Back in Bliss

Chapter Four

Georgia held her breath. The cool of the night air suddenly felt thick along her skin, and she remembered just how badly it hurt to get shot. She remembered the fire lashing along her flesh and the almost certainty that she was going to die and it might be better for everyone that she did. It hadn’t been so terribly long ago. She still dreamed about it—dreamed about that stupid cage and how Nat should have let her go.

Now she understood Nat a little better because she couldn’t imagine anything worse than Seth being in the same position.

She couldn’t see their assailant. He was a looming shadow, but the metal of his pistol glinted off the moonlight.

Such a beautiful setting to die in.

“Please don’t hurt him.” Funny. She didn’t think about it. Georgia didn’t think to plead for her own life or to use those feminine wiles she’d always fallen back on. They only worked part of the time anyway, and this was too important to play around. She couldn’t stand here and watch someone shoot Seth. She couldn’t. She wasn’t even sure who she was asking. The assailant probably wouldn’t care. Maybe she was just pleading with the universe.

“He’s not going to hurt me,” Seth said in an altogether “too calm for the situation” voice. He dropped contact with her. Seth brought his hands up slowly as though he was showing their attacker that he wasn’t armed with anything but that big brain of his. “He’s going to put down the gun because he shouldn’t be carrying while he’s obviously toasted. Georgia, this is my friend. His name is Logan Green, and we’re going to have a throw down the minute he gets rid of that gun. Or maybe he’ll go ahead and shoot me since he knows damn well he’s an instant billionaire if he does it. What’s it going to be, buddy? Are we going to play out this ID TV special right here?”

Logan? No. No. That massive shadow seemed to reform and now she could see those big, broad shoulders and muscled arms.

“G? Georgia?” His words seemed a little slurred, but sure enough he tossed the gun aside and shoved Seth out of the way.

Logan. Oh, god, he was right in front of her. She could feel the heat coming off his body. He wasn’t wearing anything but a pair of low-slung jeans and a white muscle shirt that clearly defined his too-die-for body. He was so big, so tall and strong. And he was going to be so pissed off that she’d found him. He would probably think she’d been looking for him.

“I didn’t know you were here,” she said quickly, forcing her hands to her sides.

He didn’t seem to hear her. The smile that crept across his face was slightly loopy, like he wasn’t altogether there, and yes, she could definitely smell the tequila on his breath. “I thought this was a shitty dream.” He sighed as he moved in closer. “Thank god. It’s a good dream. Seth, you can go away now. I’ll deal with you when I’m awake.”

He moved faster than a drunk should be able to and with far more grace and strength. One minute she was standing there waiting for him to get all mad Dom on her because she’d disobeyed his “never see me again” order, and the next her back was flat against the side of the cabin, her balance off, but he seemed to like it that way.

“Hello, Georgie. You miss me, girl?” He plastered his body to the front of hers, crushing her in between the cabin and his very excited form. His hips moved from side to side, rubbing himself against her like a horny cat.

And damn her, but she just responded. Maybe he was right and this was a very nice dream. She would wake up and the plane would be landing. It wasn’t like she hadn’t dreamed about him before.

He didn’t wait for her to answer, just put those ridiculously sculpted lips over hers and sucked her bottom lip straight into his mouth with a groan that had her insides lighting up.

No one had ever had this effect on her before. Logan Green was the match and her body was lighter fluid waiting to explode. He kissed her like she was made of sugar and he’d been on a low-carb diet for six months. He licked and savored and drove his tongue deep, pressing it against hers and dancing all around. He practically inhaled her.

And she loved it. He’d only kissed her the once before, and it had been just like this. Just for a second she’d felt like a goddess, worshipped and beloved, like she was the only woman for him. The rest of the world seemed to drop away and she was wrapped in him.

He managed to circle his arms around her as he picked her up, leaving her no option except to wrap her body around his for support as he started to move toward the door.

“If you drop her, I will kill you, Logan.”

Reality rushed back in. Seth. Oh, god. Seth was here and she’d nearly forgotten about him. What was wrong with her? And why the hell had her present and her past collided? How did Seth know Logan? Why had Logan been standing outside the cabin?

She pushed against Logan, but he wasn’t letting her go. He just cupped her ass and started moving into the cabin, his bare feet shifting along the wood. “Let me go, Logan. “

“Already did that. Didn’t work. You came back. Stop wiggling or I’ll tie you down.” The words came out as a silky, seductive threat.

Yeah, like she hadn’t dreamed about that, too? If she thought for a moment that he really wanted her, she would have put her whole body into giving him exactly what he desired. She would have gotten on her knees and spread them, showing him the work she’d put in once she’d found out what he’d needed. Those days before he’d pushed her away had been spent with Nat learning how to submit to the man she wanted more than anything in the world.

But he hadn’t wanted her then, and she wasn’t sure he wanted her now.

Except his cock really seemed ready to play.

“Logan.” She had to find a way to get him to make a lick of sense.

A light came on and his eyes fastened on her breasts. Her blouse had come unbuttoned and those big boobs of hers were trying to climb their way out of their punishing minimizer bra. She’d always hated those bras because it meant she couldn’t wear most of the designers her so-called friends in LA wore. One of the casting directors in LA she’d seen had told her to try her hand in the Valley since her tits were made for porn, but only after she’d lost a few pounds.

His mouth was right back at hers, and she wondered just how long he was going to be able to hold her. God, it felt good to be held, and he wasn’t shaking at all. He was holding her like she didn’t weigh a thing.

“I want you naked. We’re going back to the bedroom and you’re going to take off those clothes and spread your legs for me. Do you understand? You’re going to get wet for me, and I’m going to give you everything I have. Fuck, baby, I’m going to fill you up with cum.”

Dirty words that should have her fighting to get away from him, but her whole body softened as he kissed her again, his tongue tangling with hers, strong and dominant. Always dominant.

“This fucking gun didn’t have the safety on when you tossed it across the yard. It could have gone off.” Seth’s angry voice rang out as he walked back into the room and slammed the gun down. “And it’s county issued. Did you get your badge back and immediately hit the sauce? What the fuck is wrong with you? I’m bringing in the luggage.”

Seth. God, what must he think of her? And why hadn’t he tried to take them apart?

“Asshole!” Logan yelled back. “Fucking messing up my one goddamn good dream.”

She shook her head because he seemed to start coming out of it. “It’s not a dream. Logan, you have to let me down. I need to help Seth with our luggage.”

His hands tightened as if he wasn’t willing to let go, but he blinked those green eyes once and then twice and slowly let her down. He scrubbed a hand across his slightly scruffy hair. It had grown out since she’d last seen him. And she could see the tendrils of a tattoo peeking from under the white of his shirt. The ink was new, too. But the cold look that hit his eyes was par for the course. “What are you doing here, Georgia? Aren’t you supposed to be in New York?”

Well, that answered one question. She’d left without telling him where she was going, and it had always been in the back of her head that maybe he’d changed his mind and he would look for her. Oh, she’d known that all he had to do was ask her brothers, but she’d never been particularly rational when it came to him. She’d had the fantasy that he might be looking for her. He’d known where she was, and she’d not even gotten a call to make sure she was okay.

It was time to try to get back some dignity. She took a quick step away from him and let herself settle into her armor—a carefree smile and blank eyes. Just another rich bitch who knew how to put a man in his place. Thank god Ben had opened the checkbook yesterday or she would be in her Macy’s bargain-basement clothes. Somehow having designer duds on felt like a shield. “I’m working. I do that, you know. Shouldn’t you be back in Dallas banging whatever sub Julian Lodge tells you to?”

Damn, that seemed to be a direct hit. His eyes flared momentarily, and a low growl came from the back of his throat. “There’s the bitch. Nice to see you again. Heard you had a cozy job boffing a billionaire. He seems to be keeping you right nice, girl. Must be some kind of skills you have.”

Well, that was the pot calling the kettle black. She happened to know for a fact that he really did have sex on the job. She’d heard endless stories about just how great a Dom he was from the women of The Club. “I’m his assistant.”

Those gorgeous lips went faintly cruel as he looked her up and down. Before, she’d felt warmth from him, but now there was only a cold assessment. “I bet you assist him a lot, baby. I bet you assist him with blow jobs and hand jobs, and just about any other job a woman of your type can handle.”

A woman of her type? Bubbleheaded and dumb. He’d never had a whole lot of respect for her smarts. “Because I don’t have a brain in my head. I must only be good for a cheap screw.”

He chuckled, but there was no humor to the sound. “Hey, I never said you were cheap. I always expected you would be quite expensive.”

Bitterness welled. This was the way it was between them. If he wasn’t kissing her like there was no tomorrow and rushing in to save her life, they tore each other up. She’d gone along with it because it seemed to be the only way to get his attention, but she was so tired of it. She was tired of hurting, tired of aching inside over what she couldn’t have. She took a long breath and sank to the sofa. “Well, that just shows what you know about economics, Logan. I’m sorry I said those things to you. I was caught off-balance. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

He moved across the room. She only knew he was moving from the sound and, of course, he moved away from her. She heard the sound of glass hitting glass and a short swallow. “What are you doing here, Georgia? I’m only going to ask once more. Why the hell are you in Bliss?”

No apology. No “let’s meet in the middle and find common ground.” “I told you.”

“You’re working for some asswipe billionaire.” The reply came out draped in suspicion, and then he cursed under his breath. “Seth. Fuck me. You’re working for Seth. God. What a cluster fuck.”

“How do you know my boss?” She glanced around the cabin. Cabin? Hah. It was a mansion, a gorgeous monstrosity of wood and glass. That was Seth. He didn’t do things by half.

Logan’s red-rimmed eyes caught hers. “Boss? Seriously, Georgia. I know Seth. You’re sleeping with him. Seth has never had a female assistant before. He’s always hired dudes because he didn’t want the distraction.”

Logan fumbled a little, the first real sign that he’d had too much to drink.

“You should sit down.” What the hell was she going to do now? She couldn’t stay here with Logan. And was he right about the male assistants? At first she’d kind of assumed that Win had gotten her the job. She’d asked him if he wouldn’t mind being a reference. Two days later, Stark Software had called and said they’d heard she needed a job.

She’d been surprised it was for the CEO, but Win had powerful connections. When she’d thanked him, he’d sworn he had nothing to do with it. She’d just thought he was trying to make her feel better.

“I’m fine,” Logan rumbled back at her, but he took the seat across from her anyway. “This just makes my day complete, sweetheart. I get to come back to the scene of all my crimes. What fun. Where the fuck am I going to stay now?”

He really could be a giant asshole. “Please stay here. I’ll leave tomorrow.”

“You’re not going anywhere, Georgia,” Seth said as he dragged in her suitcases and slammed the door behind him. “Except to bed. I apologize for the behavior of my friend. He’s actually civilized when he’s sober.”

“Yeah, you don’t know me that well anymore, man.” Logan just sat there, looking at her, his eyes blank like she wasn’t really there.

All in all, it wasn’t how she’d thought a reunion between them would go.

“I know him. We met in Dallas.” Georgia stood up and wondered if she could find a hotel nearby. Did they have a cab that could pick her up? “We don’t exactly get along.”

Seth set down the suitcases and met her halfway, a gentle smile on his face. He was Logan’s opposite. He was all civilized good looks where Logan was a massive hunk of man meat. Seth was manly, but he was a metro tiger where Logan had never once left the wild. “You looked like you were getting along pretty well from where I was standing.”

There wasn’t a hint of jealousy in those words, and Georgia sighed inwardly. Nope. Why would he be jealous when he didn’t want her, either? “We have a bit of a history.”

He reached out for her hand. He did that a lot. He was a touchy-feely guy. “I brought you here to meet him, Georgia.”

She frowned. “Why?”

“Because he’s my best friend and you’re…you’re perfect.” He kept his voice low as though he didn’t want Logan to hear.

Emotions rolled through her but mostly it was all confusion. “What is that supposed to mean?”

He pulled her close and, for the first time, wrapped his arms around her. “It means I think you can help.”

She shook her head. “He doesn’t want my help. Not now. Not ever.”

And yet it was so obvious Logan needed someone’s help. He sat there, his shoulders squared, but his eyes were old and tired. What the hell had happened to him? He was young. Younger than her, but there was a weariness to him that made her want to hold him, to lift him up.

“I came back to help him because I’m worried that if I don’t break through his barriers, I’m going to lose my best friend,” Seth whispered in her ear.

“Did you know I knew him?”

He shot back, his eyes wide. “How would I have known that?”

She’d never mentioned him. “You brought me here to set me up with Logan? Seth, I’m so sorry. He doesn’t like me.”

“But I like you.” His eyes strayed back to where Logan sat.

Something fell into place. She’d talked endlessly about Chase and Nat and Ben. Once she’d realized Seth wouldn’t judge her, she’d felt so free to talk about how much she admired what they had and the odd relationship of theirs. She’d been so sure he liked her. Like really liked her. She’d been so sure they were connected, but he’d put her off.

Her mind went back to that moment in the limo. She’d leaned over and tried to press her lips to his. All night long, he’d held her hand and showed her off like she was something other than his assistant. She’d felt like a princess that night, and he’d been the one making it happen. For the first time since she’d left Willow Fork, she’d forgotten she loved Logan and she’d known she had fallen for Seth.

And he’d turned her away, his lips finding her forehead instead of her mouth, and suddenly the words he’d said to her made a weird kind of sense.

It’s not time yet, love.

“Seth?”

“I want to try,” he said, pulling her close. “I grew up with him. This was my heaven, Georgia. Please. Give it a try for me. If it doesn’t work out, we can go back to New York and I won’t ever mention it again. Please. I just wanted the two of you to meet, to see if there was any attraction there, and you two were like a volcano. I had to walk away because I wanted to join in but I thought I would scare you.”

She sagged against him. Damn. It was everything she could want and nothing she could have. She felt tears forming in her eyes and wished she’d taken Win up on his offer to leave New York, but no, she just couldn’t leave Seth. Whom she loved. Seth, who needed a ménage with a man who couldn’t stand her despite the fact that she couldn’t get him out of her head.

“Give it a chance,” Seth urged. “I’m sorry how it started. Do you know what happened to him? Do you know why he wouldn’t come home?”

Walk away, Georgia. Walk away and save yourself. She had a deeply practical inner voice that she almost never listened to. Because it was boring. She was the dumbest girl ever. She was because she just kept getting her heart broken and then begging for more. And she wanted to know Logan. God, he’d pushed her away and she still wanted to know him. “No.”

Seth leaned down and brushed his nose against hers. “Give us a chance. I will make sure you’re taken care of. Georgia, please trust me, baby. I’m not taking you back to New York as my assistant no matter what happens. I’m taking you back as mine. With him or without him. But I have to play this my way. I’m so sorry to bring you into a situation that makes you uncomfortable, but I still think it could work.”

She shook her head, hating the tears that made her vision wobbly. “He doesn’t want me.”

“He fell in love with a girl in Texas. When I met you, I was sure you could make him forget.”

“I was in Texas. That was where we met, but he didn’t love me.” Except she’d thought he did. When he’d ridden in to her rescue, she’d been so sure he loved her. She would have bet her life on it.

“Are you sure? Or is he the kind of man who would push away the woman he loves because he thinks he didn’t deserve her?”

“What are you two talking about?” Logan asked, turning his head their way. In the low light, she couldn’t mistake the way his eyes narrowed. “If you’re going to fuck, you should go to the bedroom.”

God, why did she love him? She was a masochist. She obviously hated herself. She needed therapy.

“Stay,” Seth said, his voice aching.

Go, that very practical side of her pleaded. You don’t need to know what happened to make Logan the walking human bomb he is. You can’t save him. You can’t save yourself and it would never work. You could never handle Logan, and Seth’s world would eat you alive. You think LA casting directors are rough on a girl, try Upper East Siders.

“Stay with me. Stay with us. We need you, baby.” His lips brushed against her forehead.

“Okay. I’ll stay.”

She was the dumbest girl in the world.

Logan watched as Seth returned, walking down the gorgeous hall like he owned it.

Of course, there was a reason for that. He did. He owned every inch of this mansion. Hell, Logan was pretty sure Seth could buy the fucking world if he wanted to. He was smart. He’d always been so damn smart. Logan couldn’t keep up with him. And now Seth had Georgia.

And he hadn’t missed the way that Seth had held her, bringing his head to hers like they were nestled together. Like they belonged. And they did. Georgia was rich. Seth was rich. Logan had to take a job watching a house to have a place to live.

A house Seth had built and lived in, and for some reason brought him into because there was no way Seth hadn’t had a hand in this shit. Because, like he knew—Seth was smart.

“So you’re fucking her?” It sounded way harsher than he meant it to, but he’d had a shit ton of tequila. He hadn’t meant to drink that either, but after a really uncomfortable talk with Nate that included one of his twins spitting up on him while Nate replaced his badge and gun, he’d needed it. Oddly enough, his anxiety at that moment in time had nothing to do with the job or having to walk back into the station house. It had everything to do with the kicking kid that had been placed in his arms like he had a right to hold anything that precious. Nate had just handed Zander over and gone about his business while Logan had been left looking into those completely innocent eyes and wondering if he’d ever get this—the sweet wife, the partner, the kids. Nate had a future right there in his hands. Two kids. Fuck. Nate had two kids and Logan hadn’t met them. The closest he’d come before today was standing outside Nate’s woefully small cabin and saying good-bye because he couldn’t stand looking in on a future that wouldn’t include him.

But the future he’d just seen had hurt so fucking much more.

Seth and Georgia. Damn, but they’d looked good together.

And he couldn’t forget the way she felt pressed against him, her mouth open under his. She’d hesitated only the merest second and then she’d been all over him, her body softening like it should for her Dom. Damn. He was so drunk his cock shouldn’t work, but the minute he’d seen her, he’d come right to life.

“You’re an ass,” Seth said flatly.

He hadn’t seen his best friend in over a year, and yet the statement didn’t shock him. It was just the truth. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

Seth stalked toward him, a bottle in his hand. “Fine. I will. This fucking bottle cost twenty-five hundred dollars. Dos Lunas Grand Reserve. Did you like the tequila? It’s a luxury liquor. You must really like luxury.”

He couldn’t help but laugh a little, but then he’d gone through a whole bottle of tequila. A wretchedly expensive bottle of tequila. “Tasted like tequila to me. Put it on my tab, asshole.”

“And how about the gun?” Seth asked.

Logan groaned a little. Yeah, he was sorry about the gun. “There was some trouble earlier. Someone was walking around. I don’t know. Maybe it was a deer or something, but they were making noise and I scared them or it or whatever off. I thought it had come back.”

Seth stared down at him, looking way too much like a well-dressed father figure. Or any sort of male dude who would totally disapprove of him. Which these days included pretty much any male who met him. “You were mean to my assistant.”

What the fuck was this game? “Your assistant? If she’s just your assistant, I’ll shove that bottle up my ass.”

Seth’s mouth turned up, his lips curling in that son-of-a-bitch smile he’d used every time he’d come up with a brilliant plan when they were kids. “She has done nothing but help me with work.”

“I’m not an idiot, dude. She’s…fuck. She’s the one woman I’ve connected with and she suddenly turns up here in Bliss just when I have to come home, and she just happens to be in the same house where I had to stay because it was the only place in town? Yeah. I see Seth Stark all over that shit.”

Seth put the bottle down and crossed his arms over his chest. “She’s the one.”

Seth turned and walked back to the kitchen.

A growl started in the back of his throat. A vision of Seth fucking Georgia assaulted him. Seth could give Georgia all the shit she thought she needed. Fancy stuff. Designer stuff. All Logan had to offer her was dominance and hard, satisfying sex. God, he wanted to fuck her. The fact that she was in a bedroom in the same house that he was in had his cock straining. Six months of nothing and he was in some serious fucking pain. “You’re a bastard. How did you find out about her? How many people do you have spying on me?”

He wouldn’t put it past Seth to have hired some “friends” for him.

“We talking true now?” Seth asked. He’d found a bottle of his own. Naturally the cabin came with a bar that would put most Manhattan hot spots to shame. Nothing but the best for Seth Stark and his honey girl. Cîroc. It looked like it was fresh out of the freezer, the blue bottle covered in frost. Seth poured a couple of fingers into what was almost certainly Waterford Crystal and knocked it back.

True meant getting past all the bullshit. “Yeah, we’re talking true.”

“Will you remember this in the morning?” Seth sat back, one elegantly clad foot over his knee.

Logan rolled his eyes. “You think this a bender? This is a fun Saturday night for me, man.”

Seth’s eyes narrowed down to slits of pure blue judgment. “I thought you stopped drinking.”

“Drinking wasn’t the problem.” Fuck. Yeah, drinking was definitely the fucking problem now since he hadn’t meant to say that, to ever admit that.

A long breath filled Seth’s lungs, and he sat back. “How bad did it get?”

He didn’t want to have this conversation. He never wanted to have this conversation. He’d been avoiding it with everyone. No one knew except the doc and Hope and Sawyer. God, he had to apologize to Sawyer.

“Logan?”

“I’m going to bed.” But his feet didn’t move. His arms stayed right where they were, clutching the chair like it was the only thing solid in the world.

“Are we done?” Seth didn’t look at him. His face was turned down, staring into that glass.

“Tell me how you found out about Georgia.” He couldn’t walk until he knew.

“I got a call from someone. I thought it was you because it was your number, and just for a minute, I got so excited because you don’t call me anymore. But it wasn’t you.”

He sighed. “I’m never underestimating Kitten again. I knew I hadn’t lost my phone.”

“She explained the situation and said Georgia needed a safe place to go.”

“So you took her in thinking you could use her to get me to come home.” He could see exactly how that plan had gone through Seth’s mind.

Seth was a manipulative, deeply possessive genius who hid a wealth load of ruthless will behind that happy-go-lucky façade of his. Yeah, he’d known that even as a kid. Logan wasn’t sure why, but Seth had clung to him and he’d…god, help him, but he’d craved it. He’d craved knowing he belonged with someone. He’d even liked how possessive Seth was of him. There had never been anything sexual between the two of them, but if Logan had been wired that way, Seth would have been the man for him.

“I fell in love with her the minute I saw her, Logan. She’s perfect. I might have thought I was keeping her safe for you before I met her. Now I know I’m keeping her safe for us.”

He still thought that would happen? He thought they could find the perfect woman and settle down? Seth had been banking on that shit for years, since they were kids. Logan wasn’t a kid anymore. “Take her. I’m not interested.”

He ached in a way no amount of high-end tequila was going to fix. His gut was an endless pool of self-loathing, and he was not bringing them into it. His hand went to his left pec. That was all he was going to get of Georgia.

“Bullshit. I saw what happened tonight,” Seth argued. “And I saw how she reacted to you. I could have been dying on the floor and the two of you would still have gone after it.”

Those few moments when she’d been in his arms had been the closest he’d been to content in years. He shook his head as he realized that was completely true, and his dissatisfaction hadn’t just come about after The Incident. He’d started pulling away when Seth stopped coming home, when he no longer got those summers with his best friend. When he’d been left behind.

“She’s a gorgeous girl, and I was noble the first time around because I got nothing to offer her.” He wished he still had the tequila, anything to numb him out. God, this was just how he’d fucked up the first time. “Maybe I’ll take her this time. Fuck her out of my system.”

Seth shook his head as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “She’s in love with you. Doesn’t that count for something?”

“And you’re in love with her.” Now he forced himself to move, to make his body function, to get the hell out of here. “Good for the two of you. I’ll send you a fucking toaster or something.”

He walked past Seth. One foot in front of the other, placing distance between him and the long, shared history of their lives.

“Are you done with me?” Seth asked, his voice reminding Logan so much of that kid he’d been. Seth was still that kid who had gotten shipped to his granddad’s place and had no idea how to fit in. He was still holding out his freaking hand and asking the boy next door to play with him.

He hated Seth in that moment. Hated him as much as he’d ever loved him. Seth got the money and the girl and the world where everything was perfect, where he never had to find out just what a stupid, worthless bastard he was. “I’m not your boyfriend, Seth. I’m never going to be.”

The glass crashed to the floor, breaking through that horrible moment of silence that came after Logan’s words. This was another one. Fuck. This was one of those goddamn before and after moments, and he knew right then that he wasn’t going to like the after that came with this one. He was going to hate it. Like a kid who had just broken something precious, he scrambled to clean up the mess, praying that glue and tape could make the thing work again.

“I didn’t mean it.” He was righteously sober now. “Seth, I didn’t mean that.”

The minute he’d said the words, he’d known that he couldn’t break the tie between them. He couldn’t fucking lose Seth. He’d finally found that line he wouldn’t cross. Now he knew no amount of tequila would be able to numb that.

“Yeah, you did.” Seth stood up just as they heard a door in the back open and feet scooting across the hallway floor.

“Seth, I didn’t mean it.” Maybe Seth wasn’t the only ruthless bastard. Logan knew damn well Seth’s dad called him all sorts of nasty names when he got snockered and one of them was “queer.” Logan had gone straight for the weak point. The nasty bastard who’d taken up residence in his body had a laser focus when it came to dishing out the pain. “Please.”

It was the first time he’d said that word and meant it in over a year.

“Seth? Are you all right?” Georgia rushed in. She was wearing a set of pajama pants and a tank top, her hair soft and skin scrubbed clean. Yes, she looked so beautiful and fresh, and he could see how quickly those crystal eyes summed up the situation and found the proper villain of the piece. “What did he do?”

He. Yeah, she meant Logan, and he knew it. And it would be easy to save face. He could just shove his mask right back on and grab another bottle and walk away, and he couldn’t do it. God. This was what he’d been dreading. The choice. This was why he’d avoided Seth. Because he would have to make the choice to break with his best friend or to try to actually get his head out of his ass.

“I said something horrible to him, and I did it because I’m an asshole and I’ll do anything to take it back.” The words spilled out of his mouth, almost tumbling over each other, and he recognized his own damn voice for the first time in over a year.

“It’s cool.” Seth had his patented smile on his face, the one he used for investors and his parents. Damn it. “Georgia, sweetheart, could you get me a dustpan? I need to clean this up, and I don’t want you getting cut.”

Georgia. She would get so cut up if she came into Logan’s life. Just like he’d cut up Seth.

Unless he stopped trying to throw himself off a fucking cliff.

“I’m sorry.”

Seth’s head nodded in a clipped fashion, with none of his natural grace. “I am, too. Go to bed, Logan. You have to work tomorrow.”

“We’ll talk then?” Now he sounded like the kid.

“Do we have anything to talk about?” Seth asked, his voice hollow.

“Do you want me to leave?” Logan was deeply aware that they sounded like two freaking girls, but for once he didn’t give a shit. God. He’d finally found something to hang on to, and he was clinging. He wasn’t sure he would leave even if Seth told him to.

Georgia banged around in the kitchen and a long moment stretched between them.

“No,” Seth said finally.

Logan could breathe again. “Then we have something to talk about.”

“All right, but go to bed now. I can’t do this tonight.” Seth put the bottle on the table as Georgia jogged back in, all fussy female energy and affection, though none of it was focused on Logan. It was all for Seth.

“Let me get that,” Seth said.

Georgia shook her head. “It’s fine. I want to help.”

“There’s glass everywhere, Georgia.” Seth put out a hand to try to stop her from coming too close.

“I’ll be fine. I can see it,” Georgia insisted.

Seth was letting Georgia roll right over him. Logan knew what to do. Before she could step too close to the shards of glass, he wrapped an arm around her waist and hauled her up against his body, her bare feet dangling off the floor.

“Let me down, you overgrown ape.” She dropped the broom and dustpan.

He held her close. “When it’s safe, I will.”

She lit into him. When that girl wanted to go, she could spit some serious bile.

Seth set about cleaning up the mess, but when he looked up, he mouthed a “thank you.”

Georgia went on and on about his parentage and the size of his penis—in her mind, extra small—but Logan felt something settle deep inside.

For the first time in forever, he felt necessary.