"You," Callie shouted from across the room. "Where did you go? I spent an hour looking for you at your party."
"I had to leave. I just couldn't be there." Logan gestured to the empty bar.
"And you didn't think maybe I would want to come with you?" Callie asked. She walked over to his side but didn't sit down.
"You wanted to experience Newport glamour. Well, there's nothing glamorous about this."
"Stop pitying yourself. What is this all about?" Callie said. "Is this about the bill passing? You've been acting so weirdly ever since you got the news."
"No, it's not that,"Logan said. He couldn't bear to look at Callie.#p#分页标题#e#
"What aren't you telling me? Is this because I told you I love you? I'm not taking that back, and I'm not going to hide from the truth. I love you, Logan. You're a better man than you give yourself credit for, and I won’t let you break up with me simply because you don’t believe in yourself.”
Logan felt a lump in his throat. He hadn't expected her to say that again. He just wanted to scoop her up in his arms and kiss her and tell her he felt the exact same way. Instead, he choked out one final attempt at getting her to leave. "I can't, Callie. I just can't do this. I wish I could explain. I wish I had a better answer. You deserve better. You deserve someone who can be there for you. You should go..." Logan felt like his chest would collapse as he waited for Callie to respond. It's almost over, he told himself. He wasn't prepared for what came next.
"Get over yourself, Logan. You lost your mother, and you think that you're the only person in the world who's gone through tragedy. Stop using it as an excuse for your bad decisions."
Logan felt a surge of anger. Was that really how she felt? Like he was hiding? He was doing this for her. He had spent he past month with her doing everything in his power to become a better man, to be the man she needed, and now she was calling him a coward? If she only knew how much this hurt and how much he loved her. She just wasn't listening, and he could feel his blood pressure rising. He had just wanted her to leave and move on with her life, but if she wanted a fight, he'd give her a fight. He cleared his throat and glared at her. Maybe he was mad at himself for putting them both in this situation, or maybe he was upset with her for attacking him like that. Either way, he felt his temples throb as he tried to calm himself down, as he tried to hold back from giving in to the urge to yell back at her.
"I'm not just going to stand here and let you push me away because you're afraid. If you just stopped for one second and thought about what an ass you're being, maybe you'd understand." Callie softened her tone, spoke lower. Logan could hear the exasperation in her voice. "You've been sneaking around and lying to me ever since their bill passed," she said.
"You're one to talk," he snapped back. He had been doing all of that to protect her. Couldn't she connect the dots? "You lied to me from the moment you got here. If you want to talk about sneaking around and not telling the truth, let's start with you. I was honest from the start. If you had even given me a little bit of trust, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"Trust?" Callie said. "Trust? I was sent here against my will because your own father didn't trust you enough to leave you alone for a month. You have to gain trust, Logan. You have to earn it. It's not just given to you because you're somehow special."
Logan bit down on his lip and tried to hold back, but he just couldn't help himself. "Is that what this is about? My money?" Logan asked. "Do you really think I wouldn't give it all back if it meant I could have a normal relationship with my family or a chance at even some small piece of happiness? Do you think I like being Logan Harris, fuck up bon vivant? You should leave, Callie. Go back to your family and your job and forget all about this. That's what you do, right? You make difficult situations go away."
"Is that what you want?" Callie asked. "You want me to leave so you can wallow in misery and blame me for the fact that you're too afraid to take another step?"
Logan could hear the pain in her voice, the trembling sound as she fought off tears. He couldn't look up at her. "What did you think was going to happen, Callie? Did you think you'd change me and tame me and that we'd get a house somewhere in the suburbs and have a few kids? This was never going to work out, and you know it. You knew it from the start. Well, now you can go. You had your fun. You let your hair down for a while and lived the good life. You'll have a great story for everyone back at the office." Logan looked up and saw the tears streaming down Callie's cheeks. Her eyes were bright red and just seeing her like that made Logan choke up. It was like she was looking right through him, like she knew what he was trying to do and hated him that much more for it. He cleared his throat and said, "This is what I do. You've had your fun, now it's time to leave. Go back to your life, Callie.”