Page 11 of What It Means To Be Found

“I’m just going to say it,” Josh held both of his palms up, “Logan also looked hot while he was punching that other guy in the face. You can acknowledge the toxic masculinity that comes with that statement, I understand. But I said what I said.”

I glanced behind me to see Adam pinching his nose, silent laughter shaking his shoulders as he tugged Beck close to his side, her quiet giggles mirroring his as she gazed lovingly at him. Taylor snapped their fingers again, this time agreeing with Josh before saying, “Preach.”

“You’re nuts. There was nothing hot about that.” I argued.

“You sure?” Josh asked, giving Courtney a look I couldn’t interpret before he leaned closer to my seat and lowering his voice. “Did you see his face during the fight?”

I frowned at his question, glancing over at Logan once more before answering the rock star, “Yes.”

“So you saw how his jaw clenched?” Josh asked, his voice a tone I didn’t quite understand. All I knew was that I had to strain to focus on his words with the noise of the stadium around us. I was still staring at Logan, who hadn’t bothered glancing over at us the entire time he was sitting in time-out.

“Yeah,” I replied, not sure what Josh was getting at.

“How focused and determined he was? How his breath exhaled through his nose with each punch of his fist? The tendons in his neck flexing each time.” Josh paused his questioning, waiting for my answer. I simply nodded my head, my eyes studying Logan as he frowned at the timer once more before putting his helmet back on his head. “You can’t picture that look on him in any other position?”

I blushed. Hard.

I wasn’t quite sure if Josh was saying what I thought he was saying, but I didn’t really have time to question it further, because he kept speaking. “Picture his jaw clenched, his breath fanning your neck”—Oh dear god—“His arms caging you in, his breathing sharp like he’s focused and determined on something else.”

My heartbeat was unstable, I was sweating under my clothes. Logan had just stood up from his bench and kicked the door from the time-out box open a second after the timer showed that he was allowed back on the ice.

“Picture him exerting that much energy purely for your benefit,” Josh mumbled against my ear, right when Logan turned his head to glance over at us. He was skating by our section, which was the only reason I could see his dark brow loosen a little bit after he scanned our group and made eye contact with me. I don’t know what my facial expression was, but I knew it wasn’t normal based on Logan’s reaction to it.

I gasped and quickly punched Josh in the arm before Logan turned away and focused on the game.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I grumbled at Josh, who was laughing right along with Courtney.

“I’m simply calling you on your holier-than-thou bullshit, Lo.” Josh chuckled. Beck had reached forward and patted me on the shoulder, her silent way of apologizing for our friends embarrassing me. I squeezed her hand back and faced forward, trying not to smile from being so easily bamboozled by Josh.

Thankfully, the rest of the game went by without additional fights. I had managed to pay attention to some of the plays, but it happened so fast and players swapped positions off and on the ice so quickly that it was sometimes difficult to keep up.

Afterward, Josh was caught by a few fans who had recognized him, so we lingered a little bit so that he could do his celebrity rock star thing. Even Courtney got asked for an autograph or two, and she literally was only famous for being engaged to him.

Well, and for signing at his concert that one time, but that was a while back.

When Courtney and Josh asked if we should go to the bar with the team to celebrate their win, I was thankful that Beck and Adam were the ones to speak up and say that they were tired and wanted to call it a night.

That way, I didn’t have to be the loser who asked to skip out on the bar where I knew Logan would be. I wasn’t in the mood to be judged or teased by him again, especially after he had intentionally startled me by slamming against the plexiglass before the game started.

***

I had just gotten into bed, my bedroom mostly put together already from the moving company earlier in the day when my phone buzzed with a text.

Josh: Here’s the title by the way.

With that message, he sent along an image of the cover of the alien erotica series he and Beck were hyping up earlier. I laugh-reacted to the image and tossed my phone on the bed while I showered and got changed.

I wasn’t exactly sleepy yet, but I kept picturing that image that Josh had painted so well with his words during the game.

Logan caging me in.

Neck tendons flexing, etc.

So I decided to download the first book since it was free on my e-reader app. Generally, the fact that it was free wasn’t a great sign. But I said I would give it a shot, and I was curious to see what Josh and Beck were so excited about.

3

ELOISE

---