Page 43

LOGAN

E verything about Delta made my skin crawl. Everyone was all over each other, and the deeper we went, the worse it got. Dean kept his promise—his large body parting the sea of people as everyone instinctively moved aside. I had tried to let go of his hand when we climbed the steps to the party, but he gave me the dirtiest look he was capable of and I surrendered to his grip.

It was weird being led through the sea of bodies because, despite what my previous assumptions of how tonight would have gone were, none of them even cared I was there. There was a group of them in the backyard playing beer pong. Cael and Clementine were clearly losing because Clementine’s cheeks were flushed red as she dropped the second-to-last cup back on the table and made a face like she might be sick.

“It’s okay, at least you’re pretty,” Cael teased, cupping her face as we rounded the table.

When Dean finally let go of my hand, I didn’t expect to feel the loss in my bones—but it hit me like a shiver. Luckily he didn’t notice, no one did, they were too busy cheering Ella on as she stepped back and bounced another ball across the sticky table top into the last cup on the other end. Dean stood close enough to me that his shoulder crossed over my back but he gave me room to breathe.

“Nice of you to join us,” Van said from across the table.

“He’s relentless,” I grumbled, not looking back at Dean, who was talking to someone else.

“You should have been down here anyway,” Cael added as Clementine chugged the last cup. “Alright, Plum, that’s uh…” he laughed and cleaned the beer that dripped down her chin with his shirt. He smiled at her like there was no one else in the world, and it was suddenly pretty clear why he was willing to go nuclear over her love. It was enough to make me want to gag. “No more beer pong…” he said to Ella between peals of laughter.

“Do you play?” Ella turned on me in her black tank top and jeans. Her hair was pulled up in a bun and in the hazy blue lights that shone off the surface of the pool her scar looked deeper, meaner than it had before.

I had never played, I had never been asked if I did.

Everyone stared at me, waiting for an answer.

I thought about lying, I could refuse to play if she asked next.

"I’ve never played,” I said honestly and the truth coming out of my mouth felt weird and left me oddly exposed to their ridicule.

“Perfect, means I’ll kick your ass easier,” she said, nudging Zoey.

“I never agreed to play.” I shook my head. “I don’t drink.” I shrugged.

“But he does.” Zoey pointed to Dean behind me.

“Half of us don’t drink anymore, it’s why we pick partners,” Ella added as Dean clued into the conversation. “Dean, will you drink for Josh?”

“Sure.” He caved instantly, flashing her a dopey grin.

“Just like that?” I grumbled at him.

“Yeah, so…” Dean scratched the back of his neck and turned his face away from Ella so he was closer to my ear. “We don’t really ever say no.”

“What?” I laughed and looked over at Ella.

“Yeah, we don’t say no to Ella.” Dean swallowed hard and it was then I realized he was serious.

“Oh.” I turned to look at her and she smiled at me. “Why don’t we say no to you?” I asked the blonde and she started to laugh.

“You can say no to me.” She furrowed her brows and scoffed. "These idiots are cowards.”

“Hey!” A chorus of whines broke out among them, and Ella glared at them into silence.

“Now, of course, if you do say no, it just proves you are scared of me.” She was challenging me, seeing how far she could push before I caved to her. I enjoyed the fire that she provided, it was refreshing. She didn’t treat me like I was made of glass or like I was some irredeemable asshole.

“One punch,” I said, stepping up to the table. “You caught me off guard—I deserved it. But I’m not scared of you.”

“Prove it,” she hummed and leaned over the table at me.

“One game.” I nodded.

“One bet,” she added.

“Fine,” I said, and everyone groaned. I cursed and stared around at them. "What now?”

“Don’t make bets with Ella,” Dean muttered under his breath.

“You’re such a coward,” I said, sighing. “What’s the bet?”

“If you win, I’ll take your dinner chores for the next week,” she offered, and I agreed. "If I win, we’ll pull out Somebody to Love by Queen. ” A sick, proud smile spread across her face as Dean lunged at the table.

“No!” He warned, and she nodded. "Absolutely not!”

“Don’t let him take that bet,” Jensen whined with a bottle to his lips.

Van started to laugh, and before Cael could catch on to what was happening I was agreeing to the bet. I had no idea what I was agreeing to, but the reaction from the players that hovered around the table was worth playing to find out.

“You have to win,” Dean warned. "You cannot let her pull out that CD.”

“What are you so worked up about?” I asked him and he swallowed tightly.

“Just win, please.” He looked over at Van, Jensen and Cael who also looked nervous.

I nodded my path to the other end of the table cleared as Dean walked in front of me and bodies moved out of his way. I cleared my throat. "What are the rules?” I asked Ella.

“No elbow over the table, bounce shots are two drinks but can be swatted, if you sink a ball, you get to throw again,” she said simply.

“I think I can handle that.”

The concept of it wasn’t hard to wrap my head around, it was more the reason why they found so much entertainment in it. They genuinely got more riled up about a silly party game then they did our baseball games most of the time and I just didn’t see the point.

“Virgins throw first.” Zoey chucked me the ball with a smile on her face.

“You wound me, Novak.” I offered her a smile back, one that wasn’t laced with malice or discontent. It was genuine, and Dean noticed because he huffed playfully beside me. “Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled under my breath. I lined up the cups in my sightline, gauging the weight of the ball in my hand and finding it held nothing. I arched my fingers and chucked the ball, sailing it into the front cup with ease.

Ella narrowed her eyes on me.

“Beginners' luck,” I said as Dean threw and missed. Zoey chugged back whatever was in the cups like she didn’t weigh a hundred pounds soaking wet and chucked the cup into the grass.

Ella also didn’t miss when she threw back, and I wasn’t fast enough to catch the bounce as it skipped into one of the back cups. “Pay attention, Tuck,” I warned him.

He laughed, emptying one cup into the other and drinking it all down in one breath. I watched him in disgusted pride as he stomached the beer with a smile and set the cups at the base of the table.

“What?” he said, and I cursed the affectionate wave of warmth that threatened to carry me out to sea. The sight of him alone was enough to swallow down an unfamiliar urge, one that, surprisingly and for the first time in my entire life, wasn’t weighed down by the shackles of my trauma.

“Nothing.” I shook my head. "You’re disgusting,” I said instead and turned back to the game. Ella was competitive; that much was apparent, the way she played beer pong was like an Olympic athlete chasing the gold medal. Why? I couldn’t figure out, but it made it abundantly clear how she had wrapped Arlo around her finger.

The game continued, and Ella and I went cup for cup the entire time until only two remained on the table. Everyone at the party seemed to be on the grass surrounding us, Dean remained a barrier and seemed to grow impossibly large to keep people from creeping too close. Thoughts of thanking him later crept into my mind, causing unusual but welcome heat to swell at my fingertips around the ball.

“This is insane,” Cael scoffed, his arms slung around Clementine’s shoulders and his chin resting on the top of her head.

“No one has ever beaten her,” Jensen said, and Ella practically lunged at him.

“Games not over, shit for brains.” Zoey pointed at him, her body swaying a little. Van laughed and pushed her hand down.

“How many Jensens' do you see right now?” He asked her, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

“At least three.” She giggled and hiccupped all at once.

“End this game so I can bring my girl home, Miele,” Van said, standing behind Zoey to keep her steady.

I threw first, the ball soaring through the air but I could tell the second it left my fingers that I had pushed too hard and the ball missed the cup by an inch. Ella smiled, whether or not she thought I threw the game she didn’t care. She didn’t wait to throw hers the second Dean missed his and her ball dropped into the cup with a satisfying pop.

“Record stands,” Ella smiled at Cael, who just sighed. “It was a valiant effort,” she wandered over to him and slapped his cheek before he could move away. He clipped his teeth at her as she passed and let go of Clementine. “Now…”

“No!” Van, Jensen, Cael and Dean all chimed up in protest.

“A bet was made!” She hollered with a bright smile on her face, raising her arms to hush them. "A bet must be fulfilled!”

“I’m not doing it, he didn’t even know what he was betting!” Van argued, leaving Zoey’s side but linking his hand into hers and pulling her through the rowdy crowd.

“The people want blood,” Ella laughed as everyone around them cheered and screamed. It was like they had been possessed.

“What the hell is going on?” I asked, but Dean was glaring at Ella, his ears bright red.

“Over the summer ,we spent a lot of time up at the cabin,” Ella said, she was speaking to me but staring at Dean with mischief twisted up in all her features. “One night the boys got real drunk and went full ‘Magic Mike’,” Ella started to laugh as she turned to me. “It’s hilarious the things they’ll do with a little whiskey and Queen .”

“I’m starting to think I won this bet,” I said, still a little confused, but her enjoyment of their embarrassment was enough to spark a lifetime of intrigue.

Ella pushed everyone back as Dean, Van, Cael, Jensen, and a few other guys huddled in a circle, bickering back and forth. What they were fighting over was a mystery as Ella patted the grass beside her. "Sit,” she said.

I sat, leaving a good distance between us, and watched on as the rest of the crowd parted for them to line up in the grass. Somebody to Love by Queen flowed out of the speakers into the backyard and everyone started to cheer.

They were standing there like a really badly staged boy band, each of them either drunk or embarrassed beyond belief. All at once, they started to move in unison, dancing like they had rehearsed the movements for weeks. I watched on in horror as they sang the lyrics out of tune and took turns one-upping each other with ridiculous dance moves.

Cael dropped to the ground, and in a surprising turn of events, was insanely good at the worm as he ground his body into the grass, his hips surging forward slowly enough to make Clementine dog whistle at him from behind us.

“Wait, you said they were drunk?” I turned to Ella who was beaming with pride and laughing so hard her cheeks were red. “Cael hasn't had a drop of alcohol since the accident,” I said.

“Oh he did it stone cold sober the first time, it was his idea!” Ella said, stopping mid sentence to scream as they fell into line again, shuffling their feet and swaying their hips.

“What the fuck?” I couldn’t help but smile as the chorus dropped into the thrumming beat of the bridge and they all spun to put their backs to us. “How long did it take them to come up with this?” I asked her over the music.

“Nevermind that, this is the best part!” She hollered back and pointed. "Watch!”

“Find me somebody to love,” the music echoed over the grass, and Jensen turned around on his heel, smoothly tearing his shirt over his head and throwing it into the crowd.

“Find me somebody to love,” it swelled as the words repeated, each time one of the boys turning around and stripping from their shirts as if they weren’t being watched by the entire baseball team and then some.

“Find me somebody to love,” Cael dropped to his knees, tearing his shirt in half like an animal and chucking it at Clementine.

“Can anybody find me…” Dean was the last to turn, his eyes darting over to mine. At first it had looked like none of them wanted to be there, but it was clear that they were having way too much fun with the attention. “Somebody to love…”

The black shirt stretched over his shoulders, exposing every muscle in his body and the soft expanse of his stomach. Dean was big—but not all sharp lines and six-pack abs like some of the others. He was strong, sure, but soft in places too. Like someone who lifted heavy but still ate what he wanted and actually enjoyed life.. He was quite simply just large. His pants were dangerously low on his hips and my eyes were drawn down for a split second before he decided he was going to make the show of affection I never asked for and he chucked the shirt in my direction.

Ella looked down at the fabric in my lap and smirked.

“Welcome to the family,” she said, smirking, before turning back to watch the chaos.