Page 83 of Dating and Dragons

“Logan,” I whisper.

“I’ll listen if you tell me to step away,” he whispers.

He’s asking for the impossible.

My arms wrap around his neck, and my heart beats out ofmy chest. I tilt my head and his breathing changes. His hands grip my waist tightly.

I close my eyes and lift my mouth to his, every nerve ending inside me igniting at the feel of his lips on mine. He’s in motion immediately, his hands rising up my back, turning to press me up against the nearest wall. His hand cradles my head, protecting me from the rough stone, as his mouth presses hard against mine. I liquify at his touch. Nothing could prepare me for how much better he feels than I ever expected.

My body thrums with electricity. His hand wraps around my lower back, bringing me even closer to him, and I slide my hands over the soft flannel of his shirt and into his hair. His lips are soft as he deepens the kiss, and sparks lick up and down my spine. My awareness narrows to the feel of his mouth and body. There’s no space left for thoughts or worries—there’s only this moment. Only Logan.

He pulls away and we both suck in a breath. His eyes are wild, his hair mussed and cheeks pink, and I must look the same. This is so much more dangerous than I imagined. Before I could tell myself that it was all in my head. That kissing him couldn’t possibly be as great as I’d let myself imagine it to be. But the truth is kissing Logan is a thousand times better than that.

He takes a step back, then another, and bumps into the desk chair. “Oh, that was a bad idea.” He grips the edge of the desk. “How am I going to stop kissing you after that?” His gaze drops back to my mouth, and I heat all over again.

I put my hands on my knees and bend over at the waist. “We can’t hide this from the others.”

“No, we can’t.”

I groan. “I’m going to end up breaking apart another group,” I say to the floor.

He steps closer and touches my back. “No, you aren’t. If anything, this is my fault.”

“It’s equally our faults. But I know how this is going to go. I’m the girl—thenewgirl—and you’re their long-beloved friend. They’ll blame me.”

“They won’t. I won’t let them.”

My thoughts spin, possibly from my position, but mostly from the memories filling my mind. Of Paige’s and Makayla’s bitter comments, the cold shoulder I got from Travis, and Caden’s insinuations. “You can’t control how they’ll react.”

“If it comes to that, then I’ll quit.”

“What?”I straighten so quickly the room spins. “You can’t do that. D&D is your favorite thing in the world.”

His hands come to my waist to steady me. “Not anymore, Quinn.”

I swoon, somewhat literally because I’m dizzy, and then right myself. “No, Logan, that’s noble of you, but if anyone’s going to quit, it should be me.” I feel resolved as soon as I say it. My expression brightens. I’ll just quit. It won’t solve Kashvi’s reaction to this, but at least it’ll keep the group intact. And if I miss it too much, I can play with Grandma instead. “It’s okay, that’s the solution. You all livestreamed before me. You can do it again without me.”

His expression darkens. “That’snota solution. I want usto be able to play together. I want to look across the table and catch your eye, and listen to your character voices, and watch you be a total badass.”

He brushes his lips against mine and it takes everything in me not to grab him and make him stay.

“The game is tomorrow afternoon,” he says. “Let’s text everyone right now that they need to meet us early. We’ll tell them together and see what they say.”

My thoughts rush to Kashvi. She can’t find out at the same time as everyone else. I’ve already kept so much from her—the very least I can do is tell her about this in private so she can process it at her own speed. It just feels cruel to throw it in her face with Logan at my side, pleading with her to be cool about it.

I shake my head. “No, I can’t. I need to te—” I clamp my mouth shut before I blurt out Kashvi’s name. I may lose her as a friend when I tell her, but it won’t be because I spilled all her secrets. “It’s just…I need to do something before we tell everyone.”

He frowns. “Do what?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“That sounds…very suspicious.”

“Just wait before texting,” I plead. “I have to do this first and then we’ll talk again and come up with a plan to tell everyone. Okay?”

His eyes flicker over my face and I can see the worry in his expression. “Are you hesitating because this is all happening too fast? Are you secretly freaking out right now?”

I can’t help but laugh. “Logan, this has beenanythingbut too fast. Are you freaking out?”