Page 91 of That First Night

“I know you did,” Marc adds. “Have you told her?”

“No.”

Marc sighs and runs his hands down his face, rubbing the scruff on his beard a second longer, as if he’s deep in thought. “Listen, I’m going to tell you something and you have to listen.”

“Oh boy,” Logan sits back in his seat and crosses his arms over his chest.

“And you will shut the fuck up,” Marc snaps at him. “Don’t you have to go to the bar for your next pick up?”

“You know I don’t pick up here, ass hat.”

“Anyway.” Marc shakes his head. “Listen, I love you, Tommy. You don’t have to say it back and I know you never will because you’re you. With that being said, you’re excellent atshowingthose you love that you love them. I have no doubt that you have shown Peyton that and she has an idea of how you feel. But women need to hear it, too. Have you thought about telling her?”

“Yeah,” I admit softly. Tilting my head towards the table and swirling the ice in my glass around. “I just don’t know how.”

“It goes like this,” Logan chimes in. “I. Love. You. It’s easy.”

“I haven’t heard you ever tell someone you love them before,” I snap back. “I think you’re incapable of it, too.”

“It’s not that I'm incapable.” He laughs. “It’s just that I have no desire for that life. You will never catch me tied down. Plus, my line of work is dangerous. I worry about protecting myself enough and I don’t need to worry about not coming home to a family because some bastard shot me square in the chest.”

“Logan,” I pause. “I’ll tell you. There is no greater feeling in the world than loving someone the way I love Peyton. She’s flipped my world around for the better,” I run my hands down my dress slacks as I feel sweaty palms coming on. “I can’t imagine my life without her anymore.”

“That.” Marc snaps his fingers together and then points it at me. “Make sure you tell her that. We’re making progress, big bro.”

I smile up at him over the brim of my whiskey, “Thank you, Marc.”

“No problem,” he sits up straighter in his seat. “Now that we have figured out your problem… help me with mine.”

“What do you need?”

“I need a date for the charity event this weekend,” he says as he rolls his eyes. “The owner of the agency, Bill, is going to be there. He wants to retire, and I am in the running to take over the entire agency.”

“Wow, that’s awesome, Marc.”

“It is.” He nods. “Except it’s between me and some fuck twit from another office across town named Todd. Fucking Todd.”

“Ooof,” Logan adds. “Fucking Todds.”

“Exactly.” Marc laughs. “Bill says I have it in the bag. His only hesitation is that he wants a family man to take over ownership of the agency. I don’t exactly have a wife. Or a girlfriend, for that matter.”

“That does sound like a problem.” I nod.

“It is. I guess I need someone to come with me as my date and I…” he pauses, cringing at his own words. “Be my fake fiancé, maybe?”

“Shut up.” I laugh harder than I have laughed in so long. “What the fuck did you tell Bill?”

He shakes his head in disgust. “I might have told him that I have a fiancé. At the time, I didn’t realize I would have such a hard time finding someone to play the role with me.”

“Hey,” Logan sits up straight in his chair and claps his hands together. “What if you asked one of Peyton’s friends?”

“That’s a great idea.” I clap my hands together. “You and Avery seem to get along nicely?”

“That’s a joke, right?” he scoffs. “She’s a fucking wrecking ball. You’ve seen her drunk. Plus, she fucking works for me now. That’s a fucking disaster waiting to happen.”

“It might be.” I shrug my shoulders. “But do you have any better ideas?”

Marc runs his hands through his hair and then immediately pounds his glass of whiskey, drinking it in one big gulp. “Fuck.”