“What does that mean?” Her tone immediately shifts to wary. As much as she’s affected by his charm, Sloane is first and foremost a girl’s girl. She’ll have my back no matter what. Both of my friends will, which is why I love them so much. They have taught me so much about the loyalty of true family.
“He’s so…so…” I reach for a word, any word, that could capture all of Logan, and I fail. “I don’t think he sees any barriers, ever. He’s relentless. When he called, he wanted to send me money to get off the train and take a car. He said,I’ll pay for anything you want or need. I’ve known this man for five days!”
Liz laughs. “You should take him up on that. Let him pay off your student loans.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I?—”
“And let the man walk you home.” She grabs my phone. “Even better, he should bring his team here.”
“What? No!”
But Liz is already typing.
“Give me my phone back.”
“You have limited time together. He needs to do a team thing. It can be here.” She shows me the screen. “Problem solved.”
Frankie
Update…this lounge is really nice, has a hot bartender, and is pretty private, if your team hasn’t decided on a place to go yet
Logan
On our way
“Why would you tell him that the bartender is hot?” I flick a glance at Merry. “No offence, of course. Youarea smokeshow.”
“None taken. Who are we talking about?”
Liz silently asks me with her eyes if it’s okay to loop Merry in, then reaches across the bar and takes her hand. “An NHL hockey team is about to show up. They have no idea who we are, except one of them isn’t going to stop staring at Frankie. At some point he might carry her out of here over his shoulder. That will be what she wants, even if she protests.”
Merry glances at Sloane in her LA jersey, then to me in Logan’s sweater. “That’s the team that’s coming in, then? Buffalo?”
My cheeks flame in embarrassment, but I nod jerkily.
She grins. “And the rest of it? Might one of them carry you out like you’re his prized possession?”
“All true,” I manage to say. “Especially now that your girlfriend poked the bear and tried to make him jealous.”
Liz waves her hand dismissively. “Text him back and clarify so he doesn’t come in all steamed.”
I’m already typing that.
I don’t want to make Logan jealous, even for a second. The thought makes me queasy.
Sloane claps her hands. “And now we get to observe the gladiator outside the arena.” She leans in and directs the next part to Merry. “Don’t get me wrong, I like the guy, but it’s one thing for him to be nice to us because he’s trying to impress Frankie?—”
Merry looks at Liz. “This is thenice guyyou met two nights ago?”
She looks unashamed at the secret keeping. “Yeah.”
Sloane continues as if she wasn’t interrupted. “It’s another thing to see how he is with people in public.”
“In publicis exactly the problem,” I say, squeaking with panic.
“Calm down. A cocktail lounge in Culver City is random enough that nobody will think twice.”
“I’m wearinghis nameonmy back.”
