Irreplaceable by Angela Graham Read Free Book Online Page A

doctor a question. Of course he was.
    It was his car that awaited me outside the hospital,
since my mom was stuck with a shift she couldn’t switch. After enough
complaining, I managed to win a ride with Hilary.
    I didn’t say a word when he made it to my house before us.
He stood in the driveway, waiting for her car to stop.
    After opening the passenger-side door, he leaned down,
encircling his arm around my waist, and helped me inside my house.
    “It has to feel good to be home. I mean, we can finally
see each other past seven,” Hilary said with a laugh.
    Visiting hours were no friend of hers. She tried to sneak
in a couple times, but the nurses weren’t having it. Not surprisingly, Logan
was there after visiting hours, meeting nothing but giggles and blushing from
the previously grouchy nurses once he explained why it was important he stayed.
I was a lucky girl, they said. If only they knew.
    Before I could respond, Logan reappeared from his jaunt
around the house, during which he’d surveyed every room for trip hazards and
potential serial killers lurking in closets. He stood in the doorway to the
living room, staring at me as I rested on the couch with a thin quilt covering
my lap.
    “Everything looks good in here, sweet—”He cut himself
off.
    Smart man. I pursed my lips, narrowing my eyes at the
television, and he knew why. I’d made it clear I was not his sweetheart, and he
was not to call me so.
    Not bothering to look his way, I replied, “Of course it
does. Now you can leave and not bother coming back.”
    “Cassandra!” Hilary gaped at me, appalled at my lack of
appreciation.
    Logan, however, seemed to have taken the jab in stride.
“Right, well I’ll bring dinner by tonight. Let her get some rest. She needs
it,” he said to Hilary, completely unaffected by my venomous tone.
    I said nothing, expecting no less from him, since it was
becoming our thing lately for him to hound me to no end. Being home reminded me
of the last time I was there, dancing around, eager to wear my new party dress
and confess my feelings to the man I was certain would be the last one I kissed
on New Year’s.
    My nose scrunched. The image left a sour taste in my
mouth.
    Ignoring Hilary’s pout, I picked up the remote and began
flipping through the channels. Hilary, on the other hand, pushed off the couch
with an exaggerated huff and walked Logan to the door, where they began talking
in quiet voices.
    “Thanks again,” she said as he stepped outside, finally
leaving us alone. The moment she shut the door and turned back to me, I knew I
was in for a lecture.
    “Look, I didn’t want to press you in the hospital, but what
the hell happened between you two?” She walked back to the armchair across from
me. 
    I said nothing, eyes on the flickering screen.
    “He’s just wants to help,” she added, her voice raising a
pitch.
    “Mm-hmm.”
    She sat down and leaned forward, elbows resting on her
thighs, waiting for me to explain myself. “He cares about you. You should have
seen him the night of the accident. He was wrecked. I’ve never seen a grown man
so broken. Maybe you should give him a chance.”
    I looked up at her, exasperated. “A chance to what? Completely
incinerate what’s left of my shattered heart? No thanks.”
    Her posture resigned, shoulders slumping forward.
“Whatever happened between you guys, he’s trying. He cares about you. He won’t
tell me or even Caleb what he did, but whatever it was, he hates himself for
it. That has to be worth something.”
    No, it wasn’t. I shot her a look that told her to drop
it. If only she knew. As much as I wanted to tell her, I couldn’t stomach the
idea of repeating that night out loud.
    I hit the channel button again and again before landing
on a rerun of Sex and the City . Perfect. More women examining how much
men sucked.
    “Look, I’m not saying give him a chance romantically,
Cassandra. Just maybe…I don’t know, try being nice, or at least civil.