Toxic: Logan's Story (Torn #4)(76)

I ate my food quickly and paid my bill without looking over at the guys’ table again. My life was a disaster as it was. Adding a guy would only complicate things more. I walked out to my car and quickly unlocked the door before climbing inside. Once the doors were locked, I started the engine and pulled away from the lot.

I couldn’t help but grin as I remembered the guy’s smile. He’d been cute from what I could tell. His dark brown hair had been shaggy, but it hadn’t been so long that it looked messy. His arms had looked toned, probably from playing football or basketball. Those were the only two sports, especially football, that people really cared about around here. Once football season hit, that was what everyone would talk about. I wasn’t a big fan of sports, but even I cheered for the Mountaineers.

I drove back to the restaurant and parked, trying not to think about the cute guy or his smile. I yawned and reclined my seat. Yeah, there was no way in hell I could think about boys right now.





Excerpt for





Chapter One


I groaned and rolled over to escape the sun shining through the window of Joel’s bedroom. My body tensed as I realized for there to be sunlight, then it must be day. My eyes opened, and I grabbed my cell phone from the table beside the bed to check the time. Shit. It was almost three o’clock in the afternoon, and I had a ton of voice mails and missed calls. I couldn’t believe that I’d slept this late. I was so f*cked.

I sat up and pulled the blanket up to cover my naked body. I had snuck out of my parents’ house last night after they grounded me for fighting in school again. I’d thought I could sneak back in this morning before they woke up, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen now.

My eyes traveled to Joel as he snored lightly beside me. The sun was directly on his back, showing off the skull and crossbones tattoo that covered most of the area. His normally guarded expression was gone while he slept. Joel looked like the typical badass, but he was so much more. His body was covered in tattoos—and when I say covered, I mean, covered. There was barely an inch of him that didn’t have ink with the exception of his face. His hair was a dark brown color, and he kept it just a bit shaggy. His eyes were a startling green color that made people stop and look twice. His cheekbones and overall face structure would make any male model jealous.

I smiled dreamily as I thought about our night together. At twenty-two, he was five years older than me, but our age gap never seemed to bother him. We’d been together for almost a year now, and I couldn’t be happier. I’d met him at my cousin’s graduation party two years ago, and I’d instantly developed a crush on him. He hadn’t paid any attention to me, but when I’d started hanging out with some of his younger friends who were in high school with me, I’d finally gotten him to notice me.

I’d been drunk at a party one night and braver than usual. Girls much older than me had surrounded him, but I had shoved through them when I saw him and walked straight up to him. He’d raised an eyebrow when I stopped in front of him, but I’d simply hopped on his lap and kissed him until I couldn’t breathe. After I had finished, I’d stood up and walked away.

We’d been together ever since that night.

My parents weren’t happy that I was dating someone who was so much older and more experienced. The fact that he was covered in tattoos from head to toe hadn't helped my case any either, but I’d sworn to them over and over that Joel and I weren’t having sex. Obviously, that was a lie, considering where I’d woken up just now, but they didn’t need to know that.

Joel was trouble. I’d known that before I got with him, but I’d still taken a chance, and I was glad that I had. Everyone knew he was the son of the town drunk, and it showed. Joel had one hell of a mean streak. Even when he had been in high school, everyone had been terrified of him. He had been kicked out for fighting more times than I could count. On top of that, everyone knew he was the go-to guy if someone needed a fix. He’d later explained to me that he’d started selling drugs to help pay the bills that his dad never worried about. Joel was good at dealing though, and he’d stuck with it even when he could have left this town and started fresh.

He had already been living on his own by the time we met, and I was glad. I wasn’t sure how I would have handled seeing the man who had abused Joel for years. I wanted to cause Joel’s father as much pain as he had done to Joel. I knew it had been years since Joel had talked to his father, but it still bothered me.

“Joel, wake up. I need to leave,” I said as I nudged his shoulder.

He groaned in his sleep and rolled over, but he refused to open his eyes. I sighed as I hit his shoulder harder. His eyes finally opened when I started smacking him on the stomach. He shielded his eyes as he rolled over to look at me.

“What?” he grumbled.

“I need to go home, like, right now. We slept in.” I stood up and started looking for my clothes.

“You’re already in trouble. Why hurry home to be yelled at?” he asked as he sat up.

He didn’t bother to cover himself, and I couldn’t bring myself to look away from his naked body. I loved the trail of dark hair leading down his stomach…to other places. His nose was a bit crooked from being broken more than once, but it didn’t take away from his appearance. If anything, it made him look sexier and dangerous. His eyes were his best feature by far though. They held a vulnerability in them that made me want to crawl into his arms and try to make everything better.