Cassie laughed. "Are you two never at each other's throats?"
We had fun. I couldn't deny that. However I also couldn't deny the little stabs of jealousy when Cassie and Logan flirted with each other in front of me. I looked away whenever Cassie held onto Logan's arm or when Logan smiled at her in a way he'd never smiled at me before. I reminded myself of my earlier promise: no more thoughts of men, especially of Logan. I told myself that sacrifices were never easy. I consoled myself with the knowledge that someday, after I'd achieved my necessary goals in life, I'd find someone who would and could reciprocate my feelings.
Evening came and Logan drove us back to his condo. Tired from all the activities, I went to take a long, soothing bath. By the time I'd returned to the living room, both Cassie and Logan were nowhere to be found.
I ignored any thoughts that pondered on where they'd gone or what they were doing. Instead, I poached Logan's jar of mixed nuts from where he'd hid them on the very top of the fridge—I had to climb up onto the counter to get them—and headed outside. It wasn't chilly as yet, so I stayed fairly warm in my tank top and shorts. I sat on the edge of the pool, lazily swishing my bare feet in the water as I chomped away on Logan's nuts.
I giggled at the thought of 'eating Logan's nuts'.
"What's so funny?"
Startled, I turned to find Logan standing behind me.
"You're here."
He walked towards me, his hands in his pockets. "You're eating my stash."
"Payback for stealing my pizza slice," I said, munching away on some cashews. "Besides, I thought you wouldn't be back for a while from wherever you went with Cassie."
"I dropped her home."
"What's the point of being stupid rich if you don't have a driver?"
"Because I like to drive," he said. "Besides, I didn't mind driving her home."
"Of course."
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked as he kicked off his shoes, took off his socks and rolled up the legs of his pants.
"No meaning behind it." I shrugged, looking away as he sat beside me. "Just responding to what you said."
"No, there was more to that 'of course'," he said. "Like you're implying something." Then he scoffed and shook his head. "Jeez, Alyssa. You don't have to worry. I didn't fuck your friend. Never had."
Cassie and Logan never had sex? But what about the night of party?
I almost didn't believe him until I remembered Cassie's blabbermouth nature. She loved to regale me and Melanie with tales of her conquests. A big, rich fish like Logan would have been a prime notch on her bedpost and worthy of a longer than normal tale-telling, but Cassie had kept mum on the topic—which meant that the night of the party when she was confident 'it was her night', it hadn't been at all. Logan had not offered that ride on his cock as she'd been hoping for.
Never had I felt so relieved. I also did not want to investigate why that was so.
Pretending I wasn't surprised by what he'd said, I shrugged again.
"None of my business."
He remained silent for a while. He bowed his head and stared into the pool as he swished his feet around in the water.
"She's not my type anyway," he said quietly.
I scoffed. "Cassie is every guy's type. Blonde and chesty."
"Not mine." His voice was harder and when his gaze met mine I couldn't look away. The pool light below us illuminated his face in certain areas and cast shadows in others, and his grey eyes had darkened to a steely grey. He looked dangerous and exciting and he was sitting too close. Couldn't he hear how hard my heart was beating?
"OK," I said softly. "What's your type then?"
You. It's what I wanted to hear so badly, and my mind raced with imagined responses if he did say that. But then a devious smile curved his lips.
"Soaking wet," he said.
Confused. "What? That's not—"
My words were cut short when Logan's hand pressed against my back and gave me a hard shove. I yelped, my hands flailed, one hand knocking over the jar of nuts, and the other seizing onto Logan's arm as I splashed face first into the pool.
Justice was served when he got yanked into the water with me.
However, unexpectedly shoving me into the pool wasn't enough for Logan. As I righted myself and spluttered out water that got in my mouth, Logan attempted to sink me beneath the water, laughing and clearly reaping some evil joy out of trying to drown his stepsister.
"Oh my god, Logan! You ass! Stop it!"
I screamed and laughed, fighting to dunk him beneath the water too, but my efforts were pointless against Logan's superior strength. Realizing my imminent loss, I climbed onto him, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. There was no way he'd get me now!
The water continued to slosh around us and gently eased us up against the concrete wall of the pool. Where one problem ended, another began. In my haste to get away from Logan, I'd gotten closer to him than I ever had instead.
Logan didn't move. Neither did I. The silence between us absolute.
Let him go. I couldn't.
My heart raced and the pit of my belly felt weird and quivery. Logan gripped the edge of the pool wall to keep us buoyant while his other hand encircled my body. Why was he holding me tighter? Why didn't he let me go? We were so close. We were too close. His gaze dropped to my lips, I did the same to his. I don't know who moved first but in the next moment we were kissing.
There was nothing gentle about our kiss. It was unrefined and desperate, as if we were pouring years of frustration and denial into that one moment. Logan's mouth and body dominated mine. He slid his tongue along my bottom lip, begging entry and I opened my mouth to swirl my tongue with his. He pressed my body against the pool wall with his and I clung to him tighter, wanting to feel every bit of him on me…in me.
His hand moved from my back to slide up underneath my tank top and the motion of his hand disturbed the water against my skin, making it tickle my flesh. My fingers ran through his wet hair and I moaned into his mouth when his hand cupped and squeezed my naked breast beneath my top. I'd yearned to have Logan touch me this way for so long that the reality of it made my head spin with excitement.