Page 9 of Fraternizing with the Enemy
“Of course.” Jade took them graciously. “Thank God your mom is at the school today, or else she’d come out and embarrass you.Flowers!”
I actually shuddered at the thought of Mom hovering over my shoulder. Jade’s presence was far and above preferred.
“Don’t keep her out too late,” Jade told Logan as I slid my sandals on. She brought the flowers up to her nose, eyeing him. “And be sure to show her a good time. This is her first date ever, after all.”
“Jade,” I immediately hissed, shooting my best friend a death stare. Maybe Jade’s presencewasn’tfar and above preferred.
“Mine too,” Logan said, giving me a boyish smile. It lit up his whole face, bright and reassuring. “Don’t worry. We’ll have fun, yeah?”
I could almost feel myself fully relax.Knock his socks off. Maybe it wouldn’t be too hard. “Yeah.”
Jade shot me one last thumbs-up before I pulled the door shut, and I knew she’d let herself out once she finished with the flowers. She’d probably rush to the window, peeking at us walking to the car.
Logan opened the passenger door for me. Another adorable check.
Just before I slid in, a car bumped into the drivewaynext door, and seeing it had me freezing. I could see a brown-haired girl in the driver’s seat, and could hear the music pumping from her speakers even with her door shut. And then it shut off.
I all but fell into Logan’s passenger seat before she could see me, swallowing hard.
The inside of Logan’s car was tidy, with no wrappers or receipts anywhere in sight. A blue tree air freshener hung from the rearview mirror, and the entire interior smelled like fresh rain. Rain and something else—something more boyish, but in a good way. I found myself sucking in another deeper breath before Logan climbed into the car.
He popped open his door and slid into the driver’s seat, fumbling to stick his keys in the ignition. “How’s your temperature?” he asked when the car roared to life, reaching for the air dials. “I mean, how’sthetemperature? Are you hot? I mean, is it warm? Is it—” Logan fully stopped, closing his eyes like he was trying to reboot. “Jeez.”
“It’s a little warm,” I told him with a small grin, watching him take a deep breath in.
“I’m not usually this awkward, I swear. You just—” He let a breath out, eyes still closed. “You’re really pretty. It’s making me nervous.”
The butterflies stirring in my stomach took flight then, and my small grin bloomed. “Now who’s straightforward?”
Logan’s eyes popped open as he tilted his head, swiveling against the headrest. His blue eyes looked so vibrant.Wow. That was… straightforward, he’d said yesterday in response to my flirting. Onecorner of his lips lifted.
“Was that why you were talking to yourself back there?”
“You saw that?” Logan looked mortified, but still, the other corner of his mouth tugged up. “I was rehearsing. And I still fumbled.There she is.” He gave a small tsk.
I wanted to tell him it was cute, but kept it to myself. “We’ll have fun,” I told him, echoing more words he’d used. I was mesmerized by his gaze, locked in, hardly breathing. “Yeah?”
Logan didn’t look away from me for a long moment. I wondered what he was thinking. “Yes,” he said finally, reaching for the gearshift. “We will.”
And then he put his car into reverse.
“Mini golf?”
I blinked as Logan pulled into the parking lot, slowing down as we bounced over the gravel. “You sound disappointed,” he said, but he sounded amused.
The mini golf place was just on the cusp of Brentwood, before it turned into Jefferson limits, and the parking lot was pretty busy for a Tuesday afternoon. What, was everyone stopping by Mini’s Mini Golf before going back to school? “I just—it’s for kids, isn’t it?”
“Aren’t we kids?”
“We’re teenagers. This is for… children.”
Logan laughed aloud as he eased between two cars, shifting the gearstick into park. “Says who?”
Says me. Like, literally a second ago.Out of all the date ideas in the world, he’d chosenmini golf? We could’ve done a picnic at Lookout Ledge, or gottendinner at Le Petit Bateau, or even gone to see a movie at the megaplex. Something sweet and romantic and totally swoon-worthy. But Logan chosemini golf?
“When’s the last time you went mini golfing?”
Oh my gosh, it sounded so much dweebier when he turned it into a verb. “Like, when I was six.”
