Page 61 of The Best Worst Thing

That’s On You

Logan, I—”

“It’s a carrot cake donut!” he said, wiping his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt, then stepping into the foyer and handing her their coffees.

“I’ve never seen one before, my whole life.

They’re from that new bakery downtown, you been yet?

The one with the green sign? I saw it on the specials board when I ran by, so I circled back after and … ”

He put his free hand on her waist.

Nicole nearly jumped.

“Wh-what’s wrong?” he said.

“Listen, um …” She eyed Gabe’s car parked across the street. This morning, Nicole had left hers in the middle of the driveway after telling Logan, who was halfway out his front door, that she needed to take care of a few things back at her place after she dropped Nero at the groomer. “I—”

“Colie? Who’s at the door? You find that flathead yet? I need it!”

Logan’s face fell at once. His glow—gone.

He knew exactly whose voice he’d heard, calling out from the landing.

But before Nicole could begin to explain herself—to either of these men—Gabe had already made it halfway down the stairs.

Nicole’s heart was pounding between her ears.

And Logan was just standing there, his mouth open and his arms slack.

“Holy shit,” Gabe said, every last dot connecting in the drop of his voice. He charged down the final few steps—his hands, fists; the tendons in his neck, tight. “It’s you! You’re the fucking guy!”

Logan dumped the pastry box onto the console. “Hey, man, I—”

“How long?” Gabe said, and then it all happened so fast. Gabe’s hands were on the neck of Logan’s shirt, pinning Logan—chin up, chest out—against the wall while Nicole was screaming, spinning, telling Gabe to stop, to calm down, to let go.

Logan didn’t flinch. “How long have you been fucking my wife?”

“Come on,” Logan said, sweeping Gabe’s fists off his shoulders. “Don’t do this. Don’t—”

“Answer the fucking question!”

“I would’ve never laid a finger on—”

“Bullshit! Every time I saw you, you were staring at her! You think I’m some idiot? You think I didn’t notice?”

Logan blew out a breath. “You’re the one who let her get away, man. That’s on you.”

Gabe howled, rushing Logan a second time.

“Gabe! Stop it!” Nicole sprung between them. Her hands were on Gabe’s chest, holding him back while Logan begged her to get out of the way. She didn’t listen. “He didn’t do anything!”

Gabe’s eyes went wide. “Didn’t do anything? Are you kidding me? What, he’s just here to bring you breakfast? You guys just get burgers in the middle of the night as old colleagues? Explain it to me, Nicole! Tell me I’ve got this all wrong.”

“I don’t have to tell you anything! My life is none of your business!”

Gabe laughed. His face, red. His knuckles, cracking. He tipped his chin toward Logan, who was standing there, inhaling, exhaling, and trying to keep an eye on Nicole.

“How long, dude? Since she first got that job? Four years? You screwing her the whole time? Or just trying to?”

“Nobody here needs this,” Logan said. “Not you. Not me. And certainly not Nicole.”

Gabe, snickering, stepped forward another inch. Logan breathed out, then locked eyes with Nicole.

“Get your keys,” he said to her quietly but firmly. Nicole nodded, then fumbled through the tray on the console table. They had already taken two steps toward the door when Gabe grabbed Logan by the elbow and yanked him back around.

“The fuck are you going?”

“I’m not going to stand here and do this with you,” Logan said. “It’s ridiculous.”

“What, are you some fucking yoga teacher now? Why the hell are you so calm? Colie fucking you six times a day or something? Nothing like that first year with her, huh? All you have to do is read her stupid books, tell her she’s pretty, and she’ll let you do anything. Fucking beg for it. Best year of my—”

“Shut up!” Nicole said, lunging toward Gabe as Logan—jaw clenched—held her back, one hand clamped onto her shoulder, the other sealed around her wrist. “I fucking hate you!”

“You,” Logan said, herding a still-shouting, still-thrashing Nicole behind his body so he was face-to-face with Gabe, “are even worse than I thought you were.”

“Yeah? Well, at least I know it! What kind of man are you? You’re the one screwing someone else’s wife. This, right here, is our house. Upstairs—our bed. Our baby’s crib! Last time I checked, nobody’s served me divorce papers. Nobody’s—”

“That’s bullshit, Gabe!” Nicole said. “That’s bullshit, and you know it!”

Gabe’s eyes bulged. “Oh god, Nicole. They should give you a fucking Oscar. I mean, really. You are so, so good. The show you put on for me these past few months. Your girl power podcast. Telling me to go to Colorado, telling me to go take care of myself. I’ve been living in a hotel room, getting wasted, thinking I ruined your life.

Thinking I ruined my unborn child’s life.

You let me fall apart! Why? So you could fuck some loser from your shitty old job in peace?

What, were you trying to make me jealous?

Or could you not even stand to be alone for a single second?

Had to go and get yourself a new husband to cry to every night? Had to—”

“Gabe,” Logan said. “Come on. Stop—”

“Fuck you!” Nicole, who’d slipped out of Logan’s hold, was inches from Gabe now. Her lungs, burning. Her arms, shooting down her sides. “I hate you! You have taken everything from me! What is your problem!?”

“My problem!? You’re my fucking problem! You’re worse than me! So I fucked a bunch of women. Big deal! Everybody cheats! But you know what I never did, Nicole?” He stared at her. “I never stopped loving you!”

For a moment, there was silence.

Total, complete stillness.

Gabe’s hands were clamped on the top of his head.

Nicole’s arms were clasped around her shrinking body.

When her crushed gaze finally met Logan’s eyes, she couldn’t make a sound.

He mouthed that she was okay, that everything was okay, and held out his hand.

Shaking, she took a step closer to him and dropped her hand into his.

He squeezed her palm one, two, three times, then slipped in front of her and whispered to please drive over to his place, that he would meet her there.

She shook her head and stayed right next to him.

Gabe—who’d been watching the whole thing—took a step back, jaw slack.

“Holy shit, Colie. You’re in way over your head, aren’t you?”

“I never want to see you again. I mean it.”

“Yeah? What do you want, then? To just live in my house and spend my money and ruin my life? While everyone else feels sorry for you? While you lie to my face? While you look me in the eye and tell me you don’t want to know our baby’s gender because you suddenly love surprises so much?

What, you just want all the attention, all the coddling, every last thing on your terms, while I foot the bill?

You know what that makes you? You’re a smart girl, but let me give you a little hint, okay? It makes you a—”

“That’s enough!” Logan’s eyes had narrowed. His mouth was twitching. His hands were closed, quivering fists at his sides. Nicole, by now, had collapsed onto the bottom step of her stairwell, put her head in her hands, and begun to rock back and forth. “Don’t say another word!”

Gabe sniggered again; his stare, wild. “Man, she’s got you good, doesn’t she? Enjoy it while it lasts, dude. She still crazy in the mornings? She still do that thing with—”

“You need to leave, Gabe. Now.”

“You can’t throw me out of my own house!”

“I don’t give a shit,” Logan said, his chest rising and falling. His knuckles, by now, white. “Get the hell out.”

Gabe wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and grinned. Suddenly, he was breathing easy. The coolness of it all sent a shudder down Nicole’s spine. She didn’t know him. She didn’t know him at all.

“You know what? I’ll go. Leave you two lovebirds to it. But let me ask you something, man to man, uh …” Gabe looked straight at him. “Sorry, I don’t think I ever caught your name.”

“Logan.”

Gabe sneered. “Logan, that’s right. Logan from work. How could I forget? Tell me, Logan from work. You still fuck her if she’s pregnant with my kid?”