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 was still trying to lie to myself about.
“Excuse me,” I said. Her friends gazed up with similar, owl-like dazed looks. I kept my eyes averted from Samantha as I pointed over my shoulder. “I, uh, I have to go to the bathroom. Be back in a bit.”
“Taylor.” Logan came around the pool table as I was heading for the stairs. He caught my hand.
A tingle raced up my arm, burning all through my body. I looked down at our joined hands before I forced myself to pull mine free.
“I have to go to the bathroom, and I should call my dad, let him know I’m safe. You know, just in case.” My lie sounded stupid, even to me. I needed to compose myself.
“You okay?”
I nodded, not meeting his gaze. I could feel the weight of his eyes. “Yeah,” I mumbled. “I’ll be back.”
“I’ll win this game, and then we can go,” he told me. “Nate talked about heading back to the house and doing a bonfire. Sam will probably go to bed, but he and I don’t have an early class tomorrow. We were going to stay up and have a few more beers. I thought maybe if you wanted, you could come, but if you need to get home—”
“No.” I looked up to meet his eyes. “I want to do that.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded. A bonfire with him and Nate and no one else? I couldn’t pass that up. After tonight, I’d stay away from Logan, I promised myself. Hell, I’d even go on a date with Jeremy Fuller if I needed to—anything to erase Logan Kade from my mind. But first, one night.
One more night.
“I should still call my dad.” I held up my hand. I thought my phone was there, but it was a beer instead.
Logan grinned. “I’ll be up in a bit.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
I made no phone call, but I did use the bathroom. Then I sat outside on a picnic table that had