Free Tailspin (Better Than You) by Raquel Valldeperas Page B

anger. Someone has done this to her; is doing this to her. The silence of the bar hits me then and I look behind me to find the girls stuck in the same spot. “Go make sure everything is ready for tonight,” I say, and they disperse in a burst of movement.
                  Dull sounds from the TV break into the stifling silence and I turn my eyes back to Logan’s face. There are a million questions I want to ask, but none that won’t scare her away, so I settle with, “Do you want to talk about how you got that?” There. Now the ball’s in her court.
                  She shrugs, but it’s unnatural, as if she’s practiced that move in the mirror. “Just clumsy.”
                  “I’m gunna call your bullshit and raise you another question.” I take a deep breath. “Do you need to talk about how you got that?”
                  She lets out a short breath, almost like a laugh. “Look, I’m sorry I showed up with this,” she says, gesturing to her face, “but it won’t happen again. And I won’t let it interfere with my work.”
                  Is she crazy? “I’m not worried about either of those things, Logan. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”
                  She smiles wide, the skin of her bottom lip pulling tight against the swelling. “Perfect,” she says and I know the conversation is over.
                  I rub a hand over my face and turn towards the bar. There’s nothing I can do , I repeat over and over again, even though I can envision myself finding Danny and ending his pathetic life. Or at least fucking it up a little. It’s been a while since I’ve hit someone. Years of football and the academy will never let me forget how it feels, though. Now I’m craving it. I shake my head in an attempt to clear it. “Welcome to My Friend’s Place.”
                  Logan’s eager to learn and does it quickly. In just a few hours she’s serving simple drinks and cleaning up behind Kait like she’s been doing it her whole life. It occurs to me that she’s not even of drinking age and is entirely too comfortable around alcohol. This should concern me, and I guess it does since I noticed it, but I’m more concerned about the bruising on her face and the way the guys have been checking out her ass and legs all night long. I’ve never wanted to hit so many people in my life.
                  The bar continues to fill up and I’m finding it harder and harder to keep my eyes on Logan. I end up behind the counter serving drinks to barely dressed girls and douchebag guys. There are times I think I might get the chance to hit a few of them, but then the situations diffuse and I’m left standing next to Rico, the bouncer, feeling let down. I don’t know what has gotten into me, but looking for a fight isn’t normal.
                  This is when I realize that, despite the fact that I’ve known her for all of two days, and ignoring that she’s a conflict of interest, Logan has gotten underneath my skin.
     

11
     
    March 13, 2009
                 
                  This girl couldn’t be any more obvious if she tried. Her tits are huge, her hair is blonder than blonde, and surprisingly she doesn’t seem to have a speck of makeup on. There’s no question in my mind that she’s hot, but the moment she begins to twirl her hair and lean over the bar, I lose any interest that may have been garnered by her half naked body. I hear a burst of laughter and I look across the bar to find Georgia, Kait and Logan watching the blonde.
                  “What are you doing later?” she asks, but I can barely hear her over the noise of the bar, much less over the thoughts running through my head. Pretending not to have heard her, I place the bottle of vodka back on its shelf and hand her the fruity drink I just threw together. Why is it that girls