Page 114 of Everything Has Changed
“Now the moment you’ve all been waiting for, our final bachelor of the evening, so those wallets should be warmed up and ready. Come on out, Logan.” Margot leads everyone into a round of applause to encourage him out onto the stage.
My heart trips over itself when I see his sheepish grin. He ducks his head and waves out into the crowd. It’s his eyes though that has my breath hitching. Because the moment he is standing by his mother,ready for the bidding war to begin, his eyes seek mine out again. They plead with me to understand. But that’s hard to do when I’m not sure what it is I’m supposed to get.
Margot doesn’t even start the bidding number when a shout rings out from the back of the crowd.
“Three hundred dollars!”
“Do I hear three hundred and fifty?”
The amounts start rolling in so quickly that we hit seven hundred and fifty dollars in the blink of an eye, art of me is kind of glad I didn’t try to bid on Logan because I would have maxed out by now.
“What about eight hundred dollars?”
Clear as a bell, from the front row a loud “one thousand” cuts through the noise.
“That bitch,” Piper gasps.
Camila beams from in front of the stage and my heart sinks at the realization that I just handed over a romantic date to the man that I love and the woman who once had him.
“How much you got?” Kennedy rushes out, her fingers counting the money in her wallet. “Piper, do you really have that money?”
“What are you doing?”
“How much?” She demands again as Margot calls the next round of numbers.
“Only five hundred,” I pull out the bills from my front pocket, which she snatches along with Piper’s stack.
Stepping forward before Margot calls it, my sister yells with all her might, “One thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars!”
The entire crowd gasps as they turn to look at who could have offered up such an insane bid.
“Wow! Seventeen-fifty going once, twice. Camila, do you have a counter-offer? No? Okay. Sold to Kennedy Prescott, Willow Grove’svery own best-selling author! And that’s all, folks. It has been wonderful being your emcee for the night. Please enjoy the rest of the evening here in our beautiful town.”
“What did you just do?” I whisper to my sister, who hands me back the wad of cash we piled together.
“I just kept your boyfriend from having a romantic evening with his ex and got you a massive donation. You’re welcome. You can pay me back later.” She slaps me on the back and gives me some space when Logan walks up to us.
He scratches at the back of his head, his eyes looking down for a beat when he stops in front of me. When he finally looks up, I’m captivated by his swirling hazel eyes and his half-smirk.
“Gwendolyn Prescott, would you go on a date with me?”
39
Logan
Guiding Gwen, hand in hand, we return to our spot at the lake beneath the willows. The sun is long gone, replaced by the full moon shining all around us. The branches and leaves around us sway to their own beat as the wind rides over the water.
Finding the same overturned log from last time, Gwen takes her seat next to me huddled into her sweater. Her skirt and tights combination that I love so much is not doing anything to protect her from the gust of air, so instead of laying the checkered blanket on the ground for us to sit on, I lay it across her legs, tucking it around her so it does blow away.
Her berry colored lips grant me a small grin in return. “Thank you.”
“Anything for you,” I wink, then start digging into the basket, pretending like I had no idea what would be in it. Presenting the bottle of wine to her, I say “Here we have a Cabernet with a round bold flavor with,” I check the label, “blackberry, black cherry, and a hint of vanilla and tobacco. Would you like a glass, m’lady?”
When she giggles, her entire face lights up, but tonight there’s a bit of sadness around the edges. I know I put it there, but I’m determined to take it away.
“Please,” she says softly, holding out the plastic wine cup for me to give her a good pour. She swirls it under her nose and takes a tentative sip. “My favorite, how did you know?”
I lift one shoulder, setting down the bottle to continue removing the remaining contents. “Lucky guess,” I smirk. Pulling out the covered tray, I read the card placed on top telling us what the platter contains. “Looks like we have some cheddar, gruyere, prosciutto, and salami.”
