Saven Deception (17 page)

“Hell, no!”

“Hell, yes. It was beyond mortifying. And
as if that wasn’t bad enough, then I blubbed all over him like a baby. Ugh.” I
slump in my seat. “I want to die.”

“Is that his shirt?”

I’d forgotten that I was wearing it.
“Yeah. He whipped it right off to cover me.”

“That was sweet.”

It was. And hot. And it smells delicious,
like him. But I’m not admitting any of that.

“But he’s still a cheating jackass,” she
hisses. “And you’d do well to remember that.”

“Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten. Nothing
has changed between us.” Though that’s not exactly the whole truth. While he is
a cheating jackass and rude, and bossy, and weird to boot at times, he is also
protective and charming in his own bizarre way, and I can’t deny I’m
comfortable around him. Except that fleeting moment last night, when I felt
something akin to fear, I’m
too
comfortable around Logan. And that
worries me to no end.

Plus, I still have no answers. No
explanation for what went down last night. But I’m too ill, and too humiliated,
to do anything about that right now.

Logan is outside each of my afternoon
classes, and he silently carries my bag to and from each lecture hall. I stop
objecting after the first hour.

Did I mention he is stubborn as well as
bossy?

When the final bell sounds, I inwardly
rejoice, glad this day is drawing to a close. My pain meds are wearing off, and
I need to sort that out before Jarod and Neve arrive. Fern helps me apply the
salve to my skin in the bathroom, and I knock back a couple of pills. When we
emerge, Logan is hanging around outside.

“Stalking the girl’s bathroom?” Fern
quips. “Waiting for your next victim?” She pins him with a glacial look.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”
Reaching out, he slips my bag off my shoulder. “I was only waiting for Sadie.”

My hand reaches out and my fingers brush
against his. Fiery tingles jolt through me, and Logan jumps at the contact. We
stare at each other, and my cheeks grow warm. I look away first. “Thanks for
your help but I’m okay. Jarod is meeting me outside.” I take my bag and wrap it
around my torso, swallowing my moan.

“What? Why?” He steps forward, crowding
me.

“Whoa, back up there, buddy.” Fern pulls
me back. “You have no concept of personal space.”

“We need to talk.” He eyeballs me, totally
blanking Fern.

“You’re being rude again.” I chastise him
as though it’s second nature.

“Yay, I’m rude. Shoot me.”

I can’t decide if he’s serious or messing
about. Sighing, I face Fern. “Give me a minute.”

“You sure?” She eyes him as if he’s a
ten-headed monster shooting fire from his nostrils and oozing green gunk from
his mouth.

“Yep. This won’t take long.”

Fern hooks her fingers through the straps
of her bag and retreats. “I’ll wait for you outside.”

“Over there.” I nudge Logan with my hip,
pointing toward a small alcove.  He curls his hand around my wrist as he walks
me over to the space. “Can you please stop with the grabby hands, I don’t like
it.” Extracting my hand, I rub my wrist in a feeble attempt to ward off the
delectable tremors emanating from the spot where his fingers caressed my skin.

“That’s the second lie you’ve told today.”
He smirks.

“Enough already!” I shove a hand through
my hair. “How did I black out last night?”

“I don’t know.”

“Now who’s lying?” I cross my arms. 

“I’m not lying.” Drawing me in closer, he
presses his mouth to my ear. “Your eyes were flickering in and out, and your
head started bobbing, and I only barely caught you before you hit the ground.
You were instantly unconscious, and I couldn’t wake you. Your skin was inflamed,
and I honestly didn’t know what was going on. Has anything like that ever
happened to you before?”

He eases back a little, looking me
straight in the eye. Temporarily rendered speechless, I have to remind myself
to breathe.

“Sadie?”

 “No. Nothing like that has happened
before, and I’ve never felt this weak and ill.”

“What?” He frowns.

“All day, I’ve been feeling nauseous,
achy, and tired, and I don’t understand it because I don’t usually get sick.”

“What do you mean?” His hand gently
brushes my elbow, like a whisper on my skin. I sway in his embrace. “I told
you, you should’ve stayed home today. You’re not going anywhere. I’ll bring you
back to your apartment so you can rest.”

“Not happening, buddy.” I plant my hands
on his chest in a shabby attempt to get him to back up.

His mouth twitches. “I’m about to lay the
smack down on your candy-ass!”

“What? You are so odd.” I shake my head.

He winks suggestively.

“And that’s not sleazy at all.”

“You like me.” He grins manically.

“I do not!” My answer is automatic. And a
blatant lie.

He pulls me flush to him. “Admit it.”

A scorching heat licks every inch of my
skin and black spots mar my vision. “Stop it.” I shove at his chest again.
“You’re … crowding me. I can’t breathe.” Bending over, I put my head between my
knees until the dizzy spell fades. “I think I’m allergic to you.” Logan’s face
turns ashen. “Hey. I was only joking.” I think.

He smiles weakly. “How did you feel before
you fainted? Did you notice anything unusual?”

“I was light-headed and then there was
this blinding heat that took hold of me from nowhere and—” I stop mid-sentence
as I notice the change in his face. “What?”

His hand tightens around my waist, and
we’re pressed as close as two people can fit together. My heart pummels my
chest and his scent clouds me, disturbing all logic, all sense of reason. “You
undo me, Sadie. You have no idea.” He runs the tip of one finger across my
face, leaving a sizzling trail of fiery shivers on my skin. I’m seconds away
from losing my self-control when he speaks again. “I’m trying hard not to be
selfish but I need you. I want you. So badly.”

Remembering Neve’s explanation, I snap out
of it. “Ugh.” I attempt to pull out of his embrace, but his arms are like vice
grips around my waist. “You are so egotistical and your lack of respect for
girls is hateful. Let me—”

“What’s going on here?” Neve says,
materializing by my side. Her gaze flips between us and she does nothing to
hide her anger and disgust.

“It’s not how it looks.” I rush to assure
her.

“It’s exactly as it looks.” Logan tweaks
my nose and winks. “And that’s the third time you’ve lied today.”

“Let her go, Logan. Amy is waiting
outside.”

“Amy?” I look from Neve to Logan. “Who is
Amy?”

“His date,” Neve says pointedly.

“You!” I thump my fists into his chest in
fury. “Get off me, and this time I mean it—I’m off limits to you. And that goes
for my bedroom too.”

Holding up his hands in defeat, he backs
away. I stomp toward the entrance, totally mad at myself.

When I reach the front steps, I realize
Neve isn’t behind me. Glancing back, I can tell they’re really getting into it,
and I’m sorry I didn’t hang back to catch the gist of their argument.

A small girl with long, sleek blonde hair
and sapphire blue eyes stands off to the side. Amy, I’d hazard a guess.

God, I hate guys.

Bouncing down the steps toward Jarod and
Fern, I curse my damned stupid hormones for reducing me to such a pathetic
mess.

***

We are back in the funky diner, tucking into calorie-laden
burgers and fries when I find a gap to quiz Jarod about last night. Neve and
Fern are getting on like a house on fire—both of them engrossed in conversation
on the other side of the booth.

“So, about last night,” I say, leaning
into him. “You said you were going to wait outside for me. I’m one hundred
percent on that.” I ram a ketchup-laden fry into my mouth.

“Nuh-uh. You must have misunderstood. You
stayed behind to talk to the douchebag and I went home. Did you hit your head
or something?” Jarod swirls his hand around his empty plate and licks his
fingers, one at a time. I fight a smile.

Hmm. Or something. Did my black out affect
my memory? Or is Jarod mistaken? Either way, in the grand scheme of things,
it’s not something I need to stress about. I decide to be magnanimous. “Guess I
was mistaken. No biggie.” I smile at him and brush my concern away.

***

An hour later, we are in the movie theater, bickering over
which movie to watch when Neve takes control and marches decisively to the
counter. She purchases four tickets for
Only Ever Yours
, a soppy
chick-flick that she wanted to watch. The rest of us groan.

Leaving us with strict instructions on
which candy to buy, she flounces to the bathroom, thoroughly pleased with
herself.

I’m standing in line with Jarod and Fern
when a gust of warm air skates along my neck and I shiver. “Hey, beautiful,”
Logan says, approaching from the rear, in that hypnotic, seductive voice of
his.

His use of that word galls me. Twirling
around, I glare at him. “You really are stalking me, aren’t you?”

Amusement lights up his eyes. “Nope. I’m
on a date. With Amy.” He flicks his head blatantly at the back wall, and I lock
eyes with the stunning blonde-haired girl from earlier. She doesn’t look too
pleased, and I feel a pang of sympathy for her.

“I … words fail me.”

He smirks.

“Do you have a split personality? Never
mind.” I shake my head. Seriously, I cannot figure this guy out. One minute
he’s sweet, the next he’s an overbearing ass, then he’s spouting odd crap, and
other times he’s all touchy-feely, yet most of the time, he demonstrates
hands-off indifference. I wish I’d more experience with boys to know if this
hot-and-cold attitude is the norm or if he’s some special brand of hot
weirdness.

“Goodbye, Logan. Enjoy your date.”
Removing myself from the line, I give Jarod my order and wait by the wall.

Jarod and Logan enter into a mutual death stare,
each boy trying to outdo the other. When he’s not glaring at Jarod, Logan stares
wantonly at me, making no attempt to mask his obviousness. His poor date
doesn’t even warrant a casual look, and I’m tempted to share what I know with
her. But I’ve had about enough of Logan for one day, and I’m loath to
interfere.

Neve walks out of the bathroom, and her
eyes narrow suspiciously, as she notices Logan fixating on me. In the blink of
an eye, Logan strides over to Amy and pulls her into his arms, brushing his
lips atop her head. A piercing pain guts me and I look away.

“Come on, Sadie,” Neve says, looping her
arm through mine. “Time for some gushy romance.”

“Oh, yay,” I deadpan, “‘Cuz that’s just
what I need to cheer me up right now.”

***

I can’t concentrate on the movie, and my dour mood is
worsening with each passing sappy minute. As if that isn’t bad enough, Logan
and Amy are seated two rows in front of us, and I’m forced to watch as he
snuggles into her. I’m tempted to dump my bucket of popcorn all over his
slime-ball cheating ass, but that would be a waste of good popcorn.

After an hour, I give up, and on the
pretense of a bathroom break, I sneak out of the theater.

I’m standing in front of the large
wall-mounted screen in the lobby, watching other movie trailers, when a strong
arm latches around my waist. “Whatcha doing?” Logan buries his head in my hair.

“Let go of me, right now, or God help me,
but I’ll—”

“I love it when you go all native on me,
Sadie.”

His lips brush the side of my cheek and
I’m tingly all over. I hate it. I’d rather my skin shriveled at his touch.

“I’ve had enough of this.” I wriggle out
of his embrace. “I’m going in there to tell that poor girl how you’re stringing
her along. And then I’m going to have a nice cozy chat with your girlfriend,
explaining how you’re flirting with anything in a skirt! You think because you’re
hot that you can get away with treating girls with such little respect? You are
the worst form of asshole, and I wouldn’t spit on you if you were on fire.”

I stomp off in the direction of the
theater, so riled up I’m more than prepared to carry out my threat. Logan
appears in front of me super-fast. As he backs me into the wall, his arms land
either side of my head, effectively caging me in. A vibrant thrumming sensation
throbs at my pulse. “Back up there a second.” His eyes spear me. “Where did you
get the notion that I’ve a girlfriend?”

“What?” I’m embarrassed that the word
comes out all weak and shaky. But the way he’s pressed against me is jamming
all my internal wires. His tongue slips out of his mouth, sliding over his
pouty lips, and it sends a volley of pure liquid fire shooting through me. Oh,
God. I want to kiss him. So badly.