“What?” I blurt. Maybe he’s not as fettered as I thought.
“I don’t know what possessed you to date such an enormous tool when you seem so smart, so let me be clear. You can’t invite my brother out to ice cream while you’re seriously dating someone else.”
“That’s not what I?—”
“It is, though. You can say it was about work or saving his arm, or whatever, but I watched you all last season. The way you shut everyone else down faster than a sold-out coffee cart while you practically dared Lucas to keep trying. You got his number, Quinn. Now lose it.”
This is so unfair, so unjust, so … unintentional but true.
“That’s not what I was trying to do,” I say softly.
Logan stuffs his hands in the pocket of his hoodie. “Doesn’t matter. I don’t care if you’re trying to figure out how you feel about Lucas or if you just like being liked. And I don’t care if you’re in some bizarreTwilightsituation and you’re torn between the two of them. I care that you stop getting in my brother’s head. Everything’s going to change for him this season, and if he’s too busy thinking about your lopsided love triangle to get his head in the game, I’ll make you regret it.”
I scoff. His words make me feel like I’m sinking into the ground, but I’m too contrary to take it, well, sinking. “How so?”
“I’ll sic my sister on you. You’re tough, but she’s got big-sister energy, and the internet tells me big-sister energy trumps little-sister energy every day of the week.”
I breathe out a laugh. It’s hard to get mad at him when he’s right and when he’s being a lot nicer about it than he could be.
“I promise I won’t lead him on.”
“Thank you.”
“Can we talk about theTwilightreference?”
“Depends. You Team Jacob or Team Edward?”
“Team Edward.”
“Then no.”
I whip my head around. “You seriously liked Jacob for Bella over Edward?”
“No. We both see things the same way, so there’s nothing more to say.”
I look at him. Study his eyes on his brother, the set of his jaw. And then I burst out laughing. “You’re different than I thought.”
He turns to face me. “No, you just never thought about me. And you can stop thinking about me. I don’t want your triangle to become a square.”
“There’s not even a triangle, Logan. Your geometry concernsare noted but unnecessary.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” He gives me a nod and walks off to talk to the kids.
I don’t talk to Lucas until lunchtime, when he shows up holding a steaming cup of coffee from Meant to Bean. My pulse quickens. The drink smells dark and minty and makes my mouth water.
“What is that heavenly smell?” I ask.
He hands me the cup. “It’s called the Bean There, Done That.”
I take an eager sip, trying to ignore Logan’s warning voice in my head. Then I exhale a sigh. “It tastes like a completed to-do list.”
He laughs. “That’s probably the peppermint.”
“Or sorcery,” I say.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” he says, reaching for something in his back pocket. It’s neatly wrapped in the kind of tissue paper stores use for breakable items.
I unwrap it. And then chuckle. “A whistle?”
