Cowboy Logic - B.A. Tortuga Page 0,73
pretending to fall asleep. He just—he couldn’t do this anymore.
“Babe?” Jericho said it so softly, a bare whisper of sound. “Damn. Okay.” The air moved when Jericho stood up, then bent to kiss his cheek, right by his ear. “We’ll talk when you get home. Love you.”
Then Jericho was gone.
Logic waited for the door to close before he let the tears fall. Jericho had never stood up for him. Not once. He’d never laid the blow, but he’d never defended Logic either.
Surely he deserved to be important to someone—really, down-to-the-bone, always-have-your-back important. Logic would never ask to be more to Jericho than his kids, but if he was going to be someone’s lover, he had to be right up there…
His sister had been a shining example of that with her husband.
He found his phone so he could make reservations for his flight and his hotel for tomorrow night. He would just go where he belonged.
Maybe at least Bailey’s kids would think he was a hero.
Logic knew better. Those guys existed only in fiction.
Chapter 26
Jericho waited for Logic to call.
Hell, he waited an hour or so after he was sure Logic would be home, because he knew the man would be tired. Then he waited forty-five minutes after that.
By the time he finally called, he’d snarled at Ellie, banished Travis and his video games to Travis’s room, and kicked the dogs outside.
It wasn’t even Logic who answered the phone; it was Bailey. “Hey, Jericho. He’s sound asleep.”
“Oh. Sorry. I—did he get out okay?”
“Yeah. Hold up.” He heard her tell Darcy to watch everyone, then a door closed. “Sorry. Look, he—he’s at a hotel here at DFW. He says he can’t come back to Cooper. Conor is in jail, and Daddy isn’t posting bail. It’s over.”
“It’s—wait. What do you mean he’s not coming here?”
“He got a ticket to fly home tomorrow morning, first thing. I’m sorry. He’s—I’m worried about him. He’s not eating; he’s not talking much. He’s broken.”
“They gave him stuff for pain, right?” Something wasn’t right here. Something was totally off.
“Yeah. And he’s got a buddy to drive him home since his arm is all casted.”
“I thought—I mean, I figured he’d stay a few days, at least. We, I, have some things to say. That we need to talk about.” This wasn’t good. He needed to see Logic again. Face-to-face.
“Jericho, he was fixin’ to ask you to marry him, and you can’t even admit to a nurse that he’s more than a buddy.”
He sat there, stunned for a long moment. “He never said. Never said anything.”
“He said he loved you. Asked you to come with him. I know that much. I know you wigged.”
“I needed time to think!” Damn it, how could he know he’d screwed up unless someone told him?
“I know. I really do.” She sighed softly. “And when he offered to bring me out when Jack died, I said no too, because what is a cowboy from Texas going to do there? I shouldn’t have asked him to come here, because now he’s broken, and it’s my fault. I asked, though, and he came. I have to live with that.”
His belly clenched so tight he almost doubled over. “Will you ask him to call me?”
“I’ll tell him you called,” she said. “I can’t ask anyone to be what they’re not, you know?”
“Yeah.” No. No, he didn’t get it at all. “The kids will want to say goodbye.”
“He has letters here for all three of you. He loves y’all. I’ve never seen him in love before. Maybe just give it some time to let it ease up, and y’all can be friends.”
Friends. Jesus. Jericho wanted to scream at her, but what was he going to say? Maybe someday? No. Logic would find someone long before the kids were gone, and that was his best fucking plan, anyway. Which sucked. “I—sure. I don’t want to hurt him, Bailey.”
“I don’t want either of you hurt, and you both are.” Bailey was crying hard. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t make it better.”
“I’m sorry.” He was. Miserably sorry. He had no idea what to do. “Thanks, Bailey. Really.” He would try to call Logic’s cell again later. After Bailey took the kids home.
“I am too. I—I am too. I’ll come see you tomorrow. We’re going to stay until after supper and set him up so he’s dressed for tomorrow.”
“I’ll see you then, hon.” What else did he say? She was being far nicer than he deserved, being the man who’d