Page 313 of Sin Bin

As she climbed out of her car, Ephraim pulled up behind her, buzzed down his window and called out, “Why don’t you go inside and grab us a table? I’ll keep driving around.”

She pointed across the busy lot. “I saw a couple empty spots over there.”

“Too tight,” he called back. “I don’t want some knucklehead scratching the paint on my Beemer. Go ahead. I’ll join you shortly.”

She nodded and headed inside. The restaurant was crowded, just about every table full.

She looked around and then froze, her heart lurching into her throat.

Logan stood at the takeout counter picking up an order. The moment she spotted him, she wanted to turn and run back out the door.

Before she could move, he turned from the counter with his food.

Her breath jammed in her lungs.

He saw her and froze in his tracks.

As they stared at each other, the hum of other voices receded, replaced by the mad drumming of her heart.

His black hair seemed longer. His playoff beard was thicker and fuller, but immaculately trimmed to accentuate his square jaw. She hated that he was just as panty-droppingly sexy as ever. If there was any justice in the world, boyfriends would morph into one-eyed gargoyles as soon as you were done with them.

What made it even worse was that she, in contrast, looked like crap. Her hair was thrown up in a messy ponytail and she had bags under her eyes that her glasses couldn’t hide. The stress of the past week had obviously taken more of a toll on her than him.

As if drawn together by an invisible thread, they slowly walked up to each other and stopped. Hurt vibrated between them. Hurt and sadness.

He spoke first. “Hey.”

“Hey.” She swallowed hard and wrapped her arms around herself as if to ward off all the emotions whipping through her.

“How are you?” he asked quietly.

“I’m good.” Liar. “You?”

“I’m...good.”

She nodded slowly. “Good.”

They stared at each other. Her heart was thumping so hard it was difficult to think.

In her peripheral vision, she could see a group of girls whispering and giggling as they stared adoringly at Logan.

She tucked a stray wisp of hair behind her ear. “Um, congratulations on winning the game yesterday.”

He made a wry face. “We lost the first one.”

“I know. But you regrouped and came back strong.”

“You’ve been watching?”

She couldn’t bring herself to tell him that she hadn’t watched the games because seeing him was too painful. Fortunately she was spared from answering when a rowdy fan called out to him in Spanish.

He turned his head to respond in kind, flashing a brief smile before returning his attention to Meadow.

She nervously stuffed her hands in her pockets. “Well, um, I should go grab a table.”

Something like pain flashed across his face. “Are you here with someone?”

She swallowed uncomfortably. Before she could make herself respond, she heard the restaurant door open behind her.

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