I lift a brow. “Where?”
Logan looks at me like I’m cute for even asking. “Your place.”
My steps slow. “My place?”
He nods. “The little café with the lemon pastries you pretend you don’t like but always order anyway.”
My mouth opens, then shuts.
Because—yeah.
That’s exactly my place.
Logan’s smile widens. “Told you. I pay attention.”
We walk there, and the café is calm—midday, not crowded, sunlit tables and soft music. Logan guides me to the corner spot near the window, the one I always choose, the one with my favorite view of the street without being in the middle of it.
He pulls out my chair.
“Stop,” I whisper, half mortified.
He leans down, kissing my cheek. “No.”
I sit, cheeks warm, and he sits across from me like he’s done it a hundred times. Like this is our routine.
He orders for us without being controlling—just confident, like he already knows: my favorite sandwich, the lemon pastry, water with extra ice because I’m picky. He gets himself something simple, because of course he does, and then he nudges my foot under the table with his.
“How’s it going so far?” he asks.
I take in the sunlight, the quiet, the way my shoulders don’t feel like they’re trying to crawl off my body.
“It’s…perfect,” I admit.
Logan’s eyes soften. “Good.”
My chest tightens again, but this time it’s not fear.
It’s gratitude.
And something else that scares me more.
Because I’m starting to realize how badly I want this to last.
We eat slowly, talking about dumb things—Jade’s obsession with making everything a competition, Blakely’s secret talent for trash reality TV impressions, the time Logan tried to make boxed mac and cheese at the house and set off the smoke alarm when Cam was late getting back from practice in high school.
“It wasal dente,” he insists.
“It was crunchy,” I counter.
He points his fork at me. “You ate it.”
“I was starving,” I say, then add, softer, “And it was still better than the dining hall.”
Logan’s gaze holds mine, something warm flickering there.
He reaches across the table and brushes his thumb over my knuckle. “You okay?”
I nod. “Yeah. I just…haven’t laughed like this in a while.”
