Page 27 of Everything Has Changed
A low whistle has me turning toward Logan, my face morphing into the glare I was holding in. “Something to say, Spencer?”
He holds his hands up in surrender. “Nothing at all, Prescott.” But he continues to speak as I break into a brisk pace away from the bar and toward the corner of the room. “Do you often leave a trail of broken hearts where ever you go?”
I roll my eyes. “I did not break his heart. He will be just fine.”
“If you say so, Gwen. But you know you can bail on all of us if you want to. Don’t feel like you have to abstain from fun to entertain the new guy.”
“You’re not new, you’ve just been missing for awhile.”
He chuckles. “If you say so.”
“Did my brother really send you over to get me?”
“Actually,” he starts, “I might have felt your call for help through the universe and decided now was a great time for a refill.”
“I did not send a call for help.”
“Tell that to your big eyes.” He widens his dramatically to show exactly what he means.
Slapping the back of my hand across his chest, I try not to think about how firm his muscles feel against my skin. “That’s not true.”
Logan throws his head back laughing as we walk up to the table. Jackson and Matthew sit on one side, both with weary looks on their faces, while Piper animatedly tosses her hands up in the air. No doubt adding a flair of dramatics to whatever story she is telling them.
“Pipes, what are you traumatizing the boys with tonight?” I ask, popping up on the vacant stool beside her.
Logan stands in the empty space at the end of the table. It doesn’t escape my notice how he favors my side of the table as he leans on his elbows. The way his biceps strain against the sleeve of his tee doesn’t either, and I have to rip my stare away to look back at my best friend again.
“Just reminding them how inferior their gender is.”
“A casual Friday night then,” I raise my glass to clink it with hers before we both take long sips.
Matthew snorts. “All I asked was if she had been on any dates recently.”
Jackson shrugs. “After listening to her, I have to say the crash out was valid, if I’m being honest.”
“She told you about the ear thing, didn’t she?”
Matt’s eyes widen. “Ear thing? What ear thing? She told us about the guy who has zero furniture in his house. Now I learn there are ear things? Actually, never mind. I don’t want to know.”
Piper scrunches her nose in disgust. “We vowed to never bring that up again.”
“What about you? Any tales from your time away?” Matt switches the focus to Logan who just shakes his head.
“You’re going to be sorely disappointed to hear I have absolutely nothing. I was too busy working to have anything else going on.”
“Ah yes,” Jackson claps him on the shoulder. “You were building that mayoral resume, weren’t you?”
Logan sheepishly scratches at the back of his head. “Something like that.”
“Speaking of,” Piper leans around. “How does it feel to be back here?”
Fidgeting with the paper label on the beer bottle, Logan takes a second to think before answering. “Honestly, I’m not completely sure yet. Part of me feels like I never left. But the other part of me feels like an outsider. Willow Grove is still the same, but it’s also completely different.”
“Doesn’t feel too different to me,” Jackson grumbles before take a sip of his beer.
“Last time I lived here, you weren’t a veterinarian. Matthew didn’t have his company. And Gwen definitely didn’t run the best coffee shop I’ve ever stepped foot in.”
I feel my cheeks warm at the praise.
