Real Good Man (Real Duet #1)

I want to blurt out everything that has happened since I talked to her last, but I know what she’s dealing with is so much more important. Besides, how do I tell her I just added Logan Brantley to the notches on my bedpost? God, I suck.

She’s going to want answers about what’s happening next, and I don’t have any. Nope. All I have is a night of memories, and no freaking clue what to do now.

“Sorry. Did I wake you?”

“Um, yeah. No biggie. What’s going on?” I say in a low voice, trying to keep my voice down so I don’t wake Logan.

“I’m outside your door,” Greer says, and my gaze darts toward it.

“Oh. Shit. Okay. Hold on.”

I race to the door, unhook the chain, and throw the dead bolts before opening it just enough to peek out.

She takes one look at me in what is clearly not my shirt, and her eyebrows go up. “Am I interrupting?”

Her tone is nonjudgmental, but that doesn’t matter when I’m so busy beating myself up over what I did.

I shake my head but keep the door where it is. If I tell Greer who is in my apartment, she’s going to want details, and I don’t want to admit that I treated him exactly like every other guy, which is the opposite of what I promised myself I would do. As much as I can use my best friend’s advice right now, this is something I have to deal with myself.

“No, of course not. You’re never an interruption. What’s up?”

From behind me, I can hear Logan say my name from the bedroom. His voice gets louder as he comes into the living room, and my grip on the door tightens. Please don’t come out here.

I slide the door closed a fraction of an inch, strike a casual pose, and turn the conversation back to Greer. “What’s happening? You’re awfully dressed up for an unemployed Saturday morning. When did you get back? Did they give a cause of death? What’s happening?”

My leg bounces of its own accord, mostly because I want to spring through this space between us and hug my friend and spill my guts like I normally would, but it’s time for me to fix my own damn problems. At least I’m not dealing with funeral arrangements like she is.

I force my leg to still, but Greer is eyeing me like I’m acting crazy. Luckily for me, crazy is actually my normal.

“Uh, yesterday. Not yet on the autopsy. I just wanted to see if you were up for grabbing lunch. But we can do it tomorrow or whenever.”

I nod at her suggestion. Maybe tomorrow I’ll have my shit figured out. And tomorrow Logan will be gone, because I one-nighted the only guy who has ever liked me for me. Good job, Banner.

The thought slams into me like a gut punch. I pull myself together enough to answer Greer.

“Tomorrow’s good. I want all the details. Call me?”

I hear Logan again behind me and I panic, smiling and shutting the door on my best friend.

Now I have to face what I did. Well, the man I did, anyway.

It’s official. I suck at life.





Chapter 15


Logan


I watch as Banner closes the door and turns around to rest her back against it. “Was there a reason you didn’t want Greer to know I was here?”

Her gaze jerks up to mine. “She doesn’t need to know.”

“Why’s that?” I’m not sure why I ask, because part of me can already see the writing on the wall.

“I just . . . I didn’t want her to think . . .”

Memories of hiding in a closet when I was seventeen while Tessi Lee’s father stormed into her bedroom come rushing back and hit me hard. I didn’t used to be the kind of guy a girl wanted to be with out in the open before, and it seems that even though over a dozen years have passed since that incident, Banner Regent sees me the same way as girls in Gold Haven did when I was a teenager going nowhere fast.

For some f*cked-up reason, I want to hear her admit it. “Didn’t want her to think what?”

Banner shrugs. “You’ve met Greer. She likes to work out everything in her head, and if she saw you here she’d have questions, and I don’t have answers. She’d undoubtedly make this into a huge deal, and it doesn’t need to be.”

I know I’m kidding myself to think it’s going to make a difference, but I tell her what I’m thinking anyway. “I don’t know about you, but last night was a pretty big deal to me.”

Her gaze drops to the floor. “But that doesn’t mean anything changes today. We have totally different lives.” As if she found the balls to tell me to my face, Banner finally meets my eyes. “We can still be friends, though, right?”

Her words hit me with more force than I anticipated. I turn on my heel and head for the bedroom. After grabbing my jeans, I yank them on and snag my wallet and phone off the nightstand. Banner watches from the doorway.

“Friends?” I say, my tone harsh. “Is this how you treat your friends? Why should I be surprised one night is all I’m good for?”

She crosses her arms over her chest—over my damn shirt. “That’s not what I mean—”

“Then what do you mean, Banner? How ’bout you explain it to the dumb redneck slowly, in small words.”

“What else can we possibly be but friends when I live here and you live in BFE?”

I cross my arms to match her posture. “I guess we’ll never know.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t f*cking apologize for deciding that you can’t open your eyes for five seconds to realize that this wasn’t just another hookup. But I guess that’s why you didn’t want Greer to know. Didn’t want to explain that you f*cked the redneck. What would she think of you then?”

Banner drops her hands, but they’re balled into fists. “You’re twisting my words. I didn’t mean—”

“I’m pretty sure you don’t have a f*cking clue what you mean. If you’ll just give me my shirt, I’ll get the hell out of your way. I got a long drive back to BFE.”

She looks down at the T-shirt and back up at me. “Maybe—”

Honest to Christ, I don’t want to hear any more. My pride has already taken enough of a beating. f*ck the shirt.

“Never mind. Keep it.”

Her face falls. “I’m sorry, Logan. I didn’t mean to—”

“Save it. I’m done here.”

But she’s already stripping it over her head and tossing it at me.

“Just take it.”

Her voice shakes on the last word as I force myself to look away from her naked body. A dumb redneck like me should probably be happy I got to have her for one night. But the funny thing is, I wanted more, and now it just pisses me off.

“Have a nice life, Banner. Good luck with whatever the f*ck you’re doing.”

With my shirt clutched in my hand, I stride to the door and don’t look back.





Chapter 16


Banner


Karma is such a bitch.

This week is supposed to be an amazing one. I’m supposed to be approving the prototypes as they finish the testing phase, and gearing up to schedule my first production run.

But one of the models had a minor malfunction, so after some quick fixes, the factory was supposed to send a replacement. Instead, they sent two dozen. To my office. The boxes were stacked up all around my cube, and when my ass*ole cube neighbor decided to open one, chaos ensued.