“You care for her, in your own way, and though she pretends she’s moved on from you, she still cares about you. You and I, we share those feelings toward her.”
Logan scoffs. “Does she know you’re a fucking psycho?”
“No, she doesn’t know about my mazes, but I do plan on showing her some of the darker parts of me soon enough—but that said, I won’t hurt her. She is everything someone you like and I could never hope to be.”
“And you think she won’t turn you down once you show her your crazy shit?”
“Wren has a bit of a dark side to herself, I think. It’s why she’s drawn to someone like you… and me.” I wait a moment before I add, “She was just here, not too long ago. She and I got very intimately acquainted with each other—something you two did a long time ago.”
His jaw grinds when he hears that, but he doesn’t say a word.
“I brought you here to test you, Logan, but I also brought you here in hopes that you and I can, perhaps, work together to do what’s right for her. Seeing as how you passed the test, I am willing to team up, so to speak.”
That gets him to laugh. “Team up? Team up for what? What the hell are you trying to get at here, you freak?” He only lashes out because he can’t do anything else, so I let him say whatever he wants. He can insult me all he wishes; it doesn’t matter to me.
“I want Wren. You want Wren. We both want her, and I don’t think either one of us is willing to walk away. You passed my test, so I am willing to see what happens between you two andstay out of it. Even so, I will not relent in my pursuit of her. She’s mine, even if I have to share her with you every now and then.”
It’s clear he doesn’t know what to think, because it takes him a long while to mutter, “This is crazy. You’re crazy.”
“Yes, you keep saying that. Can we move on from that and discuss Wren?”
“You’re saying you want to… to what? To see who she picks out of the two of us? Like some kind of twisted competition?”
“In a way, I suppose. I’m certainly not going to take a step back unless she tells me to.”
He sighs and looks away. “Well, I think you’re fucking nuts, and I don’t think she wants anything to do with me. You’re wrong about her still caring for me. I fucked up, which means you can do whatever the fuck you want. She doesn’t want me.”
Now it’s my turn to sigh. “Going to her and spilling your guts isn’t enough to make up for what you did,” I say, and that causes him to glare at me. He’s wondering how I know all this. “If you want to have a chance at getting back into her good graces, you need to do more than that. You need to show her how much she means to you. Actions speak louder than words. It’s what they always say, and I’ve found that saying to be truer than most.”
Logan runs a hand through his black hair. “This is so messed up.”
“It doesn’t have to be. Surely you knew there was a darker world out there. After all, you’re Pope from Black Sacrament. You’re used to a certain kind of lifestyle, as I’m used to mine. Seeing as how Wren used to love to sing, I would imagine that, perhaps, you could put your old skills to use when it comes to proving yourself to her. You need to do more than you’ve ever done.”
I wouldn’t say I’m pushing him to make things right, but I do want to see Wren happy. I don’t like her being torn in two; she got enough of that with her ex.
Logan is silent for a few moments, and then he asks me, “You’d really be okay if she chose me at the end of this?”
“I don’t plan on laying down and rolling over, if that’s what you’re asking. Would you be okay if she chose me?” Turning it around on him makes him think of it a little different, and I smirk at him as I wait to hear his reply.
He groans. “This whole situation is fucked up, but I guess you and I are no strangers to fucked up things.” With a shake of his head, he even manages to smirk like me. “And I bet I’m more used to sharing than you are. I don’t need to kidnap someone and put them through a life-or-death maze for that. Hell, this whole thing will probably be easier for me than it will be for you.”
There’s the cocky ex-rockstar. Now that the adrenaline is no longer coursing through his system so much, he is turning back to his old self.
Well, hopefully not the old self that got booted from the band to begin with. That particular Logan is one I’ll take issue with, but provided he turns a new leaf and doesn’t hurt Wren again, he and I can get along.
Besides, obsession might run through my blood, but there’s another thing the Scotts are very good at, even if it’s touch and go sometimes.
The Scotts are no strangers to sharing those they cherish above all else.
Chapter Thirteen – Wren
Sloane keeps her promise. She accompanies me to my appointment at the campus health clinic, where she pays for everything. The checkup, the birth control, all of it. I am beat-red the entire time; you’d think, by now, after doing what I’ve done, I wouldn’t get so embarrassed when talking about sex and stuff, but I still do.
That’s just a quirk of being me, I guess.
After the appointment, we stop by the union to grab lunch, and although it’s busier than it was the first time we met, I can’t help but flash back to last fall, prior to the semester starting, when Sloane and I met.
Man, how things have changed.