Page 37 of That Last Secret

“Well, I live here. I was sleeping like a normal human being.”

He smirks. “That’s not the question I was looking to have answered.”

I pause and remember what I asked him. Goosebumps skate across my bare skin once I realize he’s here because he’s wondering if I’m okay.

I step back, allowing him into my apartment and closing the door behind him. When he crosses the threshold, I feel his presence everywhere.

Logan Bennett is in my space.

This isn’t the first time, because I know he took Brooke and me home after the bar, but I don’t remember that. This time, my body isfullyaware of him being here. The old me who had a massive crush on him would be so giddy right now.

But I can’t bring myself to think about it for too long because I’m downright annoyed that he’s here before the sun is even up.

“Why are you here, Logan?” I ask to his back, crossing my arms over my chest.

“I had a call last night…” He pauses before he turns around to look at me. “It was the hospital.”

“That happens often.”

“No.” He shakes his head, and the look on his face looks almost… pained. “The call wastothe hospital. There was a man armed with a knife in the emergency room.”

My eyes go wide, and I can feel the blood drain from my face. I rush past him into my kitchen to grab my cell phone to call Brooke and make sure she’s okay.

I was supposed to be working last night.

“She’s okay,” he says before I can even unlock my phone, like he knows exactly what I’m thinking. “Everyone is fine. The guy’s in custody.”

“Okay,” I say, swallowing past the feeling of my throat closing on me. I feel like I’m on the verge of another panic attack, but I can’t allow it to come to the surface.

Not with Logan standing right here.

I was supposed to be there.

What if it didn’t end well?

What if something worse happened?

What if I didn’t call out?

I was supposed to be there!

I feel like I’m going to spiral despite Logan telling me that everyone is okay.

This is how my episodes start. I think of the worst possible scenarios that could happen, which forces uncontrollable thoughts to enter my mind, and then I just can’t stop them.

I take a deep breath, thankful that he doesn’t pick up on the change in my breathing pattern before he speaks again.

“I talked to Brooke after everything, and she said you called out for a headache. She mentioned something about having your final exam and that you were stressed waiting for your grade.” Logan pauses again, taking a few steps to meet me in thekitchen. He stands across from me, and I’m thankful the kitchen island is separating us right now. If it wasn’t, I don’t think I could stop myself from wrapping my arms around him for the comfort I’ve craved for so long. “I wanted to make sure you were good.”

I hear what he’s saying without him having to say it.

He’s the only one who knows what I’ve been struggling with, and Logan being here right now in my apartment tells me he probably thinks that the headache was an excuse to hide more.

“You weren’t good,” he says before I can speak. Not a question but a statement.

I shake my head reluctantly, knowing I’m admitting defeat if I tell him. “But I’m good now,” I say to defend myself.

I hate feeling like this.