Fighting Fate (Granton University #1)(53)

Logan scoffed and glanced askance at Paige. “He always had a smart aleck response for everything. Even on the court.”

Paige’s grin was immediate and watered with nostalgic tears. “That was Trace for you. A great big smart-mouthed know-it-all.”

“Yeah, well it drove me crazy,” Logan muttered. “And he knew it, so he did it every chance he got. What was worse, he was so good at everything. I just wanted to beat him at something. And that was when I focused on the girl he had tucked under his arm.”

Paige perked to attention. Dropping her hands from her chest, she frowned. “Say what?”

Logan turned back to the stars. He couldn’t look at her for this part of the story. “I waited until she was off away from him…and then I struck.”

“Oh, my God.” Paige covered her mouth with both hands. “What did you do?”

Sending her a brief scowl, he sniffed. She didn’t have to make it sound as if he’d accosted the girl against her will.

“Nothing bad. I just…flirted mostly. She was as drunk as I was, so it wasn’t too terribly hard to charm her. When your brother caught us kissing, though, he was—”

“Kissing!” Paige jerked her hands down to her abdomen as she sucked in large breaths through her mouth. “You kissed…you kissed Kayla? Oh my God. Kayla?”

Kayla? “Yeah,” he said on a grimace. “I think that was her name.”

“No, no, no,” Paige insisted. She shook her head resolutely as if denying it enough would make it not so. “You’re mistaken. Not Kayla. You don’t understand. You can’t mean Kayla. He loved Kayla.”

When Logan just stared at her, she balled her hands into fists. “You don’t understand,” she repeated, her voice raising an octave. “He bought her a ring. I found it when I was cleaning out his room. But I couldn’t tell her about it because I didn’t want to hurt her. He loved her so much.”

A ring?

Falling back a step, Logan gawked, unable to digest this properly. Reaching out, he caught hold of the bed of his truck, needing the support.

“He was going to marry her,” Paige hissed, making him flinch.

Looking away, he cursed aloud. “I didn’t…I didn’t know.”

“She…she’s my best friend now.” Paige sobbed in a dry heave.

He glanced up and saw the look in her dazed eyes, the sick disdain on her face.

“God. I shouldn’t have told you that part.”

“Yes. Yes, you should have.” Hysteria filtered into her words. “Someone should’ve told me a long time ago. Oh my God.”

“Paige.” He stepped toward her, lifting his hand, only wanting to comfort her. “She didn’t do anything wrong. She was so out of it. She didn’t know what she was doing. It was all me. I did everything I could to steal her away from him. In fact, I swear she was starting to push me away when he caught us.”

“I don’t care,” Paige nearly screamed, slapping his fingers away before he actually touched her. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “He loved her. He wanted to marry her someday. And she let another guy kiss her?”

He watched her curl into herself, cradling her arm around her waist as she bowed her face and clenched her eyes shut.

Agony tore through him. He didn’t want to watch this; he ached even knowing he’d started and couldn’t stop it.

“Paige, please,” he begged with no idea what he was actually begging for. “No matter what happened that night, she’s still your best friend. Hating her now is only going to hurt both of you. I guarantee you one hundred percent she is sorry for what happened, and if she could take it back, she would in a heartbeat. I mean, the way she cried over him…” He shook his head. “I swear I’ve never seen anyone cry like that before. She refused to leave his side. She was…she was devastated.”

Paige wiped her wet face and looked at him. He tensed under her all-knowing gaze, and everything became clear. He wasn’t just pleading her friend’s case; he was pleading his own. By the look in her eyes, he could tell she knew that.

“I don’t know,” he mumbled, suddenly uncomfortable. Hugging himself, he glanced to where his family’s car had sat minutes ago. “Or maybe you’ll do just fine without her.”

His family seemed perfectly fine without him.

“No.” Paige sniffed back a few more tears. “No, I wouldn’t. And I’m sure your family is not fine without you either.” Turning slightly away from him, she brushed her hands off onto her thighs as if needing something to do. Then she drew in a deep breath, collected herself, and looked at him over her shoulder. “Thank you for telling me.”

He nodded, unsettled by how easily she’d been able to find composure. Holding pain inside couldn’t be good for a person. If she was repressing anything, it’d hurt her more in the long run.

Not sure what else to say, certain anything that came out of his mouth would only induce her to hold more in, he reached for the handle of his truck door. “I should…I should go.” He’d already done enough damage. He couldn’t handle the thought of doing more. Especially to her.

But she stopped him with a single word. “Logan?”

He paused and heaved a shaky breath, afraid to turn around. “Yeah?”