Three's A Crowd (#WattysLonglist) (COMPLETED)

A Perfect Storm

Collin wandered into the room as I was throwing the few things, I'd need for the weekend into a small duffel bag.

"You really wanna do this?" He asked, shoving his hands into his dark basketball shorts. "Em, I don't have a good feeling about this."

I glanced up at the use of my my nickname, it was the first time he'd used it. Though I'd been here a little over a month, he'd jumped back and forth between babygirl and my actual name, so hearing it actually stirred enough in me to stop what I was doing and face him.

"What do you mean?" I watched his eyes shoot to Logan's bed, then back to me.

"I mean that I don't think it's a good idea."

I sighed, running a hand down my face. "Collin, I got that the first time you said it. I want to know why you think that."

"I think he's using again." He didn't try to beat around the bush. "I know that you grew up with him, Emily, but you were around him enough to see the changes in his behavior. I. . . I just don't trust him. Especially being at a wedding, it's going to be an emotional time for everyone there, he'll get overwhelmed."

I wanted to jump to Logan's defense, but when I opened my mouth, nothing left it. In all honesty, I hadn't seen Logan much the last week or so. When he finally decided to come home from wherever the hell he was, I was asleep. He'd always be gone during the day when I'd get up, and Adam had been trying to help me map out the campus so I'd be able to get to my classes with ease in a few weeks when school started again.

"I'm not saying this because I'm jealous of him, or his relationship with you. I'm saying this because I'm genuinely worried." Collin added softly. "I'm not going to tell you not to go, because you're going for Jules and not him, but please be careful and cautious. Please, if anything happens, call me. I'll drive the two hours, hell I'm sure Adam probably would too. Promise me you'll call if anything feels off."

I stared at him for a few minutes, trying to ensure he was one hundred percent serious and not being a dick.

"Yeah, Collin." I zipped the bag slowly, "I promise."

*

Thanks to Collin's assumption, the minute I climbed into Logan's Challenger, I felt my eyes raking every inch of him.

He didn't look happy, but when did he ever? His blue eyes were trained on the steering wheel, chapped lips pursed, as if he were deep in thought. I wasn't close enough to see if there was dilation in his eyes, but the fact he was wearing a long sleeve in the middle of July was a little peculiar, and Collin's words only added to the strangeness of it.

"What?" He finally broke the silence once we'd pulled out on to the busy street. "Why the hell are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" I tore my eyes from him and stared down at my hands on my lap. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He was quiet, his own eyes falling on my bandaged left hand, waiting for the traffic to pick up. "What did he say?"

"Huh?"

"Collin. I saw him go into the room." Logan averted his eyes back to the road. "I know he said something to you."

I picked at my nails. "He just told me to have fun and be safe. Nothing else."