“She doesn’t want to go with you,” the voice booms as I turn to see Logan standing next to me, a furious sneer on his face.

Tyler jumps up surprisingly quickly to face Logan. “Who asked you, bro?” he says, huffing his wide nostrils in Logan’s face.

“I see you push around any girl here like that again, I’ll bury your ass in the fucking sand.” Logan isn’t as heated as Tyler. In fact, he seems cool, yet stern. The look of sheer intensity in his eyes is enough to make Tyler hesitate.

“You’re just a piece of local trash,” Tyler argues.

Logan ignores Tyler’s lame insult as he touches the back of my arm and says, “Let’s go.” I turn my head to look at him, still surprised that he’s here, that he defended me and possibly saved my life.

He must notice my frozen hesitation. “You don’t want to stay here…” He says it like a question, and it doesn’t take me long before I’m silently shaking my head.

“I’ll give you a ride, let’s go.” His hand is touching the back of my arm again, not grabbing or pushing, but protecting me. Guiding me through the crowd in a way that says, “She’s with me.” And even though I was just in what could have been the worst scenario of my life, I can’t help but feel almost excited about his subtle touch.

“You’re going with him? Then you must be a piece of shit too!” Tyler calls after us.

“Keep going,” Logan whispers as we walk.

Natalie is nice enough to come up for air long enough to ask me if I’m okay as I pass her. I don’t even answer. She must notice Logan because she breathes a surprised “hey” toward him.

As soon as we're out of the crowd, it feels instantly silent and cold. I wrap my arms around myself as we approach the motionless street. Something warm covers my shoulders as I glance toward Logan. He’s setting his black leather jacket across my body, instantly covering me in warmth.

“It’ll be even colder on the bike,” he says, but his words don’t register.

I look back toward the party, but no one even looks toward us or comes after me. No one here cares about me at all. The thought chills me, so I squeeze his jacket tighter around me.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

“What was I thinking? I should have never been out there with him in the first place. This is all my fault.” I press my face into my hands, letting the words tumble out of my mouth. I feel like such an idiot.

“Hey, hey,” he says as he places his large hands on my shoulders, putting his face in front of mine, forcing me to look at him. “Can I call someone for you? Take you home?”

“No,” I answer in a rush. I’d rather go back to that party, if we’re being honest. My parents wouldn’t notice anything was wrong or if they did, they would find some way to blame it on me.