My heart started beating faster at her pronouncement but I tried to keep calm. “Is there a reason you’re here?” I asked as politely as possible. “Does Logan know you’re here?”
Kristina’s laugh held no amusement, which put me even more on edge. This was going to be ugly.
“It figures you would automatically ask about him. I didn’t come here to answer your questions. I came here to ask my own.”
“What do you want to know?” I tried to keep the defensiveness from my voice. Even though I was in the wrong, I couldn’t help feeling combative. I felt cornered, and my natural instinct was to fight back.
Kristina narrowed her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. “How long have you been fucking Logan?”
“I’m sorry, Kristina,” I said, sickened by her question. “I never wanted to hurt you. I know Logan never wanted to, either. Our past is just really complicated, and we went about things in totally the wrong way. I’m so sorry.”
Her arms dropped to her sides, her hands clenched into fists. “I don’t want to hear your apologies! Just answer my damn question! How long?”
I swallowed audibly, and although the best thing to do was be honest, I couldn’t bring myself to tell her what we had done in her own bedroom the night of Logan’s party. Telling her that we’d had sex in the storage room of the Half Pitcher while she sat at the table none the wiser was definitely not something that would help the situation either. I just wished I knew exactly what Logan had told her so I didn’t contradict him. I took a deep breath before I spoke. “It just happened yesterday. Before I ran into you guys at the Water Tower, I hadn’t seen or spoken to Logan in over a year.”
“And before then? What was your relationship like with Logan before he moved to L.A.?”
I hesitated before answering. I wasn’t sure how to explain our relationship, especially since I didn’t know how much Logan had told her.
“It’s hard to explain,” I finally said. “Our relationship was complicated. We were friends for a long time before anything happened between us. We were only together as a couple for a short period of time before Logan left for L.A.”
“So I was just a replacement until he got you back,” she spat out bitterly. “You two must have fucking laughed your heads off behind my back about how stupid I was to follow Logan here.”
“No, that’s not how it was,” I said desperately, trying to make her understand. “Our relationship was over, and Logan truly thought you two were going to start a life together here. Things just got complicated when we saw each other again.”
Kristina’s composure was starting to break, and although her expression was one of anger, I also saw tears welling up in her eyes.
“What kind of person are you that you can do this?” she said, her voice thick with unshed tears. “I was actually excited when I first met you because I thought we would become good friends. I was nervous about starting my life over in Chicago, but there you were—an insta-friend because you and Logan were already friendly. Did it cross my mind that you two had a past beyond just friendship? Sure, but when I asked Logan, he assured me there had been nothing between you two.” Tears escaped to stream down her cheeks, and she swiped at them angrily. “Then I find out you’re some bitch who can’t keep her hands off other people’s boyfriends. Can’t you find your own goddamn man instead of stealing one from someone else?”
Hysteria edged into her voice. I didn’t know how to defend myself. I had done the indefensible, so I just stood there, but my silence only seemed to enrage her even more.
“Answer me!” she screamed, her face turning red. “Tell me how the hell you can do this to me!”
“I’m sorry, Kristina,” I said. There was nothing else to say, and I was trying to keep a grip on my own emotions. “I know this doesn’t mean much to you, but I never wanted to hurt you. I’m sorry you got caught up in this mess with me and Logan.”
“This mess with you and Logan?” she sneered, her voice full of contempt. “So, I’m just a supporting character in your little love story? I didn’t realize I was just an obstacle that needed to be overcome so you two could be together. I stupidly thought my relationship with Logan was about me and him, not you and him.”
This was getting us nowhere. Where the hell was Logan? He needed to be the one to diffuse the situation and handle Kristina, not me. I barely knew her.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” I said, trying to keep calm although my pulse was racing. “I’m sorry about all of this, but maybe you should talk to Logan about it.”
Kristina took a step towards me, almost menacingly. “I already talked to Logan. We talked all fucking night.” She laughed harshly. “Actually, I did most of the talking. He just kept apologizing over and over again.” Her face twisted in a pained grimace. “All you two can do is say you’re sorry. Those words are meaningless! Instead of having to apologize afterwards, why don’t you just try not being a home-wrecking bitch in the first place?”
As guilty as I felt about what had happened, I couldn’t stand there and let Kristina berate me, and her behavior was becoming more erratic. I needed to put an end to this before it escalated even further.
“I think you should leave,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “I’m not going to pretend that what I did wasn’t wrong. It was, and there’s so much that I regret. But I don’t regret my feelings for Logan. I know that must hurt you, and I’m sorry about that, but there’s nothing I can say that’ll make you feel better.”
“You fucking bitch,” she snarled. Her voice dropped, but it didn’t lessen her enraged intensity. “You’re so fucking self-righteous, standing there talking about your feelings for Logan. What about me and Logan? We have something real together. He has real feelings for me. You’re not the only one he told he loved. I may not have the history that you have with Logan, but we’ve been together for seven months, and in those seven months, he fell in love with me. Why do you think he wanted me to move to Chicago with him? You fucked him last night, but I’m the one he’s made love to every night for the past seven months. I’m the one sharing his bed and his life, not you. You’re just some slut he’s screwing on the side.”
“Get out,” I said, my voice trembling. I could no longer allow my guilt to allow Kristina to be so ugly to me. Yes, she was the injured party, but this was between her and Logan. “Leave before I have you forcibly removed.”
She laughed at my statement. “By who? What are you going to do, call the police? You make me sick, trying to pretend like you’re the victim here. I bet this isn’t the first time you’ve screwed around with someone else’s boyfriend.” Her eyes narrowed as she continued. “Logan told me he met you through his college girlfriend. I bet you were screwing him then, too, behind your best friend’s back.”
I froze at her words. I never thought Logan would have told her about Cassie. He obviously hadn’t told her what had happened between us back then, but just the fact that he had shared even a little bit about Cassie made me wonder what else he had told Kristina.
I felt numb by her accusation, and Kristina took my silence as an admission of guilt.
“You did, didn’t you?” she exclaimed, her eyes taking on a predatory glint. She had stumbled onto the truth and, sensing that it was a weak spot, was going in for the kill. “You’re disgusting. It’s one thing to do this to a stranger, but to betray your best friend? Logan told me you and she were like sis