Chapter Thirty
LOGAN
“Well, that was fun!” Riley said as I pulled the Mustang into my driveway.
“It was,” I agreed with a smile as I turned off the car.
I’d spent the entire afternoon with Riley. It was the first time since she’d arrived here that we’d gotten to spend some quality time together. It was the first time we’d had a chance to hang out alone somewhere other than a party, and it was nice. Like she said, it was fun. I got to know her a little better. She was witty. She was interesting. I found out we had a lot in common.
But it didn’t matter. None of that was enough to distract me from what had happened earlier with Emma. In fact, being at Funland Park did nothing but remind me of her. Remind me of the Ferris wheel fiasco, or how she’d embarrassed me by beating my ass at the ring toss game.
I couldn’t get her out of my head, no matter how hard I tried.
“You want to come in for a bit?” Riley asked, motioning towards Matt’s house.
I took my phone out of my pocket and lit up the screen. No voicemail from Emma. No text. Nothing.
“Yeah, sure,” I replied glumly, even though I really just wanted to go inside my own house and sulk.
“Cool.” Riley grinned as we got out of the car and started across the street. There were no vehicles in the driveway, meaning neither Matt, nor his or Riley’s parents had made it home yet.
When we walked through the front door, Riley yelled upstairs, “Hey, Jade, I’m back!”
We were greeted with silence.
“Hmm,” Riley said. “Either she’s not here, or she’s got her headphones on.”
We headed for the kitchen and when we got there, we both immediately noticed a note stuck to the refrigerator, signed by Jade.
Riley took it down. “Gone to Kara’s. I’ll be back for dinner,” she read aloud. With a smirk, she said, “I think Kara is their leader.”
I snorted. “You don’t actually think Jade’s a member of a satanic cult, do you?”
“Satanic? No. I’m leaning more towards Wiccan.”
I laughed. “Man, I remember when she used to only wear pink and never went anywhere without her Barbie dolls.”
“Sadly, those days are gone,” Riley said with a sigh. She glanced around the kitchen. “I guess this means we’re all alone, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess so…” I said slowly.
Her lips formed into a seductive smile. “Nice. What would you like to do?”
I would like to get a phone call from Emma, so I could explain everything to her.
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Well, I have an idea.” She grabbed my hand and said, “Come with me.”
She led me out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
“Where are we going?” I asked, even though I was pretty sure I already knew the answer.
“You’ll see,” she said with a wink as we made it to the top. We continued down the hallway to the very last door at the end. The guest bedroom. Most likely the one she’d been staying in.
“I’m lucky,” she said, opening the door. “They’ve got two guest rooms here, so I don’t have to share one with anyone. That would have been a nightmare.”
“Yeah,” I agreed with a nervous chuckle. There was only one reason Riley would be bringing me upstairs to the room she’d been staying in, and it wasn’t to show me her stamp collection.
“Have a seat,” she instructed, pointing to the bed.
“Um, no thanks,” I said. “I don’t mind standing.”
Riley giggled and placed a hand on my chest, taking a step forward to make me take a step back. After a few more steps, I felt the edge of the bed hit the back of my legs, causing me to stumble backward and land exactly where she wanted me.
“There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and placed her hands on the back of my neck. “Logan, I have a confession to make.”
I had a feeling I knew what that confession was, and my heart started pounding in my chest. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”
“I like you,” she said, point-blank. She paused and smiled sheepishly. “But you probably already knew that, didn’t you?”
I cleared my throat as I stared up at her. “Uh, well, maybe,” I admitted.
Slowly, she straddled my legs and lowered herself onto my lap.
“Do you like me?” she asked, running a hand through my hair.
I swallowed hard and nodded. “I do.” Instinctively, I placed my hands on her hips to hold her in place.
My answer seemed to please her. Biting her lower lip, her eyes held onto mine briefly before lowering to my mouth.
“Well then,” she said, “what should we do about that?”
I didn’t know what to say. If she had asked me that question a couple weeks ago, I wouldn’t have said anything; I would have just thrown her on the bed and started kissing her, and then one thing would have led to another…
But I didn’t want that. Not now. Not with Riley.
“Look, Riley…” How could I break this to her? How could I tell an incredibly hot girl that I just wasn’t feeling this? That she wasn’t the one I wanted?
“Shh, Logan,” she whispered, placing her forefinger against my lips. She must have sensed my hesitation. “You don’t need to worry, okay? I know you’re not looking for a serious relationship. I’m not either. I’m just looking to have a little fun.”
Normally, that would have been music to my ears. A girl like Riley not looking for a relationship, just to hook up? That was a dream come true for a guy like me. Or, it would have been. Two weeks ago.
“Riley,” I tried again, but she leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead, one on my cheek, one on my jawline, and then finally moved to place one on my lips.
I quickly turned my head to avoid it, and she froze.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice laced with confusion. She most likely wasn’t used to getting rejected.
“I’m sorry,” I said, removing my hands from her hips. “I can’t do this.”
Her jaw dropped slightly as she slid off my lap and took a seat next to me on the bed. “Okay…”
“It’s not you,” I assured her, even though that was probably the last thing she wanted to hear. “I just…I think I like someone else…”
“It’s Emma, isn’t it?” she said softly. “You like Emma.”
I gaped at her. “How did you know?”
“Honestly? I didn’t,” she mumbled. “I just suspected. I’ve seen the little looks you two give each other, and the jealousy coming from both of you. I just ignored it because I wanted to believe I was reading too much into things. But I guess I wasn’t.”
I leaned forward and buried my face in my hands. “Riley, I’m sorry—”
“Logan,” she interjected, “you don’t have anything to apologize for. Like I said, I wasn’t looking for a relationship. I think you’re hot and I wanted to forget about my ex-boyfriend for a while.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” I said, dropping my hands onto my lap and staring down at the floor.
“You’re in love, dummy, that’s what’s wrong with you,” she said, nudging my shoulder playfully. “So, why are you here with me right now, and not over at Emma’s house declaring your love for her?”
“Because I screwed up and now she hates me. She won’t even talk to me.”
With a dismissive wave of her hand, Riley said, “I don’t know what you did, but it can’t be that bad. She won’t hate you forever. That girl has got it bad for you.”
I glanced at her with one eyebrow arched. “Oh yeah? What makes you think that?”
She shrugged. “Why wouldn’t she? You’re a great guy. You’re smart, you’re funny, you’re hot. What’s not to love?”
“I’m a jerk,” I muttered. “That’s how she’s always seen me, and that’s how she always will see me. Especially now.”
Riley frowned. “What did you do that was so bad?”
With a sigh, I said, “Long story short, my ex-girlfriend recorded a private conversation between me and Matt yesterday, where I said some not-so-nice things about Emma, and then she posted the video online. And tagged Emma in it.”
Riley inhaled sharply. “Oh, that sucks. What kind of things did you say about her?”
I grimaced, not wanting to repeat the words. “Things like how she’s a lame nerd and a loser, how she’s never had a boyfriend, how I was only hanging out with her because my step-mother was pretty much blackmailing me into it.”
“Oh, Logan,” Riley breathed, and then narrowed her eyes. “Wait…why would you say those things if you have feelings for her?”
“Because I’m an idiot,” I muttered.
With a sympathetic smile, Riley placed a hand on my arm. It was the first time she’d done so without it being a flirtatious gesture. “So, what are you going to do to fix this?”
“I don’t know. She won’t talk to me. She won’t listen to my side of the story. I’m not sure there’s anything I can do.”
Riley shook her head. “No, there’s got to be something. You just need to think outside the box.”
I turned to look at her. “Why are you being so cool about this?”
“Honestly?” she said. “Because I’m a hopeless romantic. Also, I’m just relieved that you rejected me because you have feelings for someone else and not because you’re not attracted to me. I’m not sure my fragile, post-breakup ego could handle that.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Riley, I doubt there’s a guy alive right now who’s not attracted to you. You’re a catch.”
She giggled and blushed as she lowered her gaze to the floor. “I’m ‘a catch’? Oh my God, you sound like my grandmother.”
We glanced at each other and laughed as my phone began to ring.
I quickly removed it from my pocket and glanced down, hoping to see Emma’s name on the screen. Instead, I saw Matt’s name. My shoulders slumped forward in disappointment as I swiped to answer.
“Hey, Matt.”
“Dude, have you heard?” he asked, skipping the greeting.
“Heard what?”
He paused for a moment and an uneasy feeling came over me.
“Matt? What is it?”
“Emma,” he said finally. “She agreed to go on a date with Justin tomorrow.”
My breath caught in my throat as that uneasy feeling turned into dread. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
“Unfortunately, I’m not. Justin told me himself and then he bragged about it to some of the other guys. He bet them that he’d make it to at least second base with her by the end of the night.”
I gritted my teeth so hard I was lucky they didn’t all shatter. “If he does, I will kill him.”
Riley, not privy to what our conversation was about, raised her eyebrows and gave me a quizzical look.
I stood from the bed and began pacing the floor in front of it.
“Matt,” I said slowly, trying hard to control my rage, “now would be a really good time for you to go over to her house and ask her out. There is no way, if given the choice, that she would choose Justin over you.”
Matt sighed, and I could tell he was annoyed. “Once again, I’m not going to ask Emma out. Maybe now is a good time for you to tell her that you’re in love with her.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose as I felt a headache coming on. Ignoring his suggestion, I said, “Could you at least go over there and try to talk some sense into her?”
“No,” he said sternly. “I’m staying out of this. I told you because I figured you would want to know, and I figured it would inspire you to stop being such a pansy and just tell the girl you love her already. You don’t want her going on this date? You tell her yourself.”
And with that, he ended the call.
Muttering a few choice swears, I raked a hand through my hair as I began to pace again.
“Okay,” Riley said, “what was that all about?”
“Emma is apparently going on a date with Justin tomorrow,” I replied through clenched teeth.
Riley blinked in surprise. “The guy she almost kissed at that party?”
Thanks for the reminder. “Yeah, that guy.”
“How did that happen?”
“I have no idea!” I said, throwing my hands in the air. “And Matt is refusing to try talking her out of it.”
“Why don’t you talk to her?”
I stopped pacing. “Because there is no way she’s going to listen to me. She won’t even return my calls so I can apologize to her. I kind of doubt she’ll open her front door to me so I can talk her out of going on a date with a douchebag.”
Riley nodded in agreement. “What are you going to do, then?”
It was a good question. I could go straight to Justin and threaten him to stay away from Emma, but all that would do is make him want her even more. I could go to her dad and warn him about Justin, and tell him he should forbid her from going out tomorrow night, but she would find out and then she would hate me even more than she already did.
There was nothing I could do.
“I don’t know, but I’m going to have to come up with something.” My gaze flickered over to her. “I’m sorry, Riley, but I should probably go.”
She nodded like she understood. “Good luck, Logan.” She stood and walked over to me, giving me a soft kiss on the cheek. “She’ll come around. Trust me.”
I wished I could believe her, but I didn’t.
I left Matt’s house and as I crossed the street, I eyed Emma’s bedroom window. Her car was in the driveway, so there was a good chance she was home. From the looks of it, both of her parents were home as well, and I considered walking up to her front door and knocking. Maybe either Olivia or Jake would listen to me. Maybe they would pass a message along to her for me. Or, maybe they would tell me to get lost and slam the door in my face, much like their daughter did earlier.
Stopping at the end of my driveway, I decided to try reaching out to Emma herself one last time. Pulling out my phone, I typed out a text.
Me: Emma can we talk?
I only waited a few seconds before sending another one.
Me: please? that video is not what u think it is
Nothing. She wasn’t going to respond. So, I typed up another one.
Me: Emma i’m in love with u. pls forgive me so we can go back to lover’s lookout and finish what we started last night.
I didn’t send that one.
Maybe I should have.
At this point, I wanted to tell her how I felt about her, but I didn’t want to do it through a text. I wanted to do it in person so that if she told me she felt the same way, I could immediately pull her to me and kiss her.
And if she didn’t feel the same way?
I guess I would cross that bridge when I got to it.
Knowing she wasn’t going to respond to my texts, I sighed and continued up the driveway.
As soon as I was inside the house, my dad, who was home from work earlier than usual, poked his head out of the kitchen.
“Logan? Can we talk?”
That was universal dad-language for “you’ve done something bad and now you’re in trouble.” Great. What now? Did Rachel actually go through with talking him into making me go on that New York trip? Or did I do something else I’d forgotten all about?
“Sure,” I said warily as I made my way toward the kitchen. “What’s up?”
Dad motioned for me to take a seat at the table. “I heard about the video.”
My breath hitched in my throat. “Seriously? How did you find out about that?”
He sat down across from me. “Emma told Olivia, Olivia told Rachel, Rachel told me.”
Of course. By now, it was probably the talk of the town. “Okay, what about it? I swear, I had nothing to do with it being posted online. Grace did that all on her own. I didn’t even know she was filming our conversation. If I had, I would have grabbed that camera, smashed it to the ground, and kicked it into the pool.”
Dad furrowed his brow. “Logan, I know you had nothing to do with the video being posted. I’m more concerned about what’s in it. I thought you and Emma were becoming friends?”
“We were,” I said. “I mean, we were becoming…something. I don’t know. But it doesn’t matter. I didn’t mean anything I said in that video, but Emma won’t let me just explain that to her. And now she’s going on a date tomorrow with a guy who is likely going to take advantage of her, and there’s not a thing I can do about it.”
He studied me for a moment before saying, “Rachel also told me about the kiss.”
With a groan, I lowered my forehead to the smooth, hard surface of the table. “Why did she tell you about that?”
I could tell he was amused. “Rachel is a gossip. I thought you knew that? But I think she told me because she’s worried about you.”
I lifted my head. “Why is she worried about me?”
Dad sat back in his chair. “She thinks you’re in love with Emma.” His eyes searched my face. “Are you in love with Emma?”
I pushed my chair back and stood from the table. “I don’t really feel like having this conversation right now.”
“Logan.” Dad reached out and grabbed my arm as I walked past him, stopping me in my tracks. “Can I give you some fatherly advice?”
“I would prefer it if you didn’t.”
“Well, too bad, I’m going to give it to you anyway.” He smiled. “Girls like Emma are hard to find. If you do have feelings for her, then you need to tell her.”
I was getting sick of everyone telling me that. Yanking my arm out of his grasp, I snapped, “You’re forgetting the fact that she currently hates my guts.”
“Then you need to do whatever you can to change that,” he said, as if it were the easiest thing in the world to do.
“Yeah, I’ll get right on that,” I said, turning to leave the kitchen. However, I only made it a few feet before I stopped, as a nagging question suddenly popped into my head. One that I needed an honest answer to.
“Dad?” I said, my back still to him.
“Yeah?”
I spun around. “Do you think Mom would be disappointed in me? With how I turned out?” I asked softly.
Dad’s eyes widened, his jaw dropping slightly. “What? Of course, not. Why would you even ask that?”
I didn’t tell him that Emma was the one who’d put the thought into my head. Instead, I shrugged. “I don’t know,” I mumbled, averting my gaze to the floor.
I heard the scraping of chair legs against tile as my father stood. “Logan, your mother would be proud of you and of how well you’ve turned out. She’d probably be surprised, considering I’ve been the one raising you, but I think she’d be mostly proud.” The corners of his mouth turned up in a smile. “There’s nothing to be disappointed in. You’re smart, you’re well-liked, you’re good-looking. You’ve stayed out of trouble, for the most part. You’re well-adjusted. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. Do you need me to keep going?”
I shook my head as a lump began to form in my throat. “I don’t want to feel this way about Emma,” I said, the lump quickly beginning to dissolve. “I don’t want to tell her how I feel because if I do, and she feels the same way, I’m just going to end up hurting her. I already have.”
“Logan—” Dad reached out to place a hand on my shoulder, but I dodged him.
“I’m going up to my room,” I muttered, turning around and leaving the kitchen.
I had so many thoughts swirling around my head that I didn’t even realize I’d made it up the stairs until I was in my bedroom with the door shut behind me.
The words I had just spoken to my father began to sink in and I realized how true they were. What the hell was I doing? Wanting to confess my feelings to a girl who would be better off without me? Dad was right. A girl like Emma was hard to find and she deserved somebody a lot better than me. Better than Justin. Better than Matt, even.
If I truly loved her, I needed to make things right. I needed to undo my mistakes.
Starting with going back to the beginning. To what started this all.
I was going to find Emma her real Number 7.