“Help me up, and then we can hide in the ditch. I don’t think I can crawl there.”
Closing the distance between us, I took the hand he had offered. Wait a minute. Thelefthand. The hand with the supposed hurt shoulder. But I realized too late. In a move so swift and sudden, he yanked me to the ground. Only, it wasn’t ground I hit but a warm, solid Logan. Instantly, he moved, rolling me over onto my back, the weight of his body on top of mine as his face leaned closer, victorious in the moonlight.
“I KNEW it,” I said.
“You didn’t know it.”
“I thought it at first.”
“I should be in Hollywood with that performance.”
I rolled my eyes and tried to squirm out from under him, but he held me firm. My whole body erupted in sparks. Fissures. Cracks. Feelings. I couldn’t get a full breath, but that was probably due to the 200-pound body lounging comfortably on top of me.
He shifted slightly, taking a bit of the weight off before he leaned over me. The cold ditch water seeped into my clothes, and my hair was squished into the mud, but all I could see was Logan’s shadowy eyes raking over my face. He lifted a dirty hand and brushed my hair across my forehead.
“There’s been something on my mind the past few days, Jailbait.” He swallowed. “Might be a good time to get it out of the way.”
Get it out of the way.
I didn’t have time to decide how I felt about those words. He was so close. His voice was husky and caused the hair on my arms to stand rigid. All coherent thoughts were nowhere to be found. This would be the end of the game for me. A month ago, when we had made the bet, it wasthismoment that I knew, deep down, would be my downfall. Logan’s kiss. The kiss for the bet. The final nail in my coffin of love and denial. To Logan, it was still a game.
His head dropped down, millimeters from my lips, before he hesitated, pulling back to watch me. He was waiting for me, I realized, to give him some signal of permission.
I knew what I had to do. What my heart needed me to do. I was going to win this bet. And in order to win, I had to play the game. But I feared I would also be losing the bet. It was only the first week of July. My heart still had a month and a half to resist. I had to resist. I knew all of this but still couldn’t help myself when my head lifted up a fraction, feeling the hint of Logan’s lips on mine. A whisper of a touch. Logan sighed and moved closer to me, to fill in the gap, to—
I splatted my mud-filled hands on top of Logan’s head. A guttural noise came from the back of his throat, and a tiny part of me appreciated the fact that, for one shining moment, I had taken control. The splash from the mud ricocheted onto my face and arms. I dropped my hands, suddenly nervous about what I had done. Logan stilled. His fiery eyes burned into mine, and a wicked smile unfurled across his lips. Pulling back, he adjusted his position so he sat on top of my legs, his hands holding mine hostage above my head. He leaned forward again as mud and water dripped down the side of his face and onto my cheeks.
“Interesting way to play this, Tess,” he whispered. “I’ve still got the advantage, but now, I’m out for revenge.”
He hovered over my face, studying me. My body had gone numb. His weight pressed upon me. Though I knew he would move if I insisted, I was suddenly interested in playing this out. I was right where I had always dreamed of being. I had moved my chess piece without knowing the rules, and now I waited for his next move. My heart would probably be broken either way. Maybe it was okay to let myself have my moment. I wanted it too much. I would piece my heart back together tomorrow.
“Any last words before I get even?” he asked.
“I’m not scared of you.” I wasn’t scared. Scared was not the right word. I was terrified.
“Good to know.”
This time, when he touched his lips against mine, they stayed. He lingered there, giving me time to resist. When I didn’t, I felt the full blessed lips of Logan Marten on mine.
For exactly two seconds.
Muffled laughter and shuffling feet were heard in the distance, moving closer. Logan’s head lifted, and our bodies still, listening for where the noises were coming from, which was hard to hear over my ragged breath.
“They’re coming this way.” Logan rolled off of me, scooped a handful of mud in his hands, and before I could stop him, he rubbed it into my hair and up the back of my neck. “Now we’re even. Follow me. Don’t stand up.”
I hardly had time to react to the muddy sludge now sliding down the back of my shirt before he motioned me forward. With both of us on our knees, we maneuvered over the ditch bank and into the water. If we were standing, the ditch water would come to our waist. On our knees, it splashed around our chests as the soft dirt squished beneath us. This all seemed so familiar. This was two times now that dirt and mud had played a role in our date night.
I stood, scanning the ditch bank, trying to find an easy spot to crawl out and onto the other side, when Logan pulled me back into the water.
“Company’s coming.” He sank back to his knees, tugging me down with him, the water slapping against our chests. He moved us behind a patch of overgrown weeds lining the ditch bank. “Shhh.” He nodded toward the outline of what looked like Chase and Penny Riley and Nate and Anna about thirty yards away, maneuvering through the water. Squeals of quiet laughter and splashing sounded through the night.
A four-wheeler engine revved suddenly, and a bright spotlight shone into the ditch, illuminating the two pairs of fugitives between us and the road. Logan snaked his arm against my waist and pulled us deeper into the water and against the ditch wall, just beyond the reach of the light.
Good-natured laughter and ribbing ensued down the way from us as the fugitives climbed out of the ditch onto the other side, walking toward Layne Marten who was busy throwing down smack talk and bragging about his big catch.
Logan grinned down at me. “Aww, look at that. My dad almost caught us.”
“So did Nate. Let’s go. Your dad’s distracted.”
