“I’m not,” I lied, my flushed cheeks betraying me.
His eyes searched mine. “You’ve been weird all day. Is this about the party?”
I swallowed hard, my thoughts tangling. “It didn’t mean anything,” I blurted out.
Logan’s brow arched, and his smirk returned, sharper this time. “Didn’t it?”
I hated how easily he could unravel me. I hated even more how much I wanted him to keep doing it.
“Logan—”
He leaned in, his lips a whisper away from mine, his breath warm against my skin. “I’m not stopping,” he murmured, “until you tell me what’s going on in that head of yours.”
The next day, Logan was everywhere. In class, he sat closer than usual, his knee brushing mine under the desk. He passed me notes, his scribbled jokes making me smile despite myself. Every time I thought I could ignore him, he’d catch my eye and smirk, as if he knew exactly what he was doing to me.
But then there was Vanessa.
I saw them together after school, her arm hooked through his as they walked toward the parking lot. She was laughing at something he said, her perfectly white teeth on display. My chest tightened as I watched them, jealousy coiling hot and sharp in my stomach.
“Don’t let him get to you,” Sarah, my other best friend, said, nudging me.
“I’m not.”.
“You know how Logan is. He’s a flirt. Don’t read into it.”
But it wasn’t just flirting. I could feel the weight of his attention when he was around me, the way his teasing felt personal, intimate.
***
By the time the final bell rang, I couldn’t take it anymore. I found him leaning against his locker, his phone in hand.
“Logan, can we talk?”.
He looked up, his smirk fading. “Sure. What’s up?”
“What are you doing?”
“What do you mean?”
“With me,” I said, gesturing between us. “You act like you’re interested one minute, and then you’re with Vanessa the next. What do you want from me?”
“What do you think I want?” Something flickered in his eyes—amusement, maybe, or challenge.
“I don’t know, Logan.” The heat rising in my cheeks. “And honestly I don’t have time for these games. Please, don’t play with me anymore.”
I turned to walk away, but his hand shot out, catching my wrist.
“Are you jealous, Em?” his tone light but his grip firm. “Because if you are, you’d better say it.”