Confused, I pull on a pair of sweatpants and an old band hoodie and shove my feet into my slides. The house is dark and quiet as I head downstairs, the kitchen illuminated only by the strip of lighting underneath the cabinets. I exit through the back, letting the moonlight guide me to our pier.
I spot the bowrider bobbing in the dark water with two shadowy figures on board. That should’ve been my first sign to turn away. But I’m too curious, and then it’s too late because they’ve spotted me. My dad and Logan. Like me, they’re in hoodies, only they’re also in allblack and wearing baseball caps.
“What is this?” I say warily.
“Get in the boat,” Logan orders.
I look at my dad. “This feels like a trap.”
He sighs. “Just get in the boat.”
I don’t want to, but I do. Soon, the engine purrs softly as we glide across the water. I sit in the back, only about eighty percent certain I’m not about to get murdered. My dad would never kill me, but there’s a twenty percent chance he won’t be able to stop Logan in time.
“Hey,” I realize. “So you guys are talking again?”
“Shut up,” Logan says without turning around from the pilot seat.
Okay then.
I shift my gaze to the lake. It’s glossy and black tonight, reflecting the stars above as little pinpricks of silver across the water.
When the silence drags on, I clear my throat. “You guys aren’t gonna kill me, right? Because I’ve seen this movie, and it never ends well for the guy in the back of the boat.”
Dad chuckles. “Your mother would kill me if I killed you. Don’t worry.”
That does provide some solace. My dad hates angering my mom.
When we’re about a hundred yards from the house, Logan cuts the engine and lets the boat drift. Finally, he turns to face me, his expression deadly.
“What are your intentions with my daughter?”
I swallow a sigh. “We already had this talk. Blake and I are just—”
“Hanging out,” he finishes coldly. “Well, guess what?Mydaughter? She deserves a helluva lot better thanhanging out.”
“No, I know that. It’s not…” Discomfort rises inside me. “Look, I’m aware of my track record with women, but Blake isn’t someone I’mjust going to mess around with and discard. She means a lot to me.”
“Told you,” Dad says smugly, glancing at Logan.
Logan crosses his arms. “Your father’s trying to convince me that you’re not just using her for”—he grimaces—“sex, and that is thelasttime I’m ever gonna say the wordsexin connection with my daughter.”
“I’m not using her.”
Heat creeps up my neck. I hate being forced into a position where I need to articulate my feelings to other people when I haven’t even figured them out myself.
“All right,” Blake’s dad says. “You want to prove you’re not playing with her? Tell me three things you like about her.”
“Just three?” I say dryly, and I see my dad trying not to smile.
“Told you,” Dad gloats.
I glare at him. “What exactly have you been telling him?”
“I mean it,” Logan says firmly. “Name three things you like about her. Go.”
I groan. “Can we please not have this conversation on a boat where I can’t escape?”
“Nope. We’re not leaving here until you convince me that she’s not just a toy for you.”
