Page 70 of The Playbook

It really didn’t seem like such a bad thing.

Now, how was I going to keep it that way?

CHAPTER34

Logan

Iwrote everything in my playbook.Everything. I had every moment recorded with Grace in that damn thing. In the beginning, it was a record of what I wanted with her. What I’d gotten. And what I still had to get.

Now, it was a perfect timeline of how my feelings had developed for her. It was me scribbling fiercely on the pages about how I felt like I was losing not only the damn bet, but my mind because she was always on it. I’d written about our time at Lana’s. How my heart had felt like it was bursting through my chest when I’d finally gotten to kiss her. How I’d felt guilty about everything. And I wrote about my plans for more.

Some of the earlier stuff sickened me, but when I looked at the bigger picture, the notebook was just a map of how deeply I’d fallen over the past few weeks.

I watched as she walked down the hall a week later at school. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t fucking hard to keep my hands off her whenever I saw her, but I made it a point to be as nonchalant as ever and to act like she was just my lab partner. The rumors that started because of my social media accounts died out after a few days of nothing happening between me and her.

Everything was going good.Toogood.

“Hey,” Nikki said, sidling up beside me at my locker while I stared as Grace stop next to Noah and Garrett.

“Hey,” I grunted, already feeling uneasy. I’d been avoiding Nikki like the plague all week.

“I’ve missed you.”

“That’s nice.”

“Logan,” she whined, taking my hand and giving it a squeeze.

I cast a quick peek across the hall to see Grace gazing in our direction. Her eyes darted to Nikki, then to me, before her cheeks reddened and she focused on something Noah was saying. I wanted nothing more to go to her and kiss her, but I had to stick to our agreement.

I yanked my hand from Nikki and blew out a breath.

“What do you want?” I snapped, turning to her.

She let out a breathy, little laugh that I couldn’t stand. Whenever she did it, it meant she was about to spew out some bullshit I was just supposed to go along with.

“I know it’s been a while since we … you know. I figured you could probably use some stress relief with all the pressure of the playbook stuff. My parents won’t be home tonight—”

I slammed my locker closed. “Not interested.”

She frowned. “What? Why?”

“Because the playbook is over. Andy and I agreed to let it go.”

Confusion marred her features. “What? When?”

“Last week. We’re done with it.”

She looked sullen for a moment before fixing a smile onto her face. “Well, that’s good. We can pick up where we left off.” She reached out to twine her arms around my neck, but I pushed her away.

“I’m good. Thanks.”

“What?” She glanced around, probably hoping no one saw my rejection before focusing on me. “Whatthe helldoes that mean?”

“It means, I’m not interested.I’m good.You and I have run our course, Nikki. It’s time for you to move on.”

Her face reddened as she glared at me. “Excuseme? Are you blowing me off?”

“No. I’m telling you we’re done. For good.”

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