Free TWIN PASSIONS: (A Logan Brothers Novel) by L. A. Shorter

was now sitting there extolling my fabricated cooking skills.
    “ This is amazing Cade, what's
in this sauce?”
    Oh fuck. I had no idea.
    “ Trade secret baby,” I said
with a smile. She'd gotten used to me side-stepping such questions so
didn't push it.
    “ So babe,” I said, moving
the subject onto more pressing concerns, “I've got my next fight
lined up.”
    “ Oh great,” she exclaimed. I
sensed a hint of false excitement in her voice. “When?”
    “ Two weeks tonight. It's a big
one Gem.”
    “ Oh?”
    I could feel my heart beating
faster once more at the prospect. “Yeah, it's what I've been
waiting for baby. Things are finally starting to take off.”
    “ Oh that's great Cade,” she
said, “I'm so happy for you.”
    “ For us,” I said fast,
without thinking. “You're in this with me Gem. I don't know if I'd
have got here without you.”
    She shook her head lightly and
turned to look out the large window to the side of the table. The
bright city lights were beaming outside against the black night, a
smattering of rain tapping against the glass.
    “ I've done nothing Cade. I'm
sure you'd have done the same without me, or with anyone in my
place.”
    “ No Gem, you're special. I
want you watching me every time I fight.”
    She turned back to me and smiled
with pursed lips. “I'll be there. Of course I'll be there.”
    We continued to eat in silence
as the rain grew heavier outside. I felt a slight weight begin to
build in me. I needed to tell her that I couldn't give her an
interview. I needed to tell her that I couldn't sleep with her, even
see her for the next two weeks.
    An awkwardness was building that
I'd never really felt with her. We'd been seeing each other for 6
months or more by now and I'd never had this feeling before. Her mind
seemed preoccupied, her face smothered in concern, a frown set
constantly over her eyes.
    “ So Gem, this fight is the
biggest I've had and the guy is fucking awesome. Coach says I need to
focus on it 100%, with no other distractions at all.”
    She was nodding somewhat
absentmindedly.
    “ So that basically means that,
well, I can't really see you for the next couple of weeks.”
    The words barely seemed to
register with her. I thought she'd be understanding and yet upset.
Surely the idea of not seeing me at all for two weeks would be hard?!
But no, she kept the same impassive, worried look on the face that
she'd had all evening.
    “ Oh OK, I guess that makes
sense.”
    I don't know why but I kinda
wanted more of a reaction than that.
    “ But that's not all of it. I...I'm not going to be able to do that interview. I'm really
sorry baby, it's just not the right timing for me anymore...and coach
says that if I'm going to give an exclusive it needs to be with a
sports or boxing specific magazine, not a lifestyle one. Baby, I'm
really sorry, I'll make it up to you.”
    I felt bad letting her down but
I knew it was the right thing to do. I was a serious boxer now and I
didn't want to devalue myself by chatting about what brand of boxer
shorts I wore or where I liked to get my hair cut. I guess that's
what some gossipy lifestyle magazine would want to print. They'd have
no interest in my actual career, just my personal life.
    “ It's OK, I wasn't sure I was
gonna do the piece anyway,” she said. “It didn't feel quite
right, with you being my boyfriend and everything.”
    I was slightly taken aback by
how calm she was being about it all. “Oh, OK,” I said, breathing
a sigh of relief, “so we're cool then?”
    “ Oh, yeah, we're cool,” she
said, completely unconvincingly, “I get it Cade.”
    Her manner was really starting
to become quite disconcerting. I mean, she just came off like she was
depressed or something, like she didn't give a shit that her career
wasn't going to get the boost she wanted, that I was going to step
completely out of her life for the next couple of weeks. I thought,
at the very least, she'd be a little upset.
    “ So are you really