Page 15 of Stuck Together

We’d worked in the same field in the same city for at least ten years, and somehow, I’d managed up until now to avoid him. When I’d hear his name come up in conversations, I’d politely excuse myself. I didn't want to know about his life after he had broken my heart. Even after all these years, it still hurt.

Still, my avoidance of him didn’t stop the rumors from reaching me. I’d heard he was quite the womanizer. I had a hard time reconciling that image with the sweet and kind boy I grew up with, but then again, people change.

Rumor was he slept with the last woman that worked with him and then stole her clients, forcing her out of her position. It didn’t sound like something the Logan I knew would do. Plus, the Althea I knew would kick his ass if he disrespected a woman like that. But from the way he was treating me now, anything was possible.

True or not, I had to protect myself from that sort of behavior and treatment. After what happened with my boss, I couldn't afford to go through something like that again, it would destroy me. Especially if Logan was the one to do that to me. It would shatter whatever was left of my heart.

I would work with Logan but keep him at arm's length. I wouldn't let myself feel anything for him. After fifteen years, that shouldn’t be too hard. Enough time had passed that he shouldn’t get to me anymore.

Another lie I’d have to keep telling myself until I believed it.

If only he still didn’t look so damn good. He always was the cutest boy around, but now that he was a man who looked like Thor incarnate with short hair. Tall, broad shoulders and thick, muscular arms that looked like they could lift me up above his head as if I weighed nothing. His blond hair and intense, lapis blue eyes topped off his look. As much as I tried, I couldn’t stop myself from daydreaming about what he’d look like posing before me as naked as David.

Jesus, I had to stop thinking about him. And Lord knows, this silence wasn’t helping. There was nothing to distract me from thinking about Logan naked. Determined to get that image out of my mind, I turned and spoke. “Are we just gonna sit here in silence the entire trip? Because this is a six-hour drive and we’re acting like immature children?”

He glanced over at me and shrugged with a vacant expression. “What would you like to talk about?”

Did he not care about anything anymore? I appreciated that this was hard on both of us, but he didn’t have to be such an ass. “Oh, I don't know. Despite the way things ended with us, we used to be close. What have you been doing for the last fifteen years? We could talk about that?”

He snorted. “Isn't it obvious what I've been doing? I'm an ad executive, and I've been working for my grandmother. Clearly that required a marketing and advertising degree. What else is there to know?”

I rolled my eyes and huffed. “You don't have to be such an asshole.”

“You thinkI'mbeing an asshole?”

“I know you're being an asshole.” I raised my voice and glared at him.

The silence that fell over us was thick and beyond uncomfortable. But clearly there were things we both needed to move past and the only way to do that was to talk about it. But if he wasn’t willing, then thisthingbetween us would only get worse.

“Sorry.” He let out a long, deep breath. His hand clenched to the steering wheel so tight, his knuckles were white. “Maybe this is awkward for me. too. Did you ever think about that?”

Now it was my turn to snort. I should’ve known he’d make this about him. “This is awkward for you. I don’t give a shit about how this makesyoufeel. Imagine how I felt at seventeen when you left early for college and I never heard from you again. After I gave my virginity to you. Awkward doesn’t even begin to cover the feelings I had to process.”

“You took my virginity too. And I wasn’t the one who never came back. You never called me either.”

My mouth fell opened and I gaped at him. He couldn’t possibly be serious. “So, you're saying it was my fault?”

“No, I'm just saying maybe both of us are to blame for how things ended.”

I opened my mouth to argue but stopped myself. Maybe he had a point. I spent my last year of high school and the first few years of college angry at him for taking my virginity and then never calling me again. He left for college the next day—a full week earlier than he was planned to leave—and I never saw him again.

I hated him for that.

But he was right. I never called him either. I never tried to contact him. In fact, I never came back to his grandmother’s house for Christmas and summer vacations with my grandma again. I turned eighteen right after the school year started and made up excuse after excuse to my grandma why I could’ve visit Althea’s house with her again. Every time my grandma mentioned Logan, I’d quickly change the subject and refuse to listen. She knew something happened between us, but she never asked. She let me go without argument and never forced the visits on me.

I went on with my life and tried to forget that night with him never happened. And Grandma let me.

“I’ll conceded that you may have a point,” I said.

I kept my eyes in front of me. But I could feel his gaze on me. I didn’t want to see the look on his face at my admission to my part of the blame in what happened to us. “You're actually agreeing with me.”

I dared a glance in his direction, and he had a slight smile on his face. Damn, he looked good. I steeled myself and looked out the passenger side window. “I wouldn't say I'm agreeing with you. I'm saying you have a point. I didn't call you either.”

“It wasn’t just that, Madison. You never came back to my grandmother’s house after that. We were young. Too young to handle those emotions. Everybody does a lot of dumb shit when they're young. Us included.”

I scoffed. “Are you saying sleeping with me was a dumb thing to do?”

His smile vanished and his expression turned to hurt. “No, that's not what I meant. I will never regret that night. But taking off early for college, and never calling you again was dumb.”