Page 55 of The Lost and the Found

Logan told me to sit down, and I did as he asked. He took the seat across from me, then grabbed both of my feet and pulled them up, placing them on his lap.

I bit my lip to keep from moaning out loud when he ran his hand around my ankles, massaging them lightly before putting my heels back on. I could tell he was enjoying this, and I didn’t know how to tell him to stop.

“Ready?” I asked, when he placed my feet back on the ground.

He grinned. “Yeah.”

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“To have my hands over you? Hell yeah, I’m enjoying this.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re impossible.”

He chuckled and helped me up. And when I was firmly on my feet, he didn’t let go of my hand like I expected. Instead, he tightened his hold on me.

I looked to Logan, unsure about why he was tense all of a sudden, but he wasn’t looking at me. His eyes were directly ahead, and I followed his gaze.

It was my turn to tense up then, when I caught sight of Clarissa heading our way.

Logan didn’t know I knew of his history with Clarissa, and I wondered briefly if he would bring it up.

“Logan!” she exclaimed when she was close enough, and despite the fact that Logan had his hand around mine, she moved in for a hug that lasted way longer than was friendly. As for me, I stood there awkwardly, one hand still in Logan’s and the other hanging limply by my side.

I was very aware of that hand.

“Clarissa. How are you?”

She beamed, as if he just told her he was hopelessly in love with her. “Good. Did you see me up there? I kept wondering if you’d bid for me.”

I resisted the urge to scowl; I knew I wasn’t invisible. It was clear to anyone with eyes that I was with Logan.

I felt his hand tighten around mine, before pulling me closer to him. “No, I didn’t,” he said calmly. No bullshit. But from what I had learned of Logan so far, he was as straightforward as they came. It was one of the many qualities I admired most about him.

Clarissa’s expression faltered so slightly, I wasn’t sure if I’d imagined it or not. But one thing was for certain. She wasn’t over him.

“Oh.” She turned to me then. I hated to even admit this, but she was even more beautiful up close. I couldn’t find a single flaw. Her most prominent features were her clear baby blue eyes. They were hypnotizing and, I was sure, drove all the men and even some women crazy.

She looked me up and down, not subtle in the least, as she assessed me, and from the look in her eyes, she didn’t see me as much of a threat. “And you are?”

Hopefully leaving soon, I wanted to say.

Logan beat me to it, though. “This is Hayden. My date. Hayden, this is Clarissa, a… friend.”

So he wasn’t going to tell me their history. I knew I wasn’t the only one who caught the hesitation in his voice when he introduced her.

“Nice to meet you,” she said, and I was presented with one of the fakest smiles I had ever encountered in my entire life.

I smiled back but didn’t say anything. I wasn’t one for games. If she really wanted to pretend she was okay with seeing Logan with someone else, that was on her. But I wasn’t going to pretend we could ever be friends. I was civil, and that was all Logan could ask of me.

“Anyway, we were just leaving. Give your dad my best for me, won’t you?”

“Oh, you’re leaving so soon? But the party is just getting started.”

“I thought this was a charity event,” I said. I couldn’t help myself. I didn’t like the way she looked at this whole thing. As if she was doing everyone a favor simply by being here.

She scoffed. “Of course it is, and we raised a lot of money tonight. But that’s done, and we can finally enjoy ourselves.”

“Right.” I turned to Logan then. “Can we leave? I have a headache.”

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