Page 57 of The Fire Between High & Lo (Elements 2)

Still didn’t correct her.

“I didn’t have anything to say to you,” I lied. I was building the wall that I knew I had to build coming into town. I had to keep my emotions and mind at bay to keep me from falling back into Alyssa’s life. Last time I was in her life, I ruined it. I couldn’t allow myself to do that to her again. So, I had to be cold, harsh even.

Because she deserved better than to be waiting by her phone for someone like me to call her back.

“Nothing?” she stepped back, flabbergasted. “Not one thing? Not even hello?”

“I was always better at goodbyes.”

“Wow…” she blew out a sharp breath.

Every emotion I felt toward her throughout the years was coming back to me, stronger than ever. I was mad at myself for not calling her, I was sad, I was happy, I was confused, I was in love. I was everything that Alyssa ever made me feel.

My mind was seconds away from exploding.

“You know what?” She cleared her throat and gave me a tight smile. “We aren’t going to do this.”

“Do what?”

“Fight. Argue. Because if we do that, you know what it means? It would mean you and I had some kind of relationship, which we don’t. You became a stranger the moment you disappeared into the cornfields of Iowa.”

My lips parted, but before I could speak, she’d turned on her heel and stormed off to help another table. She had a fake smile pasted to her face while she spoke to the customers. Her foot tapped nonstop against the checkered floor, and there was a slight rock back and forth to her body.

Her eyes shot over to me, as she spoke to the individuals.

“Well, I think I’ll have the eggs over easy and,”–one customer spoke, but was cut off by Alyssa storming back over to me—“bacon.”

“Does Kellan even know that you’re here?! Or were you just going to surprise attack him at his job, too?” Her hands hit her hips and she cocked an eyebrow.

I cocked a brow back at her. “Yeah. He’s the reason I’m here. For the wedding.”

“What?” she asked, flustered.

“The wedding… You know, how my brother is marrying your sister.”

“But…” she paused, her irritation dropping. “The wedding isn’t for another month. You came back a month early just to help with that?”

“Kellan said it was this weekend.”

“Well, that would definitely be news to me. But with everything that’s happening, I wouldn’t be shocked.”

“What does that mean? What’s happening?”

Her mouth opened, but no words came out. She tried again, nibbling on her bottom lip. “Are you using, Logan?”

“What?” I asked, defensively. “What the hell does that mean

?”

“You know what it means. I just…” She started shaking, her nerves taking ahold of her. “I need to know if you’re clean. If you’ve been using anything.”

“That’s none of your business. Seeing how if I told you anything, that would mean we had some kind of relationship, and as you stated earlier we—”

“Lo,” she whispered. The nickname falling from her lips made me rethink my annoyance and my defensive approach.

Her eyes.

Her lips.