Page 14

He jerks his chin toward the double doors at the back of the gym, past the crepe paper streamers and disco lights. “Huckslee.”

Following his gaze, I spot his stepbrother slipping out into the parking lot, blond curly hair bouncing as he shoulders open the door. I shrug, more fascinated with the guy who’s leaning against the wall just beyond the neon lights of the dance floor.

He’s tall, almost gangly, dressed in a black button-down with the sleeves rolled up, collar slightly askew like he fought his tie and lost. Light brown hair falls neatly over his brow.

When he catches my attention, he smiles softly. The lights sparkle off his honey-gold eyes, and my stomach flips.

"Who's that?” I murmur, tilting my head just enough to break eye contact.

Taylor follows my line of sight, then scoffs. “Huck’s best friend. Logan.”

Hmm. Doesn't ring a bell. I've never noticed him before, but I can feel the way his eyes seem to caress my skin. "He's still staring, huh?"

Tay pulls out his phone, smirking wickedly as he texts someone (probably Huck) before grabbing my wrist. "Come on," he laughs, yanking me forward.

I yelp, gripping at his arm to keep from falling. "Where the hell are we going?"

"I'm about to tell this asshole to stop staring at my girl."

I toss Christian a perplexed look over my shoulder, but he just rolls his eyes and gestures for Matty and Xed to follow.

Since when the fuck has Taylor ever cared about who stares at me? It's not like we're official or anything. We weren’t even planning on coming to this overrated thing, but we thought it would be funny to make jungle juice out of the punch.

Xed and Tay dumped three different liquors into the bowl while I flirted with the gym teacher—who was supposed to be preventing that very thing from happening. I felt absolutely disgusting afterward, but it paid off in the end. Now it’s a party.

Taylor hauls me across the gym floor like a man on a mission, spilled punch squelching under my checkered Vans. I’m half-mortified, but half-intrigued because the boy we’re marching toward hasn’t looked away once.

He’s still leaning against the wall, hands shoved into the pockets of his black dress pants like he has nowhere better to be. His brows arch, and my stomach flips as he watches us approach.

“Can I help you?” he asks when we skid to a stop. His voice is deeper than I expected, laced with a hint of mischief that glints in his eyes.

Tay points at him. “You’ve been eye-fucking my girl all night.”

“Taylor!”

A rosy pink spreads over Logan’s cheeks, spreading to the tips of his ears “Have I?”

Shit, is this guy actually blushing?

“Yes,” Taylor spits. “It’s creepy.”

"Tay, stop," I hiss, yanking my hand out of his grip. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

His gaze flicks to mine briefly before landing on his stepbrother's best friend. "What, no date of your own? Had to show up with Fuckslee?"

Logan's whole face shifts, contempt twisting his features as he straightens away from the wall. "Back the hell off, Tottman."

"Or what? You'll tell on me?"

Pulling out my phone, I ignore the bickering boys and capture a few photos of the gym for my journalism assignment. They won't be super fancy quality but hey, a grade is a grade. It's not like writing articles is my passion, anyway.

By the time I tune back into the conversation, Huckslee has reappeared with some other guy that Taylor seems to be pissed at, and their dad is standing right behind them. Christian, Matty, and Xed are watching the show while passing around a bag of fucking popcorn, and Logan is still staring.

Smirking, actually.

"What the hell are you smiling at?" I ask, stuffing my phone into my bra as Huck and Taylor disappear to the concession table.

Those golden eyes run over the red ringlets falling over my shoulder. “You look like Christmas.”