by Tijan
for him. Then they noticed he was with someone, and when it registered that I was a girl, I really felt their attention.
None of this was blatant and obvious, but it was in the air. I could feel a shift in the atmosphere. Logan must’ve felt it, too, as he reached behind him to grab my hand, tangling our fingers together. He didn’t look back at me, and my heart pounded. I pressed a hand to my chest, hoping to soothe myself, but there was nothing I could do.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as we went through the living room and into the kitchen. Once we stepped through the doorway, my hand tightened in Logan’s for a split second. I wasn’t sure if this party was any better. The girl I recognized from last time was here. Samantha. She leaned against the counter, surrounded by a couple other girls. She was laughing at something, but the two girls next to her wore different expressions. One was a little heavier with red hair curling freely over her shoulders. She wore a scowl. The girl on Sam’s other side was much more petite with almost white-blonde hair. She wasn’t scowling, but she seemed confused, as if trying to figure out the world’s most important riddle. I noticed all of this before they noticed me.
When they did, Sam looked surprised, and suddenly the other two wore matching frowns. They did not seem to be fans of me.
“Hey!” A guy saw Logan across the room and raised his arms in the air. “Kade is here. Hell yeah, buddy.”
Logan let go of my hand and moved forward to bump fists with the guy. Then they pounded each other on the shoulders. After that guy, it was like a line formed. Logan stayed in place as guy after guy moved past him to do the same fist-bump-shoulder-pound thing. When I realized the line wasn’t going to end anytime soon, I sank back against the doorframe and folded my arms to half-brace and half-shield myself. I felt like I needed it.
“Hi.”
My muscles were rigid, but the soft voice soothed them a little. Samantha, the only girl I knew Logan cared about, had moved to stand in front of me. I looked down, and she held her hand out. Damn. She was nice. I swallowed a knot in my throat. I put my hand in hers and felt how she closed her hand over mine.
“Hi,” I said.
She smiled, and it lit up her entire heart-shaped face. She had dark brown eyes, beautiful plush lips, eyelashes that couldn’t be manufactured, and the long black hair that had helped me recognize her. I’d known she was stunning, but she was even more so up-close. Add the genuine kindness I sensed, and I was forming a girl crush on her.
After letting my hand go, she gestured to herself. “I’m Sam. I don’t know if Logan’s said anything about me.”
He hadn’t, but I already knew. “You’re dating his brother?”
She nodded. “There’s a whole long story that goes with that, but yeah. I’m dating Mason, and my mom is going to marry their dad, so I’m the future stepsister, too.” Her lips curved into an impish smile, and she rolled her eyes. “It’s all one big fuck-up, but Logan—”
She stopped as Logan sidled up next to her and placed his arm around her shoulders. He pulled her close and grinned down at me. “She’s family.” The fondness in his eyes was clear. He genuinely loved this girl. A sensation I hadn’t felt in a long time seized my heart, squeezing it in a painful grip.
I was jealous.
Completely.
Utterly.
I wanted what she had.
My throat was suddenly parched, and I let out a quiet cough to clear it. “It’s nice to meet you.” I nodded at her, and she smiled, a knowing look in her eyes. She’d seen my reaction and knew what it was. She grinned up at Logan. Her hand found his on her shoulder, and she squeezed it before removing his arm.
“We should all go downstairs,” she said. “Nate’s down there.”
“He is?” Logan moved back, his eyebrows bunching together slightly.
She nodded. “Yep, and he seems happy.” Her finger rested on Logan’s chest. “Don’t take that away from him.”
“Why would I?”
“Because the two of you bicker like you’re married. You’re either loving each other or you’re at each other’s throats. Stop it.” She meant business. “I’m getting flashbacks of Analise versus David 2.0.”
A look of horror flashed in Logan’s eyes. He stopped in his tracks. “Don’t insult me like that. At least tell me I’m David, not Analise. Anything but Analise.”
Sam shook her head, moving ahead of him. “Then stop the bickering.” She led the way out of the kitchen, and the two girls who’d been at her side earlier fell into place again.
Logan remained a step behind with me. He shook his head, muttering under his breath. “That’s the worst thing she could’ve called me. I’m not Analise. No way in hell. I’d be David all the way.” He cringed. “I don’t even want to be that.”
“Who are David and Analise?”
Logan was still shaking his head, but his arm lifted around my shoulders, like it’d been around Sam’s moments ago. The whole motion seemed so natural, like I’d stepped close to him thousands of times before and my shoulders were always where he rested his arm.
I didn’t register it until it was done, and I was tucked close to his chest. I faced him, staring right into his collar where it rested against his neck and chest. I blinked a few times, then my body caught on to where I was standing and grew heated. It bloomed up inside of me, sending my pulse on a race, and I tried to calm down. I didn’t want him to feel my heartbeat. His arm lay so close to the veins in my neck.
If he could feel it, he didn’t seem to care. He rested his forehead to mine. “Do me a favor.”
Anything. “Yeah?”
His arm tightened a fraction, and he gazed into my depths. “Never insinuate that I’m being like someone’s parents, especially ones that are super fucked up.”
I frowned. “Okay.”
“Thank God,” he breathed out.
I thought he was going to remove his arm then, and I waited for it, knowing I would miss it, but he didn’t. He just turned so we could walk beside each other. I followed his lead as we left the kitchen and went to the basement. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, Nate stood at the pool table, aiming to take a shot.
Logan stopped, watching in silence until Nate’s pool cue connected with the white ball. It shot forward, hitting a red ball that bounced off the side of the table and hit a blue striped ball. That ball sank into the pocket, and the red ball ricocheted to a far corner of the table.
“Hey!” Nate’s opponent protested. “Thanks, asshole. That was going to be my next shot.”
Nate straightened and gave the guy a smirk. “Why do you think I used it? I had a straight shot if I wanted.”
The guy grumbled, stepping back as Nate circled the table for another shot. The guy muttered something, but it was lost as Logan’s arm left my shoulders. He caught my hand and led me around a group of girls to a table in the corner where Samantha, her two friends, and a few guys had gathered. All were watching the game, but as we approached, their focus shifted to Logan and me.
Particularly to our joined hands.
I pulled away, and Logan moved forward, a smirk already on his face. He went over to where Nate stood.
“Taylor?” Sam gestured to the empty seat across from her. As I slid into it, she leaned forward so I could hear her. The music and conversation in the basement were loud. “Logan’s talked about you.”
“He has?”
She nodded. “Just to say that he likes you. That’s high praise from him. He acts like he’s everyone’s good friend, but he doesn’t actually like a lot of people.”
Her two friends groaned.
Sam shot them a look. “This is Katie and Nina. They lived on my floor last year,” Sam added. “When we were freshmen.”
I nodded to both. “Hello.”
Each gave me a polite, forced smile.
Sam laughed and leaned in. “Don’t take that personally. They’re both a little in love with Logan, even though I’ve told them not to be.” She gave
them a pointed look, her eyebrows arching up.
Katie, the redhead, wrinkled her nose and turned away to watch the pool game. Nina, the petite one, didn’t react. She didn’t scowl and pointedly look away.
Sam sighed, shaking her head. “They’ll warm up to you. Don’t worry. They’re actually really great and loyal friends.” She threw that last word toward them with another pointed look.
Katie didn’t look at her, but the scowl lessened on her face. Nina met my eyes for a moment, and I caught the slightest glimmer of a smile before it vanished.
Sam gave me one more reassuring smile before turning toward the pool table. “Logan, you and Taylor want something to drink?”
Logan was saying something to Nate, but he turned to see the empty space in front of me. “I was going to grab something upstairs. Taylor, you want something?”
Sam stood, waving for him to stay. “Taylor and I will go grab something for both of you. What do you want?”
He shrugged. “A beer is fine.” He met my gaze again. “You want me to come with you?”
Sam blocked his view of me. “She’s fine. I got her.” She started toward the stairs and Logan opened his mouth, but she waved at him again. “I swear, Logan. She’s fine. I’ll take care of her.”
I didn’t know what was going on, but they seemed to be having a more involved conversation with their looks and words.
I gave Logan a smile as I passed by. He shifted so our arms grazed each other and I could feel his eyes following me all the way upstairs. It felt good. I couldn’t deny that. It felt damn good, and then Sam was there, waiting for me when I stepped through the door.
“Sorry to strong-arm you away from Logan. I wanted to give him some time with Nate before he got distracted and remembered you were here.”
I nodded. “Oh, yeah. No problem.”
She spoke over her shoulder. “Those two really do bicker like a married couple, but there’s more to it.”
“Did something happen?”
“Uh…” She hesitated as she gestured toward the kitchen. “Let’s get something to drink.”
She glanced over her shoulder with another smile, but I got the message. It wasn’t for me to know. When I saw this group at the first party, I’d been on the outside. Everyone looked tight, but now I could sense the layers. Logan was closest to Sam, then Nate, and then—I had no idea. Suddenly and so completely, I wanted in.
I wanted to be on the other side of whatever wall he kept between him and most people. I wanted it almost desperately.
I followed Sam as she waded through the crowd to the booze. Hers wasn’t exactly like Logan’s reception, but a lot of the same guys moved aside and greeted her. They called out hellos. A few offered to get drinks for her.
With her hands full of vodka, beer, and some other bottles, she smiled as she took in the look on my face. “It’s because of Logan.”
“I’m gathering that.”
“They like him.”
They respected him.
Sam glanced around as the guys took the drinks from her arms and headed downstairs. She ran a hand through her hair, a rueful expression on her face. “I’d forgotten what it’s like.”
“What what’s like?”
She grinned at me. “You. Your face.” She looked around the room. “Seeing all of this for the first time. It’s overwhelming. That’s how I remember it.”
“They act like he’s a god.” That wasn’t normal, was it?
“Logan would have their backs in a heartbeat. That’s what he does. He’s actually a lot nicer now than he was in high school.”
“What?”
She laughed at my surprise. “He was meaner in high school, but I think he was just more protective of his brother.” She stopped, her lips pursed together. “Or maybe that was Mason bringing out the mean side of him?” She shrugged and patted my arm. “You’ll get used to it.”
What did she mean by that?
She read the question in my eyes. “Logan likes you. If he likes you, everyone else will, too.”
“Your friends didn’t.”
She waved that off. “They’ll come around.”
“How do you know?”
She started forward, turning back over her shoulder as she headed downstairs and said, so simply, “Because Logan said you’re a friend.”
#CHICKSHOWDOWN
TAYLOR
I was having fun. I was laughing. I was joking.
I was drunk.
Logan came back with another beer for me, and I stopped counting how many I’d had. It had been this way for the past two hours. Logan spent time with Nate and the guys, but he kept coming over to check on me. If I hadn’t been smart, I’d have let it go to my head. But nope. Logan and I were friends. Samantha had said it earlier. Logan had said it on a couple of occasions, and with a decisive bob of my head, I reminded myself of it, too.
Friends. Nothing else. But as I watched him line up a shot—his eyes narrowing so he could focus, ignoring the guys trying to distract him—there was a little pitter-patter in my heart. I wasn’t just in trouble. I was firmly in deep shit.
“I don’t want to be intrusive,” Sam said, leaning across the table. She cast a look over to her two friends, but both seemed oblivious.
She said they’d warm up to me, and they had. They were now past warming up and were drunk right along with me. Well, I still bordered between really tipsy and drunk. Both had glazed eyes and open mouths as they watched Logan. His ass was right in front of us as he bent over for a shot. I tore my gaze away and refocused on Sam.
She continued, “How did you and Logan get to know each other?”
I shrugged, shaking my head. “I was in a sociology class with him, and…” I frowned. There’d been something else. I snapped my fingers. “Jason.”
“Jason?’
Logan must have heard me, and when he finished his shot, and came over to stand next to the table. He leaned on his pool cue as Nate took the next shot. His eyes lingered on me.
“Delray,” he said to Sam, switching his gaze to her. “That little shit is one of her friends. He turned me down last year because of Sebastian, so I used Taylor to get a little revenge on him.”
“You used her?” Sam glanced at me, questioning.
I shook my head. “It wasn’t like that.”
“Come to think of it…” Logan lifted a hand to scratch behind his ear. “I used him to get her phone number.” He winked at me. “Best move I’ve made in a long time, that is until she abandoned me in my quest to mindfuck entire groups.”
“She abandoned you?”
I touched my cheeks. I should’ve been blushing, but the alcohol had already given me perma-blush. “I had to switch sections.”
“She couldn’t handle me anymore, Sam. I must’ve broken her heart without even realizing it.”
“Logan!” The guys called him for the game again.
He gazed down at me as if we had our own private joke. “Actually she broke my heart. She left me all alone. I’ve got no one to plot evil schemes with now.”
I couldn’t keep from grinning. “I don’t think you have a shortage of people who’d love to do that with you.”
“Logan!”
He ignored them, leaning down to grab my beer. He took a drink, his eyes on me the entire time, before he put it back down and murmured so only I could hear, “But no one like you.”
“Logan!”
He gave me another wink before going back to the pool table. He rolled his shoulders and lifted his cue in the air. “Chill, fuckers. I’m going to win now or five minutes from now. Why do you need to hasten my victory?”
Nate started laughing, but the others grumbled. My eyes lingered on Logan a moment longer than they should’ve as he leaned over and sank one more ball. I turned back into the table, only to realize Samantha had been watching me the whole time. She had a knowing expression in her eyes.
I coughed and stood up. I didn’t want to see the pity that would come next. She
didn’t know me, even though in that moment, she probably knew me on a level no one else did. She saw feelings I