit close—Nia wasn’t the only one with hangups here, and if I wanted a future with Logan… God, I did. So unless I was fine with casual... No. Even the thought of him with someone else hurt.

Funny how easy it was to dissect Nia’s love life, but when it came to my own, I got squeamish.

“No, I know,” she said. “Tom’s not the type to turn me inside out. But caring about someone means they’ll have some sway over your decisions and plans. I’m not sure I’m ready for that.” Her gaze focused on me, sudden clarity flashing across her features. “That’s true for you, too. How are you not running for the hills?”

“I’m seriously considering it.” I inhaled. “But most relationships aren’t like Michael and me. They’re not, like, a hostile takeover. More of a merger, maybe. And you get veto power.”

Nia turned the boat to align with the pier. “Since when are you Mr. Yes We Can?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m just…” My words fell into a sudden lull when she turned off the engine. I lowered my voice. “Maybe I’m just done with letting Michael define how I live my life. I mean, just because he was a manipulative bastard doesn’t mean every guy is.”

“That’s…” Nia glanced at where Luis was heading for us, baseball cap and weathered smile firmly in place. “That’s surprisingly wise,” she finished.

“That’s me,” I said. “Wise beyond my years.”

Nia snorted. “Hardly,” she said, but her eyes were soft.

Before I could think of a suitably sarcastic response, Luis was upon us with a resounding, “What a pleasure!” His yellowing teeth showed gaps. “Both of you, together! Sleep well, I hope?”

The implication was characteristically unsubtle. I considered a rebuke only for Nia to huff out a laugh—and really, yeah. Luis was as delicate as a shipwreck, but somehow, his old-school bluntness was comforting. Behind him, the little station still clung to its worn-out charm that blended practicality with eccentricity. Coconut slices waited by the pump, fresh and ready for anyone who needed a snack or some shaky advice.

I let my mouth curve into a smile, small but genuine. Just another day in paradise.

Logan was quiet on the way to the dive site, sprawled on a bench with his eyes closed while other guests bustled around him. Tom and Kyle seemed to notice as well, trying to rope him into conversations a couple of times before they gave up. While Tom went to chat with Nia, Kyle moved to the front of the boat to take pictures of the island, glistening like green silk under the morning sun .

Once I was done equipping three new guests with weights, I sat down next to Logan, close enough that I could twitch my hand over and nudge a finger against his shoulder. “Hey. Something the matter?”

He twisted his head to send me a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Just gearing up for a conversation later today.”

“You breaking up with me?” I was careful to make it sound like a joke—just kidding, haha.

But. What if?

“No.” Logan wasn’t laughing. He sat up and propped both elbows on his knees, watching me through steady eyes. “It’s just… family expectations, kind of. Something I need to do. I’ll tell you after, okay?”

Something about his tone was off, too much hesitance tucked into its folds. Not unusual when it came to his family, though. As someone who’d been there, I knew how hard it was to shake a deeply ingrained sense of inadequacy.

“Can you stay?” I asked. “After the dive. I was thinking we could take the boat for a spin, have lunch in a little bay. Just us, you know? But if you have to leave for that conversation—I mean, that’s fine. I should have checked before making plans.”

Except I’d been too nervous. Yeah, I’d packed sandwiches and some fruit, a couple of beers. Asking Logan, though? I’d kind of chickened out when he and Tom had walked up to help us carry the gear, talking quietly with each other and falling silent when they caught sight of us. All morning, Nia had made quiet clucking sounds whenever I passed.

Well, I’d just asked. So there.

“Lunch on the boat sounds great,” Logan said. This time, the smile reached his eyes, reflected sun sparkling in his hair. “I’d love to.”

“Okay, great. Awesome .” Ugh, he made me feel like a stuttering teenager all over again. I might have minded if not for the way he looked at me, all sweet intensity. Heat itched along the back of my neck—the slow smolder of arousal, yes, but also more .

“Milo,” Logan started, only then Nia called out a five-minute warning and everyone scrambled to get ready.

“Hold that thought,” I told him.

“Yeah, all right.” He nodded, his words low and fond. “Go do your thing. I’ll be right here, watching.”

I got up and paused for a deliberate, lingering stretch, my voice pitched so it wouldn’t carry. “You know, if you need help putting your gear on… I’m a professional.”

His mouth quirked up. “That so?”

“Mhmm.” I moved around him to grab my wetsuit, brushing his knee as if by accident. “We’re talking personal attention here. Deeply intense experiences, feels like you’re flying.”

“Quite the promise.” Logan’s smile shone through.

“Well.” I slid him a subtle glance, my attention caught by the hollow of his throat. A faint bruise darkened the skin, almost invisible unless you knew what to look for. As I’d been the one to mark him up, fucking him slow and deep with my teeth dragging along his Adam’s apple—I knew. I bit down on a grin. “You’ve had some time to sample our services. What’s your verdict?”

He tilted his head, mouth curving into something slow and secretive. “Exceeded expectations. I might be ruined for all other, uh… dive instructors.”

Joking. Or not?

I held his eyes for a moment, then aimed for a smirk, ignoring the warm flush of my cheeks. “Thank you. Please be sure to leave a five-star review.”

His low laugh felt like a caress. He didn’t reply, but his gaze lingered, heavy with promise, as I slipped into my wetsuit.

I fought a smile and lost.

The sea was calm when we arrived in the secluded bay, jagged cliffs casting shade that drenched the water in deeper hues of blue. We sat on the swim platform at the back of the boat, feet dangling over the edge, half-eaten food and two sweating bottles of beer behind us. All I’d had were a few pieces of Luis’s coconut earlier this morning, but I wasn’t all that hungry, my gut twisted into a child’s attempt at a sailor’s knot.

Nothing forced me to tell Logan today. I could leave it until tomorrow, or his last day on the island. I could fail to tell him at all—keep him at arm’s length until he went back to his life in Miami while I stayed right here as though I’d never known him.

Except for how I’d look in the mirror and see a coward.

I swallowed the splinters in my throat and grasped for some kind of way to open this conversation. “You know, I’m not really supposed to use the Blueberry Seas for private stuff like this.”

Logan shot me a bright look from underneath his lashes, amusement etched into the corners of his mouth. “Define ‘this’?”

Oh, he thought he was cute, didn’t he?

I arched a brow at him. “Trying to charm a guy with my boating prowess and ability to procure beer.”

“Consider me thoroughly impressed.” He leaned back on his hands, gaze sweeping out across the water as a smile played around his lips. “And hey, promise I won’t tell. What if someone sees us, though?”

I’d thought about that. The thing was—hooking up with a guest wouldn’t get me fired. Wanting a future with Logan meant stepping out of the shadows.

“Let them.” I sounded braver than I felt, and maybe he noticed because he turned to face me, suddenly serious.

“Thought you were worried about Richard?”

“He’s looked the other way in the past, like with Nia. No reason to think he won’t do the same when it’s me.” I hesitated, but… this was a time for lions. “Honestly? I think I kind of used the whole ‘don’t get involved with a guest’ rule like a shield. Keep you at a distance, you know? Keep it light.”

Everything about Logan softened—the curve of his mouth and the line of his shoulders. His eyes found mine. “What’s changed?”

I have .

That sounded overly grand. I pulled one leg up to my chest and set my chin on it, not quite able to look at him. “I started to care.”

A moment passed in radiant silence. Then he drew an audible breath and reached across to lightly circle my wrist. “Me too. I care, Milo. I want…”

He trailed off, but it was enough for me. I flipped my hand over to mirror his hold, my thumb brushing over the small, knuckle-like bone that jutted out at his wrist. “Ask me why I left Miami.”

Logan’s expression shifted, surprise sketching a faint furrow between his brows before it cleared. His voice dipped, eyes on me. “Why did you leave Miami?”

“It was…” The words caught on the tip of my tongue. I averted my eyes, tracking the soaring flight of a frigatebird that rode the thermals with barely a flap of its wings. “I was a pretty awkward teenager, you know? Like, all gangly limbs and bad skin, and I’d only just admitted to myself I was gay. So when this cool, older surfer dude picked me out of a small crowd that watched him play the guitar, I felt like I was walking on air. Luckiest guy on the planet.”

Logan stayed quiet, waiting, his fingers light against my skin. I couldn’t quite look at him, but the contact was grounding.

“Michael. That was his name, and it took about five seconds before I thought I was in love with him.” I huffed out a bleak laugh, still squinting at the sky even though I’d lost the bird. “I was seventeen and he was twenty-five, so we had to sneak around at first. But it was glorious. Addictive. He told me I was his everything, made me feel like I was his everything. Like I was made for him. Like he was my reason for existing.”

Logan made a soft noise. “Milo…”

“Yeah. Stupid, right? Hindsight’s kinda twenty-twenty.” I pressed my lips together, and his fingers tightened around my wrist.

“No, c’mon. You were just... being seventeen.”

“I’m not sure I’d have been smarter at twenty-two—not without getting burned first.”

“Sounds like he played on your need to be seen.” Logan’s tone was serious, imploring. “That’s so very human. So how is it your fault? ”

I blinked against the pressure behind my eyes. It was only the second time I shared this story. The first time had been with Nia, and I’d barely managed to get the words out. With Katie, there’d been no need to explain since she’d been there for most of it and was the one who’d finally opened my eyes. ‘Sweetie, you say he loves you. But how can that be true when he wants you to be an extension of himself?’

“He wasn’t mean,” I said, my gaze on a horizon that blurred into infinity. “Just, you know... In some ways, he was probably quite insecure. And that made him controlling. Like where I was, who I talked to, all that stuff.”

“But that’s still—” Logan fell abruptly silent. I glanced over to read the hesitation in the tilt of his mouth.

“Still what?” I asked.

Slowly, he shook his head. “To me, that sounds like abusive behavior. Definitely not what a healthy relationship should be.”

“Yeah, well. It wasn’t a healthy relationship.” I fought to keep my voice even. “That whole thing about how you’re nobody till somebody loves you? What a load of bull. It was the opposite. He erased me. Or... tried, more like. Like he was my sun, and nothing else mattered.” No, that wasn’t right. Words coming fast now, floodgates open. “Actually, no. He was blocking the sun. Cast his shadow on everything—made me ditch my interests, most of my friends...”

“He made you ditch your friends?” A subtle mix of incredulousness and anger had crept into Logan’s question, and was this when he’d judge me after all?

“At first, we were hiding our relationship, right? So time with my friends was time away from him. And then, once I came out and introduced him...” Fuck. I exhaled around the shaky feeling in my chest. “Not everyone liked him. In fact, most didn’t. I thought it was because they had a problem with me being gay. But now? I think it’s true what they told me—they had a problem with him , with how I was when I was with him. So I stopped bringing him along.”

“Let me guess.” Logan scoffed, although it didn’t seem to be at my expense. “He didn’t like that. ”

“Got it in one.” I dragged in a harsh breath and stared at nothing. “Accused me of being ashamed of him.”

“Of course he did.” Logan’s tone was wry and laced with something that I needed a moment to decipher.

“Speaking from personal experience?”

“Ex-boyfriend, my first year in college.” A frown stole its way across Logan’s face. “You’d just love him—total rich kid. He didn’t like that I lived in the dorms, he didn’t like my artsy friends, and oh, yeah, he absolutely hated Kyle.”

Brief amusement eased the tightness of my ribs. “Why—did Kyle try to make him jealous too?”

Logan snorted. “Nah, it was before Kyle appointed himself my personal gold-digger detector. But I thought you guys made up?”

“We did.” Sort of. “What happened with your ex?”

“I tried to explain that I’m not suddenly a package deal. Not saying you should never meet friends together, but not all the time, you know? I’d rather not become that couple that turns every ‘I’ into a ‘we’ without permission.” He lifted a shoulder, his casual air falling short of its mark. “I’m still a person in my own right, and I’d want the same for my boyfriend.”

God, I fucking love you.

“Did it resonate?” I asked around the stumbling mess of my heart.

“No. He made me pick.”

“And you picked your friends,” I said, not a question.

“Yeah. I mean...” He huffed out a breath. “Look, if my friends had been objectively awful, like drug dealers or whatever, that’s a bit different. But they just didn’t fit his idea of a good time, and I guess... At that point, I kind of felt like I had no real right to my family’s money because it was my dad’s—who wasn’t my biological dad, so none of it was mine. And I was trying to figure out who I was without that. So maybe I reacted even more strongly to someone telling me to ditch friends who weren’t rich. Let’s just say it was a harsh breakup.”

“Well, you were smarter than me.” I shifted into a cross-legged seat, my knee pressed against his thigh, my gaze on my hands. “Me, I started seeing my friends less because of Michael. Then I felt bad for seeing them less, so I stopped hanging out with them at all.”

Logan was quiet for a beat, then gave my wrist a light squeeze. “That sucks. I’m sorry.”

I shot him a glance. “It was my fault.”

“You were young.”

“That’s not a blanket excuse.”

“No. But...” He considered it, eyes growing a little distant, flecks of greenish brown mixed in with a blue that mirrored the sea. “He was, what—nine years older?”

“Eight.”

“Eight years older, yeah. And it sounds like he had a real knack for manipulation.”

My chest hurt. “I moved in with him when I was eighteen.”

Logan’s gaze focused on me, a hint of wistfulness in his features. “How did your parents react?”

“They always believed that children should be free to choose their own path.” I swallowed around the sharp taste of acid at the back of my throat, skin stretched parchment-thin. “Even if it took me away from them.”

“You lost touch?” He didn’t sound surprised, and when I managed a nod, he pursed his lips. “Yeah, I gathered there’d been a rift. But they just… They just gave up on you? They’re your parents .”

“They tried. For a couple of years, they tried. But I kept rejecting them—thought I had it all figured out, that I was living on the edge like a true rebel and they just didn’t understand .” I’d been blinded and arrogant, miles deep under Michael’s spell. “It was how Michael wanted it, you know? No one left but him. Nowhere I could run to.”

“But you did.” Logan’s words were quiet, melting into the gentle rhythm of the waves. “You ran.”

“Eventually. And it was a process. I didn’t…” My voice shook, not quite enough air to finish the thought. I sucked in a breath. “I thought I loved him. I didn’t, though—it was more like an addiction, a bad habit you’re trying to kick. I kept falling back into him. Coming here wa s a way to break the cycle. That picture you saw at Katie’s? That was the day I’d received the offer to work here.”

“You know, maybe you don’t give yourself enough credit?” A tentative smile ghosted across Logan’s face. “You held on to some things, didn’t you? Like Katie. Or diving.”

I’d never thought of it like that. “Maybe? I guess. Katie, diving, photography... Yeah. But I also made some money as a dive instructor, ran underwater photography courses for her. Our apartment—the one Michael and I rented—it was too expensive, so we really needed that money. It’s rough, you know? When you’re doing a grocery run and you have to decide whether cheese is a luxury or a necessity.”

“Necessity,” Logan said. “Obviously.”

“How very Marie Antoinette of you.”

“Let them eat cake.” He nodded, mouth quirked up at the corners, before his expression faded into something softer. “Why didn’t you move into a cheaper place?”

“Not so easy to find one. Plus...” I looked away, trying to spot the dark silhouette of the frigatebird again. It must have sailed away. “Every time I suggested we try, Michael felt like it was a slight against his talent. Like I didn’t believe that he and his guitar would make it big one day, and then we’d be able to afford any damn apartment we wanted.”

Logan let out a sharp breath. “He sounds like a real douche. No offense.”

“None taken—he was.”

Logan released his hold on my wrist, but only to cup my cheek and fold me into a warm, light kiss, no more than the faintest brush of our mouths. It feathered off until we simply rested together, foreheads touching.

“Thank you,” he murmured.

“What for?”

“Trusting me with this.”

I let my mouth curve up. “Thank you for earning my trust. It’s not… I don’t trust easily.”

He drew back slightly, eyes finding mine, and rolled his lower lip into his mouth. Hesitation swept across his features as he studied me for a beat. “Do you think...?”

When he trailed off, I raised a brow. “In general? I’d hope so, yes.”

The tightness around his mouth lifted for a small grin that lasted only a second. “Do you think you’re still running?”

“Ask the easy questions, why don’t you?” I sighed and reached for my beer, the bottle cool when I rolled it between my palms. Logan waited, quiet, until I continued. “I don’t know. Maybe a little, but it’s nothing like when I arrived. I was… God, Logan—I was a mess. You wouldn’t have given me a second glance.”

”I sincerely doubt that.” His tone was wry, the words followed by a nudge of his foot against mine in the water.

“I’m serious. I was… You know that feeling when you watch a movie for the second time, but the other time is so long ago that you only remember bits and pieces? That was me.” I tipped my head back for a sip of beer. The sky arched high above us, the gentle sway of the waves deeply familiar by now. “I had to relearn who I was, just about. Train myself—stupid things, like not always being the one who makes way on a sidewalk. Kind of hard when I work in a resort where we’re meant to treat every guest like royalty.”

”Even when they’re jerks?” Logan followed it up with a little smile that I returned.

“ Especially when they’re jerks.”

”Well.” His tone turned philosophical. “There’s ways to stand your ground, though. Like handing out oversized wetsuits.”

”There is that,” I agreed.

“Good for you.” He considered me for a moment and then shook his head, voice rougher than usual. “Okay, so. One—you’re amazing , Milo. It takes strength and guts to rebuild yourself like that. And secondly, I get it now. Why you reacted like you did, I mean. Like at the beach bar, when that drunk dude hit on you and you didn’t like me stepping in. Or... anything that feels manipulative, I guess.”

It took a couple of false starts before I managed to locate my ability to form words. “I... Yeah. That .”

Logan’s smile was slow and sweet, almost wistful. Brilliant silence sank for a minute, sunlight shattering into a million glittering fragments where it danced on the water. If this was my exile, it was a nice one.

I still didn’t know how Logan could possibly fit into it.

“You ever thought about contacting your parents?” he asked into my thoughts.

“Yeah. But I was a self-righteous little shit back then.” I stamped down on the immediate swell of nausea and took a sip of beer to wash down the sour taste. “Told them I didn’t need them, that their marriage was boring and lackluster, that they and their money could fuck right off. It’d be only fair if they wanted nothing to do with me.”

“Maybe. Probably not, though.” Logan rubbed the pad of his thumb over my pulse point. “You could write to them. Explain.”

I weighed the idea. It was heavy, daunting. But I couldn’t quite dismiss it either. “I’ll think about it.”

He sent me a smile and didn’t push.

Another bright minute stretched between us, gentle waves lapping against the hull of the boat, fish darting through the water. We’d need to head back soon, and in a way, Logan and I hadn’t solved anything—he was still leaving. Yet somehow, now that he knew me, really knew me... I wasn’t ready to let him go. And even if he hadn’t said it, I was sure he felt the same.

We’d find a way.