Instead of shaking them off, Logan stilled, his gaze intensifying. My heart raced at the sudden charge in the air. “Lex, that thing I wanted to talk to you about—”
Behind us, heavy knocking sounded at the door, making me jump. Lee flew to it, followed by Ben, who threw open the door.
It wasWill. Standing in the entrance, wearing jeans and a Dell Medical T-shirt, his dark hair mussed and floating away from his face, a duffel bag over his shoulder.
“William!” my sister shouted. “You’re here.”
“You made good time, buddy.” Ben leaned over and gave his brother a brief hug, followed by a clap on the back. Side by side, their shared Laderman beauty was even more pronounced. “Welcome to the world outside the hospital.”
“Is this what it looks like?” Will joked. “Barely recognize it.” When he pulled back from Ben, Will’s eyes searched the house, stopping when they landed on me. He smiled a little shyly. “Hi, Alexis.”
It occurred to me that my mouth had dropped open. “Uh—hi. What are you doing here?”
“Surprise!” Lee threw out her arms. “Will had a rare weekend off, so we invited him. With Annie’s permission, of course.” She gave me a show smile, willing me to play along. “That was obviously before we knew the full guest list. But isn’t this great?”
Will moved into the kitchen and gave me a quick hug. “I hope this is okay,” he whispered.
“Of course,” I said, and gulped. Because Will was now looking at Logan, who stood by the sink, staring back. How had I gotten myself into this situation? The obvious answer was Lee, but I meant more existentially. Maybe Zoey was wrong about my good karma.
“You’re Logan Arthur,” Will said, lurching forward with his hand outstretched. “I recognize you from the news. I’m Will, Ben’s brother. It’s nice to meet you. I didn’t realize you’d be here.”
Logan shook his hand. “Cheers. It’s a couples thing and I’m Alexis’s boyfriend, so...you know.”
“Right.” Will dropped Logan’s hand and gave him a conspiratorial wink. “Boyfriend.”
Logan shot me a confused look.Oh, great lightning in the sky, strike me now.
“Come on, Will.” Lee waved him in the direction of the living room. “Throw your stuff in the corner. You came right in time for drinking games.”
“Uh-oh.” Will shook his head good-naturedly. “I drove here right after my shift, so I’m going to need to catch up with the rest of you.”
“I’ll pour you some wine,” Logan offered, dropping the dish towel. He was studying Will like he was a puzzle, one I very much didn’t want him to solve.
While Logan and Will headed for the wine on the dining table, I grabbed Lee and hissed, “What were youthinking?”
“I swear I didn’t realize Logan was coming. When you told us you were into Will, Ben and I got so excited, we thought you guys could have a weekend together out of the spotlight. And then Will was so happy to be invited I couldn’t bear the thought of uninviting him after Logan showed up. He would’ve been sitting around alone in Austin.”
“Ugh,” I groaned. I wanted to be angry at her, but her reasons were frustratingly charitable. I covered my face with my hands, watching from between my fingers as Logan showed Will a bottle of Bloody Good Wine. “What am I supposed to do now?”
Lee gave the two men a thoughtful look. “Remember that episode ofSabrina, the Teenage Witchwhen Sabrina accidentally brings two dates to the school dance?” I’d been obsessed withSabrinawhen we were younger and used to make Lee watch it with me, obviously unaware she was gathering material for future evil plots. “It’ll be like that. Just keep them apart as much as possible. Easy.”
“Lee! Sabrina had magical powers and shestillgot caught.”
Lee rested her hands on my shoulders. “I think we should take a moment to appreciate the fact that a few months ago, you had zero boyfriends. And now, look!” She waved at the living room. “You have two. Honestly, you’re welcome.”
I took back everything I’d ever said about wanting to be part of a Lee Stone shenanigan. I was pretty sure I was going to kill her.
Nope. Forty-five minutes later, contorted like a pretzel between Will’s legs and Logan’s arms, barely holding on in the world’s highest-stakes game of drunk Twister, it turned out I wished death upon no one but myself. I’d tried to bow out when Zoey suggested the adult-themed version of the game—it was undoubtedly the opposite of theSabrina, the Teenage Witch–approach to keeping one’s dates apart—but I was censored with loud boos from everyone. So I’d folded to peer pressure and here I was, dying slowly of handsome-man-proximity-overload. Logan, Will, and I were the last three contestants left on the mat: Will was the least drunk, Logan the most competitive, and I seemed to have been granted near superhuman strength through sheer adrenaline. The entire bachelorette party ringed us, watching as Will placed his right hand on a yellow dot underneath me, bringing his face closer. “Hey,” he whispered. “I think this might be my new favorite game.”
Logan was inches away in the other direction. I could actuallyfeelthe heat emanating from his skin. I glanced over and sure enough, he was watching Will and me intently, frowning. If only I could tell Will to stop being so obvious without being so...obvious.
“Alexis, right hand red,” called Ted, our referee. I searched the mat, hoping against hope to find a red circle far away from both Will and Logan. But no. Of course the only one I could feasibly touch had me shifting my weight away from Will to press my body against Logan’s. We were chest to chest now, his muscled arms on either side of me, flexing as he held himself still. Inch by inch, I let my gaze climb higher until I met his eyes. He was so close, his eyes dark and burning with unspoken questions. His gaze dropped to my lips and stayed there. Suddenly it didn’t matter that we were surrounded by people. A tremor ran through me that had nothing to do with the strain of holding myself up.
The corners of Logan’s mouth tugged up. “I think this might be my new favorite game,” he breathed, so quiet only I could hear. All I could do was stare at his mouth, wondering why he was echoing Will, what that ghost of a smile meant.
“Logan, left hand blue,” Ted said, cutting my torture short as Logan shifted away from me in search of a blue circle. With the next spin, Will apologetically placed his hand right under my butt.
“Logan, someone’s getting fresh with your girl,” Mac warned.
