6

Sierra

“Logan?” I gasp as I turn the corner into the parking lot behind the condos. “What are you doing here?” I take a quick glance behind me to make sure that the new stranger—whose name I didn’t catch—isn’t within earshot. I have nothing to be ashamed about, but I can’t help but feel a tinge of guilt about being seen with someone else.

“I…uh…felt bad for how I treated you earlier. I wanted to apologize.” His voice is cold and forced.

“Oh…”

“And I saw you walking home with that guy. Do you know who that is?” he asks, looking more angry than concerned.

“Um, no, actually. He just offered to walk me home.”

“I’m sure he did,” he says with a cold expression.

“Do you have a problem with that?” I try to walk past him. It’s like I suddenly remember that I spent a couple hours with this guy, and he shut me down and has no hold over me whatsoever. I can walk with whomever I want.

Of course, none of this changes how badly I want him to kiss me or touch me.

“Yeah, you can’t just walk around with strange guys. They only want one thing.” He reaches out to hold my arm and keep me from walking inside.

As soon as his fingers wrap around my arm, I glare at him. “And what about you? What do you want?”

“I don’t want to see a nice girl like you end up in a bad situation.” I can feel his grip get tighter but not in a controlling way. He’s restraining himself. I can feel it.

“What if I’m not such a nice girl?”

“I’m not buying it,” he says without taking his eyes from mine.

“I thought you came here to apologize.”

“That was until I saw you walking around with him.”

I pull my arm away, in a dare. I dare him to grab it again. I dare him to hold me down. Pin me against this wall. Make me his and only his.

“Are you going to see him again?” he asks without any hint of curiosity in his voice. We are not the same two people who sat on that beach last night. How quickly everything between us became so charged. It’s like we’ve shared something intimate, and we’re no longer strangers.

“He invited me to a party tonight.”

“You can’t go,” he orders me. He seems almost desperate.

“Why not?”

“Because you’ll be with me.”

I stop where I stand on the first step leading up to the building doors. My chest is visibly heaving from my weighted breaths. There’s nothing I want more right now than to spend my evening with him, but I can tell that there must be something more to this invitation.

“But you said—”

“I changed my mind. I was stupid to push you away.”

I wait, watching him struggle through those two clumsy lines.

“Was that your version of an apology?” I ask.