Page 44 of Through the Storm

Logan

Same. Tell Ben I meant what I said last night. He’s a good guy.

Ben looks over my shoulder. “Logan checking in?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s a good guy too,” Ben says quietly. “Now put the phone down.None of this is good for you, or the baby.”

I roll my eyes, but my voice cracks. “I just can’t believe she went through all that alone.”

He pulls me closer. “She has Declan now. That’s what matters.”

“She must be humiliated.”

He presses a kiss to my hair. “She’ll care that it hurts the people she loves. Not what strangers think.”

I nod, breathing through the tightness in my chest. “Yeah.”

He tilts my chin up. “And no more doom-scrolling. I’m deleting TikTok from your phone.”

“Good luck,” I mutter.

He smiles, soft and tired. “Come here, trouble.”

And I do.

BEN

Katy’s curled against me, and her eyes red but determined. She hasn’t touched her phone in a while.

Then my screen lights up with a message from Mateo.

Mateo

Come over for pancakes. Intervention for Ella. Bring coffee. And don’t tell her it’s an intervention.

I sigh. “Of course their answer to this is pancakes.”

Katy lifts her head. “What’s going on?”

“Mateo wants everyone over. He wants all of us with Ella.”

Her brows knit. “Good. I want to see her. The more I think about it, the more impressed I am with how happy she’s been for me. It can’t be easy. But I’m also upset she didn’t let me and Declan be there for her, you know?”

“I know what you mean.”

She moves slower now, careful, but she’s already sliding on her shoes before I can say a word.

That’s Katy. Wounded or not, she’ll walk straight into a fire if someone she loves is standing in it.

I kiss her temple. “You sure you’re up for it?”

She gives me a look. “Try to stop me.”

So, we grab the coffee and head for the Winters’ house.

The moment we walk into the kitchen, Katy goes straight to Declan.