by Amanda Abram
Flipping an invisible switch, I shut off Emma and turned on Riley. Widening my eyes, I stared at Logan in awe.
“Oh, Logan, you are so good at hitting balls with putters,” I said, adding a little giggle at the end for effect.
Logan, looking amused, said, “I told you to channel Riley, not flat-out plagiarize her.”
But I ignored him. Since I had no idea how to seduce a guy, my only option was to basically copy everything I’d seen Riley do with Logan since she got here.
I took a step closer to him and placed a hand on his chest. “Wow, Logan, you feel so strong. You must work out.” I lowered my hand, tracing a line with my forefinger between his pecs and his abs.
“I do,” he said with a cocky grin. “Thank you for noticing.”
“How could I not?” I bit my lip. Guys liked it when girls bit their lips, I knew that much.
“Take your shirt off,” I instructed. I could tell instantly my demand surprised us both.
“Um, what?” His grin faltered slightly.
That was a good question. I think I had dialed into Riley’s channel a little too much, but now it was hard to get out of it because…well…it was kind of fun.
“Take your shirt off,” I repeated, more confidently this time. When he didn’t immediately obey, I added, “If you show me yours, I’ll show you mine.”
His eyebrows shot up so fast he was lucky they didn’t fly off his face. “What—”
Feeling bold, I put some space between us, grabbed the bottom of my tank top, and lifted it up over my head, revealing my bikini top underneath. As soon as it was off, I tossed it at him. He caught it without even looking; he was too busy keeping his eyes focused on mine.
“Want to go for a swim?” I asked in my best Riley voice.
Logan’s face fell as soon as I start undoing the button of my shorts. Suddenly, all traces of amusement were gone from his face. Apparently, I was taking this further than he’d expected I would and he didn’t know how to react.
His hands shot out and grabbed my wrists to stop me from removing my shorts. “Emma, this wasn’t exactly what I meant.”
“Why not?” I asked with a sultry pout. “This is what Riley did at Justin’s party, and you were all about it. This is what guys like, right? Girls who are bold and aren’t afraid to strip down in front of them?”
“Well, yeah, but—”
“You don’t think this would work on Matt?”
“Yes, it would, but—”
“Then what’s the problem?”
He opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. He was speechless.
Luckily for him, he didn’t have to respond because we were suddenly interrupted by Rachel’s voice at the top of the basement stairs.
“Logan, are you down there?”
He immediately let go of my wrists and took a giant step away from me. “Yeah,” he called back in a strained voice, quickly raking a hand through his hair.
We heard her footsteps coming down the stairs before we saw her. “Good. I was wondering if maybe—”
She stopped when her gaze fell on us. Or, more specifically, me. I guess she wasn’t expecting to see me standing there practically half-naked—and with Logan still holding onto my shirt.
He realized he still had it in his hands at the same moment I did and his face reddened as he tossed it onto the couch. Clearing his throat, he said, “You were wondering what?”
I could feel my own face beginning to burn as Rachel removed her gaze from me and moved it onto Logan. “Am I interrupting something?”
“No,” Logan and I answered swiftly and in unison.
“We were just…getting ready to go for a swim,” Logan lied.
Rachel blinked. “Oh. Well, that’s a good idea.” She didn’t seem to believe us, but she also didn’t seem to care.
“Anyway,” she continued, “Logan, I have a favor to ask.” She glanced between him and me. “Both of your fathers—and their beautiful wives—have been invited to a very important dinner tonight by a potential client, and I was wondering…would you be able to watch Abby for a few hours?”
“Um…” A look of guilt came over Logan’s face. “I kind of have plans with Riley tonight.”
I whipped my head in his direction so fast I felt a muscle pull in my neck. “What, like a date?”
He turned to look at me and shrugged. “Yeah, kind of. I don’t know.”
“And, what, a date with Riley is more important than looking after your baby sister?” I shook my head in disappointment.
“I didn’t say that,” Logan replied defensively.
“Well, I don’t see you jumping at the opportunity to cancel your plans with Riley to take care of Abby.”
“Because you haven’t given me the opportunity yet,” he said, the irritation in his voice becoming more prominent with each word he spoke.
Rachel, whose eyes had been bouncing back and forth between us as though she were watching a tennis match, held up a hand to stop us.
“Guys, it’s okay. I’ll just find somebody else—”
“I can do it,” I blurted out before really thinking about it.
Rachel raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, why not? I don’t have anything better to do tonight. I would love to watch her for you.”
Rachel’s face dissolved into a look of relief as she launched herself at me, pulling me into a tight embrace.
“Thank you,” she breathed into my hair. When she released me, she was grinning from ear to ear. “This will be the first real night out I’ve had since Abby was born. I’m going to go pick out something to wear!”
She squealed and clapped her hands together as she turned and headed back up the stairs, leaving me and Logan alone in uncomfortable silence.
“You don’t have to do that,” Logan said quietly. “I can cancel my plans.”
I brushed past him to grab my tank top. As I pulled it on, I said, “It’s fine. I like babysitting, and Abby’s amazing. It would be stupid for you to cancel your plans when I don’t have any at all.”
Logan nodded and glanced down at the floor.
I smoothed out my shirt and ran a hand through my hair. “Well, I should get going.”
He returned his gaze to me. “Are you sure? We have some other things to go over.”
I shook my head. “I’m going to go talk to Rachel and see when she wants me back here, and then I have a few errands to run.”
“Oh, okay.”
“So…I’ll catch you later?” I said, heading toward the staircase. I suddenly felt like I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
“Yeah, sure.”
“Cool.” I took the first step and glanced back over at him before heading up. “Have fun on your date.”
I couldn’t help but note the sarcasm in my voice as I spoke. Part of me hoped he wouldn’t have fun on his date…while the other part of me wondered why I even cared.
Chapter Twenty-Three
EMMA
“You’re all alone in Logan’s house? Chica, what are you doing wasting time talking to us when you should be snooping around in his bedroom?”
I rolled my eyes at Sophia through the screen of my laptop. I’d been alone at the Reynolds house for nearly an hour now. When I arrived, Logan was already gone, and Mark and Rachel were out the door before I even made my way inside the house. Abby cried for the first fifteen minutes—most likely due to the fact it was the first time since she was born that she’d been separated from her mother—and then she quickly fell asleep afterward, making my job incredibly easy. After watching TV for about half an hour, I decided to make good use of the laptop I’d brought with me and set up a video chat with Chloe and Sophia. It had been way too long since I’d talked to them.
“I’m not alone. Abby’s here.”
“Abby’s a baby, Emma,” Chloe said. “Who’s she going to tell? I’m with Sophia on this. You need to go ransack that boy’s room and fill us in on everythin
g you find.”
“I’m not going to do that.” I stretched my legs out in front of me on the couch and set the laptop on my lap. “I don’t even care what’s in his bedroom. Why do you?”
Chloe and Sophia exchanged a glance.
“Uh, because Logan is one of the hottest guys at our school,” Sophia replied, “and we want to know as much about him as possible.”
“Yeah,” Chloe agreed. “Like what color his bed sheets are, or how many condoms he keeps stashed in the drawer of his nightstand.”
I gaped at her, appalled. “Chloe! That’s disgusting!”
“What?” Chloe said, all innocent-like. “You know he must keep them somewhere. That boy most definitely gets it on.”
Sophia nodded. “In fact, he’s probably getting it on with Riley right now.”
I glared at the two of them as they proceeded to giggle and make kissy noises at each other. I loved my best friends, but lately, every time we spoke on video chat, they ended up saying something that made me immediately want to close my laptop.
“Can we change the subject, please?”
They stopped giggling and exchanged another glance.
“Emma, does that bother you?” Chloe asked.
“Does what bother me?”
“The thought of Logan and Riley…you know…doing it.”
“Of course not,” I scoffed. “Why would that bother me? I don’t care what they do. I just don’t want you guys putting such disturbing visuals in my head.”
Another glance was exchanged, and I decided it was up to me to change the subject.
“So, you guys are going to Disney World tomorrow, huh?”
Their faces instantly lit up. “Yep!” Chloe exclaimed. “Courtesy of my Aunt Jess, who is not only gracious enough to drive us there, but to pay for our tickets too.”
I smiled. “You guys are so lucky.”
“We’d be luckier if you were coming with us,” Sophia said with a pout.
Chloe nodded. “We feel so bad we’re going without you.”
I waved my hand around dismissively. “Don’t feel bad. I’m the one who made the decision not to go to Florida.”
“We know that, but still...” Chloe said, giving me a sympathetic look.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “As long as you bring me back a souvenir, I don’t care.”
The girls both grinned and nodded.
“Well, we should probably go to bed soon,” Sophia said, glancing down at her phone. “We have to get up super-early tomorrow.”
“That’s fine,” I said. “I should go check on Abby anyway. Call me tomorrow and tell me about all the fun you two had, okay?”
“We will!” they said at the same time, before waving and saying their goodbyes.
I disconnected and shut my laptop. Placing it on the coffee table, I got off the couch and headed for the stairs. I was sure Abby was doing fine. Periodically, I could hear her lightly snoring through the baby monitor, but that was it. Apparently, her crying attack was enough to knock her out for the rest of the night.
As soon as I took the first step, I heard what sounded like a tapping sound coming from behind me. Freezing in place, I listened for a few seconds to see if I would hear it again, but I didn’t. Nothing but silence. Figuring I was just hearing things, I jogged up the stairs and went straight to Abby’s nursery.
“Hey, Abby,” I whispered as I neared her crib. Peeking in, I could see she was still fast asleep. So far, this was the easiest babysitting job ever.
Reaching down, I brushed my hand against her chubby little one and smiled. I’d always secretly wished my parents would give me a little brother or sister. Sometimes it was lonely being an only child, and I often wondered why my parents never gave it another go. They claimed it was because they felt they’d hit the jackpot the first time around. I’m not sure I ever believed that, but I never questioned it.
“Let me know if you get hungry, okay?” I said softly. “Just start crying and I’ll be right up—”
My words were halted by another sound. This time, it sounded like something falling against the pavement on the driveway. It was so sudden and loud, it made me gasp and jump.
Quietly, I made my way over to the window to look outside. Sure enough, the garbage can that had been standing in the driveway earlier was now on its side.
A nervous lump began to form in the base of my throat. Don’t freak out. It was probably just the wind or a raccoon that knocked it over.
But had the wind or a raccoon made that tapping sound I’d heard before coming upstairs?
Unrelated instances, I assured myself.
Or so I thought…until I heard that same tapping sound again, only this time it was louder.
I stepped back from the window as my heart began to pound against my ribcage. Calm down, Emma. You’re doing it again. You’re freaking yourself out over nothing.
But what if it wasn’t nothing? Right now, Abby and I were the only people at home on this entire street. My parents were with Mark and Rachel. Logan was out with Riley. Matt’s house was completely dark across the street. The families that lived further down the road weren’t going to be arriving for at least another couple of days. It was just me and a baby, all alone. If someone were to try and break in—
No. I was letting my overactive imagination get the best of me, as usual. Nobody was trying to break in. It was windy out, and there were raccoons. Two very common things found in nature every day. Nothing to freak out over.
But then the tapping came again, only this time I swear it sounded like it was coming from inside the house.
A wave of chills ran down the length of my spine as I rushed over to close the door to the nursery. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lock on the inside of the room, but there was a chair I could jam under the doorknob if need be.
With shaky hands, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I wanted to call someone. Anyone. Well, anyone but my parents. I didn’t want to interrupt their important dinner. And anyone but Chloe and Sophia, because they were probably in bed now. And anyone but Logan, because he would make fun of me for being such a scaredy-cat.
But my fingers had a mind of their own. As soon as I turned on the phone, I found myself going straight to my contacts, tapping on Logan’s name and calling him.
Before bringing the phone up to my ear, I noticed the battery symbol was filled with just a sliver of red and I silently cursed myself for forgetting to charge it earlier. Hopefully, it would at least make it through this phone call.
After the third ring, I was seriously regretting my decision to call him. He probably wasn’t even going to answer. Maybe Sophia was right. Maybe he and Riley were…doing it...right now, and my phone call was interrupting them…
With that sickening thought, I was about to remove the phone from my ear to end the call when he suddenly answered.
“Emma?”
“Oh, hey, Logan,” I said casually.
“Is everything okay?” he asked. In the background, I could hear music and people talking. So at least I probably wasn’t interrupting anything too intimate between him and Riley.
“Um, yeah,” I said, quickly losing my ability to sound calm.
“Are you sure?”
“Um…” I began chewing on one of my fingernails. “Well, I don’t know. It’s probably nothing, but I’ve just been…hearing some things.”
“Hearing some things?” he echoed. “What kind of things?”
“I’m not sure. It’s probably nothing. There was a crashing sound outside and I noticed something knocked the garbage can over, and I’ve been hearing this weird tapping sound.”
There wasn’t even a pause on his end before he said, “It’s probably just an animal looking for food.”
“I know. I thought that, too. But you know how I am.”
“I do.” I could hear the smile in his voice.
“Right,” I continued. “But some of these noises sound like they’re coming from inside the house.”
He was silent for a moment. “I’m sure they’re not.”
“I know. I’m getting myself freaked out over nothing.” I sighed as I left the nursery and started down the stairs. “I just needed to call you, so you could talk some sense into me.”
Another crashing sound came from outside and it startled me so much I let out a shriek.
“Emma? Are you okay?”
I flipped on the porch light and glanced out the narrow window next to the front door to see what was going on outside. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might burst through my chest.
But my anxiety was short-lived. As soon as the light was on, I could see what was most likely causing all the commotion: two cats having an epic brawl in the driveway.
With a relieved giggle, I finally answered Logan. “Yeah…yeah, I think I’m good. Just a couple of stray cats duking it out in the driveway.” I opened the door and stepped out onto the porch and was immediately hit with a strong gust of wind…which also hit the tree right next to the house, causing one of its branches to tap against the side of the house.
“And the tapping was just a tree branch in the wind,” I breathed, running a hand through my hair. “Oh my God, I’m such a dork. I’m sorry, Logan. I shouldn’t have called you. Get back to your date and pretend this phone call never happened.”
I expected to get some sort of smartass comment from him, but instead, I got nothing.
“Logan?”
The other end of the line was filled with silence. No Logan. No music. No sounds of people talking. I glanced at my phone. It was dead.
“Great,” I muttered, going back inside the house and locking the door behind me.
I had just made an idiot of myself with Logan, and he was never going to let me hear the end of it.
Still, I was glad I’d been able to identify the source of the sounds, and now I could get back to sitting on the couch and watching TV.
I took a few minutes first to see if I could find a phone charger anywhere around the house but had no luck. What, did the Reynolds never have to charge their phones? Or did they just like to hide the cords after using them? Either way, I was now officially without a functioning phone, unless I woke up Abby to take her next door to my house so that I could grab my own. But then I ran the risk of Abby realizing her mommy wasn’t back yet and I’d have to endure another crying fit for the next half hour.