Chapter Ten
Sarah punched the first-floor button and leaned back against the wall, the day’s events grounding her faster than the elevator would.
How could Logan do that to her? Asking her on a date out of nowhere.
She’d dreamed about him doing it for months, but never in her fantasy did his asking cause a tight knot to twist around her stomach.
But that’s exactly what had happened. She wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but ever since the road trip to Westbrook, the fantasy of Logan looking her way had been easily replaced by the real sensations she’d experienced from kissing Ryan.
Her knees started to shake, and she leaned against the elevator for support. Yes, even the memory of kissing Ryan could send her body into convulsion.
And now instead of a plan, she had a problem.
When Logan had offered to help her with her packages, she’d thought he’d been merely trying to make sure she’d purchased everything he’d wanted for the Secret Santa exchange. Never in a million years had she thought he’d flat-out ask her on a date.
She blew out a long breath as the elevator stopped on the seventh floor and a man and a woman got in. The shock of Logan asking her out had been replaced with dread when he’d announced that he wanted to invite Ryan and have it be a double date. He had the perfect woman in mind who was into sports just as much as Ryan.
Her heart had split right down the middle at the thought of having to sit through a meal watching Ryan with another woman by his side.
She’d sat at her desk staring at her computer screen for most of the afternoon, dumbfounded.
Had Ryan been just as surprised at Logan’s out-of-the-blue invitation? Had he agreed to be set up on a double date? Did he want to go out with this sporty woman who Logan had said would be perfect for him?
That last question was tearing her up inside and prompted a deliberate swing by Ryan’s office at the end of the day, but he’d already left the building.
She stepped out of the elevator, moving through the first-floor lobby while buttoning her coat. She could give Ryan a call and say she just happened to be in his neighborhood and suggest grabbing a drink, but since the Upper West Side where he lived was nowhere near her Brooklyn apartment, that seemed like a bit of a stretch.
Plus, what if he was excited to be set up with a woman that liked sports as much as he did? What would she say?Ryan, I know I’ve asked you to help me win Logan’s heart, but I can’t stop thinking about our kiss and really want to do it again. Don’t go out with this woman.
She sighed. Pathetic.
She passed through the revolving door into the cold, resigning herself to the fact that she’d have to wait to talk to Ryan tomorrow. Maybe she’d see if he wanted to go out to lunch, and she could ask her questions then.
She tugged on her gloves, glancing in the direction of uptown. The problem was, she didn’t want to wait. Going home and watching reality TV wasn’t going to give her the answer to the only question on her mind: Did Ryan want to be set up?
Standing on the corner, her gaze darted over to the dry cleaner’s neon-blue sign across the street. Her lips immediately turned up, and she rushed over to the store.
She had an idea.
…
Ryan peeled off his jacket and hung it up in his living-room closet. What a day.
Strike that. What afucked-upday.
After Logan had announced that he’d 1) asked Sarah out and 2) wanted Ryan to join them with a blind date of his own, Ryan had holed up in his office for the rest of the afternoon pissed off.
If he’d just admitted he had feelings for Sarah, Logan wouldn’t have asked her on a date. So why hadn’t he?
Because Ryan was a good friend, dammit, and this is what Sarah wanted. What she deserved, too, since Ryan would never be able to give her the kind of relationship Logan could.
He placed his phone on the coffee table and plopped down on the couch, turning on his TV. None of it mattered. What happened between him and Sarah on the football field was a one-time thing. Hell, he’d told her flat-out they’d gotten carried away and it wasn’t a big deal.
It wasn’t how he felt, but the awkward tension in the car ride home from Westbrook had been the only reason he’d downplayed what had happened. The fact that Sarah had been quick to agree with him told him everything he’d needed to know.Shethought it was a mistake.
“And this is why I don’t do relationships,” he said out loud to his empty apartment.
His phone buzzed, and he glanced down at the text message. “What the…”