I tried to wipe away any trace of my smile before he could see it, but Jake saw it.
“We’ve got to get under his skin. Operation Logan Crack.”
“What?”
“Logan Crack.”
I stared at him, horrified. Did Logan tell him? How many other people knew I saw…that?
“You know…we’re going to crack the tight shell that is Logan,” he said.
“Oh.” I sighed, sinking back down into my chair, my cheeks flushed.
Jake set his fishing pole on the ground and stood up, pacing. “We’ve got to play this subtle. We can’t be obvious about it, or he’ll know something’s up. He’s like one of those wild cats that show up to the farm. They come sniffing around for some easy food every now and then, but they’ll bolt the second you open the door.”
“Yeah, for some reason, that explanation did not clear anything up. What are we doing?” My stomach took a dive. The mischievous look in Jake’s eye was back, and it was never a comforting sight.
“You guys have been doing this dating thing for over a month now, which is about three weeks longer than he’s dated anybody in years. He’s bound to be getting a little twitchy. He’d be long gone by now, but he’s here for the next month and a half.”
“For the truck,” I said, dejected.
“For the appearance of wanting the truck. If I had my guess, the next six weeks is where the real Logan will start showing up. But it’s up to you to help him get there.”
The real Logan. I liked the sound of that.
“So, what do I do?”
Jake sat back in his chair and looked up at the sky “Hold on. Let me think. I feel an idea brewing, but I need to sort it out first.”
“Is this the mind of an evil genius at work?”
“Yup. Now hush.”
While Jake’s mind was churning, I slunk down in my chair. What did I really want out of this? I had thought that by calling off the bet, Logan would be free to date me without the pressure. But would he? Was the bet the only thing keeping him around? No. I refused to believe that could be completely true. Our growing friendship was real. Our teasing and laughter was real. I just wanted more. But was it more real than the thought of a forty-thousand-dollar payout at the end of summer?
“Alright, I’ve got it,” Jake said, sitting forward in his chair. “We go half-court press. It’s not just one thing; it’s a bunch of tiny things. Keep going along with what you’ve been doing. Whatever stupid plan you’ve put into place to keep the feelings out. Do it all…mostly. The key is mostly. You’ve got to leave something dangling in front of him.”
“Ew.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I really don’t.”
“I’m going to make myself scarce. I’ll put Logan in charge of a few of the dates. He’ll probably relax if I’m not telling him his business all the time.”
I glowered at him. “We’d all probably relax if that was the case.”
He grinned. “But nobody would be dating.”
“Okay, so Logan’s planning some dates now. Is that all?”
“It’s your job to show a few cards. You’re still in this bet, but you’re on my side now.” He gave me a pointed look. “Which you always were, but now you’re admitting it.”
I couldn’t really argue with that.
“You’ll need to make sure your flirting game is top notch.”
“Flirting game?”
