Page 46 of Sunday's Best

There’s a subtle flinch in his expression at that, and his eyes drop to stare at the beer set in front of him.

My voice shakes as I rasp, “And if I loved you, I wouldn’t have spent the last three weeks falling in love with Holden.”

A throat clears from the dimly lit hallway, and Holden saunters in wearing only his sweatpants. His hair’s damp from the shower, and the cut on his lip is healing nicely.

“Why are you here?” Holden asks flatly. “From what I just overheard, it sounds like you thought you’d come into my home and try to ruin my chance with Sunday again.”

Logan shrugs meekly. “Had to shoot my shot.”

Holden lunges toward him, and I wrap my hands around his bicep, yanking with all my strength to keep him from hurtling his body over the island.

“Don’t,” I plead. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for coming between you two. I fucking hate myself for it, but if either of you give a single shit about me, you won’t kill each other.”

Holden freezes under my grip, chest heaving once before he stills. He doesn’t look at Logan—doesn’t even acknowledge him—but drops his forehead to mine for half a second, grounding himself.

“I’m not gonna touch you,” he says finally, voice low and dangerous anyway. “But you don’t get to disrespect her in my house.”

Logan nods once, slowly. “Sorry… I didn’t come here to win you back, Sunday. I know that sounds like bullshit, considering what I just said, but I swear that wasn’t my intention. I…” He blinks up at me with watery eyes. “I really fucking hate how shit ended with us, and I know a lot of that—most of it—is my fault. I’m a piece of shit.”

“He admits it,” Holden mutters.

I shoot him a look before leaning a hip on the counter and meeting Logan’s vivid blue gaze. Those rich, deep eyes used to make me feel so many things, and now all I see is how broken they are. How lost.

“We aren’t each other’s person, and that’s okay.” My hand naturally seeks Holden’s, and he squeezes. “Doesn’t give either of us an excuse for handling things the way we did. We were both assholes. I know I wish I’d handled things differently.”

Logan nods. “Same.”

“So do better now. The bullshit you pulled when you walked in here doesn’t scream ‘I regret treating you like garbage’ to me.”

“That was… I don’t know.” He fidgets with the beer bottle label. “I don’t really have an excuse. I honestly wasn’t planning to try and win you back—I know you’re better off. Old habits die hard, I guess.”

I sigh. “One day you’ll find your person, and loving her—staying faithful to her—isn’t going to feel like a chore. I don’t think you’re a total piece of shit, Logan. You just… you didn’t love me.”

Logan grips the neck of his shirt and pulls it up to wipe his runny nose, then takes a slow sip of his beer. The room’s quiet, save for the soft country music still playing from my phone.

When he finally speaks, it’s to Holden. “We’re probably done rodeoing together now, hey?”

Holden says, “I mean… we can finish out the season, if you promise not to stab me in my sleep or something. But, uh… I actually have a stable manager job waiting for me when I’m ready, so I can’t spend next year out on the road with you. I’ve been waiting for the right time to tell you.”

Logan’s face twists with confusion. “What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want it to fuck up the summer. You’re not exactly known for handling hard news well.”

“Oh, you mean like jumping off my horse and punching you in the middle of a sold-out rodeo?” Logan chuckles into his beer.

“I think that’s a pretty good example, yeah.” Holden briefly laughs alongside his brother, and it feels like maybe we’re going to make it through this okay.

For a moment, Logan sits with a quiet, pensive look. Then he says, “What an epic way to end our team roping career, though.”

“That’s one way of looking at it,” Holden says.

“Stay here. Tell your new job you can start whenever… And take care of her.” Logan gestures toward me with his chin. “You’ve got a pretty great girl. Don’t fuck it up like I did.”

Holden gives my fingers another squeeze.

Logan stands up and drums his fingertips on the counter’s edge. “If you’re cool with it, I’m gonna take the trailer and finish up the season. Maybe see if one of the other guys wants to be a heeler for me… or I’ll stick to solo runs.”

“Of course,” Holden replies easily. “Take care of yourself out there.”