“Okay,” Logan said, rolling her tense shoulders. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”
“Glad you think so.” He pointed to the large shirt she’d tucked under her arm. “Go ahead and put that on. Otherwise, you’ll just be an easy target.”
She glanced down at her bright yellow shirt and frowned. They would see her coming from a mile away in this thing, not to mention she really didn’t want to get paint all over it. She placed her gun on the hood of the Bronco before pulling the yellow shirt up over her head, leaving behind her thin white camisole. There were a few playful whistles behind her, but Logan ignored them as she unrolled the camo shirt and pulled it on over her head.
Fortunately, this shirt would do a lot better job of hiding her in the woods. Unfortunately, the thing swallowed her whole. It had to be one of Cole’s. It smelled like him—which, even she had to admit, could have been worse—and the sleeves and hem fell several inches past her hands and hips.
Cole took the end of one of those sleeves in hand and started rolling it up to her wrist. Then he did the same with the other. “We all get a few minutes to scatter through the woods, but when you hear the horn, that means it’s time to move your ass. They’ll start coming at you quick if you’re not careful.”
Logan’s eyes shot up to meet his. “I thought you said they couldn’t shoot me.”
“They’re not supposed to, but it can get pretty confusing out there once we get going. Things happen. But don’t worry. Only my shot will count against you.”
She didn’t like the sound of that. “Where’s the gear?” she said, looking around them. She didn’t see anyone pulling out pads or protective equipment, and some of the guys were already running out into the thick trees. “Don’t you guys wear vests and stuff?” she asked hopefully.
He shook his head. “We’re men, Lo. We don’t wear that stuff.”
“I’m not a man, and I want a vest. Or at least some goggles.”
Cole’s eyebrow rose. “Are you telling me you’re scared of a little paintball?”
“No,” she said, turning her nose up. “But I’d prefer not to go to the emergency room when you accidentally shoot me in the eye.” She also didn’t feel like having large red welts all over her skin when she met Jacob for dinner tonight.
“I won’t shoot you in the eye,” he muttered. He turned around and pulled something else out of his seat in the Bronco and then turned to hand it to her. “You can wear the goggles, but that’s it.”
She quickly shoved on the protective eyewear that looked more like clear sunglasses. She looked like a dork, but it was better than showing up to dinner with an eye patch.
“Wait a few seconds and then start running. And remember, as soon as the horn blows it’s hit or be hit,” he told her.
He took off at an angle through the trees, gun in hand, and soon disappeared.
Logan sucked in a deep breath then took off with her gun in the opposite direction of Cole, heading deep into the woods.
Chapter Eleven
“Not bad, Logan.” Levi rubbed the spot on his shoulder that was now covered in white paint. “Looks like you may be a natural.”
She had to agree. Especially when she’d already taken out three other guys. Granted, it had mostly been due to her good luck, but their paint-splattered shirts didn’t lie.
“You sure you’ve never played paintball before? You’re too good a shot to be new at this,” Wilson said offhandedly, studying the white paint on his red armband where she’d shot him only seconds after hitting Levi.
Logan nodded innocently. It was true she’d never played paintball. But she had held a gun before and shot them on several occasions. Her dad was the chief of police, after all. It wasn’t like he was going to let his daughter grow up without knowing how to protect herself. It had been a long time, though, and Logan had forgotten the adrenaline rush that came with pulling a loaded trigger.
“Look,” Levi said quietly. “I saw Cole wandering not too far from here, so keep your guard up. Don’t tell him,” he said with a grin, “but I’m betting on you.”
“Thanks,” she said as he and Wilson turned to head back through the woods. She wasn’t sure what he meant by betting on her, but she took his advice seriously all the same.
She made her way deliberately through the trees for several minutes. Her eye was on the ultimate prize now. If Cole Tucker really was close by, she was going nail his ass and show him just who he was messing with.
The leaves rustled behind her, and Logan turned on the spot, gun raised in the air as she pointed it directly at the noisemaker.
The squirrel sat frozen on the ground in front of her, staring up at her with wide, beady eyes. She let out the breath she’d been holding, lowering her weapon and pushing forward.
As much as she hated to admit it, Cole had been right. Not only was paintball kind of fun, but it was a lot more stressful than she’d expected.
Logan stilled, her eyes darting to a large fallen tree a good ten feet off to her side. It didn’t seem large enough to hide an entire person, and she wouldn’t have thought much of it if she hadn’t just heard something thumping directly behind it.
Logan took slow, careful steps toward the fallen tree, glancing in all directions for any oncoming assaults. When all was clear and she was close enough to the tree, she took a running leap over it, aiming several shots at the other side of the large tree trunk.
She only stopped when she realized her paintballs had hit nothing but tree bark and dirt. But she swore she heard—
A loud pop and something small and painful rammed into Logan’s side. She hissed, glaring down at the large white paint spot just above her left hipbone. The skin underneath was already starting to sting.
“Dammit!” she cried just as Cole Tucker landed with a heavy thud on the ground in front of a tree only a few feet away.
“Oh, Logan, haven’t you seen enough movies to know not to fall for that one?”
Clearly, she hadn’t.
Cole chuckled. “Too bad. I was kind of hoping you’d at least give me a run for my money. It almost feels like it was too easy.”
Logan didn’t say anything as she dropped her gun on the ground and lifted her shirt and camisole to see the damage. Just as she expected, the skin just above her hip already looked red and swollen.
Cole came closer, and Logan flinched when he raised his hand to her injured side. But instead of touching the welt, his thumb lightly traced the crescent-shaped white scar a good inch below it.
She looked up and found Cole only inches away now. He didn’t meet her gaze, his eyes busy studying the roughly healed skin beneath his thumb.
“Christ,” he said with a forced laugh. “I remember that one like it was yesterday.”
“Trust me, so do I.” She’d never told anyone the story of her scar or the day she’d been stupid enough to fall onto a red-hot branding iron.
“I still feel awful about what happened,” he said.
Cole had always been a jackass, but occasionally he’d let a different side of himself show, leaving her with no idea whether she should hug him or smack him to make him snap out of it. He clearly hadn’t lost his touch.
“You have no idea how terrified I was, seeing you hurt like that.” His voice sounded normal and unaffected, but his eyes told her how badly it still haunted him. “I called the police station to let your dad know I was bringing you to the hospital. And when he saw me carry you into the ER, I thought he was going to murder me right there.”
Cole’s thumb brushed it again, and Logan closed her eyes as she tried not to show him how good his touch felt on the sensitive patch of skin.
“You’re lucky I didn’t tell him what really happened. Even if it was just an accident, he would have kicked your ass,” she said, opening her eyes again in time to see him smile.
Cole’s eyes shifted up to hers. “All those times, and you never ratted me out. Why?”
She shrugged. “Not really my style.” There was a
short, awkward silence, Cole’s hand still on her hip as he stood what should have been too close for her to be comfortable.
She was about to say something—what that was she didn’t know—when Cole moved his hand from her scar and lightly flicked the tender welt where the paintball had maimed her.
“Ow, asshole!” she hissed, shoving him away.
He chuckled. “Only three more letters and you’re toast. I’m pretty sure that makes us tied now.”
Logan’s glare hardened as she picked up her gun and aimed it at the center of Cole’s chest, shooting him point-blank.
“Jesus!” he yelled, taking several steps back and holding his hands up as a shield. “What was that for?”
Aside from confusing the hell out of her?
“Now we’re even,” she said sharply, throwing her gun back down.
Cole laughed as she pulled her phone from her back pocket to check the time. Great. She had a voice mail from Carly. She’d completely forgotten in all the chaos that she was supposed to be meeting Jacob and her for dinner soon.
“Shit.” She listened while she mentally calculated how long it would take her to get home, showered, and ready to go.
“Hey, it’s Carly. We just got off the plane and we’re exhausted, but we cannot wait to see you and Jacob at dinner tonight. We have so much to—”
Logan cut the message short and shoved her phone back in her pants pocket. She said nothing as she turned in the direction Levi and Wilson had gone and started walking.
“Where are you going?” Cole called after her. She could hear him running up behind her, and a quick glance revealed he’d grabbed the gun she’d left, along with his own.
“I’m supposed to have dinner with Carly tonight, and I’m going to be late.”
“That’s right, they were getting back in today.” Logan gave him a side-eyed glance. How did he know when they were coming back? “What? We keep in touch.”
“Since when?”
“Me and Carly are practically best pals now,” he teased. “Is it just you two girls?”
Logan hesitated. “More like a double date.”
“Oh yeah? Word around town is that your boyfriend hasn’t been back to see you since he got called away to work. Got something special planned? Two weeks seems like a long time without any action.”
Logan shook her head. “Don’t see how that’s your business.”
“That’s a yes.” His steps fell behind. “Probably shouldn’t let it get too heated, though. I’d hate for him to see the giant bruise on your ass and get the wrong idea.”
“What bruise on my—” There was a loud pop again, and Logan stopped in her tracks as a painful, stinging sensation started to spread across her right cheek.
Oh, he really was an asshole.
Cole was bent over in hysterical laughter a foot behind her. Instead of looking back at him or the large spot of paint she knew had just ruined her jeans, Logan held her head high and walked away with silent dignity as she fought the urge to rub her pained bottom.
*
April—Junior Year
Cole’s leg bounced as he watched the second hand slowly tick. His history teacher, Mr. Hill, sat with his feet kicked up on his desk while reading a political magazine. He didn’t seem to care that his students were whispering to each other instead of reading the pages he’d just assigned.
But Cole didn’t need to listen to know what they were all talking about. He’d heard plenty already. Still, he couldn’t completely block out the chatter surrounding him, low voices muttering the words Ryan Baker and Logan and prom night. Cole’s hands clenched tighter.
He’d been in class all of twenty minutes before the news spread to him. Ryan took Lo’s virginity after prom Saturday night. He’d rented a swanky hotel room with minibar and in-room Jacuzzi and everything to mark the special occasion.
He hadn’t even finished getting dressed before he dumped her.
Cole stared at the ticking clock, every muscle in his body rigid. Christ, he couldn’t imagine how Lo must have felt. He didn’t want to. He was too focused on his rage.
The bell rang, and Cole was the first one out of his seat. He stormed out of the room and started scanning the halls. He made it ten steps before a hand clamped his arm and pulled him to the side.
Cowboy stared down at him with tight lips, his shaggy blond head only an inch or two taller. “So you’ve heard.” He sighed, his hand still on Cole’s arm. “Who’m I kidding? You’d have to be deaf not to. He’s been bragging about it to half the guys in school.”
Cole’s hands balled into fists.
Cowboy’s hand moved to Cole’s shoulder. “What do you want to do?”
“I want to beat him within an inch of his life, make him bleed until there’s almost nothing left in him.”
Cowboy’s brow softened and his lips relaxed. He’d never told Cowboy just how much Logan meant to him, partly because he wasn’t certain himself. But the way Cowboy looked at him, he had to at least suspect Cole’s feelings were more than he’d been letting on over the years.
“Whatever you need to do, brother, I’ve got your back.”
There was really no question why Cowboy was his best friend.
Cole led the way to the small quad where he knew Ryan and his friends usually spent their lunch period, Cowboy close on his heels. Together they threw open the doors leading to the outside area. He searched for Ryan but instead saw Logan and Carly with Harper Maddox, the introverted blonde who was currently the top of their class. He headed straight for them.
Carly grabbed Lo’s arm. “Let’s just go.”
Logan turned and bumped right into Cole’s chest. She stumbled back, and he reached out with two hands to steady her. She looked up at him through flooded eyes.
She blinked and the tears fell. Cole’s thumbs rose to her cheeks and wiped the streaks away. She stared at him with wide eyes.
“Where is he?” he gritted out.
Her forehead creased. “Who?”
A bark of familiar laughter from the far side of the quad made Logan’s shoulders tense, and other voices joined in. Cole shot past her in an instant. The crowd cleared a path for him as he approached, Cowboy following behind him.
Ryan’s grin vanished the second his eyes met Cole’s, and he raised his arms between them like the little chickenshit he was. “Look, man—”
Cole’s fist shot out and connected with Ryan’s nose with a satisfying crunch. Ryan stumbled back, and Cole was on top of him, his fist ramming into the guy’s face over and over. Blood roared in his ears, nearly drowning out the sound of Ryan’s screams. Pain lanced through his knuckles and hand, but he ignored it as adrenaline surged through him.
Voices shouted around him, but only one cut through to his senses. “Cole, stop!”
With a strength even he didn’t know he had, Cole raised his bloody fist and backed away. Logan was standing beside Cowboy, her breaths coming almost as quickly as his.
Vice Principal Hardwick cut through the crowd that had surrounded them and grabbed Cole by the arm.
Cole refused to meet Logan’s eyes—he didn’t want to know what he’d see there—and said nothing as Hardwick led him away from the crowd and down to his office.
Chapter Twelve
“I’m sorry I’m so late.”
Jacob stood from his chair, took Logan’s coat, and gave her a quick kiss. “That’s okay. We’ve had a lot to catch up on since they last came out to Austin, and Carly’s been telling me all about Cancun.”
Logan turned to Carly with her biggest, brightest smile.
“How’s my favorite bridesmaid?” Carly asked as she wrapped her arms around her.
“Not as good as you seem to be.” Logan squeezed her tightly before she stepped back and got a good look at her. Her hair was a darker shade of blond than she was used to, and her bronze skin glowed against her white dress. Though that was probably thanks to the Mexican beach she just got back from.
But more than any
thing, Carly radiated pure joy. “I can’t believe you’re getting married in six weeks!” Logan said.
“I know!” she squealed. “It came so fast.” Behind her stood the man who had made Logan’s best friend the happiest she’d ever been.
“Darren.” Logan held out her arms.
His grin was just as big as hers. “Hey, Lo.” He accepted her hug, holding her tight and even lifting her off the ground. It was hard to believe this was the same awkward kid who’d had a massive crush on Carly for years in high school. Sure, he still had the same red hair, freckles, and impressively fit body, but back then he’d been so shy around girls. Especially Carly.
He could hardly even get the courage to talk to her. But after he heard they’d both be going to OFTC, he’d somehow worked up the nerve to suggest they carpool to the campus. A few weeks later he’d managed to ask her out on a date. And now, after almost four years with Carly, he was one of the happiest, most outgoing men Logan knew.
It was like finally getting the girl of his dreams was all the confidence he’d needed.
Once the hugs were over, the four of them sat down at their table—Logan trying her best not to wince at the sharp pain on her right butt cheek—while Carly and Darren finished telling Jacob about their beach trip.
“So, Darren, how has work been?” Logan asked.
“It’s really good. We’ve been so busy this past year, I was lucky to get the last two weeks off, especially with the honeymoon on top of that. But I think my dad is just happy his best employee is sticking around town for a while.” According to Carly, Darren had become Willow Creek’s top mechanic, and people from towns over came to Whitehead’s Auto Repair to get their cars serviced by him.
“That reminds me,” he said to Jacob, his eyes lighting up. “I’ve got that ’70 Chevelle we’ve been talking about out in the parking lot.”
Jacob smiled. “Could we go take a look right now?”
Since when did the two of them talk about cars?
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