Reckless Together: A Contemporary New Adult College Romance (The Reckless Series) (5 page)

"I haven't." Though he wanted to. Desperately. But he understood being a victim and couldn't violate Melissa's privacy and trust. "I won't."

"Have you told Ellie the date you're set to testify? Do you want her there?"

"Not yet. I haven't had the chance," he said.
 

Melissa hadn't known he and El had been apart these last months. She thought they'd been happily together. That was part of the deception, part of how he'd kept her away from El while El got to know Jason, her father.

"Make up your mind soon about whether you do or don't. The sooner, the better. Whatever you decide, be honest with her. If she loves you like I think she does, she'll respect your decision."

El would insist on being there. He wasn't sure he could handle her seeing his vulnerability on the stand, and he sure as hell didn't want the details of that night lodged in her mind. He hoped Melissa was right and wondered how she could swing back and forth so easily between empathy and sage advice and cruel, self-serving behavior.

Neither spoke. Melissa broke the silence. "I have to go. I'll be in touch to talk about Mom's Weekend plans!" She laughed again. "Take care, Logan." The line went dead.

Logan's cell rang in his hand before he could set it down. He looked at the caller ID and frowned. His mother was calling. He picked up. "Hey, Ma."

"Logan." She sounded upset and worried. "I just found out the date for your court appearance. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Mom,
I
just found out." It was a partial lie. He'd known long enough to tell her.

Fortunately, she ignored his excuse. "I'm coming for it. Don't try to talk me out of it. Your dad will be there for the annual advisory board meeting and business plan competition. He has a room. We won't be any trouble. I'll come for Mom's Weekend with him and we'll stay straight through your testimony."

Logan cursed beneath his breath. He'd been bracing for his father's visit. Harlan was on the advisory board for the College of Business. Their meeting and the business plan competition they judged every year always coincided with Mom's Weekend.

Harlan had been to Mom's Weekend every year. Logan's mom had never come. It wasn't her thing. Harlan usually took Logan out for a meal while he was in town, and that was enough bonding for both of them. Logan had been anticipating—and dreading—his father's visit. He feared his dad would make a final bid to keep Logan from testifying.

His mom spoke before Logan could react. "Caleb's coming, too."

Fuck. The last thing Logan wanted or needed was his mom
and
his brother hearing the gory, humiliating details of his ordeal.
 

"Doesn't Caleb have to play ball?"

"His team has a bye that week. And he pulled a hamstring yesterday and is out of action for a few weeks. He's made arrangements to do his physical therapy at the university while we're there."

Shit.
There'd been a time when he and Caleb were so close he would have been the first to know about Caleb's injury and not had to find out about it from their mom.

"Ma, there's no need for any of you to come. This is going to be ugly—"

"Don't try to talk me out of it, Twenty-six. We're coming and that's it. We support you. We're going to be there for you."

A message popped up on his laptop.
 

When are u gonna stop screwing old profs and claiming you dont like it, dickhead? Guys like u make me sick. You werent raped. Your a playor. Everyone knows it. Stop acting like your a real victim.

Chapter Four

Ellie

I was picking up my phone to call Logan when Bre stormed in.

"Douchebag! Asshole." She glanced at my heart balloon floating in the corner of our room and scowled.
 

Last night she'd been totally supportive when she came with me to meet Falcon26, who turned out to be Logan. I had expected her to want all the news, just like Tay and Nic had.
 

Something had obviously gone wrong between her and her boyfriend Dan. "What did Dan do now?"

She took off her coat, threw her purse on her desk, and plopped onto her bed. Her eyes were puffy and rimmed with red, like she'd been crying. "He's been sexting another girl. Some bitch from high school."

Oh no. We were in for a crash. Bre was psycho where Dan was concerned. The anger in her eyes masked a deep, vengeful hurt. She and Dan had been dating since the first week of school. I'd always thought she was more into him than he was to her. I'd guessed it was only a matter of time until he broke things off, but I'd been dreading the day and selfishly hoping it happened after the school year ended so I wouldn't have to deal with it. Now the timing was impeccably bad. My happiness was only going to shine the spotlight on her
un
happiness.

"You're sure?" I asked.

She glared at me. "I saw the texts. And the naked pictures of her."

Ouch. Not good. "How?"
 

Like I really wanted to know. Just like morbid curiosity can cause you to gape at a gory scene you know you shouldn't look at because it will give you nightmares, sometimes you can't help asking a morbid question. Because it seems like what a friend would do.

She looked at me like
I
was crazy. "I read them on his phone."

"You spied on his phone?" So, so not good.

"He was in the bathroom. His phone was just lying there on his bed. It rang. A text popped up. What was I supposed to do? Ignore it?" She practically screamed at me. She was on the ragged verge of hysteria.
 

I pictured a scene from that old movie Mom used to watch,
Fatal Attraction,
about a woman who gets revenge on her married lover after a one-night stand. I always thought vengeance ran too deeply in Mom's blood. On reflection, maybe she'd pictured herself as the married lover and was looking for ways to protect herself from the inevitable psycho. Whatever. Bre had that vengeful look now, and it wasn't pretty.

"Don't look at me like I committed a felony when
he
was the one fooling around behind
my
back." She pulled his phone out of her pocket and shook it. It must have been his phone. It sure wasn't hers. "Want to see?"

I swore beneath my breath. Bre had lost it. There was no way to reason with her. I should have shut up, but my mouth had a mind of its own. "You need to give that back to him. Don't make things worse."

"Worse! How can things get any worse?" She jumped off the bed and went to the window like she was going to throw his phone out of it.

"No!" I jumped up and grabbed her arm to stop her. "Bre! Don't go crazy on me. Don't do something you'll regret."

She glared at me and backed away from the window. "You're right. Throwing this away is stupid."

I took a breath, relieved but still wary. "Did you break up with him?"

She narrowed her eyes. "No! We're not broken up. He's not breaking up with me. I'll show him." Her eyes snapped. She lifted her shirt, unhooked her bra, and snapped a picture of her naked breasts.

My mouth fell open as she typed something and texted the picture to someone. "Showing him what he's missing?"

Her eyes glistened with hatred. "You think way too small, Ellie. That's always been your problem. I just texted the bitch like I'm Dan. I told her, 'My girlfriend's tits are better than yours.' That will show her. And him. She'll dump him any second." She stared at the phone and grinned expectantly, like she couldn't wait for the returning teary text.

"Oh, Bre."

"Shut up! Just shut up and leave me alone. I know what I'm doing. I'm not afraid to protect my territory."

In that second she reminded me way too much of my mom. I suppressed a shudder and shut up.

My silence only infuriated her. "Wipe that stupid 'I'm so happy,' smug look off your face. You think you have the world's best guy just because he showed up with a balloon? After he fooled you all those months by pretending to be someone else? After you moaned and moped because of Kelsie and Amber. He's a player. You're the dupe, Ellie. Not me."

I knew she was hurt and angry. But that didn't give her the right to attack me. I grabbed my jacket. "Don't lash out at me because you're unhappy." I slung my backpack over my shoulder.

"Coward! Where are you going?"

"Out until you calm down. You need some space. Maybe you'll get some perspective."

"Get out! Get out and leave me alone."

"Gladly."
 

Dan's cell phone buzzed in Bre's hand. While she was distracted by it, I made my escape. I refused to be party to her games. I paused at the door and looked back at her. Bre was smiling as she read the text.

"If he's cheating on you, dump him." I slid out before she could respond. The door shuddered behind me. I jumped as I heard the tinkling of broken glass. What had she thrown? I had visions of my best perfume biting it. I took a deep breath, hoping it wasn't something of mine but betting it had to be.

Outside, the sun was shining and the crocuses were coming up. As I walked toward The College Grind, the joy of being with Logan bubbled up, egged on by the sunshine and flowers and dreams of spring. Suddenly, I was smiling and walking with a bounce in my step that should have been there all along. This was powerful stuff—not even my mother or my roommate's tantrums could kill it.
 

I was grinning as I pulled my phone from my pocket and called Logan.

"Hey. I was just about to call you," he said in that low, sultry way he had. The sound of his voice was like the sunshine outside. It made me hot all over.

"Beat you to it." I put the heat I felt in my voice.

"Can I see you? I miss you already," he said. "
And
I have news." A cloud momentarily masked the husky sunshine of his voice. Like the news wasn't happy.

Happy news was all I wanted. Happy news and him. I hesitated. "I do, too."

"Good! We can share our news. I've been trying to study, but my head's not in it. I keep thinking of you." He lowered his voice. "And last night."

Okay, that really did curl my toes. I clenched my fingers and suppressed a sigh. I wanted him again. I smiled even larger, like I was a different person today than yesterday. I'd been thinking of last night, too. I couldn't keep it out of my mind.

"I'm on my way to The College Grind to study. Meet me there," I said.

"Not your room?" His voice was laced with innuendo and promise of more, too.

"Definitely not there. Bre kicked me out."

"Bitch. Is that your news? On the outs with the psycho roommate again. What now?"

"Man troubles. Or maybe I should say
Dan
troubles and sexting outside the relationship."

"Shit." Logan laughed. "Down with douchebag guys. Come crash at my place."

"Love to. But first I need coffee."

"I have coffee."

"With frothed milk and dark chocolate syrup."

"Shit, El. You know how to string a guy along. I'll meet you there and buy your damn coffee. And then you can come back to my place."

Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting at The College Grind sipping my mocha when Logan walked in. Like I would let him pay. He spotted me and flashed that smile that made my insides turn to mush and my knees go weak. When he reached my table, I jumped up and threw my arms around him like it had been way too long since I'd last touched him.
 

It was warm outside for almost April. He wore jeans and a T-shirt that showed off his fabulously toned arms. How had I scored a jock like him? As I smiled back at him, I traced one bicep with the tip of my fingernail, daring him to shiver beneath my touch.
 

He grinned back and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Tease." He tipped my chin up until our mouths met and the heat we felt went into our kiss.
 

The barista interrupted, calling out my name.
 

When Logan finally pulled away, I was dizzy with the taste of him, leaning on him for support. Breathless.

"Right on time," I said. I had ordered a mocha, trying to time it so it would greet him. "That's yours."