Addiction

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The warmth and well-being that had surrounded her like a favorite blanket had suddenly evaporated, leaving her feeling quite green around the gills. Maybe her mother had the right of it all along when she'd hissed at her to stop sneaking champagne. But it was a celebration. A glorious wedding. And she was just trying to enjoy herself like everyone else.

Taylor had been surreptitiously topping up her glass for the past hour, and she'd lost count of the times she'd drained it completely. The last time, he'd even told her how pretty she looked, and said that he'd see her in school. Maybe she wasn't going to be sweet sixteen and never been kissed anymore. She found the thought exhilarating. But when she imagined who her first kiss would be, there was now only one face swimming in the forefront of her mind. Logan's. Oh, dear. She really had to go home, before she did something she'd regret.

“I can see that you don't feel very well,” he admitted now, dragging his eyes up and down her body, to rest on her face. There seemed to be more than one of him, and she took a wild guess by concentrating on the middle one. “Take me home.”

He groaned. No doubt he'd wanted to stay and enjoy the party himself, but there really wasn't anyone else to take her. She would go alone rather than ask her mom or Harry to leave their own party, and Marla had long since paired off with some younger man in a dark corner, where their heads were literally glued together in conversation. She would get no help from that quarter.

“Please,” she begged. “If my mom sees me like this she'll have a fit.”

He sighed, seeming to measure his thoughts before finally lifting a shoulder in a signal of defeat. “I'll go tell Harry and your mom that we're leaving.”

“No!,” she clutched at his forearm. “Don't tell them I'm drunk.”

“Drunk?” he laughed. “You're wasted. Fine. I'll tell them the escargot didn't agree with you and you're not feeling well. Okay?”

“Okay.” She let him go, thinking again about her mortifying snail debacle. If she'd known then what she knew now, she might have laughed it off. At the time, it had seemed like the most embarrassing thing she'd ever done. Of course, falling over her dress in her escape was in competition for the top spot.

She watched him approach his dad, his posture stiff, and frowned in confusion as Harry's face turned mean before he pointed a finger right in Logan's face, mouthing something. Logan shook his head, his dark hair shining in the twinkling lights. More finger pointing from Harry, and finally, a slow nod of Logan's head. He turned away from his father with a bitter twist on his lips.

His perfectly kissable lips, she thought before snapping out of it. She really had to stop thinking about him like this. It was embarrassing all over again.

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