“Logan, come on! You can’t do that.”
The microwave dinged, and Logan got his mug out, sipping the steaming brew. He grimaced at the strong bitter flavor, but he needed it. “I was supposed to go with Ellery. I can’t handle being there without her.”
“You’ll go with Allegra,” Josiah said, as if the matter were settled. “You’ll be in public, so she’ll be on her best behavior, no matter what her long game is. She’s trying to win you back, right? So take her to the banquet. You can kill two birds with one stone—you’ll keep the Phantom guys happy and tick trying Allegra off your list. Then you get Ellery back, and all is good.”
“There’s another possibility,” Logan said, acid roiling in his empty stomach. “It’s possible Ellery really doesn’t want me and she used Allegra as a way to get rid of me.”
“That doesn’t sound like her.”
“Hear me out.” Logan swallowed another swig of coffee. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what she said that night. She made a remark about how you can’t pick up every stray dog you see. At first I thought it was an allegory where she was the stray. But what if she meant it the other way around? What if I’m the stray and she only stayed with me because she felt sorry for me?”
“I doubt it, but I haven’t been around you guys enough to judge for sure.” Josiah frowned. “Do you mind if I look back through your text messages?”
“Sure. There’s not much to see. Pretty bland. Mostly working out times to get together.” Logan opened his texts and handed Josiah his phone. He drummed his fingers on the table as his friend studied the texts. “And every time I mentioned anything about feelings to Ellery, she ignored it.”
“You’re right. Ellery plays it close to the vest, doesn’t she? It’s hard to read anything from what she wrote.”
“You see? How am I supposed to know what she’s thinking? She said she cared about me, but what does that mean? Does she care about me as a friend? Like a brother? Maybe a distant cousin?”
“Or a stray,” Josiah suggested.
“Thanks for that. You’re not helping.”
“I’ve gotta say I have my doubts she’s really into you. Not if you’ve had a platonic relationship all this time.”
“Except for five minutes a day.”
“Huh?”
“We, uh… she let me kiss her once a day for five minutes.”
“Five minutes straight?”
“Only once a day.”
“And she was a limp rag? Or she kissed you back?”
“Oh, yeah.” Logan ached at the memory. “She definitely kissed me back.”
“Then you’re golden, man!” Josiah grinned.
“I am?”
“You are! Ellery works hard to keep her feelings hidden. No way she’d agree to kissing you for that long out of pity. It would be like sheer torture.”
“It was torture.” Bliss during the kiss, but torture when it ended. Every. Single. Time.
“A girl who shows this much control doesn’t get pushed into anything.” Josiah tapped the messages on the phone screen. “She’s not kissing a guy unless she wants to.”
“You really think so?”
“I’ll bet my Lamborghini on it.”
“Wait,” Logan said. “When did you get a Lamborghini?”
CHAPTER 20
Ellery took a bite of her tuna fish salad, forcing herself to chew and swallow. Nothing tasted good anymore. The past fifteen days without Logan had destroyed her once-healthy appetite. Even sweets didn’t appeal to her anymore.
Across the table, Kara was gabbing about something computerish. Ellery tried to appear interested in her roommate’s diatribe. She didn’t want to do anything to risk the tremulous peace between them… Kara hadn’t taken the news of the breakup well.
That’s the understatement of the year!
Ellery’s phone chimed with an incoming message. Could it be Logan? Had he changed his mind about communicating as friends?
Surprised to see the message was from Josiah, she quickly scanned it.
“Who sent you a message?” asked Kara, a jerk of her chin indicating the cell phone. “You look kind of green all of a sudden.”
“It’s from Logan’s friend, Josiah.” Ellery put the phone face-down on the table, as if she could un-see the words she’d read. “Said he thought I should know Logan’s dating Allegra now.”
“Why didn’t Logan tell you?”
“Logan said he can’t handle being friends. So if we’re not dating, he doesn’t want to talk to me.”
“Well, well, well. Are you happy now?” Kara’s tone lacked sympathy. “Logan’s dating Allegra. You got exactly what you wanted.”
