“Oh, Logan,” I said. It wasn’t pity as much as understanding in my voice. “Let’s just do it some other time. Thanks for the tickets. It was fun to—”
“Megan. Please,” he said. The pleading wasn’t all in his voice. It was in his warm brown eyes too. “Please come with us.”
“I don’t want to intrude. Your parents will want to be with just you.”
“Yeah, I know. But I need the buffer tonight. Please.”
“Okay,” I said.
“I’ll be fast. You can wait over there by that railing—it’s the seats closest to where we come out of the locker room.”
When I explained the situation to Emily, she bowed out of joining us for dinner, which I totally understood, and I said I’d meet her back at our room later.
In the waiting area I joined Philly, who wouldn’t be there long, since Dex wouldn’t have to shower as he was still sidelined. There were some parents among the group, but it was mostly girls waiting. An estimated head count told me more girls were waiting than players that would be emerging, so it was definitely not all girlfriends. Ches was there too, briefly, but after a couple of players came and went without looking her way, she walked down the hall and into the ladies’ room.
Was she waiting for Logan? She hadn’t been in the comp ticket section, and obviously Logan wouldn’t have invited her when he’d invited me, but still, her presence—gorgeous in black slacks with sleek ankle boots and a Bribury maroon sweater—unnerved me a little.
“Straw didn’t know his parents were coming, did he?” Philly asked me.
“No,” I said.
“Jesus. I’m sure they thought it would be a nice surprise. And maybe it was…”
“I don’t think it was,” I said.
“Yeah. No. Me neither.”
“Is Ches here for a particular player?” I asked her, hating myself for doing so. Hating myself for caring.
“I think it’s more foranyplayer. As are most of these girls. No judgment. They just want to have fun. I get it.”
“They do have great asses,” I said under my breath.
“Amen,” she agreed.
Logan’s parents came around a corner, still accompanied by the man who’d been on the ice with them. He shook both their hands and left, and Mr. and Mrs. Fields sat on one of the bleachers a few feet away from us.
“I met them once last year, but I don’t think they’d remember me. It was the weekend they came to get Mrs., so meeting Straw’s roommate’s girlfriend—and we weren’t even that yet—was not high on their list of things to remember.”
“Still, if you want to say hello, you don’t have to keep me company,” I said.
Just then, Dex came from around the corner that led to the locker room. “Saved from making that decision,” Philly said. She waited while Dex spoke to the Fieldses, then he motioned to her with his head to meet him behind the bleachers and make their escape.
“See you back at the house?” Philly asked as she gathered her jacket and bag.
“I doubt it. I said I’d go to dinner with them, but then I’m going to give them time together.”
She raised her brows. “Okay, well, Straw may have something to say about that. But whatever. See you tomorrow night.”
She was gone before I could tell her I didn’t think I’d be back. Not with Logan’s parents in town.
It was another layer of complicated that didn’t need to be added.
Chapter18
We wentto what had to be one of Schoolport’s nicest restaurants. Mainly a steakhouse, based on their list of different cuts of meat that took up an entire side of the tall menu. I briefly wondered if they’d be open to a collab with Chloe, because there were several things that I’d like to try on the menu, but the prices weren’t for college kids on a budget.
I ordered one of the smaller steaks and tried to make myself as unobtrusive as possible so the Fieldses could talk with their son. He’d only been gone from Minnesota a little over a month, but James’s death would have made that separation from Logan more acute.
