When One Door Opens by JD Ruskin Read Free Book Online Page A

prison, refusing the guys who were willing to go down on their knees to have Logan protect them and keep them from being anybody’s meat who wanted them. He’d been too worried about ruining his chances at parole to help them. Snagging a pen from Stacy, Logan added another entry to his regret inventory.
    “Maybe you should consider making that a goal for this week,” Kathy said.
    Face flushed and eyes too bright, Jeffrey said, “To fuck sober?”
    Kathy winced and folded her hands in her lap. “To flirt sober.”
    Several members offered to help Jeffrey practice, making him smile and roll his eyes. The rest of the meeting went by in a blur. Some of the members shared stories while others remained quiet. A lot of the same themes were repeated over and over again. The damage the addiction caused was hard to recognize in the moment. Hindsight was a bitch, but hopefully they could avoid repeating the same mistakes.
    As Kathy called the meeting to a close, Stacy said, “I gotta run. Give me a call next week and we’ll go to lunch.”
    Logan said good-bye and rose. As the members exited the room, he noticed Jeffrey lingering behind as he took his court voucher over for Kathy to sign.
    “Can I buy you a cup of coffee,” Jeffrey asked, batting his eyelashes enough to make a diva proud.
    Logan barked a laugh. “An A+ effort.”
    “In that case, you’ll have to say yes.”
    There was one fact Logan hadn’t shared yet with anyone in the group but Stacy. Glancing at the paper in his hand, he said, “Court voucher is because I just got out of prison a few weeks ago.”
    “DUI?” Jeffrey asked, sounding hopeful.
    “A bar fight that turned ugly and I ended up doing a year in the pen.”
    Jeffrey swallowed visibly. “I’m sorry.” He looked away. “I feel like a hypocrite but that’s scary stuff.”
    “No, that’s your common sense stomping on your libido. It’s making you think.”
    Jeffrey didn’t look convinced.
    “Mixing two ex-drunks is like drinking that cheap Milwaukee brew and tequila in the same night. The result is bound to be messy.”
    Jeffrey smiled weakly. “I’ll see you next week.”
     
     
    L OGAN rapped his knuckles against the door and heard a muffled “It’s open.” Open? Had they been transported to the burbs? After opening the door, he paused in the threshold. He saw Caleb sitting behind the massive desk, typing away on a sleek-looking laptop. His annoyance nearly faltered at the sight, but he stayed frozen in place until Caleb finally dragged his attention away from the computer and looked up. Caleb blinked several times and cocked his head like a floppy-haired retriever.
    “Is there a reason this door is unlocked?” More blinking. Logan secured the door and chain with more force than necessary. I’m not his freaking babysitter , he reminded himself. This was the second time in the past two weeks he had found the door either unlocked or unchained. Today, both had been true. When he turned around, he found Caleb standing in front of the desk looking like a kid who’d been caught smoking his first cigarette.
    “I opened the door when Mrs. Simon brought me her garbage.” Caleb paused, as if only then realizing how strange that sounded. “Marco used to take her trash once a week too since the dumpster cover weighs more than she does.” He licked his lips. “I must’ve forgotten to lock the door again after talking to her.”
    “Your uncle might’ve put up the money, but it’s your big brain bringing in the customers. If you can do all that fancy programming stuff, why can’t you remember to lock the door?”
    Caleb’s cheeks flushed, and his eyes got all skittery again. “Normally, I lock the door right away, but then I started thinking about you coming by and it must have slipped my mind.”
    Logan felt both flattered and horrified by the sentiment. The effect left him a little dizzy. He liked the idea of Caleb trusting him and wanting to see him, probably more than he