Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

LOGAN

I n Slate's kitchen, I helped myself to a cold beer from the fridge and waited for Slate to come at me. I knew it was going to happen. I had known it since I'd seen her rushing up behind him outside, her face all drawn and pale.

So much for Slate not having to know.

I couldn't help but wonder why she'd told him. What had changed her mind? Or had it been a complete accident?

Either way, I dropped the bottlecap in the trash and cocked my hip against the counter, turning to meet my friend's glower. I didn't say anything, just listening when he finally started talking.

"What. The. Fuck . Were you thinking?" he grunted, shoving his hands into his hair as he paced the length of his kitchen back and forth. "She's my fucking sister , Logan. My baby sister, and you turned her into a fucking conquest ? Just an easy lay to keep the best man busy after the wedding!"

I kept quiet, letting him get it all out. It seemed like the least I could do, but also, I needed to know whether he knew about what had happened last week, or if he only knew about the wedding.

"How could you fuck her and then not tell me about it? Why would you lie to me? Why did you pretend not to know her when we were on the rig? You lied to me, and you made me look like a fucking idiot in the process."

Shit . My heart jumped, but he was just hitting his stride and it didn't seem like the right time to interrupt him.

"I don't really care how it happened. All I want to know is why you decided to screw my baby sister and then play me for a fool. If she didn't tell me, would you have? I don't think so. Why? Why the fuck would you lie to me? What else are you lying to me about?"

Aaand that's where I draw the line on the silence.

"Nothing," I said firmly. "I'm not lying to you about anything else. I'm not expecting you to understand and I'm not going to make excuses. It was just that when I saw her sitting there with you on the rig, I was shocked. You and I hadn't seen each other for months. She and I hadn't seen each other since the wedding, and the visit to the rig was already going badly. The first words out of my mouth were hardly going to be a confession that I'd slept with the woman at your table."

His teeth gnashed together. "There were plenty of opportunities for you to tell me after that. Don't try and turn me into some irrational psycho who doesn't understand anything, Logan. I understand plenty."

"To be honest, right now, maybe you are a bit of an irrational psycho, but that's okay. I get it. I should've told you. I'm sorry."

"She's my sister," he growled. "And you're…" He trailed off, gesturing up and down at me before shoving his hands back into his hair and resuming his pacing. "I'm not a fucking irrational psycho. Don't handle me, Logan. And don't you dare fucking patronize me."

"I'm not," I objected, following his frantic pacing as he moved around the kitchen.

His muscles were bunched, trembling with barely restrained rage as he breathed hard. "Finish your thought, Slate. It might make you feel better. She's your sister, and I'm what?"

My friend gritted his teeth, narrowing his eyes and glaring daggers at me when he finally slammed to a halt. "You're a man-whore. Mira deserves better than you. "

I nodded, unable to help the soft chuckle that slipped out of me. "Fair enough. I've been keeping myself pretty busy these last few years, so you're not wrong."

"She doesn't deserve to be treated like a piece of meat," he spat. "Did you hurt her?"

"What?" I frowned, showing him the palm of the hand not holding my beer. "Of course not."

"How do you know?" He rounded on me, a deep, angry scowl settling on his features as he looked at me like he'd never seen me before. "If you treated her like all your others…"

"Mira and I are okay," I said, forcing my tone to remain even. "You've seen us together. Did it look like I'd hurt her?"

"Well, no." He seemed confused for a minute before he blinked it away. "She did seem to think that you were a huge prick who had no business on the rig. In fact, she said as much."

"Sure, but was she acting like I'd hurt her?"

I knew the only way to get him off this particular part of the topic would be to allow him to realize, from her point of view, that she was fine. Once again, confusion clouded his eyes until he shook it off, folding his big, muscular arms over his chest as he faced off with me.

"Fine, so you didn't hurt her, but she still didn't deserve to be fucking tossed aside as soon as you were done with her."

"No, I'm sure she didn't." In fact, after these last couple weeks, I'd been doing some thinking about that anyway.

Finding out that a girl I'd gone after purely as a one-night stand was so close to Slate had made me realize it was a bit harsh to view these women as nothing more than a one-and-done. On the other hand, as long it was consensual and everybody knew what they were getting themselves into, I hardly thought there was anything wrong with it.

Either way, that was a moral dilemma I'd have to contemplate further on my own time. If there was any moral dilemma at all once I'd contemplated it.

"If it makes a difference, I didn't know who she was at the time," I said. "I had no idea she was your sister, man. I wouldn't have touched her if I'd known."

Slate's throat worked as he stared at me through those narrowed eyes, disapproval bleeding from his very pores. He shook his head. "No, it doesn't make a difference."

I exhaled slowly. I hadn't expected it was going to make much of a difference—not until he found out that the second time it'd happened, I'd known exactly who she was. When he found out about that, he was going to realize just what a difference it really made.

I wasn't going to tell him that, though. At this point, being honest about it would be mostly to clear my own conscience rather than about doing what was right by him. If Mira hadn't told him when she'd confessed to our wedding-night hookup, it was also pretty clear she didn't want him to know about last week.

These Spiers kids are killing me.

As much as I detested looking him in the eyes and still lying to him, I swallowed it down, almost gagging on the bitter taste it left behind. "Right. I guess it doesn't matter. Does it matter that I'm sorry?"

For a long minute, I thought that maybe I'd lost him. At least for now, until he'd had some time to process and eventually maybe even forgive me. But then he gave me a tight nod. "Just keep your hands and your eyes off my sister, and we'll be okay. Got it?"

My gut clenched, but I nodded. "Got it."

Slate gave me one final, disappointed look, his head shaking. He huffed out a breath, turned around, and marched back outside. Once he was gone, I drained what had been left of my mostly full beer and thought about that disapproval and disappointment I'd seen in his eyes. The hurt. The anger.

I dropped my head back and gripped the counter behind me, trying to put the blow he'd dealt in the past. The next moment, the sound of bare feet slapping against the tile made me open my eyes just in time to see Mira coming in.

Her expression was one of pure agony, her eyes shining bright with worry, her brow furrowed, and her lips slightly parted. She was still clad in that insanely sexy pool-party getup, but for once, I wasn't concerned with what was happening on the outside.

Instead, I wanted more than anything to pull her into my arms, hold her tight, and promise her that everything was going to be okay. I wanted to wipe away the hurt and banish the worry. I wanted her to feel as safe and comfortable as she had with me back on that rig, and I didn't care that none of those things were mine to want at all.

"Are you okay?" I asked tentatively, gripping the counter even harder to keep from reaching for her.

"I'm so sorry," she rushed out instead of responding. "I didn't mean for any of that to come out, but once I told him we met at the wedding…"

"I understand, Mira. It's okay. You don't have to apologize."

Her lips twisted, the lines on her forehead getting deeper. "No, I don't just have to apologize. I have to apologize profusely. A week ago, I told you he didn't need to know and then I went and blurted it out anyway. I didn't even get a chance to warn you. How did it go?"

I shrugged. "He's pissed, but that's to be expected. Are you okay, though? You still haven't told me."

"I'm fine. Or at least, I will be. Did he blow a fuse? Did he yell at you? Obviously, he didn't hit you, but the last thing I wanted was to get between you."

"He didn't blow a fuse." I chuckled, a little amused despite the circumstances. "Seriously, Mira. It'll be okay. Like I said, he's pissed, but not even as much as I might've thought he would be. With a little time, he'll get over it."

"I thought I was saving our asses by admitting to just the wedding and no more," she said softly, her teeth sinking into her lower lip. She chewed on it for a moment before she dragged her fingers through her sleek ponytail. "I'm so, so sorry. I should've at least spoken to you about it first."

"He's your brother, Mira," I said gently. "You had every right to tell him. It's not like you needed my permission to do it."

"No, I know, but giving you a heads-up would've been nice. I imagine you would've liked to have been prepared. "

Hoping to lessen her guilt, I gave her a cocky smirk. "You know me. I'm fine with thinking on my feet and I roll with the punches in whatever situation I'm presented with. I'm fine."

She looked back at me for another beat, those hazel eyes skipping from one of mine to the other until a slow smile started spreading on her face. "If that's true, should we go back outside? I'll mix you a cocktail."

I grimaced. "That sounds great, but it's probably not a good idea for us to head out there together. Slate doesn't want me even looking your way, which means we definitely can't drink together today and you probably shouldn't even be in here with me right now."

Mira suddenly looked crestfallen, that little smile disappearing from her lips as her features collapsed and her shoulders sagged.

"His house. His rules," I amended quickly, pushing away from the counter and winking at her as I walked out, pausing for just a moment to murmur in her ear. "But the rig? That's my house now."

As I left her behind, I wasn't oblivious to the fact that we'd just been found out. My friend had just made it crystal clear that she was completely off limits, and yet, I'd just told her that all bets were off once we weren't in his house anymore.

I'm officially going to hell for being a shit friend.

It wasn't like me at all. I valued loyalty and trustworthiness in my friends, but Mira? I'd change the game for her. Change the rules. Change whatever I had to as long I didn't have to let her go just quite yet.