"Here's dinner." I shoved a pile of sealed food containers over at Charlie once she opened the door. "It's just repurposed leftovers but it'll have to do."
"Nothing tastes better than -" Her face spread into a giant smile, then thankfully she held onto that 'I told you so' thought as her eyes lifted upwards. "Oh, hey Logan."
"Charlie." I looked up behind me and saw he gave her a bright smile.
She stepped away from the door and revealed Wes' best roadkill impression while he relaxed with all his long, muscular limbs stretched out on the sofa. I heard Logan's chuckles behind me like he knew the reason behind Wes' tired state while we walked into their apartment. At Charlie's look down, we kicked off our shoes next to the pile near the door.
"Feeling okay, Wes?" Logan grinned and plopped down on the sofa near him.
"Now I know why someone's been a whiny baby this week," Charlie muttered to herself. At my most likely confused look, she added, "Logan's been making Wes play to his actual potential this week. He's come home from practice sore and soaked his legs in our bathtub every night with my vanilla bath bombs."
"You know I can hear you," Wes called out with a slight groan. "Logan too."
I stuck my head out the kitchen opening. "We probably don't need his ego any bigger, barely fits in our apartment as is."
Before Logan replied with a comment about anything else of his that was 'big,' I stepped back into the kitchen. Unlike our hallway of a kitchen, Charlie and Wes' was rectangular shaped but the counters were laid out in an L-shape.
"So..." Charlie's voice was smug over her shoulder as I followed her into the kitchen, where she set the containers on the counter. "I was right, huh?"
A small, two-person pub table leaned against the open wall, where I took a seat and propped my chin up in my palm.
"About how my flirting skills suck, yes," I gritted out through tight teeth.
"Oh, Ellie. You look a little... tense." She hid a smile behind her hand, grabbed a bottle of wine out of the fridge, then two glasses from an overhead cabinet. Sadly, I envied how she reached inside without climbing onto the counters. "Here, this will help."
"You think that's the solution?" I eyed the almost full glass of red wine she passed over to me.
One of her blue eyes winked at me. "Wine is always the solution."
I only shook my head, then winced slightly at the bitter cabernet that bit the back of my tongue. Technically I'd just turned twenty, Wes was already twenty-one, Charlie's birthday was in November, and...
Logan's birthday is in October.
When we'd dated, Logan thought his birthday was cursed. While we hadn't refuted that claim with unnecessary drama from people who'd tried to break us up back then, I was determined to do something nice for him this year.
Especially since this was his first year away from home, his family and friends...
I smiled to myself when the perfect idea popped into my head.
"Drink up, Ellie," Charlie's voice cut through my thoughts.
Being lightweight, I had the worst relationship with alcohol. I rarely drank because it made me very... open and giggly. So I made a mental note to nurse that single glass the entire time we were over here. Unfortunately, Charlie had given me a Betty White meme-sized glass that looked like at least a guaranteed headache tomorrow morning if I finished even half of it.
"So tell me..." She leaned her butt against the counters and tucked her empty hand in her jean's pocket. "You brought the food, admitting defeat, so he had to have noticed something."
"He definitely... noticed." My cheeks warmed at the mental reminder of how Logan's forwardness had definitely squashed any of my efforts like the erection he'd smashed into my pelvis. "Now it's like some weird game where we each keep pushing each other's buttons."
Her eyes smiled at me over her wine glass. "About time someone pushed your buttons... Just saying. And I don't mean Seth."
I rolled my eyes because I'd already assured her, and indirectly Logan and Wes since they were also in the car ride back, that I'd only said yes to Seth's request for the UW student movies if we went in a group and as friends.
At my tight-lipped silence, Charlie's playful smile faded. She sounded genuinely concerned when she asked, "Did you tell Logan about your talk with Dr. Sterns?" When I shook my head, her lips pursed slightly. "Ellie, you have to tell him. At least about the date part."
"So, I brought your favorite." My eyes drifted over to the food containers on the counters. I'd made low-carb chicken enchiladas and a spinach salad with dried cranberries and walnuts before I'd gone to work. That way, they came over after practice, I caught the end of the pep rally, we all came back here, and I grabbed the pre-made food of shame.
"Nuh-uh, nice try." Charlie pulled her non-wine glass hand from her poken and shook her index finger at me. With a slight smirk and blue eyes still glued on mine, she belted out, "Logan!"
After a few shuffling sounds from the living room, Logan's tall frame filled the kitchen entrance. His eyes darted to the glass of wine near me, then shifted over to Charlie who, not coincidentally, wore a grin that put the Chesire cat to shame.
"Ask him." Charlie's eyes were on me but her head cocked at Logan. "Or I will."
"Fine," I muttered but dropped my eyes under the silent pressure from their eyes on me.
"I think Wes just pulled an ass muscle sitting on the sofa." Charlie pushed her butt off the counters and rushed out of the kitchen faster than I knew she was capable of moving. "I'd better go check on him."
The lingered weight I felt from Logan's curious eyes kept mine averted and I studied the wine in the glass like it was the most interesting thing I'd ever seen. In high school, while he'd asked me out and I'd declined but we'd hung out at my school events, technically we'd gone backwards and were boyfriend-girlfriend before our real first date.
This is really nerve-wracking.
I hadn't heard when Logan stepped forwards, but he slid the glass away, then put his thumb on my chin and guided my gaze up to his. My heart responded with the tap dance number it did in my chest from the soft tingles his contact left on my skin.
"Everything okay?" He asked softly, almost sweetly. His hand dropped but the sincerity that swam in his blue pools never wavered.
"This is so embarrassing..." My cheeks warmed to a temperature until I was fairly sure their color matched Charlie's wine, then I took a deep breath and pushed out in one loud exhale, "Loganwillyougoonadatewithme."
His only response was a few eye blinks. "Will I... what?"
"Dr. Sterns suggested that I needed to go... on some dates." I clasped my hands in my lap and squeezed them tightly. "To help connect better with people. So... will you... go on a date with me? Please?"
Shit, this is awkward.
He just stood there, with an absolutely blank look on his expression because, of all things, I'd mentioned Dr. Sterns.
Super awkward.
Ridiculously awkward.
Showing up to class in my underwear awkward.
Streaking the quad when the Zombies are using it awkward.
Suddenly, both my hands fanned the air like I'd walked into a bee swarm. "Forget it, I'm sorry, I -"
"Yes," he interrupted. He stood frozen completely still, although I couldn't blame his reaction.
"R-really?" My lower lip trembled slightly at how easily he'd agreed and a tension I hadn't realized pinched between my shoulder blades relaxed.
He tossed me a lazy grin and nodded. "If it'll help you, of course."
"Oh..." I pulled a tight smile at his obvious show of sympathy and any initial excitement deflated out of me like a popped balloon.
He feels sorry for me, like I'm a charity case.
Another round of hand waves passed between us and I shook my head so forcefully my ponytail swept against the sides of my neck. "Forget it. I -"
"Ellie." Two warm hands enclosed around my wrists and stilled both my movements and rambled thoughts. His blue eyes looked straight into mine and his voice was firm and insistent, "I'd love to go on a date with you. Can we do it next Friday?"
"Sure. And we can go as friends if you want," I rushed out. "I don't want you to feel obliged, that's all."
"It's not an obligation for me." His lips flinched into a ghost of a smile and a knowing sparkle popped into his pupils. "But is that what you want, to go as friends?"
Right when my lips parted into a definite 'No,' Charlie burst in. "Wes is getting hangry, can we eat?"
"Of course." I stood and busied myself with her until the four of us wedged ourselves around their table.
Wes had eaten over at our apartment many, many times last year and while he was always welcome, I'd definitely had moments where I'd felt like the third wheel. A quick side glance at Logan on my left was all I needed before I realized I was glad he was here.
In more ways than one.
"Is this the same chicken?" Logan asked while Wes tore into his plate like a rabid animal. I nodded but the violent eating on the opposite side of the table pulled an amused smile across my lips.
When all three of us directed our eyes to Wes, he only shrugged. "Coach was working me hard this week, no thanks to this one," he added and poked a fork in Logan's direction.
"Wasn't enough," Logan grumbled to himself. I fought the urge to rub my hand over his closest forearm and instead offered a sympathetic smile before the sounds of forks on plates overtook the conversation for a few moments.
"Not that my opinion counts, but Coach's decision to play Verns is bullshit," Wes grumbled.
"Well, it's his decision, I might still play a little on Saturday," Logan replied in a tone that he accepted the decision but wasn't happy about it, then his eyes shifted to me. "Are you going to the game?"
"I think so." My eyes dragged over towards Charlie and silently asked about tickets, to which she nodded then took a long sip of wine.
"Ellie's been to every Huskies' home game." She shifted her eyes to Logan, then sideways back at me and smiled knowingly behind her glass. "Only way I got her out of... studying."
"Ellie's studying is next-level." Wes paused from his food scavenging and gave me a crooked grin. I however, was thankful that both he and Logan hadn't picked up what Charlie had implied by 'studying.'
Possibly watching post-Aggies game highlights and interviews.
"Wouldn't expect anything less." Logan shifted his gaze between Wes and Charlie like he debated sharing something, then offered, "She was her high school's valedictorian."
My eyes stretched wider since I wasn't aware that he knew that, but nodded when Charlie and Wes looked at me with similar expressions.
"I didn't know that!" She chirped out. "I shouldn't be surprised, your GPA here is perfect. You never talk about California, so tell me... How did you two meet?"
At the sheepish look that Logan now wore, I nudged his leg with my knee under the table and prompted, "Go on, tell them."
"We, uhh..." he stalled and rubbed his free hand over the back of his neck. "Met at the beach."
"You, Ellie?" Charlie's eyes widened at me. "No offense, but you do not seem like a beach person."
"Aww, c'mon Logan. Tell the whole story." My soft, practically cooing voice paused. After a few bites where he obviously wouldn't fess up, I smiled and pointed my fork at Logan. "This one stole my cell phone and thought he was going to take it to football camp for two weeks."
"Smooth, bro," Wes offered Logan a fistbump, which he accepted.
"After this one -" Logan poked his fork back in my direction. "Tripped and fell into my arms. And I wouldn't say I stole her phone, more like intentionally borrowed. She tracked me down before I got away with it though."
Charlie's eyes darted between me and Logan, then sparkled suggestively. "This sounds like two sides to a very interesting story. Was it love at first sight?"
Logan and I both blurted out our responses at the same time, "Yes." "No."
My lips parted at his response, but he just shrugged his shoulders and curled his lips up into a smirk in response. Wes just snorted softly and Charlie looked like she internally suppressed a swoon.
Me too, Charlie. Me too.
"I didn't like him at all," I admitted but smiled at Logan. "But I didn't know my brother hated him when we first met."
"Jake Harrison at USC, right?" Wes asked, to which I silently nodded. He cursed under his breath, then added, "They'll be here for week five."
"Yeah." I stole a side glance at Logan. "My parents will probably be back here then, I think."
Before Logan answered Charlie's hand tapped my forearm. "So go back to you two. If you didn't initially like him Ellie, then what changed your mind?" Even though she had asked the question to me, I was very aware that Logan also studied me intently.
"He was pretty persistent." I tipped my glass at him in a way that I hoped masked the sadness that rose inside me. The honest truth was I'd fallen for Logan because of his sincerity, ease when I'd shared my past with him, and how he'd never judged me for it.
He was an ass for sure when we met but that wasn't who he was at all.
"He's very sweet if he wants to be," I admitted and looked down at the last few bites on my plate. "I tracked him down and we exchanged our phones before he left," I clarified. "Before I left his Mom pleaded with me to be a good influence on him."
"But..." My voice softened with the small lump that formed in the back of my throat. "Looking back, I don't think I ever stood a chance."
"That's so sweet," Charlie cooed softly. "When was your first kiss?"
"At a charity kissing booth," I admitted softly with very warm cheeks.
"You didn't do something stupid like buy all the tickets, did you?" Wes looked at Logan, who shook his head but the gleam in his eyes showed he possibly wasn't completely innocent.
"I'm surprised you kissed me," I teased him, then turned back to Charlie. "He showed up after it was over, mumbled an apology, then left. I'd kissed like fifty guys at that point, the worst ones too, while..."
My voice trailed off while my eyes zeroed in on Logan, whose mouth twitched like he hid back a smile. After a few moments, he burst into hearty laughter.
"I might have worked the booth's tickets," he said between laughs, which Wes quickly joined in on once Logan added, "Let's just say I set our first kiss bar as low as I could."
At that revelation, which he'd never told me until now, my mouth dropped open.
"You!?" With one flick of my hand, I threw my napkin at him. "You... made me kiss Seaside's marching band!? And... a janitor! That's why Harper kissed all the hot jocks!"
"Fucking hilarious... bro, I can't -" Wes gasped and practically had tears in his eyes. One of his hands patted Logan's shoulder like he congratulated him. Charlie, thankfully, just sat silently but by how she'd rolled both her lips inward and her shoulders twitched slightly, I knew she fought back her laughs.
I closed my eyes, rubbed one hand absently over my forehead, then admitted to Charlie, "Like I said, didn't stand a chance."
"Priceless, LT. Charlie just wanted me for my abs." Wes sat back in his seat and grinned widely at Charlie. With one movement, he pulled up his T-shirt and flashed his six-pack. "She couldn't stop touching them freshman year during camp."
"Because you told me that you were injured," she retorted quickly.
"Worked though." His grin hadn't budged but his eyebrows wiggled a few times. "I appreciated the thorough examinations."
"That's not how it went at all!" She cried out but the smile on her lips was adorable. "Stop making me sound unprofessional."
While Charlie and Wes bickered teasingly about their first meeting, a heavy warmth landed on my left thigh under the table. I twitched slightly at the contact from Logan's hand, then shot him a narrow-eyed glare. His ocean-blue eyes sparkled right before one of them closed in a teasing wink.
Guess some things don't change.
With a dejected sigh, I slipped my hand down and rested it on top of his. My expression softened and a small smile tugged on my lips when his palm rotated, then his fingers curled around mine.