"Tonight was fun," Logan said as I sucked in a much-needed breath of night air.

It was the first real breath I'd taken since leaving school. A sticky sheen coated my skin, more than sweat from dancing, my makeup was no longer fresh, and the curls in my hair dangled limp. "It was...more tolerable than I expected."

The ease at which he made casual talk with anyone was so admirable. Jake had the same politician quality, but I'd only been content when talking with my comfort zone, Harper.

Lost in Ryan's affections was a good look for her.

Glancing at Logan, my heart thumped faster. Girls all night eyed him the same way I looked at brownies when on my period. His touch was infectious, the grasp of his fingers sending tingles up my wrist, and I craved the warmth and tenderness from his presence more and more.

His mouth opened to object, but I squeezed his hand. "I mean it. The only reason I came is now leaving with me."

"That's supposed to be my line," he teased in a 'do better' tone.

"Fine. Nobody got punched." I dipped my head, watching where I stepped and needing two steps for every one of his. Despite Kieran's weirdness, no one from the team bothered him. "Small victories, considering my status at school has been officially upgraded to Jake's sister who's dating the rival school's QB."

Crickets, literally outside insects, chirped in his silence. "How do you feel about that?"

"Like a status upgrade."

My tone was light and teasing, but his hand took a possessive squeeze around mine. "Good, because I'm not letting you go. No matter what anyone at your or my school says."

"What do they call me at your school?" My voice wavered with uncertainty.

His eyes narrowed. "To my face, my girlfriend."

What he didn't say was the true answer. "And behind your back?"

"Where is this coming from?" His voice was quiet but serious, matching the pensiveness darkening his eyes. Cast in shadows from his lashes, his irises were almost sapphire-colored. "I didn't think you cared what other people thought."

"I don't." Given how nice and sincere Chloe was, her bathroom warning was warranted. "But I'd like to know what I'm walking into next weekend."

"Fair enough." His eyebrows pinched together, creasing shadows on his forehead. "The school's a stupid fish tank of gossip. My teammates can't believe I'm dating anyone, but after seeing you at practice, they think you're hot. It's annoying. Except for Josh, because he isn't allowed to think anything about anyone else, or Ava will castrate him."

I smiled at the irritation in his voice. "Annoying?"

"You know about shit-talk," was all he grumbled.

I did, but none about me. "And the girls?"

He exhaled a loud sigh. "They wouldn't like anyone I dated. But I don't care." The bitterness in his voice tugged a sympathetic ache in my chest. Logan said he'd apologized to some of the girls he'd mistreated, but Kendall refused to accept hers.

Like a sister to him, Ava seemed nice, in a 'don't mess with me or look at Josh, and we'll be fine' vibe when we'd met, but I'd never spoken to the cheerleader who threw venomous eye-daggers at me during practices and games.

"Care to expand?" I asked.

"They want an arm trophy." His eyes rolled, but the tension slacked in his jaw when he smirked. "It'll be better after the season ends, now that you've snagged the school's most ineligible bachelor off the market."

"Ineligible?" I let out a laugh.

"Between you and me." Stopping under an overhead light, he faced me. My heart tugged at his resolve. Shadowed by his tipped chin and staring into my eyes, it will me to believe him. "Other than Josh, if I never see any of those people after high school then I'm not missing anything. Not like you."

"What about me?"

"Other than my family, you're the one person I want in my life. I talk to you every day but miss you. Not being with you makes me feel like something's missing."

"Logan," I whispered, curling my hands into his shirt at his sides. He had this way of saying things that made me melt inside. Not direct compliments but spoken with unyielding certainty, followed by a gentle kiss on my forehead and a contented breath.

The boy left no doubt about his feelings. How had I gotten so lucky? Me, the girl who buried and ignored her feelings and shunned all social connections? He had his choice of any girl and, despite his good looks and credentials, he was genuine.

"Oversharing again?" He opened the passenger's door.

"No. I appreciate you telling me." I pressed my hand on his forearm, clomping in my heels. A breeze lifted my skirt before I sat on it, which I pushed down with my hand and held with my thighs.

Based on his wide-eyed look and muttered, "Fuck," I'd flashed him my underwear. Not that they were sexy or special, but my cheeks burned at the possibility.

The air grew heated and charged, making my skin tingle with an unusual nervousness. Time hadn't stopped, but having left early, we'd borrowed more than we'd expected we'd have.

"Do you want me to take you home?" My sitting in his truck while he stood outside put us eye-to-eye, giving me full access to the disagreement, a mix of disappointment heated with frustration, building in his eyes.

"Not if you have something else in mind." Settling in his truck, I leaned closer and kissed him. It wasn't enough, so I reached behind his neck and pressed my mouth tighter, appreciating him, not just the compliments and for tonight, but how incredible he was...just him.

A hazy look filled his eyes as he pulled back. "I do now."

***

Logan and I drove in a comfortable silence, his hand holding mine and thumb tracing the hills and valleys of my knuckles. The evening sky darkened into a deep navy. With no clouds, a blanket of stars and a partial moon were on full display.

A sense of uneasiness seeped into me as he pulled off the highway. While there was a beach, unlike Santa Cruz's sand wedging into my body's cracks, here the shore was rocky. Jagged cliffs dropped off into the deceivingly freezing Pacific waters.

"We're not... going cliff diving, are we?" Since I couldn't swim, I clutched my seatbelt at the idea, but fortunately, Logan shook his head.

"I'd rather not," he said. "Before you ask, technically, we're not going to the beach."

His smirk made my pulse hiccup, and he reached behind his seat and grabbed some blankets.

A cool breeze hit my legs as I dangled them outside and jumped down. The half-sliver moon cast a faint glow on the prickly grasses I hoped we weren't walking through. My heart pounded through the silence overcoming the melodic hiss of crashing waves.

Logan set up the blankets in a makeshift seated area, reserving one aside. After I sat beside him with our legs stretched and backs against the cab, I smiled when he tucked the blanket around us. "Is this where we're having sex in the bed of your truck?"

"I hope not," he mumbled and shifted, bumping my shoulder. "This is gouging my ass."

"Tell me if this is too uncomfortable." I crawled between his legs, wincing at the metal ridges bumping my knees. When I facing away from him, reclining into his chest felt natural. He spread his legs wider, bending his knees and wrapping his arms around me. Even with me wearing his coat between us, his chest warmed my shoulders and back as I adjusted the blanket over us.

The cliff's black ridges caught slashes of moonlight, matching the white peaks on the blurrier black waves lashing below. The stars nestled into the deep navy backdrop like tiny rhinestones on a velvety cloak, pressing down on us like a weighted blanket and providing as much comfort as Logan's arms around me.

"I realize I'm the science guy," he mumbled over my head. "But most of the stars look like random tiny white dots."

I wasn't familiar with star constellations either and pointed at three stacked stars. "Orion's belt and the two dippers is all I can see."

His honesty was as admirable as his not trying to impress me. Because he did that just by sitting still. Existing and crashing into my life then turning into a pillar of support. On a superficial level, I also admired the wall of chest and ab muscles I slacked into, and his arms, which had gotten bigger as the season progressed, secured me.

His embrace made me feel safe and secure, until he cleared his throat, adjusted his posture, and pulled back.

I turned to rest my forehead on his neck. "I need to tell you something."

Squirming again, he suppressed a low groan. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah... No." I scooted away, facing him.

The moonlight painted his handsome features ghostly ethereal. "What is it?" The tender concern in his voice mirrored his fingers tracing my cheek.

"It's my early admission applications." The weight of the rejections resurfaced. Telling him was worse than telling anyone else, including my parents. We had a plan, going together, and I was letting us down. Words failing me, I bit my lip and shook my head. The burn of hot tears blurred the concern on his face.

Logan sat up, holding my face with his thumbs below my eyes. "You didn't get in?"

"No." Closing my eyes pushed out a single tear, which the rough pads of his thumbs caught.

"Hey." Rustling sounds brought him closer. "It's okay. I only applied because you did."

He what? "Wuh-what?" I opened my eyes, and he nodded, giving a sheepish smile that shadowed dimples in his cheeks.

"Yeah. Can you imagine me playing football for Harvard? Or Cornell?" His voice was flat as if he had no attachment to them. "I have another consideration if we could, the University of Washington. You might like it."

With me having no idea what I wanted to major in, his checklist was so much easier to work around. "Sure. I'm sorry." My cheeks warmed. "I'm letting us down here."

"Not from my perspective." His smile widened. "It's their loss."

He sounded as casual as his mom had. How though? The rejections still chewed me up inside. "Do you really mean that?"

"What I want." He stroked my cheek with the back of his knuckles. "Is to find a good school with my girl."

"Logan." I couldn't not melt into Ellie goo. "I..."

"I want to be with you." His words were simple, but he didn't blink when saying them. "It's that simple. Now, and in the future. We'll find somewhere."

"I..." Those damn three words choked up inside me again. "...want to be with you too."

"Good, because it's non-negotiable."

With that, he reclined back and pulled me against his chest. I inhaled a shaky breath, exhaling away all of the tension and anxiety in my neck and shoulders.

The strokes of his fingers on my sides were distracting. He wanted to be with me, and yet he was also holding back. His hard body touching most of mine regrew the heated frustration in me.

I squirmed, growing more impatient when I should've relaxed, and rubbed my butt over his lap. His low grunt and fingers denting my hips didn't help. "What are you doing?"

"If we want to be with each other, why aren't we having sex?"

My head bounced against his chest a little as he stiffened. The muscles in his neck tightened, and he swallowed. "Shit, Ellie." Low and raspy, his voice sounded strained. "Do you want to?"

"Part of me, yes." As soon as I said the words, while true, they were the wrong answer. The correct answer was 'all of me.' Thankfully, he couldn't see my expression as I mentally facepalmed my stupidity. "Isn't that what we're supposed to do on Homecoming night?"

He let out another short laugh, followed by a kiss planted on top of my head. "I thought relationships were about what we wanted to do."

"Don't tease." I scooted my butt forwards and turned around. "We should talk about it first."

Ugh, he was so freaking handsome. The lines of his cheekbones and jaw caught the moon's highlights, and silvery highlights streaked his hair. Thanks to working out with Mason, his biceps were almost the size of my thighs. He was less than enthused about my discovery that good nutrition boosted athletic performance, humoring me good-naturedly with grumbles about seaweed smoothies, but eating cleaner had already cleared up his skin.

For the record, they were kale, Greek yogurt, banana, flax, and chia seeds.

Here and now, Logan's ginormous but perfectly sculpted body tempted me like a giant bowl of freshly made churros was dropped in front of me, but my hand was smacked away every time I reached for one.

"Don't worry, we will." His unwavering certainty made me shiver. "I'm trying to be a good guy here, but all your wiggling over me is challenging my restraint."

Challenging his restraint encouraged the heated ache to stir in me. Impatience pulsed through me as if my body beat with a collective pulse. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Have so much restraint. It's quite annoying."

"You surprise me," was all he replied. "I didn't expect this side of you."

"Girls aren't allowed to be hormonal? Have you heard what comes out of Harper's mouth?"

She couldn't care less about the extra attention, but I didn't like the prying eyes, including Jake's glares. Whenever girls approached and asked how to snag a football player, we both got irritated.

"Save your vaginas, they're assholes," she always said.

"I assume Harper's on her own level."

"She is." I swept my hand from his head to his blanket-covered lap. "This is inhumanely unfair."

"I'm sorry." Logan's apology broke through my thoughts and drew my attention to his remorseful expression. The corners of his mouth turned down, and his eyes carried a weighted sadness. "I get a lot of unwanted attention."

"If that comes with being your girlfriend." I palmed his cheek. My heart lurched when he turned his head and kissed my knuckles. "Then I'll take the occupational hazard."

"Good." He leaned forward, but instead of kissing me, he hugged me closer.

"Why?" I nestled my ear against his chest. His heartbeat was slow, steady, and comforting.

"I'm not letting you go, baby."

The possessive certainty nestled a warmth of flattery in my chest. As we sat in silence, my mind replayed the hungry eyes on Logan and disbelief, then jealousy, on me. He could probably sneeze and a girl would offer her shirt and bra as a tissue. If those weighted ocean-blue eyes locked on a girl, she probably fell herself for him.

Except me. I only fell over my clumsy feet.

His cockiness when we first met was a major turn-off, but it was an act. An ill-intended act, but the real Logan broke my resolve when he revealed a genuine, caring person was under the arrogant exterior.

"At the risk of oversharing and inflating your ego, Ellie..." My hair tingled slightly as he exhaled sharply. "You had me at first sight."

'My dumbass pride and rivalry with your brother got in the way,' he didn't need to say. I slacked against Logan's chest. His hands slipped inside his coat, the rough pads of his fingers stroking the bare skin on my upper arms. Goosebumps followed where he touched, prickling tingles in their wake.

"Ellie." My head moved as he sighed. "Is not having sex bothering you? We can fix it, easily."

"Buuut," I started, not attempting to hide the annoyance in my voice.

"But." The warmth in his voice meant he was smiling. "As soon as it's gone, you can't take it back and I don't want you to regret it."

"You think I'd regret being with you? Shouldn't it be my choice?" I scowled, although he was behind me and couldn't see it.

"Of course, but it should be under the right circumstances."

What circumstances were better than him, me, a starry night, and a backdrop of crashing waves? I sat up and studied his expression.

"I'm not fucking you in my truck for the first time."

'The first time' throbbed through me, grabbing my pulse and sprinting it. "Have you been thinking about it?"

"Guys like me don't think about anything else," he joked but his eyes were serious. "You have no idea."

True. Before this week, I didn't know about the...chicken-choking. I scrunched my nose. Why wasn't he acting on it? Ugggghhhhhh...

"Your first time should be special. Not rushed or under everyone's expectations of when we're doing it," he said lightly, leaned over, and tenderly pressed his lips against my temple. "I've thought about it a lot, but apparently not as much as you've been thinking about doing it in non-special places."

"Logan." Again, tonight I was not in the mood for teasing.

"Selfishly, I'm happy with how things are going." This felt like a diversion. I tucked my hands around his forearms and squeezed them in frustration.

Never in a million years did I think he'd be the virtuous holdout. Was there something wrong with me?

"You are." My voice came out a meek whimper. Defeated like I felt inside.

"Yeah." Another kiss brushed against my temple, his mouth lingering with his elevated breaths. The impatience in me tripled, my body begging for more. "This is the longest relationship I've had, and I want to keep it that way. We have time."

I groaned into his stupidly rock-hard chest. "This would be easier if you were a jerk with love handles."

"But now that you're bringing it to my attention, it's in the category of distracting Ellie thoughts... Next to the ones I get from seeing your dress tonight."

"I thought it was nice." My lower lip puffed out in a pretend pout. I lifted my head from his chest and flattened the skirt layers. "Beautiful, you said."

"You are." I smiled as one of his hands slid his coat off my shoulder, followed by his lips gracing a kiss on my skin. More suggestive kisses trailed along my shoulder and up my neck. My pulse raced faster as his nose skimmed higher.

Placing his lips close to the curve of my ear let me catch his breath hitching. "But it's very short."

His hand moved under the blanket. Gentle sweeps of his fingers circled my knee. My bare knee.

Oh.

Reaching for him, I pulled us into a kiss. He was right here, but I was determined to close all the gaps between us. When we first kissed, our kisses were slower, more explorative, and a bit clumsy. Now, kissing him was better than breathing, and I opened my mouth and ran my tongue over his lips. Rubbing his chest made his heartbeat pick up, an effect I loved casting. Mine pounded as he slid his tongue against mine.

The kiss was a slow, steady burn. Moving with infinite patience, his hot, textured tongue played with mine, and the deliberate restraint left me both light-headed and frustrated. I released a quiet moan into his mouth, moving closer until my chest pressed against his.

His fingers tensed into my knee, shooting lines of ecstasy through me. Moving my hands

to their favorite holding spot, I toyed with his soft, fine hair. With a recent haircut, the hair near the nape of his neck was like stroking velvet.

"About my dress?" I pulled back for air and whispered into his mouth, "Are you asking me to take it off?"

"Please don't," he whispered back. I groaned in frustration, sat back a few inches, then leaned forward and rested my forehead against his chest.

"Hang on, baby." He chuckled, and then his chest rose as he inhaled slowly. His warm breath puffed against my hair as he sighed. Just as I was about to accept defeat, he said in a low, strained voice, "I have another idea, if you'd like."

I smiled into his chest and joked, "Feels like I'm settling, but I trust you."

"Sit up."

Complying, I watched as he shifted his legs so they weren't straddling me. Sitting next to me, he folded his suit coat into a small bundle behind his lower back against the truck cab, cupped his hands around my jaw, and kissed me.

His hands left my cheeks craving his contact as they slid down and held mine. With a slight pull, he said, "Now, come here, if that's okay."

I climbed onto his lap, straddling my knees around his thighs. Holding his shoulders, he gripped my waist as I steadied myself with inches between us and looked at him.

The night around us, stars overhead, and crashing waves below was gorgeous and romantic. However, one of the metal bed lines poked my right knee. I started to extend my leg when he grabbed the back of my thigh.

"Stay there." He rolled a blanket's edge under my knee. My heart lurched as he looked at me with every version of asking consent soaking his eyes. "Can I kiss you?"

"You never have to ask."

"Once we start, I don't think I can stop." He smiled but remained still. Waiting.

I sighed. We were long past the point of sweet and considerate for asking permission to kiss me. "Yes."

My body came alive with excitement when he thrust his tongue into my mouth and gripped my sides like I was his lifeline. I clung to the back of his neck as a slow burn of internal heat took over my body. My breaths became hot and short, my heartbeat quickening until my ears pounded.

With each kiss, each stroke of our tongues, I craved more, needed more. Shudders of need bounced my chest into his, and a low moan hummed up my throat.

Unfortunately, always at this point Logan restrained and broke off. Not tonight though.

"Baby?" He broke off with a grunt, his fingers now teasing the edge of my skirt. "Ready to try something?"

"Please," I begged, rubbing closer and bunching my skirt onto his lap. The urge to remove all barriers between us burned through my skin. Beyond the heat and the rising desperation, the glow of a deeper emotion burned in his gaze. One whose influence I happily slipped under. "I trust you."

His lips placed a hot, wet kiss on my neck, and an encouraging downward tug of his hands followed. "Sit down, baby, so I can make you feel good."

It was a promise, so, without question, I sat.