Fighting Fate (Granton University #1)(88)

She loved how much he cared. Smiling her reassurance, she took his hand. He squeezed her fingers before his shoulders eased and he breathed out a silent, relieved breath.

“I guess I’m going then,” he said.

She followed him to the door, where he crouched down to pull on his shoes. “Do you have to work today?”

“No, I…” Shoving his foot into the last shoe, he stood and cast her suitemates a cautious squint. They watched him avidly. “I have a feeling you and your friends need to talk, though.”

Paige glanced at Tess and Bailey who both bobbed their heads in vigorous agreement. She sighed. “Yeah.” And she had a lot more to tell them than Logan realized. “It might take a while too.” She sent him an apologetic grimace.

“That’s fine. I’m going to head home and grab a shower. I think I left my cell phone at The Squeeze, so I might pop in there to get it, and make sure we didn’t leave too much of a mess last night while I’m at it. Is…” He cast their audience a discreet look before turning back to her. “Is it okay if I stop by later?”

Without answering, Paige grabbed the front of his shirt with both hands and yanked him against her for a goodbye kiss. When his mouth captured hers, she felt home.

Soon, the meeting of lips turned into something too deep for prying eyes, so she regretfully let go of his shirt. He took a step away from her, looking dazed as he struggled for air.

“Okay, then. I’ll take that as a yes.” He returned to her just enough to press his forehead to hers and nuzzle their noses back and forth.

“I think that was a hell yes,” Bailey piped up.

Logan grinned as he pulled back. Paige’s hand caught his and their fingers naturally interlaced as he nodded to her suitemates and then opened the door to the hall. His eyes were soft and content.

“Bye.”

“Bye,” she whispered back, not letting go of his fingers until the very last moment. The door closed gently before she turned around, floating on a cloud of ecstasy—

And found both her friends gawking.

“What…” Bailey couldn’t speak beyond that.

Paige blushed. “Um…that’s a long story. You go first. What were you saying when you came in?”

Bailey and Tess exchanged glances, both looking confused as if they’d already forgotten what they’d been so excited to share.

“And what’re you doing back on campus so early?” Usually they didn’t roll in until after sundown on the Sunday before the week started. But it couldn’t even be eight a.m. yet. “Didn’t your ski trip go okay?”

“Oh!” Tess finally brightened. “Yeah. No. I mean, my dad broke his ankle, and we had to leave early. But he’s going to be fine. We heard about Dorian Wade on the news so we hurried back to find out what was going on here. Did you know he was found—”

Paige blanched. “Yeah, I know.” Scrubbing her face with both hands, she sighed and slumped onto the edge of her bed.

Had it only been two nights ago that the whole debacle with Dorian had started? It didn’t seem possible. It felt like ages had passed. Things were moving too quickly. She didn’t know if she could keep up.

“I have a lot more to tell you than you’ll believe,” she admitted.

“Start with Logan,” Tess demanded, plopping down beside her. “And don’t leave out a single detail.”

“Especially the juicy ones,” Bailey added, landing on her other side.

“Actually, I think I need to start three years ago.” Paige groaned and dropped her hands. “But first, tell me what they said on the news. Do they have any suspects for who shot Dorian?”

Tess gasped. “He was shot? With a gun?”

“No, with a paper clip,” Bailey muttered. “God, Tessie. Really?”

Tess ignored her and never took her wide-eyed gaze off Paige. “Holy crap. How do you know he was shot?”

Paige winced. “The cops told us. When they came to question Logan and me.”

Bailey waved her hands. “Wait, wait, wait! Why would the cops question you and Logan? Maybe you should start with that story first.”

“No!” Tess grabbed her wrist. “Start with the bedroom details first. I want to know how long you guys have been sleeping together.”

Paige blushed hard. “I don’t know if I can. It’s so surreal. I still can’t believe this is actually happening. But, oh my God, you guys. It was sooo…” She grinned and sighed. “He kept telling me I wasn’t ready, especially after Friday night. But I kept pushing and—” With a gasp of clarity, she glanced between her friends. “I’m no longer a virgin. Oh, wow. I can’t…this is all just so…I don’t know how to explain it. It was amazing, and I feel so alive and exhilarated and…and…but then I’m also kind of nervous and afraid that my dad is going to disown me, and I’ll lose my friend Kayla. But it was still so worth it.” Cupping her face in her hands, she gave a little moan. “I can’t process everything.”

When both her friends stared at her as if she was insane, she blushed. “What?”

Bailey blinked. “I’m in shock we’re even having this conversation.”

“What brought you two together?” Tess asked.