Page 48 of Wedding Wrecker

“Have you been around kids a lot? You know how to talk to them,” I say once the young family leaves and the boy reluctantly hands back Logan’s Stetson.

Logan smiles and shrugs. “Here and there. There was my younger sister, and for a while, when I was a teenager, we had one of those corn field mazes as an attraction and kids would come—” His smile widens. “You must have visited it at some point, right?”

I grin. “Yeah. Were you the scarecrow?”

“I was! Quite a few times actually! And… I dunno, I like kids, I think they’re cute and funny, and then they grow up and you can watch them learn everything about the world, or even teach them a thing or two if you’re lucky.”

I watch him, charmed to the core and overcome by a sense of warmth I couldn’t describe. He feels like home, and not just because I remember him walking around in a costume made of straw when I was still a kid and he—already a teenager.

I want to hold his hand and lean against him in a pile of hay while the stars above shimmer before falling to fulfill our wishes.

“Yeah. It’s a really special thing, to guide this tiny creature from a baby into adulthood.”

“I actually—”

Kai pulls up to our table and I howl on the inside. What if Logan wanted to say something like ‘I want to take back what I said about not dating. I like you so much, Kyle, and one day, I want us to have kids’?

But I smile, order a sweet coffee with sprinkles, because I’m gay and I shouldn’t be embarrassed about liking girly beverages. Logan gets us both the sandwich special, which apparently comes with a local cheese.

Ordering feels like forever, and I prompt Logan as soon as Kai is gone. “You were saying?”

For a daunting second, Logan looks as if he doesn’t remember our conversation, but then sighs. “I was gonna say that it might be weird, but I used to think I would be a young dad. You know? With Kayla. I was even younger than you when we were supposed to marry, but I was so sure of what I wanted that I figured, why wait?”

My chest deflates like a popped balloon, but as I see the flash of disappointment in his eyes, I compose myself and ask, “Do you still have feelings for her?”

Logan shakes his head. “No. For a long time, I did. I thought I hated her for leaving me the way she did, but getting to talk to her after all those years showed me that I no longer felt that way. She’s just a person who had her own struggle to deal with. I think we can even become friends again. It’s good to be truly over her.”

I’m again struck by his kindness. Not everyone would be so willing to forgive a person who hurt them so badly. Yet this guy, who claims to be bad for me is capable of just that. “I’m sorry it happened to you.”

Logan glances to the counter. “I just wish she… would have given me a heads up. Something. She was my best friend, and on the day that was supposed to be the happiest of our lives, she disappeared. Poof. No warning. Nothing. It just goes to show that you never know what to expect of someone.”

No wonder he’s such a cynic, and why he despises cheaters. I can’t imagine being so blindsided by a person I truly love and cherish, and it makes me understand him that bit more. Of course he finds it hard to trust after an experience this traumatic, but I know he and I could work if he only gave it a chance.

When I came here last week, I was frantic, and his rejection felt like the end of the world, but now I see that he might simply need time to get to know me, to trust me, and maybe, hopefully, to fall in love with me. As much as it pains me that I’m not sleeping in his bed already, I’m willing to put in the work, because it’s not just his body I want.

I’m about to say something when he gets up.

“Come, Levi’s on his own and the rush has died down.” Kai is approaching with our coffees, but Logan points at the table. “Just bring everything here, we’ll be back in a bit, thanks.”

The tattooed dude looks up from his phone and stuffs the device into his pocket. “Who’s your friend?” he asks, and I can sense his gaze going up and down my body in a way I’m still not used to. It is flattering though.

Logan gestures toward the dude. “This is Levi, the owner. And this—” he squeezes my shoulder, sending a jolt down my back, “—is Kyle. He’s a great cook and needs a job. A little bird told me you need to hire someone.”

Levi’s eyes narrow. “Is that little bird called Kai?”

Heat blooms in my face as I glance at Kai's back where a strip of skin is visible over his jeans. Did Levi just suggest Logan is hooking up with the server?

Logan shrugs. “He’s doing you a favor. As am I, because I can easily vouch for Kyle, and you know that’s best kind of staff.”

Levi cocks his head, staring at me, as if he expects to spot my faults. He wraps his thick arms on his chest. “Does it speak?”

I only then realize that Logan’s been talking for me, but I get a bit flustered. “Yes. Sorry. I’m a great cook, I’m punctual, and I… need a job,” I end flatly.

Levi hums and turns to Logan. “Is he your new boyfriend?” he asks, and I feel as if all the air has just been pushed out of my lungs.

Logan snorts. “No.”

Of course. I try not to show my disappointment, but I feel naked under Levi’s scrutiny.