Page 19 of Everything Has Changed
I suppress a yawn as the evening seeps into my body.
“Don’t you start,” Piper accuses as she bites down on her own with a glare in my direction. “I still need to drive home.”
“You can always crash with me.”
She shakes her head as we make our way down the street. “Mom wanted me to swing into the house before I called it a night. Something tells me she got bored at the salon and experimented with her color again.” We both share a giggle knowing it’s the most plausible reason. “Plus, you know I love my own bed. I’ll see you tomorrow, though. Are you still babysitting for the Erikson’s?”
I nod my head, slowing as we approach her SUV parked outside my building. “Sally has already texted me multiple times this week to let me know how excited the kids are to bake cookies and watch cartoons. I think it was her way of making sure they still had a sitter for date night.”
“She should know you would never bail.”
I shrug. “Can’t say I blame her. If my husband and I worked opposite shifts and we finally had a free night together, you best believe I would be booking that babysitter, too.”
“Amen to that.” Piper climbs into her car, blowing me a kiss before she shuts the door—only to immediately roll her windows down and level me with a somber look. “Don’t worry too much about Logan, okay? I know we are ingrained to think the worst as humans, but something in my gut is telling me this might be good for you.”
“Was it the pizza or have you been spending time with Mary lately?” I raise an eyebrow as I mention our local psychic. We all loved Mary, though you couldn’t help but question some of her witchy woo-woo anticssometimes.
“Maybe I should. She seems to have a secret sauce to having fun in life that we don’t,” Piper says contemplatively before turning her sight back on me. “You’re going to crush this festival, but maybe the extra hands will do you some good so you don’t spread yourself too thin. Just be firm with him from the get go and if he doesn’t agree,” she shrugs, “sucks for him when you take all the credit.”
“Wise words from a wise woman.”
She winks as she changes gears into drive, angling her tires to pull away from the curb. “You know it, babe. See ya tomorrow! Love ya!” She pulls away as I repeat her words back.
I’m watching her taillights disappear down the street as the soft breeze whips my hair around my face. I close my eyes, lifting my face to the night sky and breathe in the mountain air.
The only sounds are a few chirping bugs in the distance.
Until the popping of metal from overhead has my neck whipping around.
“Fancy meeting you here.”
I can’t see him, but Logan’s voice drifts down from his balcony, which sits directly beside mine. A soft light coming through his doorway illuminates around him as he leans over the balcony.
“Jesus,” I gasp, my hand on my heaving chest. “You scared the crap out of me.” It’s only then that I remember Piper’s parting words and I begin to worry about what he heard. “How long have you been sitting up there?”
I’m still unable to see the front of him as the bright moon hides behind the building next to us, leaving him in the shadows. But I can see his silhouette shift from one foot to the other. His hand reaches up to ruffle his hair.
“A while,” he says. I can hear the sheepishness in his voice, and I just know he heard her. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but the sound traveled right on up.”
I squeeze my eyes shut tightly against the embarrassment flooding me. I know exactly what he’s talking about, because I’ve spent a few nights hidden from view of the public listening in on everyone going about their lives.
“Awesome,” I mutter. “Well, I’m going to go hide in a hole now. Have a great night.” Before he has a chance to say anything else, I rush to the front door and pull it open—hoping like hell he will just let me die of embarrassment in peace by letting me slink into my apartment unbothered. But that’s definitely not my luck as I jog up the stairs two at a time, just to find him waiting in his doorway when I land on the floor.
His shoulder leans against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest, accentuating the muscles he’s clearly been taking good care of beneath his white shirt. Logan’s gray sweatpants hang loose on his hips, and I have to force my gaze not to stray. The curious need to test the gray sweats theory bounces endlessly through my mind.
We stop and stare at each other for a moment, his lips resting naturally with a playful smirk. I break the contact first as I reach into my bag, removing my noisy key ring. I keep my gaze down while I pass Logan, only stopping when I reach my door, unlocking it all while feeling his eyes on me.
He still hasn’t said anything, and I almost get the door open before the need to know what he’s thinking eats at me.
I spin toward the side where I find him looking right over at me with that same damn grin.
“Okay,” I sigh, tossing the keys back into my bag. “Let’s get this over with.”
His brow pops up. “Do you mean acknowledging that I did in fact hear you and Piper talking about me?”
“Yes, exactly that.”
He chuckles, his hands going out in front of him in mock surrender. “I just wanted to say I get it.”
