Wild (The Ivy Chronicles #3)(5)

Of course, she knew who he was. I seemed to recall they had fooled around once. Pepper had mentioned that tidbit. For the first time since knowing this, something ugly spiked inside me. I hated that Annie had gotten to kiss him . . . that they had maybe done more than kiss.

As embarrassing as the whole situation was, I did not spontaneously combust. The earth did not open up to swallow me. Still, I didn’t walk away. My feet were rooted to the spot, pinned by Logan’s dark blue eyes. With his gaze glued to me, he lowered his head to kiss the girl again. Eyes wide open. Trained on me. He didn’t look away from me as he kissed. Not even when the girl on the table brought her hand up and began working him through his jeans. He looked directly at me with a burning-hot stare.

Kissing one girl, his cock being rubbed by another, he stared me down.

I couldn’t look away.

“That’s hot,” Annie breathed near my ear. “He’s looking right at you like it’s you he’s kissing. Or wants to.”

I fought to swallow the golf-ball-sized lump in my throat. “No,” I choked out, not even certain what I was denying. He was looking at me. But he didn’t want to kiss me. That would be . . . weird. I was his older brother’s friend.

Suddenly someone started shouting: “Ten, nine, eight . . .” The crowd joined in, chanting out the rest of the countdown. “Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!”

A tall, thin guy wearing a Charlie Brown T-shirt held up his phone as the timer started trilling. “Time’s up!”

I exhaled, so relieved to know there was an end to this. That Logan wasn’t about to engage in a full-scale threesome in front of this mob. In front of me. Because as much as I disliked the idea, I knew I wouldn’t have been able to look away. I would have watched it all.

Which made me wonder who in the hell I even was anymore?

People clapped and hooted as Logan hopped down from the table in one smooth move, landing lightly on his feet. Turning, he assisted the other two girls off the table. One clung to him, clearly eager to continue what they’d started on the table.

“Number 364 . . . 364!”

Logan’s gaze found me. Not difficult. I still hadn’t moved from where I was rooted.

“All right! Who’s got 364? C’mon now!”

“Georgia, did you check your ticket?” Annie grabbed my hand. I’d forgotten about the ticket I’d grabbed from the bucket. I didn’t even know what it was for, but I’d hung on to it, clutched it between my fingers as I’d watched Logan’s little exhibition. “Ohmigod! That’s you!” Annie jerked my hand high into the air. “Right here . . . 364!”

The skinny guy pulled me forward. “Here’s 364! Annnnnd.” He made a show of tossing the tickets in the bucket. He selected another ticket and brandished it in the air. “The lucky number is 349! Where is 349?”

Another guy emerged from the crowd. This guy was big. Like lineman big. And tall. My head fell back to assess him. He grinned. “Hey, sweet thing.”

Before I could even speak, his hands dropped on my waist and lifted me up on the table. I winced a little as I came down hard. My legs dangled over the side of the table. “Ready for two minutes on the table?”

I opened my mouth, but no words came. For a split second, I tried to convince myself I could do this. Make out with a stranger in front of a group of strangers. I could be that bold. I could let go of my inhibitions for a few minutes and do something just that wild.

He leaned close to whisper in my ear, his fingers tucking the hair back from my face. “You’re a pretty piece. If you’re shy, we don’t have to do this here at all. Would you like to go somewhere else? Take more than two minutes?”

The words finally came. A big fat no materialized on my tongue. I opened my mouth to object, but someone else was suddenly speaking.

“Sorry. This one’s mine.” Logan reached for my arm, fingers closing around my wrist as he guided me down from the table. Relief coursed through me. Until I remembered that I was a big girl who didn’t need rescuing.

Lineman scowled at him. I added my own scowl. I wasn’t his or anyone’s.

Lineman stepped between us, blocking me from total retreat. Logan still held my wrist. “You already had your fun.” He nodded at the pool table. “Now it’s my turn.”

Logan grinned like he wasn’t challenging the thick-necked guy who probably added steroids to his Chex Mix. “Sorry, man, but she’s not playing the game.” Logan clapped a hand on his muscle-sloped shoulder like they were old friends.

Lineman looked down at Logan’s hand on his shoulder and then back to him. “She took a ticket.” He sounded like a petulant child now.

“I—I’m sorry.” I finally found my voice. Stammer and all. “I didn’t know what the ticket was for.”

Lineman grunted and stepped out of the way. He held up a finger in my face. “You should always know the rules before you play.”

I nodded, feeling like an idiot. Like a child being scolded for not following the instructions so clearly written on top of the paper.

Logan pulled me through the crowd and out into the more open space of the loft. Only he didn’t stop there. He didn’t release me.

His long strides moved swiftly, leading us through the press of bodies. As if it was his right to touch me. As if his brother dating my best friend gave him the right to interfere in my life.