Every time we left a place, I expected him to take me home. But he never did. It was a movie first, then the arcade across the street, then Pete’s Pub for a meal, and by the time we left my place of employment, it was evening.
I considered asking him back to my house, but I didn’t, and he drove to an old part of town. We pulled up outside a large door, and he put the vehicle in park to text someone.
“What is this place?”
The walls were high. It was a gated entrance to something, but I couldn’t get any idea what was on the inside. I glanced around at the abandoned houses and saw one of the street signs. “Is this the old amusement park?”
Logan nodded, sending another text before putting his phone away. “Yep.”
“This place went bankrupt years ago. I remember coming here when I was kid.” I twisted back around, lingering over some of the houses. They were rotting. The front porches were half falling off. Paint had peeled off, replaced with graffiti. “I haven’t been back in so long. I knew this place went downhill, but I didn’t know it was this bad.”
“My dad saw this place last year and bought it.”
“Your dad?” I settled back in my seat. Logan wasn’t looking at me. His gaze was trained on the dashboard, and I had a faint sense that he wasn’t even in the vehicle.
“He came to buy me out of a sticky situation last year.”
My mouth went dry. “What happened?”
A dry laugh slipped from him before he glanced over at me. His eyes weren’t laughing. “I got the shit beat out of me, that’s what happened.”
“What?”
He nodded, looking forward again. His head rested back against his seat. “I swung first, so there was a meeting about me. They were going to kick me out, but my dad came in and did what he always does. He paid big for them to keep me. The assholes got off scot-free. It was five on one, but they got it twisted around on me.”
“Who?” My heart pounded at the thought of five guys going against Logan. I wanted to find them and beat their asses back.
His head still rested against his seat, but he turned to grin at me. “You going to take them on?”
I shrugged. “Maybe. I could hire someone. If I could get away with it.”
He laughed, but the sound was almost sad. “It was the guy your buddy worked for, Park Sebastian. He’s gone now. Mason ran him off.”
“Oh.” I frowned.
Logan gestured to the gate. “My dad was on the way out of town after that when he got lost. He drove himself that day, for some reason, and he ended up here. He had visions of a new factory or business or fuck if I know, and two months later he told us he’d bought this place.” He pointed to the houses. “Those too. I have no clue what he’s going to do with it, but it’s empty and abandoned for the next couple of months until all the permits are approved. I think he’s going to demo the whole place.”
All of this told me one thing: Logan was rich. Not just rich. He was rich rich, super-wealthy rich. He never acted like it. I’d thought I was the one with an inheritance, but it was nothing compared to what he described. I wasn’t sure what to say.
“Oh.”
That was it from me.
Logan laughed again. “I’m waiting for the guy to come let us in.”
“You come here?”
“Sometimes. It’s kinda cool in there, actually, and there’s one place I like to go. I usually just climb up and over, but I figured I’d be the gentleman this time and legally enter.” His eyes warmed as they lingered on me. “Do I get points for this? Being all nice and shit? Or do you want me to go badass and break into the place? Either’s good with me.”
Yep. I felt a flutter in my chest. Oh boy. But I only smiled. I’d been feeling those flutters all month now. “A badass and a gentleman. Suppose I should just answer that with, ‘you’re too kind, sir.’”
“Sir. I’d rather be called dipshit than sir.” He grimaced. “All my dad’s minions call him that.”
My smile faded. I’d been teasing. He knew that, but I could hear the anger from him. It sounded deeper than mine, and I wondered how long it had been there. “You said before that your dad