We stood in the kitchen, hackles raised as we stared at each other, until I could see my words slowly chipping away at Adam’s anger. But he was stubborn, and I knew he wasn’t going to just let this drop, either. He’d never been very good at admitting fault or being wrong.
I shook my head, reaching up to rub my face in my hands. “Dammit, Adam,” I said, moving around him to head to my room. I grabbed my purse and car keys off the dresser before I turned on my heels back out toward the door to chase after Logan.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
THREE YEARS AGO (AGE 22)
Gwen spentmost of the afternoon recovering in a lounge chair on the patio, fretting about the pain in her leg and worrying about a lasting scar. Logan had moved a blue beach umbrella over her so that she was in the shade while she rested, and the gesture sent a swift jolt of jealousy through me. It clearly wasn’t onlymyskin that he was worried about.
In an attempt to hide my admittedly inappropriate frustration, I’d gone inside to get some distance and take a shower. While I closed my eyes to wash my hair, I couldn’t help but envision Logan lathering Gwen with his prized sunscreen, kneading it into her supple, glowing skin before he declared his love for her and her tiny, sun-protected body. Needless to say, the shower distraction plan was unsuccessful.
It turned out that Gwen’s leg was practically healed by the time we got to dinner that night. Although there was definitely still some discoloration, Gwen was back to her happy and perky self just in time for the night’s festivities. High praise to Fancy Pants and his fast-thinking vinegar solution, although a quick Google search also indicated that in most cases, a jellyfish sting causes pain that only lasts for one or two hours. But who am I to make judgements?
With Gwen back on the positivity train, the whole gang was feeling optimistic about a great night out. We found a local seafood restaurant that served incredible fish and shrimp tacos, cooked from what their kitchen staff caught that day out on the water. The food was delicious and the margaritas were as big as my head. Despite finishing my entire plate of food, I was feeling pretty tipsy from the one margarita that I’d managed to finish without issue.
After paying our bill, we walked along a strip of bars and restaurants that were centrally located within a mainly touristy part of the city, and eventually found a dimly lit nightclub that Mackenzie pulled us all into. The music was so loud that, once inside, none of us could hear each other without screaming in each other’s ears, and I could feel the pulsing beat of the tempo through my bones.
We found a dark booth in the back corner, and a waitress came by to get our drink order as soon as we sat down. Adam ordered everyone shots, making good on his promise to buy all of my drinks during the trip, but I guessed his dinner margarita made him feel generous enough to open a tab for everyone. Typical Adam—he loved to find ways to achieve glory.
I tried not to notice that Gwen slid into the booth’s bench right after Logan and was eagerly talking to him on the other side of the table. I couldn’t hear a single word of their conversation from where I sat, but I imagined that she was telling him about her life plans for a cookie-cutter future, and how he was the perfect man to help bring those dreams to fruition.
I wasclearlyhandling things exceptionally well.
Mackenzie was suddenly pulling on my arm. “Come on, Amelia . . . let’s go dance!” She turned to push herself out of the booth and then looked back at me expectantly.
I shook my head and said, “You go ahead, Mack! I’ll meet you out there soon, but I want to get a drink first.”Also, I want to keep a close eye on what’s currently happening betweenyourfriendand Logan.
Mackenzie rolled her eyes, shifting her focus to Nora and raising her eyebrows in question. Nora put up a hand as she scooted out of the booth, “Sorry . . . I gotta pee!” she shouted. “I’ll be right back.”
Not giving up, Mackenzie turned her attention to Adam. “Adam, come with me? Please? I want to dance!”
Adam grinned at her. “Mackenzie, I would love to accompany you to the dance floor. I’m not sure why you didn’t ask me first, to be honest.” His face was smug as his eyes twinkled up at her. I had to move out of the booth to let Adam through, and when I turned back to face the table I noticed that Gwen was also scooting over to let Logan out. To my delight, he followed Adam out to the dance floor and Gwen sat back down at the table. He must not have invited her to go with him. My heart soared.
It wasn’t long before the waitress returned with tequila shots for everyone, passing them around the table despite the now mostly empty seating spaces. Before she left, I quietly asked her for another one. Gwen, Trevor and I clinked our shot glasses together in the middle of the table before we gulped them down. Gwen choked on hers and shoved a lime into her mouth, eyes watering. “You don’t like tequila?” I shouted over the music.
“Not really, no!” she shouted back.
Nora returned to the booth from the bathroom, noticing the shot glasses on the table. I watched as her face fell when she found that ours were already empty. “Thanks for waiting for me!” She sat down next to Gwen and swiftly threw back her shot. Gwen watched her swallow it with a hint of admiration.
Naturally, all of our attention turned to the dance floor, where Mackenzie was swaying to the music with her eyes closed as if she were at a flower festival and not a nightclub in Mexico. Adam and Logan were messing around, flailing their bodies around in movements that could hardly be considered dancing. The raw joy in their faces was contagious though, and I fought back a smile as I watched them. It felt nostalgic, like I was sent back in time to watch them as fourteen-year-old misfits who couldn’t take anything seriously.
I heard a giggle behind me, and turned to see Gwen and Nora talking to each other as they, too, watched the guys. I still couldn’t hear anything over the music, but I soon figured out what they were giggling about when Gwen bent her head toward me and asked, “Is Logan seeing anyone?”
Dread pooled within my stomach almost instantly.
“Logan?” I rebounded, doing whatever I could to give myself more time. More time to come up with an answer. More time to take grounding breaths so I didn’t visibly shoot daggers out of my eyeballs.
“Yeah,” she confirmed. “He’s so dreamy. And he’s like, thenicestguy I’ve ever met.”
Flashes of Logan sprang to life inside of my mind—consoling Gwen on the boat, gingerly pouring vinegar on the angry-looking jellyfish sting on her leg, pulling the big umbrella over to where she lay on the patio so that she was out of the sun. I felt my heart pounding in my chest and I swear my eye might have twitched.
“Um . . . I’m not sure, actually” I mumbled, looking back in Logan’s direction in time to catch him bend his knees and twerk toward the DJ in an infuriatingly attractive way.
I heard Nora shout, “Let’s go join them out there!” just as the waitress came back with my second shot. Gwen and Nora scooted out the other side of the booth while I slammed my tequila back and caught eyes with Trevor. I’d almost forgotten he was still sitting at the table.
“You look like you’re trying to get drunk tonight.” His voice was barely audible over the music but clear enough to understand.
“We’re celebrating, aren’t we?” I asked, smiling in an attempt to play off the jealousy brewing inside.
