Half truth

Chapter Forty

Maybe I’d gotten too used to Logan skipping his own classes to come to mine, but I felt like every class I sat in was a bore. Half of the time, I spent working on my articles about the various community events around the city, all which of course included members of The Eight. Logan had been playing catch up in his own classes and making sure his grades were up before he left for an entire week.

“Do you think there’s a secret society of only women?” A girl in the front of the auditorium asked. Some of her friends laughed.

“If there is one, I hope you get your invitation soon, Miss Camelot,” the professor said. “As I was saying, The Sex Disqualification Act of 1919 made it possible for women to enter universities or get jobs they may not have been able to get prior to that.”

I tried to pay attention and take notes, but I ended up falling asleep instead. I woke with a start, at the sound of someone shutting their book, and realized class was over. I grabbed my things and walked out. Thankfully the professor didn’t call me out for sleeping, but she did shoot me a dirty look as I walked past her. When I stepped outside, I was surprised to see Logan. As usual, he didn’t have a bookbag or books in his hand. What he did have was two girls smiling up at him. He looked bored, but they obviously didn’t care. If I’d been jealous before, I didn’t even know what this feeling threatening to rip me apart from the inside could be considered. I wanted to grab them by the hair and claim him as mine. As if hearing my thoughts, he looked up as I approached. Only then did he smile. Only then did he push off the wall and walk forward, brushing past the girls as if they weren’t even there. When he reached me, he made a show out of kissing me, framing my face with both hands, sticking his tongue down my throat, pressing up against me. I pushed my hands under the t-shirt he wore under his jacket and scratched his back. He groaned into my mouth, deepening the kiss. When he pulled away, his eyes were hazy.

“Do you want me to fuck you in front of all these people?”

“No.” I smiled up at him, feeling my cheeks burn at his words. “But you can take me home and fuck me there.”

He kissed me hard one last time, the grabbed my hand and started walking, as if he didn’t notice any of the people who had stopped to look at us.

“That’s going to end up on a blog somewhere,” he commented.

“The kiss?” I blinked up at him. “Are you serious?”

“Babe, everything I do ends up on the internet.”

“In that case, I’m glad I didn’t click on too many links when I Googled you.”

He chuckled, squeezing my hand.

“I guess if it does end up on the internet, you won’t be able to deny that you have a girlfriend.” I frowned. “Not that most girls would care that you have one. If anything, that might make you more attractive to some of them.”

“You know what’s crazy?”

“What?”

“I don’t give a fuck what they think. I’m with you, remember?”

“Yeah, but maybe—”

“No maybe. I’m yours.”

“Okay.” I smiled.

I felt like I hadn’t stopped smiling since we got back from visiting my brother. Well, with the exception of when I stopped to think about Lana. Then, my mood soured all at once.

“Do you think Lana’s dead?”

“Mae.” Logan sighed. “This again?”

“I just . . . Lincoln thinks she’s dead.”

“Really?” He raised an eyebrow.

“What does that mean?” I let go of his hand and walked into our building. He followed. I waved at Gary. He waved back with a smile.

“What does what mean?”

“You said really like that and raised your eyebrow like you find it hard to believe that my brother said that.”

He shrugged. I pushed the button to the elevator, crossing my arms as I looked at him. He looked at me without a care in the world, as if he hadn’t just said something slightly insulting. The doors opened. We walked in. They closed. I kept my distance and kept staring.

“Why did you say it like that?”

“You’re really trying to pick a fight over this?”

“I’m not trying to pick a fight. I’m asking you a question.”

“And you’re getting upset that I’m not answering it.” He waited for me to step out of the elevator.

“Yeah, because you’re implying my brother had something to do with it.”

“How am I implying that?” He stood beside me as I unlocked my door.

I didn’t even hold it open for him, I just walked through and let him catch it as he walked in behind me. I tossed my keys on the counter, let my messenger bag drop to the floor and faced him again.

“What do you think happened to Lana?”

“I have no fucking idea because I wasn’t there.”

“I asked you what you think happened.”

“I don’t know.” He sighed, ru

“You think he killed her.”

He was quiet for a beat, staring at me, his eyes calculating words that he wanted to say but wasn’t sure how they’d be received. I knew that look. I owned that fucking look. Damn him.

“You think he killed her,” I stated before he had a chance to respond.

“It’s the only logical explanation,” he said, bringing a hand up to check off, “Your father was having an affair with her, your brother wanted to expose the little sex ring they have going, Lana was your brother’s friend and would not listen to anything he had to say in regards to the affair, and nobody wanted her around The Lab out of fear that she’d expose it all.”

“Expose what?” I shouted. “There is nothing to expose.”

“There’s a lot to expose.” He chuckled darkly. “Starting with your father.”

I staggered back. He wasn’t wrong. I knew he wasn’t wrong. I knew what he was saying was one hundred percent true. I also knew that it was my family he was insulting. My family that would suffer if my father’s disgusting habits and secrets were exposed. My mother would be crushed. My nieces would get the brunt of it from their schoolmates. That was the way it always happened. The family always suffered more than the culprit. Logan closed his eyes and looked up at the ceiling as if summoning a higher power to help him out. There would be none. Not one that could help him out in the very near future anyway. He looked at me again.

“I’m going to go pack for my trip. If you want to talk about something else, I’m down the hall. You can come over or call me or I can come back later.”

I crossed my arms. “You don’t want to talk about the fact that my brother is not a murderer?”

“We don’t know that, Mae. We don’t know what happened. He doesn’t even know what happened.”

“But we know him,” I insisted. When he didn’t budge, I sighed heavily. “I guess I’ll talk to you later then.”

He walked to the door slowly, as if waiting for me to call him back. I wouldn’t. He cast one last glance at me as he walked out.

“This doesn’t change how I feel about you.”

I nodded, hating the way tears pricked my eyes, because despite my anger, it didn’t change how I felt about him either. How could it? But I needed him to be on my side here. I needed him to be on our side.