“I would ask about his dick, but I’ve already seen it.” Axel grinned, shoving a chip in his mouth.
I rolled my eyes. “See? I have nothing to add.”
“Kay, if you’re not going to give us details, can you at least get us tickets?” Rory leaned his elbows on the table, smirking. Jake tuned in at that question.
“I want the Oilers game Thursday.” Axel waggled his eyebrow. “Come on, Crystal. I know you have it in you.” Laughter and post-game chatter swelled around us, and it almost made me tear up. I knew I’d missed it, but I didn’t realize how much it would feel like home.
“You’re asking me to manipulate my boyfriend for you?” I teased. The ‘B’ word felt strange on my tongue, but it didn’t feel wrong. That made me pause.
Axel’s hand flew to his heart. “We would never.”
“Tell Logan I’m offering sexual favors.” Rory poured himself another beer.
I winked. “I’m sure he’ll be tempted.”
“Ooh! Maddie! Forgot to tell you, I had this math midterm . . .” Axel jumped into a discussion on proofs and equations that my brain was too distracted to follow after hearing ‘sex’ and ‘Logan’ in the same sentence.
That moment at his house replayed in my head every hour, and I needed to make it stop. No amount of rationalizing was working.
“Hey.” Jake left his stool to stand with us. He rocked on his feet a moment, then said, “I’m sorry if I caused a problem the other day. I didn’t know about Kemp.”
I waved him off, my nerves jumping. “You’re fine. He took it a little too seriously.”
Jake nodded. “How long have you two, uh, you know. Been together?”
“Not long,” I answered, regretting it when his eyebrow jumped.
“Is it serious?”
A pit yawned open beneath my ribs. All that defensiveness I saw in Logan the other day poured into me at full force. Was he really asking that when he’d been told point blank I had a boyfriend? Maybe Logan’s assessment of him had been spot on. “I think so, yeah,” I said with an exaggerated smile. “I guess time will tell.”
I turned back to the nachos, giving Maddie a look. I was not telling Logan about this.
Jake thankfully wandered back to his seat, and Maddie and I stayed until Chase called the bar and told her he was on his way home. She dropped me off on the way.
When I walked in with my skin humming and ears ringing, the apartment was quiet. Jenna and Lindsey were either out or already asleep.
I dropped my coat on a chair, kicked off my boots, and headed straight for the phone.
Logan answered on the first ring. “Hey. How was the game?”
“Amazing. You should’ve seen Rob’s goal . . .” I gave him a recap with special attention on my preferred highlights, ending with our night at Ranchman’s. Minus my short conversation with number twelve.
At one point I paused to get a blanket from the couch. We really needed to invest in a phone with a longer cord.
“How was practice?” I asked after my monologue.
Logan grunted. “We have a new conditioning coach. He’s brutal. I’m not sure if my legs followed me home.”
I frowned. “Is that normal? To push that hard right before a game?”
“Crys, it’s the NHL. I’m getting paid a shit-ton of money. I don’t think they care if my quads are tired.”
I bristled. “Well they should care. How can you perform your best if they’re grinding you like that?”
Logan chuckled. “Okay, I kind of like this feisty side of you.”
I ignored his attempt to pivot. “Are you still working with that nutritionist?”
