Toxic: Logan's Story (Torn #4)(27)

“Holy shit! You’re Jade from Breaking the Hunger!” she said in an excited whisper.

I glanced around to make sure no one else was paying attention. The last thing I wanted tonight was for a room full of people to realize who I was. No, I wasn’t as big as Drake or even Eric and Adam, but people knew who I was, too.

I gave her a pleading smile. “Yeah, that’s me. We came here for a quiet evening together.”

She smiled knowingly. “Gotcha. I won’t say a word. Can you sign something for me though?”

“Sure.”

I waited as she tore off a piece of paper from her order pad.

She handed it to me. “Can you make it out to Jennifer?”

I wrote her name on the paper and then signed my name at the bottom. I couldn’t help but smile at the look on her face. It was like Christmas had come early for her.

“Thank you! I’ve been following your band forever! I’m so excited that you guys are getting so big now! Don’t worry. I won’t let anyone know who you are.”

I breathed a sigh of relief as she stuffed the paper into her pocket. “Thank you.”

“I’ll bring your food back shortly,” she said before she turned and hurried to the kitchen.

I glanced up to see Logan smiling from ear to ear. “What?”

“You. It’s so weird to see someone react to you like that. I keep forgetting you’re some famous drummer now.”

“I’m not famous!”

“Sure you’re not,” he joked. “Don’t worry. I’m just teasing you, but I do think it’s cool.”

“Well, thanks, I guess,” I mumbled.

“You’re embarrassed.”

My cheeks flamed. “Am not.”

“Yes, you are. It’s cute. You’re always so hard. It’s a nice change.”

I raised an eyebrow as I chuckled. “Sorry, Logan. I don’t have the right parts for that.”

It took him a minute to figure out my sarcastic remark to what he’d said. Once he did, he laughed. “Smart-ass.”

The waitress appeared a few minutes later with our food. With the exception of her checking on us every two-point-five seconds, dinner was peaceful. When she brought our bill to the table, Logan snatched it up before I had a chance.

“Hey! I was going to pay.”

He shook his head. “Nope. My treat.”

I grinned as he walked to the register to pay. Sitting here with him tonight and the fact that he was paying made me feel like this was a date. It was stupid because it obviously wasn’t. He was just being nice.

The drive home was silent. By the time he pulled into his driveway, my eyelids were so heavy that I could barely keep my eyes open. I cursed at my ever-changing time zones as we walked into the house. I didn’t want to go to sleep yet, but my body was begging me for relief. I’d planned to get the travel grime off of me before I went to bed, but I knew I’d never make it through a shower. Instead, I told Logan good night and walked to Chloe’s room. Without a second thought, I collapsed onto the bed and passed out.



I woke up to sunlight filtering through the window. I rolled over so that I could check the time on my phone. Seeing that it was already after eight, I jumped out of bed. Our plan had been to leave the house at seven. I had no idea why Logan hadn’t woken me up yet. I grabbed clean clothes and hurried to the bathroom to shower. After taking the fastest shower on earth and drying my hair, I threw my dirty clothes in my bag and carried it to the front door.

I glanced into the living room to see Amber and Logan sitting on the couch, watching TV.

He glanced up at me and smiled. “Morning.”

“Why didn’t you wake me up? I thought we were going to leave early.”

He shrugged. “I started to wake you up, but you looked so peaceful, so I let you sleep in a bit. I know you’re tired from traveling so much.”

His thoughtfulness touched me, and I grinned back at him. “Thanks. I’m up now, so if you’re ready to go…”

He nodded as he rose from the couch. “Let me grab my bags and throw them in the car.”

He walked past me, leaving Amber and me alone. I glanced over to see her watching me. I looked away and stared at the TV. Amber seemed nice enough, but we’d never really talked before.

“I have to say, I’m surprised,” she finally said.

I glanced at her. “Huh?”

“That Logan is going with you. He’s even excited to take a spur-of-the-moment vacation to meet your family. I didn’t realize you two were so close.” She raised an eyebrow as she waited for my response.

“Oh…well, I wanted to get away for a while, and I didn’t want to go alone, so I asked him to come with me.”

“To meet your parents.”

He obviously hadn’t told her what my plans were or the circumstances surrounding my parents and me.

“It’s not like that.”

She grinned. “Jade, I’m not his mother. I don’t care what’s going on between you two. Just do me a favor, okay? Don’t break him. He’s had enough of that.”

My eyes widened. “I wouldn’t do that to him.”

“Good. As long as he’s happy, I’m happy.”

Logan walked back into the room and glanced between the two of us. “I’m ready if you are.”