Page 30
Story: The Game (Seattle Strike)
Chapter 30
Logan
It's been an easy week. I ended up sleeping at Evie's place one night, and she came back to mine another time. The team's schedule is always a little funny around Christmas, but the guys and I are ready for dinner together at Damián's home. I even got a treat for his pet. Barkley the Dog will continue to love me and vouch for my character.
It's still a couple of hours until it's time to go, and I'm feeling restless. Evie is visiting her parents and I'm alone at home. I need to kill time, but there's a feeling in my chest I'm not sure what to do with. After some inspection, I think this feeling means I'm missing Evie.
Interesting development, but I don't make much of it. Evie and I are having heart-stopping sex, and I enjoy her and her company, and it makes sense that I want her close all the time.
But now I'm left with empty time, and empty space around me in the shape of Mystery Girl. Like all those years when I'd think of her randomly, and the ghost of her would materialize next to me. I could get an extra workout in my gym, burn through the hormones… but I write a text instead.
Logan: Hey. How's lunch going?
Evie: It's good. Home food is good for the soul.
Logan: What did you have?
She sends me a picture of what looks like a thin cut of meat, rolled up and stuffed with greens, red pepper, carrot, and boiled egg.
Logan: Looks great. What is it?
Evie: Matambre relleno
Logan: I'm hungry now.
Evie: How long until you head up to Damián's?
I'm resting on the kitchen island with a smile on my face. I frown. Talking about food I can't eat, with a friend I want in my bed, isn't usually the kind of thing that turns my lips upwards.
I call her.
She responds at the third ring.
"Hey," she says in a muted tone.
"Am I interrupting?"
"No… I came outside."
"Please tell me you're wearing your jacket."
"What?" she chuckles.
It warms me up and steals another smile. With no one to see it, I let it be.
"Evie, you have a bad habit of going outside in the winter without a coat."
This time she laughs. "I'm good, thank you."
"Will you stay there much longer? "
"I don't know. Maybe. If I get the feeling they're about to spiral into despair over how close we are to losing the house, I may make a quick escape. I'm doing everything I can, you know? I can't handle emotional rescuing on top of that, not on Christmas Eve."
"Mmhh. Can I help with that somehow?"
"Logan…"
The line goes quiet for a few seconds. Through the months, I've learned to hear the things Evie doesn't say. I imagine the way she's looking at me, as she finds a way to reject my support again.
I sigh after a moment. "Maybe one day you'll let me help with this. You'll explain why this is so difficult for you, and I'll get to show you I still want to do it."
I'll do anything and everything I can to help her in this. Rather, as much as she'll let me. I'm still figuring out how much I can offer without prompting her to dump me.
"Maybe one day," she whispers.
"Now, can I at least assist your escape this evening?"
"It's fine," she says. "I can make something up— a fake commitment I forgot to mention or something."
"Come to Damián's with me."
I don't think twice before the words are out. The line goes silent once more. In the quiet, I hear her worries, and they drop heavy into my stomach.
I sigh. "It will be nice. I'm sure Damián has invited you before."
"He has, but…"
"What did we say? You're going to start letting people in."
"So bossy! If I go, I would be crashing the dinner and then—"
"?Hija?" A masculine voice I don't recognize comes through the line. "?Querés tu abrigo?"
"No gracias," she says. "I'll be right there."
A second goes by and she talks to me again. "Sorry about that. "
"No need. I'm happy to listen and wonder why you don't speak in Spanish to me."
She laughs like it's a joke. "In any case. I don't know about Damián. I didn't even drive here and I don't want to cab there—"
"Is your car okay? Nevermind. Tell me later. I'll come pick you up."
"Logan…"
"I will text everyone. I'm in the group chat, remember? They will be expecting you."
"You're so proud of being in that group chat."
"Damn right. So I will use my privileges to make sure they're happy to see you."
"The way you phrased that though…"
I trace a mindless pattern on the cold stone under me. My eyes gaze out the window to the large yard, and the covered hot tub in its forever place on the deck. It promises a nice, relaxing time. I have to get Evie in there with me, soon.
"You know what I've learned of late?" I ask. "How much you actually like it when I push."
She laughs. "That's inside trading! That's illegal!"
"I've suspected it for a while, but the way you begged for it after the gala confirmed it."
"Logan!"
"You know you begged. You beseeched me, imploring that I would push and make you come—"
"?Estás hablando con Logan King?"
Evie gasps on the line, like her dad just caught us getting naughty on the phone. And we were, just not in a way anyone is privy to.
"?Papá! Were you listening? Increíble. Límites, okay? We talked about it."
"Límites?" I muse. " Limits , maybe? Is that boundaries ?" I rub my lips, the need to chuckle building in my gut. "Tell him you're talking to me."
She ignores me. "Papá. Please. This is private."
I grin. "Tell him I'm picking you up in a bit and I'd be happy to say hi. Social credit, right?"
"Papá— ya voy." Her voice is firm, like she's reprimanding her dad. "Logan— Shush."
It's the same tone she uses with me. What sounds like a sliding door closing comes through the line, but I'm too busy laughing to imagine the rest of the scene too hard.
"Are you serious right now?" she demands.
"Not at all." I laugh some more.
"This is how I hear you laugh? When I can't see you?"
"All I'm hearing is that you want to see me."
"I want to see you laugh."
"And you want to see me tonight. Don't fret, Evie. I'll pick you up, and we'll spend the night together."
"If you come pick me up, my parents will want to say hi."
"In what world do you think that would stop me?"
I knock on the door and wait on a small porch. Evie's childhood home is a modest place, probably not more than a couple of rooms and the living spaces. The front yard is minimal, and the outside needs a new paint job. Radically different from the home I grew up in, or the place I live in now.
I imagine Little Evie growing up here, and something in me melts.
The door opens and three faces appear, only one of which I recognize.
The lines on Evie's mom's face are subtle, and her hair has more dark to it than white, but she has tired eyes. Dad's face lines are deeper, and his scruff has more white than his head, but there's glee written all over.
"Good evening." I offer him my hand and the bottle of Argentinian wine I picked up on the way. "I'm Logan King. "
"I know who you are!" The words come out with a strong accent. "Welcome, welcome! Thank you."
Evie makes just enough room for me to shake her dad's hand and hand him my gift. She looks at it with signs of consternation in her eyes.
"We're not staying, Papá," she says.
I shake Mom's hand and give her the flowers I've been hiding behind my back. "A pleasure."
"Are you serious?" Evie mutters my way.
I keep my eyes on her parents.
"Ay, sos un encanto," her mom says.
I don't know enough Spanish to understand, but her pleased face tells me plenty.
"This is Luisa," Dad says. "And I'm Ismael."
"Un gusto." I have an accent when I utter the words, but it works.
Evie watches me in shock, while her parents grin and get excited.
"?Hablás espanol?" Luisa asks.
"Not really," I admit. "I learned some in the past, but not much."
"I'm impressed!" Ismael says.
"Since when are you so charming?" Evie accuses, and steps down to the porch, pushing me away from her parents in the process. "Thanks for lunch. It was delicious."
"You can join us next time, Logan." A playful glint shines in Luisa's eyes. I've seen it in Evie before. "We've never met someone from our daughter's work before."
Evie doesn't let me answer. "Byeee! Love you."
She looks at me when she says the words and I know she means it for her parents, and yet…
"I said my goodbyes already," she tells me. "We can go."
I'm stuck in her easy love you , which is not for me, and I…
I blink a few times. "Let's go. "
It's fine. That was a blip.
I shake Luisa and Ismael's hands again, and follow Evie toward my car, parked nearby on the street.
"I didn't get to say hello to you," I say, and kiss her temple.
"Stop! They're looking through the window, I'm sure."
I retreat, but it pulls at me in a way that doesn't sit right.
Table of Contents
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- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30 (Reading here)
- Page 31
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- Page 40