Chapter Twenty-Three
EMMA
“You’re all alone in Logan’s house? Chica, what are you doing wasting time talking to us when you should be snooping around in his bedroom?”
I rolled my eyes at Sophia through the screen of my laptop. I’d been alone at the Reynolds house for nearly an hour now. When I arrived, Logan was already gone, and Mark and Rachel were out the door before I even made my way inside the house. Abby cried for the first fifteen minutes—most likely due to the fact it was the first time since she was born that she’d been separated from her mother—and then she quickly fell asleep afterward, making my job incredibly easy. After watching TV for about half an hour, I decided to make good use of the laptop I’d brought with me and set up a video chat with Chloe and Sophia. It had been way too long since I’d talked to them.
“I’m not alone. Abby’s here.”
“Abby’s a baby, Emma,” Chloe said. “Who’s she going to tell? I’m with Sophia on this. You need to go ransack that boy’s room and fill us in on everything you find.”
“I’m not going to do that.” I stretched my legs out in front of me on the couch and set the laptop on my lap. “I don’t even care what’s in his bedroom. Why do you?”
Chloe and Sophia exchanged a glance.
“Uh, because Logan is one of the hottest guys at our school,” Sophia replied, “and we want to know as much about him as possible.”
“Yeah,” Chloe agreed. “Like what color his bed sheets are, or how many condoms he keeps stashed in the drawer of his nightstand.”
I gaped at her, appalled. “Chloe! That’s disgusting!”
“What?” Chloe said, all innocent-like. “You know he must keep them somewhere. That boy most definitely gets it on.”
Sophia nodded. “In fact, he’s probably getting it on with Riley right now.”
I glared at the two of them as they proceeded to giggle and make kissy noises at each other. I loved my best friends, but lately, every time we spoke on video chat, they ended up saying something that made me immediately want to close my laptop.
“Can we change the subject, please?”
They stopped giggling and exchanged another glance.
“Emma, does that bother you?” Chloe asked.
“Does what bother me?”
“The thought of Logan and Riley…you know…doing it.”
“Of course not,” I scoffed. “Why would that bother me? I don’t care what they do. I just don’t want you guys putting such disturbing visuals in my head.”
Another glance was exchanged, and I decided it was up to me to change the subject.
“So, you guys are going to Disney World tomorrow, huh?”
Their faces instantly lit up. “Yep!” Chloe exclaimed. “Courtesy of my Aunt Jess, who is not only gracious enough to drive us there, but to pay for our tickets too.”
I smiled. “You guys are so lucky.”
“We’d be luckier if you were coming with us,” Sophia said with a pout.
Chloe nodded. “We feel so bad we’re going without you.”
I waved my hand around dismissively. “Don’t feel bad. I’m the one who made the decision not to go to Florida.”
“We know that, but still...” Chloe said, giving me a sympathetic look.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “As long as you bring me back a souvenir, I don’t care.”
The girls both grinned and nodded.
“Well, we should probably go to bed soon,” Sophia said, glancing down at her phone. “We have to get up super-early tomorrow.”
“That’s fine,” I said. “I should go check on Abby anyway. Call me tomorrow and tell me about all the fun you two had, okay?”
“We will!” they said at the same time, before waving and saying their goodbyes.
I disconnected and shut my laptop. Placing it on the coffee table, I got off the couch and headed for the stairs. I was sure Abby was doing fine. Periodically, I could hear her lightly snoring through the baby monitor, but that was it. Apparently, her crying attack was enough to knock her out for the rest of the night.
As soon as I took the first step, I heard what sounded like a tapping sound coming from behind me. Freezing in place, I listened for a few seconds to see if I would hear it again, but I didn’t. Nothing but silence. Figuring I was just hearing things, I jogged up the stairs and went straight to Abby’s nursery.
“Hey, Abby,” I whispered as I neared her crib. Peeking in, I could see she was still fast asleep. So far, this was the easiest babysitting job ever.
Reaching down, I brushed my hand against her chubby little one and smiled. I’d always secretly wished my parents would give me a little brother or sister. Sometimes it was lonely being an only child, and I often wondered why my parents never gave it another go. They claimed it was because they felt they’d hit the jackpot the first time around. I’m not sure I ever believed that, but I never questioned it.
“Let me know if you get hungry, okay?” I said softly. “Just start crying and I’ll be right up—”
My words were halted by another sound. This time, it sounded like something falling against the pavement on the driveway. It was so sudden and loud, it made me gasp and jump.
Quietly, I made my way over to the window to look outside. Sure enough, the garbage can that had been standing in the driveway earlier was now on its side.
A nervous lump began to form in the base of my throat. Don’t freak out. It was probably just the wind or a raccoon that knocked it over.
But had the wind or a raccoon made that tapping sound I’d heard before coming upstairs?
Unrelated instances, I assured myself.
Or so I thought…until I heard that same tapping sound again, only this time it was louder.
I stepped back from the window as my heart began to pound against my ribcage. Calm down, Emma. You’re doing it again. You’re freaking yourself out over nothing.
But what if it wasn’t nothing? Right now, Abby and I were the only people at home on this entire street. My parents were with Mark and Rachel. Logan was out with Riley. Matt’s house was completely dark across the street. The families that lived further down the road weren’t going to be arriving for at least another couple of days. It was just me and a baby, all alone. If someone were to try and break in—
No. I was letting my overactive imagination get the best of me, as usual. Nobody was trying to break in. It was windy out, and there were raccoons. Two very common things found in nature every day. Nothing to freak out over.
But then the tapping came again, only this time I swear it sounded like it was coming from inside the house.
A wave of chills ran down the length of my spine as I rushed over to close the door to the nursery. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lock on the inside of the room, but there was a chair I could jam under the doorknob if need be.
With shaky hands, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I wanted to call someone. Anyone. Well, anyone but my parents. I didn’t want to interrupt their important dinner. And anyone but Chloe and Sophia, because they were probably in bed now. And anyone but Logan, because he would make fun of me for being such a scaredy-cat.
But my fingers had a mind of their own. As soon as I turned on the phone, I found myself going straight to my contacts, tapping on Logan’s name and calling him.
Before bringing the phone up to my ear, I noticed the battery symbol was filled with just a sliver of red and I silently cursed myself for forgetting to charge it earlier. Hopefully, it would at least make it through this phone call.
After the third ring, I was seriously regretting my decision to call him. He probably wasn’t even going to answer. Maybe Sophia was right. Maybe he and Riley were…doing it...right now, and my phone call was interrupting them…
With that sickening thought, I was about to remove the phone from my ear to end the call when he suddenly answered.
“Emma?”
“Oh, hey, Logan,” I said casually.
“Is everything okay?” he asked. In the background, I could hear music and people talking. So at least I probably wasn’t interrupting anything too intimate between him and Riley.
“Um, yeah,” I said, quickly losing my ability to sound calm.
“Are you sure?”
“Um…” I began chewing on one of my fingernails. “Well, I don’t know. It’s probably nothing, but I’ve just been…hearing some things.”
“Hearing some things?” he echoed. “What kind of things?”
“I’m not sure. It’s probably nothing. There was a crashing sound outside and I noticed something knocked the garbage can over, and I’ve been hearing this weird tapping sound.”
There wasn’t even a pause on his end before he said, “It’s probably just an animal looking for food.”
“I know. I thought that, too. But you know how I am.”
“I do.” I could hear the smile in his voice.
“Right,” I continued. “But some of these noises sound like they’re coming from inside the house.”
He was silent for a moment. “I’m sure they’re not.”
“I know. I’m getting myself freaked out over nothing.” I sighed as I left the nursery and started down the stairs. “I just needed to call you, so you could talk some sense into me.”
Another crashing sound came from outside and it startled me so much I let out a shriek.
“Emma? Are you okay?”
I flipped on the porch light and glanced out the narrow window next to the front door to see what was going on outside. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might burst through my chest.
But my anxiety was short-lived. As soon as the light was on, I could see what was most likely causing all the commotion: two cats having an epic brawl in the driveway.
With a relieved giggle, I finally answered Logan. “Yeah…yeah, I think I’m good. Just a couple of stray cats duking it out in the driveway.” I opened the door and stepped out onto the porch and was immediately hit with a strong gust of wind…which also hit the tree right next to the house, causing one of its branches to tap against the side of the house.
“And the tapping was just a tree branch in the wind,” I breathed, running a hand through my hair. “Oh my God, I’m such a dork. I’m sorry, Logan. I shouldn’t have called you. Get back to your date and pretend this phone call never happened.”
I expected to get some sort of smartass comment from him, but instead, I got nothing.
“Logan?”
The other end of the line was filled with silence. No Logan. No music. No sounds of people talking. I glanced at my phone. It was dead.
“Great,” I muttered, going back inside the house and locking the door behind me.
I had just made an idiot of myself with Logan, and he was never going to let me hear the end of it.
Still, I was glad I’d been able to identify the source of the sounds, and now I could get back to sitting on the couch and watching TV.
I took a few minutes first to see if I could find a phone charger anywhere around the house but had no luck. What, did the Reynolds never have to charge their phones? Or did they just like to hide the cords after using them? Either way, I was now officially without a functioning phone, unless I woke up Abby to take her next door to my house so that I could grab my own. But then I ran the risk of Abby realizing her mommy wasn’t back yet and I’d have to endure another crying fit for the next half hour.
No, thank you. Mark and Rachel would probably be home soon, anyway.
With a sigh, I plopped onto the couch, grabbed the TV remote, and began flipping through the channels to see if there was anything good on. I settled on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre—probably not the wisest choice for someone who had nearly just given herself a heart attack over two cats and a tree branch, but I did love a good slasher flick once in a while.
Not that I was paying much attention to it, though. As I curled up on my side and rested my head against the arm of the couch, I found my train of thought beginning to steer toward Logan and his date with Riley.
What did he see in her, anyway? Sure, she was gorgeous. And she had an amazing figure. And was very flirtatious and—
Never mind. I answered my own question.
I frowned as the movie faded to a commercial. Girls like Riley had it so good. They never had to work to make a guy interested in them. They didn’t need to change their appearance or their personalities. They just showed up and had their pick of whatever guy they wanted. They never had to take compatibility quizzes to find a soulmate. They were compatible with everyone.
And I, apparently, was compatible with no one.
I just hoped Logan realized he was nothing but a rebound for her. But of course, he knew, and he didn’t care. He wasn’t looking for a girlfriend. He wasn’t looking for a serious relationship. That was the reason he and Grace broke up, after all. But maybe Riley would be the girl who made him feel differently about the whole girlfriend thing. Maybe she would be the one who could finally crack the code to his heart, and she’d go home at the end of the summer and they’d embark on a long-distance relationship, much like my parents did when they were teens, and someday they’d get married and have kids and…
…And why was I even giving this any thought? I sat up, hugged my knees to my chest and told myself to get a grip.
Once the movie was back on, I focused on that for a few minutes until I heard another sound coming from outside. This one sounded like a car door slamming. I glanced at the clock on the wall. It could have been Mark and Rachel arriving home, but I’d only heard one door shut.
The irrational part of my brain kicked in and alerted me that this could be an intruder. On the off chance it was, I quickly scanned the room looking for anything I could use as a weapon. It was my only option since I couldn’t even call the cops if I had to.
I bolted into the kitchen and was grabbing the first object I could find when I heard the front door fly open and crash against the wall.
“Emma?” a frantic voice called out.
I recognized the voice immediately and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Logan?” I said, stepping out of the kitchen.
I saw him before he saw me. He was standing in the foyer, peering into the living room with wild eyes. When he heard my voice, he turned to look at me. His tight expression softened as he raked a hand through his hair, stalked over toward me…and threw his arms around me, pulling me close into a tight embrace.
For a moment, I stood there stunned. Five seconds ago, I thought somebody was going to break into the house, and now I was being bear-hugged by Logan. Not exactly the outcome I’d been expecting.
Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around him and returned the gesture.
“Logan,” I said in a strained voice. He was holding me so tight I could barely breathe. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
He let go of me so quickly I nearly stumbled from the sudden lack of support. “What’s wrong? What’s wrong? You tell me!”
I stared at him in confusion. He sounded angry, like he was mad at me. “I don’t—”
“You called me up and basically told me you thought someone was in the house,” he said, waving his phone around above his head. “And then you screamed—”
“It was more of a shriek,” I corrected him.
He didn’t even bat an eye before continuing like I hadn’t spoken. “And then nothing. Complete silence. I asked if you were okay, and you said nothing. I tried calling you back like three hundred times, but you didn’t pick up. I thought you were…” He let out a heavy sigh as his shoulders slumped forward. “I thought you were in danger.”
Oh…so apparently, my phone had cut out before he’d had a chance to hear me tell him about the cats. “I-I’m sorry,” I stammered. “I thought you might have heard me tell you it was nothing before my phone died.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t.” He dragged a hand down his face and leaned against the wall behind him.
“And I couldn’t find a charging cable, so I didn’t even know you were trying to call,” I added weakly. “I thought of going next door to get mine, but then I’d have to wake up Abby and—”
“It’s fine,” he said softly. “I’m just glad you guys are okay.” His gaze flickered down to my hand. “Were you planning on baking something?”
“Huh?” I blinked and lifted my hand to reveal the object I’d randomly grabbed in the kitchen to use as a weapon.
A spatula.
“Oh,” I said with a giggle. “Um, no. I thought maybe you were going to be an intruder, so I just blindly grabbed something I could use to beat someone with if necessary.”
“That wouldn’t have worked very well,” he said with a small smile.
I returned his smile. “Yeah, probably not.” I paused for a moment before saying, “So, after you point me in the direction of a charging cable for my phone, you can feel free to return to your date.”
He pushed off the wall with a shrug. “Nah, it’s okay. Matt’s giving Riley a ride home later. And it wasn’t an official date, really. I might as well just stay here.”
“Oh, okay,” I said, assuring myself that the giddy feeling that suddenly came over me had to do with the fact I was going to have a big, strong male around for the rest of the night to keep me safe.
Not because of the fact he wasn’t going back to his date, which supposedly wasn’t even a date at all.
“I’m going to go return this to the kitchen,” I said, holding up the spatula.
“Please do, before somebody gets hurt,” he teased.
I rolled my eyes as he disappeared into the living room. After returning the cooking utensil, I joined him on the couch.
“What are you watching?” he inquired, glancing at the TV. He must have recognized the movie right away because he turned to me with a judgmental look. “Seriously, Emma? This is not the type of stuff you should be watching while all alone and hearing strange noises. Especially considering how paranoid you are.”
“I’m not paranoid,” I grumbled, even though he was right. “Besides, I wasn’t paying too much attention to it, anyway.” Because I was too busy wondering what you and Riley were doing on your date.
I pushed that thought away and cleared my throat. “You can change the channel if you’d like.”
Logan smirked. “No, I want to see how jumpy you are.”
“I’m not jumpy,” I lied.
“Riiiiight,” he said, drawing out the word slowly to emphasize how much he didn’t believe me.
I ignored him and focused on the movie instead. But thirty seconds later, a strong hand suddenly clamped down on my shoulder. Startled, I let out a yelp as the jackass sitting next to me burst out laughing.
“Not jumpy, huh?”
I turned to smack his chest, but his hand shot out and grabbed my wrist before I had a chance to make contact.
“That was too easy,” he said with a grin.
“You’re such a jerk,” I mumbled as I tried to no avail to remove myself from his grasp.
“It’s not my fault you’re so easily frightened.”
“Me? What about you? You’re the one who abandoned his hot date to rush home because you thought I was in danger.”
His grin faltered slightly. “I was worried.”
I stopped struggling against him. “You didn’t have to worry. No matter what, I would have made sure Abby was safe.”
He sat up and leaned forward, closer to me. “I wasn’t just worried about Abby.”
“Right,” I said, nodding slowly. “You were also worried about the TV and the Playstation. Don’t worry, I would have protected them, too.” I flashed him my own grin.
But he didn’t seem amused by that. “Emma,” he said, his eyes darkening as they locked onto mine. “I’m serious. You scared the hell out of me.”
I stared down at my lap. “It wasn’t intentional. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to be sorry,” he said softly, letting go of my wrist and moving his hand to the side of my face, where his thumb lightly grazed my cheekbone, sending another set of chills cascading all over my body—only for a very different reason this time.
My breath hitched in my throat as I lifted my head to look at him.
Logan’s gaze lowered to my mouth and my heart began to race inside my chest. “Emma,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper as he leaned closer.
“Logan,” I whispered back as I began to lean as well. Some sort of invisible force was pulling me toward him and I didn’t fight it. I didn’t even try.
I had no idea what was happening, but whatever it was, it ended as soon as it began, as the sound of the front door opening snapped us out of it and we quickly broke apart.
Mark and Rachel had arrived home.
Logan moved to the other side of the couch with impressive speed before they made it to the living room, making it look like we hadn’t just been about to…
To what? Kiss? No, that’s not what was going on. Was it? No, Logan would never kiss me. And I sure as heck would never kiss him. I was crushing on Matt, and Logan had girls like Riley throwing themselves at him everywhere he went. I’d be the last girl he’d ever want to kiss. And he’d be the last guy I’d ever want to kiss. We had mutual feelings of not wanting to kiss each other. It’s what made our non-relationship so special.
“Logan,” Mark said as he and Rachel entered the room. “I was surprised to see your car in the driveway. What are you doing home so early?”
“Uh…” For once, Logan seemed to be at a loss for words. The guy was usually the master of coming up with lies and excuses on the spot. “Um, I…”
Mark tilted his head and glanced at his son curiously. “Date didn’t go so well, I take it?”
Logan shook his head. “The party was kind of lame, so I figured I would just come home and help Emma out with Abby.”
“Well, that was nice of you.” Rachel smiled and then glanced over at me. “Emma, sweetie, are you feeling okay? You look a little flushed.”
Her inquiry made my face feel even hotter than it did before she’d asked. “Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied, getting up from the couch.
Luckily, she didn’t press me any further on the subject. “So, how was the little one for you? Not too much trouble, I hope.”
“Not at all,” I assured her. “She cried for a bit after you left, but she’s been sleeping peacefully ever since.”
“Oh, good. I’m going to go check on her. Thank you again, Emma.” Rachel turned and left the room as Mark dug his wallet out of his pocket, presumably to pay me.
“Okay, let’s see what we’ve got here,” he said, opening it and instantly frowning. “Hmm. Looks like I’ve left some of my cash in my office. I’ll go grab it.”
“No,” I said quickly. Mark leaving to go get money meant Logan and I would be left alone. “It’s okay, you don’t need to pay me.”
Mark chuckled. “Emma, don’t be ridiculous.”
“No, really. I barely had to do anything. Keep your money. I have to…go.”
Mark furrowed his brow as he put away his wallet. “Emma, are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I’m sure. I just…” My gaze flickered over to Logan, who was watching me intently with a look on his face I’d never seen before. One I couldn’t quite place.
Tearing my eyes away from his, I awkwardly mumbled, “Have a good night,” before grabbing my laptop off the coffee table and practically running out of the house.
I wasn’t sure if Logan and I had been about to kiss, but one thing I did know—but didn’t want to admit to myself—was that in some small way…I wished we had.