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again.
    “That isn’t necessary,” I told Cole, hoping he would take the hint and take his money back.
    “You give us free ice cream all the time. It’s the least I can do,” he said.
    My shoulders slumped while Kimber glared between us. Didn’t he see that Kimber was seething?
    “Well, have fun you two,” I said, choosing to ignore the situation and went back to the milkshake machine.
    The doorbell rang behind them and I let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness they were gone.
    How much ice cream have you eaten today? Sam’s voice floated through my head. Did you save me some?
    Sorry, chocolate’s all gone. I teased, smiling.
    Guess I’ll have to get my ice cream somewhere else, then. He made a dramatic sound and I laughed out loud. Good thing I was here alone or people might think I was crazy.
    All right then. I guess I will have to find another way home from work. There was this guy in here earlier that left his number in the tip jar…
    A growl vibrated my brain and I laughed again. Leave it to a hellhound to figure out how to growl in someone’s head.
    Down, boy. I’m only kidding.
    Just for that when I get there I am ordering a large milkshake.
    I call a truce! I was NOT making any more milkshakes today. Ugh.
    Truce, then. I’ll see you in a bit.
    I glanced at the clock and willed the next two hours to pass quickly.
     
    *   *   *
     
    Ten minutes left until my shift ended and Sam still wasn’t there. Usually by now, he was, but Logan called and asked him to pick him up so he could get some ice cream, too. So instead of being here, he was on his way to get Logan. After spending all night with him. We hardly even had a moment alone this morning when I brought breakfast over. I sighed, I didn’t like feeling jealous and I realized that I was being stupid. It wasn’t that I minded Sam spending time with someone else; he needed a life outside of me. I just didn’t trust Logan. No matter how hard I tried. But he is the only family Sam had and I was going to keep supporting their relationship no matter how hard it was (or until something happened to prove I had a reason to not trust him). I wondered how much longer I was going to be able to hide my feelings about Logan from Sam.
    Besides, I wanted to like Logan and I wanted us to get along. I knew he was having a hard time with everything that’s happened to him and what it was like to feel lost in your own skin, to see a stranger in the mirror. Heck, some mornings I still looked in the mirror and was surprised with what I saw. I had gotten used to my scars, had learned to accept them, and now they were gone. I think I could be a help to him if only he wouldn’t look at me the way he sometimes did when Sam wasn’t looking.
    I thought back to the day that Logan had showed up at Sam’s old apartment. Sam was outside loading the last of his moving boxes in the truck while I ran back inside to grab one last, forgotten box. Logan appeared in front of me, with a not-so-friendly look on his face. He seemed to enjoy my fear and even took a menacing step toward me. I often wondered what he would have done if Sam hadn’t come in the door behind him. From then on, he was the kid brother who worshipped Sam and emulated everything his big brother did. He always treated me like a friend, if not a distant friend. But he always managed to worm his way between Sam and I. Whenever Sam touched or kissed me Logan had an “Ewww gross,” or a “Sam, can you help me?” that always drew Sam’s attention from me. I understood that Logan was only fourteen and that his life was destroyed the day he turned into a hellhound and he ran away, but sometimes, it felt like Logan liked getting between us.
    The doorbell rang and I turned, knowing it wasn’t Sam, but hoping to see my replacement behind the counter.
    It was Cole, followed by a dark-headed woman.
    “I thought you were going shopping with Kimber.”
    Cole made a face and then pulled the woman forward. “Shopping