—Logan—

I left the stadium after practice and immediately saw Felix waiting for me. I couldn’t help the smile that curled my lips as I made my way over to him. He’d been doing this most days for the last couple of weeks, and it never failed to put me in a good mood to see him waiting for me, whether practice had gone well or I’d eaten turf the whole time.

“How was practice?”

“You should know, you were watching.”

He shook his head as we started to walk. “I watched, but I don’t know shit about football.”

Neither did Zoe; that was why she’d never stuck around for my practices, not that I’d ever begrudged her that. I watched pro soccer, but I doubted I’d be very interested in watching practices, myself.

“It was good,” I finally said. “You want to go get something to eat?” I was supposed to be home for dinner, but I could eat twice. I’d worked up a hell of an appetite.

“Actually…” Felix came to a stop. “A friend told me about a party—one a friend of hers is throwing. I was thinking we could go together.”

I stared at him for a long moment. “Together?”

He smiled, a hint of shyness to the curve of his lips. “Yeah. Maybe like as a date. It’s seemed like…well, I get the feeling that you’re into me.”

I shifted on my feet. The “yes” was on the tip of my tongue, just begging to be released, but I reigned it in. “Felix, I…I’d like to,” I admitted quietly.

“But I can’t. You know I have a girlfriend—Zoe.” The two of them hadn’t gotten to spend any time together at school; they didn’t share any classes, and Felix was on a different lunch than Zoe and I were. It was theoretically possible that he’d forgotten…I had a tendency not to talk about her as much when I was around him.

Felix’s smile fell. “I thought that she might…ah, that you might not…” He huffed a frustrated breath. “I thought she might be your beard.”

Whatever I’d thought he was going to say, it definitely hadn’t been that. It drew a surprised laugh out of me in a loud burst. “No, it’s nothing like that. I’m bi.” Inwardly, I was a bit shocked at how easily that little sentence—I’m bi—rolled off my tongue. I’d thought it to myself numerous times since I’d reached that conclusion, but I’d never once said it aloud.

“Oh.”

I bit my lower lip. “I’d love to go with you, but I can’t do that to her.”

Felix looked up at me, quiet for several moments. “We could still go. Just, you know, not as a date. I mean, you don’t have to be on a date to go to a party.”

It’s definitely still a date, I thought to myself. And yet…I really wanted to go. I didn’t give a shit about the party—I just wanted to spend more time with Felix. I wanted…I wanted to dip my toe in the water, to test out what it would be like while having the safety net of “it’s totally not a date.” It wasn’t really cheating unless there was kissing involved, right?

“Okay. Yeah, okay. Let’s go.”

I moved along to the thumpa-thumpa, my body brushing against Felix’s. I had no idea who anybody else was at the party; they were all older, college aged. It was apparently being thrown by the older cousin of Felix’s friend—who I had no idea if I’d met or not.

The music was so loud, I didn’t know if it had words or not. It was just a beat thrumming through my veins, pushing reason out of my head and leaving room for only it and the boy in front of me.

Felix smiled at me and leaned up to shout in my ear—I just managed to hear him. “It’s getting late!” He held up his phone to show me.

12:33

“Shit! We need to go!” Just what I needed. My parents were going to shit a kitten.

He nodded but caught my hand. Before I could question him, his lips were on mine.

My lips were still tingling when I got home. I replayed the kiss over and over in my head the whole way; it had been brief and almost chaste and it had made fire sing over every inch of my skin.

I was actually so wrapped up in my own head that I totally missed Mom and Dad waiting for me in the foyer.

“Logan. Thoreau. Smithson.” Mom gritted out. “Where the hell have you been?” Dad glared at me from her side.

I came to a stop. Normally, I’d brush them off. Cop an attitude and get into a fight. Tonight…the urge to battle just wasn’t there. “I was out with Felix.”

They both paused for a second, as if what I’d said had surprised them.

“Felix?” Dad finally said. “Wasn’t he that new boy you mentioned a while ago?”

“Yeah.” I shoved my hands in my pockets and shifted on my feet. “I kind of need to tell you guys something.”