Page 28 of The Playbook

Me: Nice job. Don’t bother meeting me tonight. I’m not going.

Logan: What? What’s wrong?

Me: You’re what’s wrong. Just leave me alone, Logan.

I switched my phone to off and flopped down on my bed, cursing everything that was Logan Walker.

CHAPTER16

Logan

What the hell was going on? Why did she change her mind?Frustrated, I dialed her number. It went straight to voicemail.

Damnit.

I had the notion I should ignore her message and just show up at her house. Of course, there would be the issue of Coach asking me what the hell I was doing at his house asking for his daughter. I’d agreed to meet Grace at the movie theater. Me showing up at her house probably wouldn’t be a good idea.

Now fucking Andy was going to get ahead. So far, all I had was Grace’s number and an introduction.

I wasn’t about to sit at home all night worrying about it, so I called Ryan.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Grace bailed,” I muttered into the phone.

“Why?”

“Not sure. She seemed upset when she texted me, like I’d done something wrong. Now I can’t reach her.”

“What’s the plan?”

“I don’t know.” I sighed. “Want to get something to eat? I can’t sit home all night. It’s Saturday.”

“Sure, dude. I’m down for some tacos or something. And Brent is having a party we can hit up later if you want.”

“Sweet. I’ll pick you up.”

“Cool.”

I hung up and got ready. I breathed in deeply, trying to clear my mind as I drove away from my house. By the time I got to Ryan’s, I decided I’d talk to Grace on Monday and try to fix whatever the hell I’d done wrong so we’d be cool again. Having a plan helped calm my nerves.

“’Sup,” Ryan greeted me, climbing into the passenger seat.

“Nada, man.” I put the Jeep into reverse and pulled back onto the main road. “I just can’t figure out how I fucked up.”

“Listen, I told you before, this entire thing is a bad idea and you shouldn’t do it. It’s only going to shit on you in the end. If you don’t like her, then just let things go. So what if Andy wins? He’ll gloat for a few weeks then football season will be over, and you won’t have to deal with him until baseball. By then, he’ll have forgotten about it.”

“Yeah,” I grumbled, making a right on Oak Street. “But damn. It’s like a curiosity, you know? She’s different. She intrigues me. Grace doesn’t try to fit in. I know she could if she wanted to, but the fact that she doesn’t just makes me want to know more about her.”

“Do you like her?” Ryan asked, looking over at me.

“No. Yes. Not really. I mean,I don’t know. I’m just curious, I guess. Maybe I just need to get laid.”

Ryan laughed and shook his head. “You’re a glutton for punishment. But hey, I’m with you dude. Let’s eat and hit up Brent’s party. I’m sure Nikki will be there.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. I guessed was an option. Besides, it wasn’t like Grace would ever know. Or care. She was probably sitting in her room trying to plot my death so it looked like an accident.

Just friends.

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