Page 77 of That Last Secret
I open the door and wave my hand as if to shoo him out.
Except, he doesn’t move from where he stands in the middle of my living room with his hands in his pockets and his eyes fixed on mine. His feet might as well be concrete blocks because the way he’s standing right now tells me—
“I’m not leaving,” Logan says, cutting off my thoughts as he crosses his arms over his chest.
“What about work?”
“I called out sick on my way here,” he says matter-of-factly.
“I…” I try to say something, but my words fall short. “I’m tired, Logan. I have to try to get some sleep. Like Brooke said, I have a final exam tomorrow. You truly don’t need to be here and take care of me. I can handle myself. I always have.”
Logan looks at me almost as if my words hurt him. I didn’t intend for them to, but I can’t have him pitying me.
“You don’t have to do this alone.”
Before my mind reels with thoughts, I watch Logan make his way to the kitchen, opening cabinets and the refrigerator like he’s looking for something.
“What are you doing?” I ask as I relent and close the front door.
“I’m hungry and I’m sure you haven’t eaten either. So I’m looking for ingredients to make something for dinner,” he says, still shuffling through all the drawers. “How do you survive with nothing here?”
I shrug. “I haven’t had much time to go shopping because of class.”
He pulls out some defrosted chicken. “Is this still good?”
“It’s questionable.” I laugh, and his head snaps in my direction as if my laughter was something he didn’t expect to hear. I didn’t expect it either, but the way he moves around my apartment makes me feel more at ease, and my previous annoyance is gone. “I maybe have twenty-four more hours left before it needs to be tossed.”
His lips twist into a smile, and I swear I melt right there in front of him.
It’s been so long since I’ve seen that smile on his face, and I’ve been dying to witness that again since the wedding. There’s something about it that sparks a sense of comfort in me.
I’m not even surprised I could recover from that panic attack so quickly, with him guiding me back to reality.
Even if he hadn’t said anything, I believe I would have felt better with Logan just being there.
I’m too tired tonight to convince him to get out of my apartment. So, I’ll embrace this part of Logan that I don’t get too often. I don’t think anyone gets this part of him often, either.
He reaches into one of the lower cabinets and pulls out a frying pan. “Did I see Captain Crunch in the cabinet over there?” he asks, spraying some oil he found on the pan and placing it on the stovetop.
“Yeah?” I furrow my brows as I make my way to grab it for him. “What in the world are you planning to make with chicken that’s on its last leg and Captain Crunch?”
His head falls back as he groans. “Emiline Ford. You’ve never had Captain Crunch chicken?”
I chuckle and cover my face while shaking my head.
“You live under a rock, don’t you?”
“No?” I draw out the word, but it comes out with a mix of giggles because he’s being so serious about this chicken thing right now. “I just have never heard of this combination before.”
“Just wait,” he says, pouring some of the cereal into a Ziploc bag. “Your mind is about to be blown.”
I take a seat and watch him work his way around my kitchen as if he’s used it one hundred times before. In a way, I guess Logan has since he lives in the same apartment complex and probably has the same kitchen layout I do.
I totally stare at his body as he moves freely in my space. His forearms flex when he shakes the bag of crushed cereal. He cracks an egg in a bowl before coating the chicken and then putting it into the bag of crushed cereal as if it was breadcrumbs. My mouth feels dry, and I forget for a moment that he’s my brother’s best friend. He’s so much more than that right now, and I think we both know that.
“Do you have a way to manage these panic attacks?” he asks, returning to the earlier conversation while placing the prepared chicken in the frying pan.
“I try to just focus on my breathing.” I shrug. “Thankfully, I’m almost always home when it happens. I usually take a hot shower when it passes and then go right to bed.”