“Of course you’re good at basketball,” Logan said after their first win. “Is there anything you can’t do?” He was tempted to say, “Besides dance?” but wasn’t sure they were in a place where he could tease her about that yet.
She blushed. “You’re not too bad yourself, cowboy.”
Two hours later, he was bent over, sucking in breath and praying he wouldn’t pass out or throw up. They had just beaten Brody, Nick, and Alex—barely. “I thought I was in better shape,” he wheezed.
“Come on, Fox,” Tess said, slapping him playfully on the butt. “Momma wants another trophy.”
“All right.” He stood and wiped sweat from his brow. “I’m coming.” From depths unknown sprang a mad desire to make Tess happy. If winning was what she wanted, he’d do his darnedest.
He and Tess played together seamlessly. It was as if they read each other’s thoughts. She caught his no-look passes with ease. He parlayed her alley-oops into easy layups and even had one decent dunk. Which he vowed to try again when Tess ran to hug him in celebration.
After Alex’s team was eliminated, she and Faith crowned themselves coaches for his. The five of them huddled on the sideline before the championship game.
“You guys are amazing,” Faith said, glancing between Logan and Tess. “It’s like you’ve played together all your lives.”
“Hey!” Max complained. “What am I? Chopped liver?”
“Sorry,” Faith said. “But you gotta admit, these two have serious synergy.”
“Well, they’ve gotten us this far. Heaven knows I’m barely pulling my weight.” Max laughed.
It warmed Logan’s insides to hear Faith acknowledge and verify his own feelings that he and Tess worked well together.
Amidst high fives and butt taps, they dribbled and shot their way to victory. Tess’s friends erupted with glee when she sank the final winning basket.
High from the win, Tess jumped onto Logan’s back, hugging him hard. The move caused any lingering doubts about wanting her to blow off into the breeze.
He could no longer deny his feelings. It wasn’t just respect for her toughness in the wilderness. It was more than admiration for her indifference to money or status. These were urgent, intense, I-wanna-get-with-her yearnings.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t do anything about them. Yet. Trying to take things to the next level would upset the balance of their relationship. What if he asked her out and she said no? Or what if she said yes, they dated for a bit, but then it all blew up?
He would be here for most of the summer, and it wouldn’t be nearly as fun without this group of friends. Which he would undoubtedly lose in any parting of ways with Tess. Unwilling to risk that, he would begrudgingly stay parked in the friend zone for now.
Tess’s gang had the whole day scheduled out. After dominating the basketball tournament, he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the rest of the town and watched as Tess and her teammates donned high school jerseys and waved from a convertible in the parade.
They swam in the lake—Tess in a bikini, hoo-boy!—ate hot dogs and another pie, and later that night, drove out to an old barn to watch fireworks.
He did his best to park himself next to Tess whenever possible. She didn’t seem to mind and even gave him some lingering looks. But he still wasn’t convinced she’d be amiable to his advances and couldn’t take the chance of incurring “weirdness” between them.
The fact that she’d dumped Carter so easily was proof that she wasn’t all about money and fame. But it also proved Logan could end up on the wrong side of her brutal honesty if she didn’t share his feelings. He wasn’t sure he could face that kind of rejection.
There was also the business stuff to consider. It would probably be prudent to get all that out of the way before making a move. That meant expediting his mission to figure out why the seller wanted to keep The Outpost. He mentally moved it to the top of his priority list.
When he finally closed his eyes that night, he realized today might go down as his most memorable Fourth of July.
The small town, decorated to the hilt. The quintessential Americana vibe fueled by sparklers and apple pie. The family-friendly, media-free community activities. Hollywood directors couldn’t have scripted a more perfect day. And the best part was the fun group of people he’d shared it with.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Tess
“Ya nervous?” Tess asked the bride.
Alex stood in front of a full-length mirror, smoothing the white satin with one hand and holding a peach Bellini in the other.
“Hell, no,” Alex said. “I can’t wait.”
Maddie chuckled. “Well, you got about twenty more minutes.”
