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Logan's POV

"I would suggest ignoring him until he goes away," Kendall said, gently pushing past me to go up the stairs to my room. I turned from the base of the stares to watch him, his jaw set and eyes serious on mine as he disappeared.

I sat on the stairs, staring at the door, contemplating.

If I went out there to talk to James, like I wanted to, I risked getting my heart broken again, just as I was healing. I also risked him taking my heart again, and that wasn't good for me. He would just hurt me again.

But if I stayed here… I would never know what would have happened if I went out there.

For about ten minutes I got up, reached for the door, then turned and sat back down. Over and over.

Then I peeked out the window at him, finding that he was still sitting there, this time examining his fingernails with the melted ice pack at his side. He wasn't going anywhere, and I could see that.

Finally I went to get a fresh ice pack and opened the door. James didn't turn around even when I sat beside him.

I slowly sat the ice pack in his lap, and his hazel eyes watched my hand draw away, tracing it to me, and up to my face before they lit up. He grinned, taking the ice pack.

"Hi," he said gingerly.

I couldn't make myself say anything. I just watched him press the ice to his reddened cheekbone. He was even more handsome without the harsh beach light on him, if that was even possible.

"Look, Logan," he said, eyes on the steps in front of us. "I don't expect you to forgive me. I just need a chance to explain everything."

I shifted, hugging my knees and staring out at the grass, showing that I was listening.

"I think about you all the time, Logan. Constantly," James said softly. "But I think about the look you gave me before you left me in Cali even more. I had to come and try to make things right."

Finally I decided I needed to share about what I had been feeling lately. The phrase "make things right" didn't click in my mind. He could never make this right, because it isn't right.

"Do you understand how humiliating it is for me to have given my virginity to an engaged man?" I started. "I feel so stupid for falling for it."

"Well you're the first guy I ever slept with. I gave you my man-ginity, for God's sake, and I don't regret it," James replied smartly. I ignored him, going on.

"I feel so stupid for going for an engaged man. I feel even dumber for believing you when you said you weren't hiding anything," I laughed bitterly.

"But you had no way of knowing."

"It was dumb of me to mess around with a guy so much older than me," I sighed angrily.

"I'm not that much older."

"I'm not even legal," I said in disbelief. "I could accuse you of raping me."

James shut his mouth suddenly, staring at me with big eyes.

"That's not funny, Logan," he said coldly.

"I'm not trying to be," I said defensively. "I'm just trying to make you realize that it was stupid on your end, too."

"I didn't know until after we-"

Suddenly the garage door opened, and I knew I had about ten seconds before Mom pulled in.

I jumped up.

"Get up," I demanded.

"What?"

But Mom was already pulling into the garage.

"Shit," I hissed, clutching the rose and ignoring the thorns digging into my palm.

"What?" James demanded. "Is your fiancé here?"

I gave him an evil look, shaking my head.

"Logie?" Mom sang, coming down the walkway to the porch. Her eyes set on James and a smile spread across her face. "Who's this?"

"I'm James," James said charismatically, stepping down from the porch and offering his hand. Mom eagerly shook his hand, looking over at me. "And you are?"

"Joanna," she said. "Logan's mom."

"I would have guessed you were his sister," he said smoothly, making mom giggle.

"Well, Logie, why're you two just standing out here?" she finally asked as her daze broke, pushing between us to the door.

"He's not staying," I said coldly to James. "He just came to… To…"

"Actually," James butted in. "I'd love something to drink. I'm parched."

"Come on in," Mom invited leaving the door open behind her. I caught James by the shoulder, giving him a smoldering gaze.

"What are you doing?" I hissed.

"Buying some time with you," he said sweetly with a smile, pulling me inside by my wrist. I tried to twist and jerk away, but his grip was too stern.

James's POV

"You know," Joanna said, handing me a bottle of water. "You look really familiar."

"Yeah?" I twisted the cap off of the bottle. "Who do I look like?"

"I can't put my finger on it," she said in wonder.

"I was in a commercial," I suggested after taking a swig of water. "Maybe that's it."

"A commercial?"

"For my mom's makeup company," I explained.

"You went all the way down to California to shoot it?"

"I live there."

Joanna gave me an interested gaze, nodding.

"I flew here to see Logan," I said. "I'm staying with my grandparents."

"What happened to you?" Joanna gasped, noticing my hurt cheekbone.

"I did that," came an angry voice coming up behind me. Kendall came in, pulling Joanna away from me. Logan sat on the counter away from me, staring at me with shaded eyes.

"Kendall," Joanna said, confused.

"I hit him," Kendall said, staring at me with hard eyes. "He hurt our Logie."

"Hold on," Joanna demanded. "What happened?"

Kendall's eyes turned to me expectantly, and I could tell Joanna wouldn't like the story I was being forced to tell.

"Nothing, Mom," Logan said quietly, slipping down from the counter. "I'll tell you all about it once I get it under control."

Joanna looked at me with confusion before Logan herded me toward a set of stairs, Kendall following behind as we climbed.

We arrived to a bedroom, very neat and organized with boxes lining the walls.

"Will you just listen, Logan?" I asked as Kendall closed the door hard.

"I already heard everything you have to say," Logan said softly as he sat in his office chair, Kendall taking on an intimidating stance with his arms crossed. I sat quietly on the bed, sighing.

"What are you expecting by coming here?" Kendall asked angrily.

"Nobody would answer my fucking calls. I had to come so I could have a chance to tell Logan everything that he needs to know," I explained helplessly. "I'm not here to try and win him back- I just needed him to know."

"So tell us," Kendall demanded. "The truth. All of it."

"Kendall," Logan sighed, turning to his best friend. "Could you beat it for a sec? This is kinda private."

After a little arguing, Kendall finally left us alone.

"Okay. Explain," Logan said with a sigh, not looking at me.

"Okay…" It was strange to actually be able to say this with him listening, but I had rehearsed it so many times in my head I knew exactly where to start. "I should have never done what I did, and I regret it. But it's not like I meant for you to find out about Mercedes. I was going to break things off with her the day you left, and I would be free for you. I wanted to be with you, because you make me happy and feel free."

I remembered the time I went to the beach that night with Logan, when we searched for hermit crabs. That was the night I developed my crush on him, because he was just too cute, innocent, smart, and interesting to be around. He didn't make me feel like I was some hot surfer guy that he wanted to get with- he made me feel like his friend.

"I should never have had sex with you until I was free," I said apologetically. "But you're kinda irresistible."

Logan seemed to blush a little, but signaled for me to go on.

"If she was so disposable to you, why were you engaged to her?" Logan insisted.

"Okay… Let me start from the beginning."

Logan's POV

I felt like sort of an ass for still wanting to hate James after he told me everything. How could a hate a man whose only goal in life before he met me was to please his mother? So much so that he was going to marry a woman he hated to please her? And how could I hate a man who was so afraid to come out as gay to his mother that he hid it since he was a teenager and was going to get married to hide it? How could I hate a man who came all this way just to tell me this story?

But the truth was, I didn't hate him. My heart longed to touch him, to make sure he was real, to claim him as mine.

But how could I claim him, knowing he would be living across the country, knowing that he cheated on his fiancé? How could I trust him?

When the story ended with "And here I am now", James stared at me with apologetic hazel eyes. He was sorry- I could tell. He regretted hurting me and all he wanted was to fix it.

"I've been thinking…" James added. "Maybe if I just told you I was engaged from the beginning, I could have still gotten you. Not for the long-run, maybe, but I'd still have you for the week."

"Like I would intentionally go for an engaged man," I laughed sourly.

"You're right," James sighed softly, running his fingers through his soft hair and stretching his biceps behind his head slightly, giving me a seductive glare. "Logie has self-control, right?"

I snapped my head away with a little chuckle, rolling my eyes.

"Okay, maybe," I admitted. "But I probably wouldn't have had sex with you knowing you were engaged."

James smiled a little, staring at the carpet.

"I just didn't want the last thing I saw from you to be that face you gave me…" he said softly. "That look of hurt and betrayal and anger."

I was silent, waiting for his eyes to raise to mine.

"I had to tell you that I'm so sorry. And ever since we met at that surf lesson, you've been my whole life. You're all I can think about, and knowing that you've hated me has killed me. I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, couldn't be cheerful and friendly."

Damn he was sweet.

"I hope you've been okay," James said sincerely. "I mean, I know I hurt you."

"Of course I haven't been okay. But I was just getting back to being myself, and you showed up…"

"Sorry."

I took in a deep breath and got up.

"So I guess we'll stay in touch," I said with finality, going to the door. James sprang up, fear in his eyes.

"I'm not ready to go," he said.

"It's best you do," I said softly.

"I know it is, but… I can't leave like this. I haven't made it right."

"You can't make it right, James," I said.

"But you're still looking at me like I'm a monster," James pleaded. "I have to at least leave on good terms."

James stepped toward me, hand out to touch me, but I backed away.

"Don't touch me," I pleaded.

"Why?"

"Because if you do, I might just fall in love with you."

James scooped me up in a tight hug, and I tried to free myself to no avail.

"What's holding us back anymore?" he asked. "There's nothing keeping us apart."

"How do I know that?" I argued, reluctantly giving up my fight and letting him hold me. "How can I ever trust you again?"

James stared at me, taking a deep breath.

"Fine. I'll go," he said softly, eyes downcast.

"So who was he?" Mom asked, Kendall sitting on the counter beside her, me watching her stir spaghetti sauce on the stovetop.

"Tell her the truth, Logie," Kendall said sternly. I sighed, pulling myself up onto the counter to face my mom. This was going to be difficult.

"We met in California. I took surf lessons from him- not by choice," I answered. "We hit it off and hung out the whole vacation. He was… Everything I want in a guy. Tall, handsome, charming, funny, and- anyway, we went out every day, and finally on the last day before Kendall and I left, James and I were hanging out at his apartment."

Kendall gave me a smirk, knowing what "hanging out" meant, but of course I wasn't going to tell my mom that I had sex with James.

"Come to find out he was engaged," I finished. "That's all there is to it."

Mom stared at me incredulously, mouth agape.

"Engaged to a woman," Kendall added.

"I can't imagine that nice boy doing such an awful thing to you, Logie," Mom said, brows knitted.

"I couldn't either. Until it happened," I sighed.

"So why did he come to see you?"

"Because I was ignoring his calls, so he flew here to apologize."

"How romantic," Mom melted.

"No, Joanna. Not romantic," Kendall said angrily.

"He told me that he was only marrying his fiancé to make his mom happy. He said that as soon as I left he broke off the engagement and came out to his mom, which led to her hating him," I said, rubbing my face. "He destroyed his life for me, but what he did was unforgivable."

"He didn't destroy his life, honey," Mom smiled. "He risked it all for you."

"Which was an awful idea, considering Logie turned him down," Kendall grumbled.

"You turned him down?" Mom hissed at me.

"Of course I did," I retorted. "He lured me in and broke my heart."

"But he also flew across the country just to see you and apologize," Mom said. "I can tell he likes you, Logie. This isn't just some guy who breaks hearts for fun. He cares about you."

I sighed, twisting my lips, knowing she was right.

"Plus he's a hunk," Mom grinned. "Handsome and sweet. I thought you and Kendall were the only ones that had both of those."

I smiled a little shaking my head, looking over at Kendall. Kendall looked angry. Angry, I'm sure, that Mom was trying to convince me to take James back.

"But James can't be forgiven or trusted," Kendall pointed out, eyes ablaze.

"Oh, hush," she snapped before turning back to me. "It's not every day that you get such a perfect man worshipping you and looking at you with the same look at James does for you, Logie."

That night I lay in my bed beside Kendall, thinking.

Mom was right. James was perfect, and he practically worshipped me. What if I never got this chance again? It would only take a matter of days before he was snatched up by someone else, and I could never have him back.

"Please tell me you're not thinking about taking him back," Kendall said, rolling over and shaking the bed. I looked over at him, twisting my lips. "Logan! The guy took your virginity and smashed your innocent little heart in half! How could you even be considering this?"

"Look, Kendall. I love you and all, but let me deal with this."

I rolled over to look at him, and his green eyes were fiery on mine.

"You're gonna get hurt again."

"I have to make my own decisions."

Kendall's lips formed a line and he shook his head.

"I can't believe this," he growled. "After all he did to you, and you're still in love with him."

"I'm not in love with him."

"Oh, please," Kendall laughed bitterly, turning on his back. "All that's been on your mind since you saw him at the beach was James, James, James. You sulked about him forever and a day, even though you only spent a week with him. You dream about him and sketch him and think about him constantly. If that's not love…"

I stared at Kendall's profile. I knew it was impossible to fall in love with someone after only knowing them a week. But if he thought I was in love, maybe I was something close to it.

"Then it's settled," I said triumphantly, rolling over on my other side.

"Logan-"

But for the first time since I left James in his underwear outside of his apartment building, my heart was free and maybe a little happy and excited. I wasn't backing out now.