Since I was a kid, making it into the World Hockey League was the ultimate goal. No relationship could match my first love, and after my rough childhood, I wasn't putting my heart on the line.
When Bellerive makes a successful bid to move the Califo...
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"I got you a gin and tonic," Dalton says, trying to pass it to me, but I keep my hands to myself. "Take the drink. It's your favorite."
It's not my favorite. Dalton always got it for me because he said I shouldn't drink my calories or I wouldn't fit into all my fancy clothes anymore.
"I don't want it."
"You're acting like a child. Maybe that's why you're now dating one."
"We agreed to ignore each other in public," I say, stepping back.
He steps forward, and we're deeper in the shadows of the ballroom, most of the crowd concentrated in the middle. He slides the two drinks onto a high table near us.
"We didn't agree to anything. We didn't speak. You had some misguided ideas about a restraining order, and I assured Officer Foster that wasn't necessary. An overreaction at best and an outright lie at worst."
I hadn't asked for the restraining order process from Stephen, and I can't decide if I'm glad for the threat or not. One thing I learned while dating Dalton is that you don't deliberately poke the bear.
"As far as I'm concerned, our breakup is a giant misunderstanding. You trip, and suddenly I'm the bad guy? I just don't understand where the rational, reasonable woman you were went. Poof. Gone that night. Over nothing."
He'll twist anything I say into something else, so I just stare at him.
"You can't possibly have anything in common with a kid who plays hockey for a living. One who never went to college or university. Someone who could never understand the life you've led or the island you love. You're smarter than that."
"Logan will be looking for me." I try to move around him.
His hand snakes around my bicep, stopping me before I can get past. "That dress," he murmurs in my ear. "Are you sending me a signal, Sawyer? Is your old, respectable self making a return? He's a rebound, one last rebellion, and then you'll come bouncing back to me?"
"You really need to remove your hand before I remove it for you," Logan says from behind Dalton.
Dalton doesn't drop his hand, but all the tension in me slides away. Thank god.
Dalton glances over his shoulder. "We're having a private conversation."
"And now you're not," Logan says, a hard edge to his voice that I've never heard. "I'm going to say it one more time—take your hand off her."
He releases his grip, and I rub my bicep. A bruise will probably appear tomorrow. Sadly, not a first. But it is the first time he won't be able to claim that I bruise easily or that he didn't even grip me that hard, or that I'm overreacting. My version of an event or a conversation never matched his.
"You can leave now," Logan says to Dalton, staring him down. "Other people might be fooled by this mask you wear, but I'm not."
"You need to learn to respect your elders," Dalton says, his tone is also full of warning, but it doesn't have the same intimidating force as Logan. "The Advisory Council controls almost everything on this island—including your team. You could say I'm your boss."
"You wouldn't be the first boss I've had who doesn't know fuck all about anything and tries to cover it with arrogance instead of developing the proper skills. I'd say it was sad, but that would suggest I care."
"You will," Dalton says. "I'm going to make sure you care very much." Then he storms off.
When Logan's hand slides around my waist, I realize I'm shaking. "You okay?"
"I don't know," I admit.
"That's the second time he's been..." Logan seems at a loss for words as he draws me in closer.
"Weirdly possessive?"
"That's one way to put it."
"We used to date."
"He's the shitty relationship you just got out of?" Logan doesn't even try to hide his disbelief.
"He's not..." I hate defending him, but it also feels like I'm defending myself and my choices. "It's unusual for him to let people see him like that."
"Like he just was with you?"
"He keeps that side pretty locked down."
"How long did it take him to unleash it on you?"
That's a harder question to answer than Logan will ever realize. As a master manipulator, the shifts in him were so subtle, at first that I really did think I was the problem. Apart from Maren, everyone loved him. So, it took me a long time to see what he'd been doing to me, and how far he'd led me down the path without me even realizing we'd changed direction.
In Dalton's warped version of our hi온라인카지노게임, our downfall was one night, a single incident. But in mine, our relationship was a series of steps leading me deeper and deeper into hell.
"Did Maren find you?" I ask.
Logan stares down at me, and I can almost see him decide whether he wants to push more about Dalton or let it go.
"There's some kind of auction later? She had me sign some team gear," Logan says, "which is why it took me a bit longer to find you."
"You arrived just in time," I say, shuffling closer to be engulfed by his frame.
"He had his hand on you, so I wouldn't call that on time. Next time he touches you, I'm going to break every one of his fingers." He wraps his arms around me with a gentle firmness that always surprises me with how safe the embrace makes me feel.
"He's not worth it."
"But you are, doc. I wouldn't be doing it to punish him; I'd be doing it to protect you." Logan breathes into my hair. "Next time we come to one of these, I'll stick a little closer."
"I don't need a bodyguard."
"Don't worry," Logan says, and I can hear the hint of a smile in his voice, "I don't mind guarding this body." He runs a hand up my spine.
"I might need a demonstration of that technique," I say, feeling myself returning to normal.
Logan takes my hand and leads me back toward the crowd. "Let's go mingle, so we can get the fuck out of here, and I can show you all my best body techniques."
I can't help but laugh a little, and when I look up, he's looking down at me, the same amusement I feel reflected in him. A fizzy sensation, like champagne being uncorked, explodes across my chest, and I try to stay in the moment, let myself feel it, not worry about what it all means.
