into.
Finally, his face brightens, and he smiles. “Good. I think it’ll be fun, too.”
“Damn it!” Dan yells, and I picture him shaking his fist at the ceiling.
#9
The next day, I go back to The Phoenix because (1) I don’t think I can handle even looking at Terra right now because I ignored her last five texts about the Allison concert, plus I can’t stop thinking about going to NerdCon and what if I get a goofy grin while daydreaming and she asks about it and I have to lie to her? (2) I have nothing else to do but wait for Logan’s Show of Awesome to come on. And (3) I just can’t help myself.
I still park in the back, but I take my time entering through the front door since there are no cars out front. I stroll up to the counter and wait for Logan’s usual greeting.
“Welcome to The Phoenix, anything I can help you with?” He looks up, and a tingle runs down my spine when his expression goes from bored to what I interpret as, “Hey, it’s you!”
He closes the comic he was reading. “What are you doing here?”
I hop onto the counter, facing the shelves, and he comes around to stand in front of me. Swinging my legs, I say, “I don’t know. I was bored.” I shrug. I preen. I even bat my eyelashes.
I shouldn’t be doing any of these things, but I can’t help it.
“Logan?” a woman’s voice calls from the office. I jump down and turn toward the voice, fighting a sudden urge to duck down one of the aisles and out of sight.
The woman pokes her head out of the office. She starts to say something, but when she sees me, she stops.
“This is Maddie, Mom. Maddie this is my mother, Martha,” Logan says.
I take a step back, but Logan notices. He lays a staying hand on the base of my back.
“Hi.” I wave enthusiastically. Wave? Really? What am I, trying to be rescued from a deserted island or something?
“Hello, Maddie.” She steps out of the office and up to the counter. “Do you two go to school together?” She points from me to Logan, back and forth, back and forth. The side of her mouth turns up in a type of smile I recognize immediately, and she props her chin on her fist.
“Yeah,” Logan says. “Maddie is a cheerleader. She was also in my English class.”
“A cheerleader, huh? I used to cheer at my high school, and in college, too. I was a lot more flexible in those days, but I bet I can remember one of our favorite chants.”
Okay, this is kind of a shocker. A high school and college cheerleader goes on to marry a comic shop owner. How did that happen?
She swishes her long brown ponytail behind her back, steps out into the open aisle, and smoothes down her flowing tie-dyed skirt. She starts clapping in a pretty decent rhythm, nodding her head on each beat, but Logan cuts her off.
“Mom! I was wondering, since you’re going to be here all day, could I have the day off?”
Martha stops and looks at Logan, then me. “Sure, honey. Go have fun.” She hugs Logan, and to my surprise, she hugs me, too. “If you’re going by the house, could you check on Leeloo for me? You know how your dad always forgets to refill the water bowl,” she says as she goes back to the office.
Logan stuffs his hands in his pockets. “So, you want to check on Leeloo with me?” His head is tilted down so when he looks at me, waiting for my answer, it’s through his lashes. How can I say no to that?
“Sure.”
“Great, I’ll drive.”
We go through the back room, and the smell of it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Out back, I get my shades from my car, and when I turn around, Logan is leaning against his hood playing with his keys.
“Can’t risk being seen with me?” he says when I put on my shades.
“No, it’s sunny. They protect my eyes from harmful UV rays.”
“Oh, right.” He blushes.
Just like my car, Logan’s air conditioner is busted so we drive down College Avenue with the windows rolled down. I look over at Logan and he’s nodding his head to the music on the radio. His hair stirs in the wind. No hair products for this guy.
The Natchitoches University campus sprawls out to my right. Crepe myrtles and azaleas are in bloom,