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She pulls me into the living room, which luckily is empty. “Are you okay? You practically ran out of the basement.”

I’m tempted to word-vomit the entire situation with me and Logan. Kashvi’s been so great, and she doesn’t deserve a friend who isn’t completely truthful. But I’m too scared of her reaction to say any more. So instead I only smile and say, “I’m all right. Just a little shook up.”

“I’m so glad I met you. I love the others”—she lowers her voice—“but it’s so much better now that you’re here.” She wraps her arms around me and pulls me into a big hug.

I squeeze her back, grateful she can’t see my face.

Chapter Twenty-Three

My house is quiet and empty when I get back home. I’m grateful for the time by myself. I mess around in the kitchen, debating which snacks I might want, before ultimately deciding on nothing. The conversation from the game still circles in my mind, and my stomach is too filled with knots to want food.

The doorbell rings, but I ignore it. My parents barely answer the door, and I’m definitely not going to talk to strangers about switching internet providers. Instead, I grab my phone and head up to my room. Halfway up, my phone buzzes with a text.

Logan:I’m at the door.

My heart lodges in my throat. He’s here? I almost don’t want to see him, but my feet fly down the stairs nonetheless.

I find him hunched in the doorway. I back up so he can come in, my eyes raking over him even though I know Ishould stop. Especially after the conversation we all just had, I should be careful how I react to him, and yet I can’t stop the jump in my pulse when his eyes catch on mine.

He glances around. “Your house is nice. I wouldn’t know you just moved in.”

“Mom and Dad have done a ton of work since we got here. It’s coming together.”

“Are they here?”

“No. It’s just me.” I walk deeper into the house. “They must be with Grandma. They’re still trying to get her to agree to move, so they’ve set up a tour at a local retirement community.”

When he doesn’t follow, I glance over my shoulder to find him still and silent at the edge of the kitchen. He swallows and my eyes track his Adam’s apple. The weight of the knowledge that we’re alone in the house makes my skin hot and tight. We keep finding ourselves in these situations.

Well, more truthfully, we keep putting ourselves in them.

I rock on my heels. “So…what are you doing here, Logan?”

He pulls his beanie off his head and runs his fingers through his hair. I wish my hair looked like that after wearing Sloane’s hat. Mine is always a flat, staticky mess, but his falls in perfect, soft waves around his eyes.

“I don’t know exactly,” he says. “I was driving home, and I kept thinking about the game and, yeah, I wanted to talk to you. How are you feeling about it?”

I lean against the counter. “I mean, not great. It certainly didn’t go the way we were hoping.”

He grimaces and walks over. “No, it did not. I really hoped they’d be more flexible.”

I shrug. “It was bad timing with the chat.”

His expression tightens in anger. “If I ever run into Caden again—”

“You won’t do a thing.” I put my hand on his chest. “He’s not worth it. He’s just bitter. There’s no point talking to him.”

“I have no intentions of talking. Other things are still on the table.”

I shake my head, but secretly I love that he’s angry on my behalf. I like this protective side of Logan, even though I know it’s just making it harder.

“Did you know immediately that it wasn’t going to work out with him? Or did it take a while to realize?”

“Immediately—by the middle of the date I already had a sinking feeling. And by the end I was sure we had no future.”

“How’d you know so quickly?”

I bite the inside of my cheek, debating how much to say. I’ve told him a lot about Caden, but not this detail. This isn’t exactly the conversation I want to be having with him right now, but given everything going on between us, I guess he deserves to know.