Page 56 of Fraternizing with the Enemy
If you ever need another therapy session,Logan had said.You know where I am.
“Pizza here any good?”
The quiet male voice was right in my ear, and my first instinct was to jerk away. But—wait. What if it was a guy who might’ve been willing to buy pizza for a pretty girl? That way Landon wouldn’t have to fork up twenty bucks for crappy bowling alley pizza.
Straightening my shoulders—andmaaaaybepopping my chest forward a bit—I fluttered my lashes, turning. “That’s actually what I’m getting—” And then I stopped.
Logan Castle stood not even a foot behind me, waiting for me to finish with a small, puppy-like smile on his face.
My heart stalled at the sight of him, and everything else faded out around us. Like the lens of a camera zoomed in on just him, blurring the background. I couldsee the other corner of his mouth tip up, almost like he was thinking the same thing.
And then reality sacked the moment in an unforgiving tackle. “Are youcrazy?” I hissed, whirling back around and counting the people in front of me. Five. Maybe six—my world was swaying, so it was impossible to tell. “What are you doing here?”
“Buying a pizza.” It sounded like he was smiling wider.
“No, I mean—at the bowling alley.”
“Bowling.” Definitely smiling.
“Don’t—don’t you work Thursdays?”
“I took the day off.”
Why? I wanted to demand.Why is this happening to me? Why here? Why now?
Logan lowered his voice. “My friends are here.”
Panic licked its way up my spine, and I glanced at my table from the corner of my eye. Landon had just bowled a gutter ball—comforting that I wasn’t the only one who absolutely sucked—and the two other boys were teasing him. I couldn’t see Jade from where I stood. “The football players or the…”
“Dorks?” Logan chuckled a little, as if there was nothing wrong in the world. “The dorks. Are you here with your friends?”
Along with panic, heat began to burn its way up the back of my neck. He stoodwaytoo close. “Well, I’m not here bowling by myself.”
“No, I’d reckon not.” I wasn’t sure how it was possible, but he seemed to lean even closer. “Then again, I’m surprised you’re bowling in the first place. Our exposure therapyworked already, hmm?”
Sucking in a sharp breath, I turned around, eyes wide. “Shut up.”
Something seemed to dance across Logan’s expression—something like a thrill. “Sorry, Juliet, I forgot that that’s our secret.”
Juliet.
“That was one session. Or, maybe, technically two? Can you imagine if we had another?”
Ha, as if I hadn’t been imagining that very thing for the past two days. “No.”
Someone placed their order and stepped out of line, shuffling us all forward. Four more. “Are you going to tell your friends that I’m here with my friends?” he murmured.
Logan’s breath brushed the skin at the side of my neck, and I fought the shiver crawling up my spine. “No.”
“Another secret?” I could hear the smile in his voice. “How many secrets do you have with me?”
They were words I might’ve teased him with—bold, straightforward,flirty. I turned around to shoot him another glare, but I found a vastly different expression than I’d been expecting. Logan looked—shy. Slightly embarrassed, as if he, himself, couldn’t believe those words left his mouth. He didn’t take them back, though, despite the flush that kissed his ears.
Something in me softened, even more so when he couldn’t maintain eye contact. “You’re ridiculous,” I muttered under my breath.
“I know,” Logan whispered back.
The line moved forward. Three more ahead of me. Logan stepped closer, close enough that the edge of his shoulder pressed into the curve of my back. I didn’t moveaway. Instead, my body almost seemed to—on its own accord; I couldn’t stop it—lean back into him. The edge of his shoulder became firmer against me, sending a rush straight to my head.Not allowed, not allowed, not?—
