“Making perfect bites.” When my brows pinched further, he shifted closer and showed me his plate. “You need a bite of everything in every forkful. Feta, hummus, olives, potatoes. Easier if you mix it together first.”
“I can do that by just grabbing each thing one at a time.” I demonstrated, filling the tines. “Then it doesn’t look like dog vomit.”
Logan filled his fork with hummus colored everything and shoved it in his mouth with a groan that was borderline obscene.
I snorted.
He chewed and swallowed, then moved to sit on the stool next to me. “I’m sorry about the breakfast, by the way. Not totally sorry I said what I did, but I should’ve talked to you first.”
I gave him side eye. “Not sorry you said it?”
He shook his head. “That guy, Jake? He was looking at you like—” he took a bite. “He was undressing you with his eyes.”
I swivelled to face him. “Maybe that’s what I’m into.”
Logan pulled his face into what I can only assume was a smolder. “Mm. Crystal. Remember the cafeteria? When I couldn’t even find a romantic place to stick my tongue in your mouth?”
I smacked his shoulder, nearly choking on my slow-roasted lamb. “It wasn’t romantic, okay? But it washot. We were making out on school property after hours?—”
“So that’s your thing? Exciting and forbidden?”
My cheeks flushed. “I think for it to be a ‘thing,’ it has to happen more than once.”
He took another bite, raising an eyebrow. “It only happened once?”
“Well, yeah. He was in town for the tournament.”
“There’s more than one day at a tournament. It’s pretty easy to figure out how to do itmore than once.”
The humor in the situation circled and disappeared down the drain. I held back the dig sitting on the tip of my tongue. “Yeah. I guess so.”
We ate in silence a moment, then Logan let out a long breath. “Sorry. Word vomit.”
I pursed my lips. He wasn’t wrong.
Logan lowered his voice. “I think if I’m being honest, it wasn’t just you I was defending at the breakfast.” He scooped upanother bite onto his fork, but didn’t eat it. “It’s not easy to see the team without me on it.”
That was exactly it. The look in his eyes that morning? It was the same look I’d seen on his face, on Rob’s, Axel’s, and Rory’s right before they battled it out in the last period on the ice. That same image of a warrior curling around his family flashed in my head.
I finished chewing, then rested my elbow on the counter, turning to face him. “They’re still your team, Logan.”
He made a noise in his throat. “Yeah, well, I don’t know if they want me anymore.” His lashes brushed his cheeks as he lowered his head, scooping up a stray chickpea from the counter.
I focused hard on my own plate. When he got like this, all broody, like a thundercloud rolling in on the horizon, my body perked up like a lightning rod. Maybe I did have a thing for exciting and forbidden?
Hockey. We were talking about hockey.“They might not want you for the same things. But you know every guy there wishes he was in your shoes. You’re not on the ice with them, but they’re all watching you.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” He took his last bite and stood, his stool scraping against the tile. “I shouldn’t be anyone’s role model.”
I finished my food and followed him to the sink. “What’s more compelling than someone who screws up and figures it out? You and Rob seemed pretty normal today.”
He nodded, rinsing his plate. “Better, at least.”
I waited in line for the sink, but when he turned, I froze. “Are you—?” I set my plate down and turned his chin to the side to get a better look. “Oh, it’s a pepper.” I laughed.
“What is?” He tried to look, but I held his face while I grabbed a napkin.
“I thought you were bleeding, but it’s just a piece of—” I swiped it off his cheek. “There, see?” I dropped my hand from his chin and showed him.
