Page 44 of On the Plus Side
But even as she said it, she knew the words were lies. There was something in that moment, in Logan’s voice, that made her center go warm. Made her press her knees a bit more tightly together.
He sounded practically feral. On her behalf.
And she liked it.
She likedhim.
And after hearing him growl those words over and over as Becca replayed the scene, Everly couldn’t deny that he just might like her, too.
That was the scariest part of all.
CHAPTER 14
“Oh my god, look at your little pigtails!”
Jazzy pointed at Everly’s kindergarten school photo and squealed.
SinceOn the Plus Sideneeded interviews and footage with her family for future episodes, Everly’s mother had agreed to host a barbeque at her house. They’d both figured that would be easier than trying to fit everyone into one of Monmouth Cove’s tiny restaurants, and, Everly had now discovered, it offered the added bonus (horror?) of viewing plenty of pictures from her childhood, which the hosts had been meticulously inspecting for the last twenty minutes.
In the photo Jazzy was fawning over, five-year-old Everly wore pink corduroy overalls and a flowered shirt, her reddish-brown hair half-tamed by two braids. She was also missing her front teeth, because the universe was rarely merciful on school picture days.
Logan eased behind Everly to zoom in. Because of course.
She whacked him on the arm in a pathetic attempt to stop him, only to swiftly turn away from the stairs, cradling her hand to her stomach.
Good. God. His bicep was a solid wall.
She tried (and failed) not to think about what those arms could do under the right circumstances. Those were thoughts for later, when he wasn’t standing right beside her while her cheeks cycled through multiple shades of red.
“No one needs to see that,” she told the floor.
“Everyone needs to see this.” He twisted the lens, and something whirred in his camera. Probably to pan in closer, the bastard. “You’re adorable.”
“I was five. Everyone’s adorable at five.”
He swept the camera up and down the wall, pausing now and then to focus in on a particular photo. “My school pictures for most of elementary school beg to differ.”
Jazzy paused her conversation with Stanton. “Oh. Youneedto see his grandmother’s Facebook page. It’s like a shrine to awkward Logan.”
Everly yanked her phone out of her pocket and cued up Facebook, which she only had because her mother insisted on sending invites for family functions through it. “What’s her name?”
“What? No.” Logan’s rough voice caught on a higher pitch. He swung the camera in Everly’s direction.
“I need to see this.”
“Everly.” Her name on his lips sent a jolt of electricity through her body.
He straightened his shoulders and aimed the lens at her. “How does it feel to have survived three full weeks of filming?” His tone perfectly parroted Sady’s during interviews, reminding Everly how many he must have sat through. How all these firsts for her were routine workdays for him.
She took a few steps back only to have him press forward to match her pace. As if the camera were chasing her.
“Fine.” With an exaggerated frown, she mumbled, “You win, noFacebook,” and returned her phone to her pocket. His victorious smirk sent her fleeing from the room.
She sought sanctuary outside with her brother, who was tending to the burgers, chicken, and vegetables on the grill. Bagel, who never missed a chance to hang out in her mom’s large backyard, wove his way between Ellis’s legs, hoping to luck into an errant piece of food.
Everly perched on the end of a lounger. “This is a whole thing, huh?”
“My little sister on TV was definitely not on my bingo card.” Ellis flipped one last burger before shutting the grill top. He stared at her over his beer bottle, taking a long slug. “How are you holding up?”
