Page 60 of That Last Secret

Emiline gasps and her cheeks turn the perfect shade of pink. I wink at her before I extend my hand to greet the man who was checking her out before. “I’m Logan.”

“I—Uh, I’m Jim,” he says, returning the handshake.

“Jim,” I scoff. “A man named Jim at the gym checking out my girlfriend’s ass? Iconic. Really.”

“I’m sorry, man.” He holds his hands up in defense. “I didn’t know she was with anyone.”

I nod in understanding. “No harm done. But keep your eyes off her next time you see her in here, understood?”

With a quick nod, he retreats to the other side of the gym to finish his workout.

“What the hell was that, Logan?” Emiline smacks my arm with a very serious look on her face.

The truth is,Idon’t even know what that was.

I fucking promised myself I wouldn’t allow myself to get this close. I went from acting like a complete asshole to being unable to control myself.

There has never been a moment in my life where I wanted a girlfriend or saw a future where I had a wife. Not a single girl has ever been someone I saw something long-term with.

Emiline is the first and only woman who has ever taken over every thought in my head.

Who makes me irrationally insane.

“That was me keeping you safe,” I finally answer before I turn around and leave.

Because that’s all I can ever be to her despite wanting quite the opposite.

September

I will not havea panic attack tonight.

I repeat the words over in my head as the night progresses. Even though the drinks are flowing and my brother just married the love of his life, my brain is everywhere but here.

I hate that my thoughts have the power to take over my head like this.

I started a new semester two weeks ago, and there has been a lot of information to process. I promised Thomas and Peyton I would be here and present for their big day, including the days leading up to it.

Although I had to lose a lot of sleep to keep up with studying and be here, I knew it would be worth it. But the idea of missinga lecture yesterday has me wondering what I’ll need to play catch up to this week.

Then there’s the other major issue present today.

Logan Bennett.

He’s not meant to be an issue, but I nearly fainted on the spot when I first saw him today. The tux he’s wearing matches the rest of the groomsmen, but there’s something about how he wears it that lights something inside me.

I can’t even deny I’ve fantasized about how he would look tonight. It doesn’t do my thoughts justice. The man looks good in everything, but I can’t keep my eyes off him.

The worst part is he came without a date.

I was hoping he would bring someone so I wouldn’t have to drool over him and would have a reason to dance with whomever I wanted. I’m only lying to myself, , because if Logan had brought someone, my body would reek of jealousy, and the entire room would know how I feel about him.

I’m surprised the whole emergency department didn’t pick up on it a few weeks ago when he brought me coffee. I felt my insides boil when I saw Andrea flirting with him. I know Logan used to be a massive flirt, but I’ve never seen it in action.

All I saw was her slipping him her number and everything in me went dark.

I wanted to rage.

But then, when we went out for Thomas and Peyton’s conjoined party, he almost kissed me. So if he brought a date tonight, I would absolutely not be able to control my jealousy.