The Single Game

by Amanda Black

  “That’s them! I heard they totally fucked in Devon’s closet at the party.”

  “I heard she blew him on a dare in front of everyone.”

  “Holy shit! Black’s with a girl! I thought he was gay.”

  “What the fuck does Foster think she’s doing? She could have had me.”

  We passed it all without a second glance as Logan walked me to my locker. It wasn’t until I put my coat away and grabbed my books that he mentioned it.

  “Did that bother you?” he asked quietly, glancing around at the few onlookers in the hall.

  “What, the stupid gossip? No.”

  “Really?”

  “It’s high school,” I shrugged. “Most of what anyone says is misinformation or outright bullshit. Besides, there’s always a lot of talk when a new couple starts dating. Did it bother you?”

  “Yes and no. I know it’s just talk, but I didn’t like worrying that what they were saying was upsetting you. I don’t want anyone to hurt you… I can’t even stand the thought of it.”

  “Don’t worry,” I said, reaching out to squeeze his arm soothingly. “I have thicker skin than that.” At the sound of the first bell I reminded him that he needed to get going to class, since his first period was downstairs on the other side of the building. “I’ll see you at lunch, right?”

  “Of course,” he smiled, backing away from me slowly. “I can’t wait.”

  “And you’ll actually talk to me this time?”

  “Ha ha, very funny, smart-ass.”

  “Hey, being a smart-ass is what I’m good at.”

  “That’s not all you’re good at.” He threw me a wink before turning around and running down the hall toward the stairs.

  Did that just happen? He totally made a suggestive comment and winked at me.

  The little shit actually winked at me. I loved that he was getting more playful.

  I put my hand over my heart as I walked to class, willing the flutters to calm down. I was seriously falling for this guy.

  Hard.

  * * *

  “You two were so fucking cute at lunch!” Amy squealed next to me in Study Hall.

  “Oh my God, would you keep it down?” I looked around us quickly, feeling my face heat. “What was so cute? We were just eating.”

  “Just eating, my ass!” she laughed. “You guys were whispering and blushing and sharing bites of your food. We were all waiting for you two to start going at it right there on the table.”

  “Whatever,” I said, rolling my eyes. “We didn’t look any different than you guys look every day.”

  “Yes you did,” Amy nodded. “You’re new and bright and shiny. I thought I was going to get a toothache watching you both, you’re so sweet together.”

  “Would you stop?” I said, laughing through my embarrassment.

  “You really like him, don’t you?” she asked me, her tone growing serious.

  “God, Amy, I really do. I never expected to feel like this so fast. I knew I was attracted to him, but he just makes me feel so…alive. All I have to do is see his face or hear his voice and I feel all giddy and lightheaded. Should I be worried?”

  “What the hell for?”

  “It’s just so fast, you know? Isn’t it dangerous to feel so much so quickly? I mean, don’t these kinds of things fizzle and burn out?”

  “Eden, you need to lighten the hell up and just go with it. You don’t know how to handle being with a decent boyfriend, that’s all.”

  “It just feels too good to be true,” I whispered.

  “Well, knock it off. Logan is sweet and considerate, it’s really that simple. This is all new to him, and I think he’s off to an amazing start. Don’t start being weird around him or make him think he’s doing something wrong. We need to cultivate the few good ones who are left.”

  “You’re right,” I sighed.

  “Come on, let me hear it,” she smiled.

  “God dammit, Gump. You’re a God-damned genius,” I grumbled.

  “You know it!” She looked around quickly before leaning in closer and dropping her voice. “Now, when the hell are you going to spill about your date? Do you have any idea how pissed Zoe is right now? She expected full, juicy details.”

  “Never, sorry,” I replied, shaking my head as I crossed my arms.

  “You’ve got to be kidding!”

  “Nope. I might eventually share some details after we get more comfortable with each other, but we’re too new right now. I don’t know how private he is yet, and I don’t want to betray his trust.”

  “That makes sense, I guess,” she pouted. “Although, if he’s like any typical male, he’ll be ready to scream it from the rooftops when you two finally do it.”

  “You may be right, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Until then, I’m going to enjoy my new boyfriend in private, thank you very much.”

  And enjoy him was exactly what I intended to do.

  As soon as possible, and as often as I could.

  The moment the bell rang I practically sprinted down the hall to my zoology class, already eager to see Logan again.

  I mean, really, the boy was becoming way too addictive.

  My heart began pounding in my chest as soon as I turned the corner to find him waiting outside our classroom for me. Then the damn thing skidded to a halt and dropped to the bottom of my stomach when he looked up and shot me a smile brighter than sunshine.

  Holy crap, was he beautiful. His smile made his gray eyes light up behind those cute glasses and his light brown hair was disheveled so adorably that I had to stop myself from running my fingers through it right there in the hallway.

  “Hello there,” he said when I got close enough, his voice dripping down my back like honey.

  “Hi,” I panted, not sure whether I was out of breath from my run or from the look he was giving me.

  We went inside and took our seats. As soon as class began I realized just how difficult it was going to be to concentrate on anything with him sitting so close to me for an entire hour.

  Why was it so much harder now? I’d been sitting by him for months.

  …Because now I knew how delicious his lips were, that’s why.

  I tried hard to pay attention to the lecture, but I could feel him next to me. I had tingles running up and down my side, as if there were a giant electric current connecting us. The only thing I could think about was how much we would tingle together if we were rolling around naked between the sheets. It didn’t help things at all when he reached over without looking away from the board and slowly slid his pinky finger down the length of my forearm, leaving a trail of burning flesh in its wake.

  I instantly wanted to feel his hands on me again.

  I wanted to kiss and lick every square inch of his skin.

  I wanted to know how long I could make it before shoving all of our books on the floor and throwing him down on the lab table.

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Logan’s notebook sliding toward me. When it was close enough to read, I glanced down and noticed that he had scribbled a quick note.

  What are you thinking about over there?

  I felt my ears go hot as I blushed furiously. Grabbing my pen, I wrote my response underneath his question and pushed the spiral notebook back at him.

  You. That’s all I can tell you.

  He sent it back again quickly.

  Why?

  Okay buddy, you asked.

  Because the rest is too X-rated to mention in class.

  He gulped loudly, and the next thing I heard was a loud snap. When I looked over I saw that he had gripped his pencil so tightly that it had broken in his palm. I watched as he carefully took the top half of the pencil and wrote something else.

  Will you tell me later?

  His gaze was on fire, his pupils dilated as he stared at me intently. I licked my lips slowly and watched his eyes follow the movement. I decided to just go for it, so I wrote the first response that came to me.

&nb
sp; I’ll show you.

  “Fuck!” he gritted through his teeth. He reached down and shifted himself in his jeans, which caused my mouth to go dry.

  I added one more sentence to my note, unable to stop myself.

  Will you come over after school?

  He couldn’t write a reply, since he had dropped his broken half of a pencil on the floor after reading my question. Looking over at me, he took a deep breath and nodded quickly.

  Oh yeah.

  I had no idea what was going to happen later, but I was sure I would enjoy every minute of it.

  Chapter 16

  The last hour of the day flew by in a daze as I imagined all the sordid things I wanted to do with Logan when I got him alone.

  I wasn’t stupid; I knew that I couldn’t let myself totally lose control and sleep with him already. Not only would that defeat my goal for us to go slowly since we were so new together, but I also knew that my dad would be home by five thirty at the latest. Maybe in the future we would sneak in quickies after school, but for our first time together I wanted to have as much alone time as possible.

  Oh, God, it was going to kill me to wait.

  At the sound of the bell I ran to my locker, anxious to get outside and find my boyfriend. Just thinking the word boyfriend sent chills up and down my spine, causing me to run even faster to the parking lot after I grabbed my coat.

  I found him standing next to his Volkswagen, talking to Zoe and Devon. When he looked up at me he shot me another one of those killer smiles, which almost made me trip.

  “Hey, Eden,” Zoe called out to me as I approached them. “We were just asking Logan here if you two wanted to join us at the diner for a slice of pie or something.”

  “Oh, uh…” I looked back and forth between her and Logan. “What did he say?”

  “Nothing yet; you showed up before we got that far.”

  Hanging out as a couple with our friends sounded really fun, but I was desperate for some alone time with him. Not only for the physical stuff, as much as I was craving it, but also for some time to just get used to us. However, I didn’t want to be the one calling all the shots. If he would rather hang out for a while, I wasn’t going to push him. We had plenty of time to be alone.

  “Logan? Did you want to go?”

  He blinked a few times and turned back to Zoe. “Well…that sounds like fun, but I promised Eden we would work on our zoology homework before I have to get home.” He glanced over to me quickly, seeking approval for his impromptu lie. “Maybe another time?”

  “Yeah, he’s right,” I jumped in. “It’s due tomorrow, and we really need to get it finished.”

  “Dude, that sucks,” Devon said. “But like Logan said, we can go another time.”

  “We’ll let you get going then,” Zoe smiled at me knowingly. “I know how important some of those homework projects can get.”

  I had no idea if Devon caught on to her innuendo, but I had absolutely no doubt that she saw right through us. She didn’t call me on it, though, which was another reason I loved her. I knew she valued her alone time with Devon just as much, and she totally understood.

  We climbed into Logan’s car and waved good-bye to our friends, pulling out of the parking lot and heading to my house.

  “I hope you don’t mind what I told them,” Logan said nervously.

  “No,” I smiled. “I didn’t really want to go, either. It would be nice to do sometime, but not today.”

  “That’s exactly what I thought.” He reached over the center console and took my hand, squeezing it tightly. “So, how did your first day as part of a couple go over?”

  “Pretty good, once all the stupid gossip died down. Oh, did you hear that we aren’t the only couple who sprouted from that party?”

  “No—who else?”

  “Tate and Chloe!”

  “Tate Cramer? No, I hadn’t heard that at all. Good for him. I think he’s had a crush on her for a long time.”

  “I didn’t know that. Why hasn’t he asked her out before now?”

  “Well, you know how she’s kind of tall?” He took his eyes off the road for a second to glance at me. “I think he was worried she would think he was too short for her or something like that.”

  “You’re kidding me!” I scoffed. “Chloe isn’t shallow like that! If he liked Ashley or Holly I could see it, but Chloe is really sweet.”

  “Yeah, she’s pretty cool. I’m glad he finally got up the guts to ask her.”

  “I’m glad you both did,” I teased. “I guess we can all thank Devon’s party for that.”

  He smiled brightly and lifted my hand to his mouth, leaning over slightly to kiss my knuckles. We rode in silence for a few minutes before he cleared his throat anxiously.

  “Uh, is your father going to be home yet?”

  “No, he doesn’t usually get home until after five, and Mom is out of town until tomorrow.”

  “Am I supposed to be at your house? What I mean is, do I need to leave beforehand…or would you like me to stay so I can finally meet him?”

  “He doesn’t know that I invited you over. I want you to meet him, but it might make a better first impression if I let him know ahead of time so he’s expecting you. Would you like to eat dinner with us tomorrow night? My mom will be back by then and she can meet you, too. I know it’s a little soon, but since I’m meeting your parents, too, I wondered if you’d like to meet mine.”

  “As long as you don’t think they’ll mind, I’d love to.”

  “I didn’t say they wouldn’t mind,” I laughed. “I haven’t told them that we’re official yet, so my dad is bound to grumble at least a bit in the beginning. I’m not worried that he won’t like you, though.”

  “Well, what’s not to like?” he said with a cocky smirk.

  Oh my… He needed to smirk more often.

  “Exactly.”

  As we pulled into my drive I noticed a rusted Chevette parked in front of the house.

  Oh, God, not now.

  “Eden, why is there a half-naked boy in your driveway?”

  Shit. This was not happening to me now.

  “Uh…that’s Luke. He’s the son of my dad’s friend. He’s an amateur mechanic, so he always offers to work on my car for free whenever it breaks down.”

  “That’s awfully generous of him.” His voice had taken on a funny tone. “And why, may I ask, isn’t he wearing a shirt?”

  “Because he’s a douchebag.”

  “Oh, okay. Shouldn’t he go to our school? I don’t recognize him.”

  “No, I guess he’s homeschooled by his mom. Come on; let’s get this ridiculousness over with.” I got out of the car, Logan following me closely. I approached my Oldsmobile, cringing at the sight of Luke’s cutoff jean shorts—they definitely belonged on the cover of a gay porn magazine.

  “Hey, Eden!” he said, standing up, away from the engine. “I was just giving the old girl a once-over. I need to get a part first, but it shouldn’t take much to fix it once it comes in.”

  “That’s great, Luke. Have your dad tell mine how much money you need and I’m sure he’ll take care of it. Why the hell don’t you have a shirt on? It’s barely fifty degrees out!”

  “I, uh, didn’t want to get it dirty. Besides, I just run hot, anyway,” he said suggestively.

  Barf.

  I knew the moment he noticed that we weren’t alone. His smarmy smile began to falter as he looked past me over my shoulder.

  “Oh, who’s your friend?”

  “Sorry Luke, let me introduce you.” I turned and grabbed Logan’s hand, pulling him up next to me. “This is Logan Black. My boyfriend.”

  The look on Luke’s face was priceless.

  “Oh, yeah…uh, hey, man. Sorry, I’d shake your hand, but my hands are dirty.”

  “No problem,” Logan replied, putting his arm around me possessively. “Thanks for helping Eden out with her car. I know she gets really tired of it breaking down all the time.”

  Luke blinked
a few times, looking like a deer in headlights. “Well, uh, it is an old car. This thing is a ’76. I’ll do my best to make sure we keep her running this time.”

  “That would be really great, Lou.”

  “It’s Luke.”

  “Oh, right. Sorry.” Logan couldn’t have sounded less interested, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing out loud.

  “Listen, I don’t want to be rude, Luke, but Logan and I have some homework to finish, so we’re going to head inside. You don’t need me for anything, do you?”

  “No, uh, I’m just about done here. I’ll just clean things up and get going.”

  “Thanks again, Luke.”

  “Bye, Eden,” he said dejectedly as we walked away.

  I let Logan in the front door, closing it behind us.

  “I think it’s safe to assume that your car will start running better from now on,” Logan said with a huff.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Eden, that guy was drooling all over you. Don’t you think it’s a little convenient that your car keeps breaking down, and the only time he gets to see you is when it needs fixing?”

  I was dumbfounded at the suggestion. “You actually think he’s rigging it?”

  “If not that, then he’s doing the bare minimum to get it running for a little bit before it breaks down again.”

  “Don’t you think that sounds a little dramatic?”

  “You didn’t see how he was looking at you.”

  “Oh my God… Logan, are you jealous?”

  His face turned beet red and he began sputtering. “No! I just—he—I—” He took a deep breath before dropping his shoulders in defeat. “I guess I am a little bit. But I still think he could do a better job on your car if he wanted.”

  “Logan,” I sighed, pulling him against me for a tight hug. “You have nothing to worry about with Luke. What could I possibly see in him? He’s totally repulsive to me with all of that strutting around.”