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My eyes follow Logan out of the room, and right before they turn the corner, she looks back, briefly making eye contact with me. Before I know it, she’s out of sight, but definitely not out of my mind.
Chapter 8
Logan
Ali has pulled me into the living room without my mind catching up to what just happened. I can’t believe that cute guy—Eli—from upstairs is Marc’s stepbrother, EJ. Thinking back on the stories Marc had told me about his brother, I know Eli is a hockey player, can be a bit of an asshole, but is well-loved around campus, especially among the ladies. Most of these facts line up with the first impression I’d gotten from our encounter outside the bathroom. But, Marc has also told me what a great guy EJ is once you get to know him, though he doesn’t let many people close enough find out.
Regardless of all that, he’s off-limits. I hadn’t put too much thought into what could’ve happened with the guy I met upstairs, but now that I know he’s Marc’s brother, anything that could have been is definitely off the table, which is for the best. I don’t need to be thinking about anyone else’s feelings at the moment.
Ali steers me to a table covered in sticky liquid. Beer, I assume. Ten cups are lined up in a triangle shape on each side of the table, and each cup is about half full of beer. Looking to the other end of the table to see who our opponents are, I’m not so pleasantly surprised to find the guys from the kitchen earlier, Cam and Patrick.
I glance back at Ali. “I really don’t want to play,” I plead.
“You’re playing. I need you to wing-woman for me. See that guy over there?” She nods her head in Cam’s direction, a devilish smirk sliding across her lips. “I think he’s cute. So, suck it up, buttercup, and play a round with me.” She places a ping pong ball in my hand.
I’ve played this game before, but only once at a party that Zac took me to. I only went to two parties with him when we were in college, neither of which were as big as this one. Not even close.
Ali shoots first, but her ball doesn’t even hit the table.
“Well, shit!” She giggles, twirling around in a circle before leaning into me. She’s clearly tipsy already. Having her drink all ten of these cups is a terrible idea.
I stand on our side of the table, lining up my elbow the way Zac taught me. I release the ball, and to my surprise, it lands in a cup towards the back, closest to where Patrick is standing.
“Yes, Logan!” Ali throws her arms up and around me.
Patrick picks up the cup and raises it to me in a ‘cheers’ motion while giving me a mischievous smirk. He drinks the liquid down in one gulp.
The game continues, and Ali still hasn’t made a shot, but I’ve made nine. Thankfully, she’s only had to drink two of the cups of beer. I line up my elbow, shooting towards the final cup, and when it plops into the beer, I proudly smile up at the boys across the table who just lost.
“What the hell? You’re so good!” Ali exclaims, hugging me again. This time I hug her back. I’m glad she made me play. That was fun.
Cam picks up the last cup he has to drink, but before he does, he says, “Okay, we just got hustled for sure. Rematch.”
Patrick chimes in, “Yeah, no way I’m going out like that.” He looks up to me. “Cali, I know you’re lying to me. You’ve played this more than once. Line up those cups; we are going again.”
Ali’s eyes plead with me. I can tell she’s having fun, and so am I. She’s been flirting with Cam the whole time, he’s been flirting right back, and I’d imagine something will happen between them tonight.
I look at her then back to the boys waiting for my response. Patrick has a devilish grin as he stares at me. “C’mon Cali, one more?” he coaxes.
I wouldn’t say I like that he keeps calling me ‘Cali’ but it doesn’t bother me enough to correct him. “What the hell,” I give in, throwing my hands up in defeat. “If you guys want to lose again, let’s do it.”
Patrick keeps his stare on me as he sets up the cups again. I don’t love the way his eyes linger on me, but it doesn’t gross me out the way it did when we were in the kitchen.
Chapter 9
Eli
I’m left standing in the kitchen with Marc, wondering who Logan went to play beer pong with. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that she’s the new friend that Marc hasn’t stopped talking about. How did I never catch on to the fact that she was a ‘she’?
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me that Logan was a girl?” I ask my brother.
“I didn’t know that I had to, and it doesn’t really matter that she is.”
“Of course it matters.” I swat him on the shoulder. “I had assumed you were hanging out with some bro from California for five months while you were in Spain. Now I learn that it was a girl the whole time? Not to mention the fact that she looks like that?” I nod my head in the direction Logan had walked off. “You could’ve been banging her the whole time, and I wouldn’t have had a clue.”
I wonder if he did?
“Don’t talk about her like that, man,” Marc snaps. “She’s not just some piece of meat.”
