Logan - Lane Hart Page 0,20

my hand from the boxer briefs to clench my chest. I look up to find Logan standing at the sliding glass door that’s still wide open.

“Sorry!” he exclaims. “I just happened to remember that I didn’t shut and lock this door after breakfast.”

“Sure. I’ve got it,” I tell Logan, waving him off, beyond mortified that he nearly caught me touching myself while thinking about him.

“You okay?” he asks.

I want to say, No, I need you to touch me. But I don’t.

“Yeah, of course. Just locking up,” I say as I turn my back to him to hide my beaded nipples and red face to pretend to turn the deadbolt lock on the front door again.

“It’s a beautiful day out here,” Logan says from behind me.

“Uh, huh. Yeah.”

“I can’t wait to get back and spend it with you,” he adds.

By the time I turn around, he’s gone; his sweet words still hanging in the air and making me forgive him for scaring me.

While I know I could never be with Logan; I’m certain that I’m absolutely done being a doormat in a shitty relationship.

Things weren’t always bad with my ex. In fact, they were mind-blowingly good in the beginning. But it was just great sex. Forbidden sex is even hotter than the regular kind. It was exciting sneaking around to be together. More than the sex, I fell in love with him, and he told me how much he loved me.

Then, I noticed little changes after the first few months. Suddenly, my clothes were too revealing, so he took me shopping for new ones. And then he asked me to spend more time with him and less with my friends and to call him before I left the house, oh, and each time I got home. Before long I was “required” to check in with him if I went anywhere other than school. That’s when I started realizing how controlling he was. So I told him I needed space and started dating other guys.

Poor Hunter.

If I had known that going to prom and sleeping with him would end with him becoming a convicted felon for a crime he didn’t commit, I would never have agreed. His life is practically ruined because of me now.

The same nearly happened to a guy named Chris that I met my freshman year of college, but his family was able to afford to hire a really good attorney to help him get out of the mess I caused.

I’ve since learned my lesson.

So while I won’t be able to date anyone maybe ever again as long as he is alive, this time I’m done. I’ve lost count of the times he’s hurt me and then begged me to forgive him, saying he did it because he loves me. There’s no forgiveness left in me for that man. I had no idea that he could be so damn cruel. Yes, I knew he was possessive and controlling, but I never thought that he would be so intentionally hurtful as to leave me rotting in jail for days. He hurt me bad this time, made me suffer more than I could ever imagine, so I’m through. He’s never physically hurt me before or forced me to do something against my will before the other night. While I have no clue how to keep him away from me for good, there’s no way in hell I’ll ever let him lay a hand on me again.

After Hunter and then Chris, I should’ve ended things for good. And I tried. But the man is persistent, and I was young and naive. He convinced me at the time that he didn’t have anything to do with what happened to either of those men. Now I’ve seen the evil side of him and know the truth. He was behind everything and will do the same to any man I date.

But I would rather be single than be with that asshole. Hell, I would rather be a nun if it meant getting out from underneath his thumb once and for all.

Over the next few days, I plan to figure out my options and try to come up with a plan of escape.

Chapter Ten

Logan

“Brayden Campbell,” I repeat slowly to the clerk at the Oasis hotel, not because she doesn’t speak English but because she’s trying to play dumb. “She was a guest here just a few days ago. What did you do with her luggage when you cleaned her room?”

The woman types on the keyboard in