I walk inside as quickly as I can manage while still appearing like I’m cool, calm, and collected.
Even if I’m anything but. That was more... intense than it should have been. Right? That wasn’t
just me? Wasn’t all in my head? The way he spoke to me, the way he looked at me. It stirred up
things inside me that I had no right or no way to feel, let alone process. So, like the little chicken
shit I am, I ran. When I st ep inside the house, a messy golden head of hair pops out from the
hallway, grinning ear to ear . “There you are! Get in here! We’re gonna play beer pong!” Ty says
happily. I arch one eyebrow but let out a laugh as I follow him towards the rec room. “It’s like
eleven in the morning, Ty.” He shrugs. “It’s a game, and we’re on vacation. Societal expect ations
for drinking are null and void.” He has a point, I guess. Looking around the room, I see that Ty
has covered the pool table with some cardboard boxes so the beer doesn’t spill on the felt. All
the cups are arranged on either side, and he’s topping off the last few before coming up to me.
He practically bounces on his feet as he drops a kiss to my nose that has me giggling. “You’re
way too amped for this.” “I’m the king of beer pong, I suggest you be on my team.” “Oh yeah?”
He raises his eyebrows playfully as he turns to the room where Uncle Tom, Aunt Marissa, and
my mother are hanging out on the couch. “Who wants to play us?” Ty challenges. Marissa and
Tom look at him before shaking their heads. “It’s too early for that shit .” Marissa laughs as Ty
rolls his eyes. “Lame.” My mom turns up her nose at Ty as she busies herself with her phone
once more. “We’re adults, Tyson. We don’t want to play college drinking games.” The sound of
the back door opening and shutting echoes throu gh the house, and all eyes turn to the new
figure emerging through the doorway. Logan st eps into the room, his eyes assessing the table
before he speaks. “Really, Tyson?” Ty shrugs. “Just because you’re shit at it doesn’t mean that
you have to ruin the gam e for others,” he goads. Logan rolls his eyes. “Please, I was the one that
taught you how to play, remember?” “Yeah, when you were what? Thirty?” Ty’s tone is playful,
while Logan’s is nothing but irritated. He’s so uptight and so serious all the time. It’ s incredible
that these two are brothers because they couldn’t be more different. I don’t know what makes
me jump in on the hazing, but I do before I can think better of it. “Come on, Ty, leave him alone.
Senior citizens wouldn’t be able to hang anyways. W e’ll just have to play one on one.” Ty cackles
maniacally as Logan slowly turns to me, his eyes narrowed and stare lethal. “Who do you think
you’re talking to, little girl?” His voice is de ep and rumbles like thunder. I try to hide the way it
sends a shive r down my spine before I strengthen my resolve. “I’m just saying, you clearly
couldn’t ke ep up with us. Best not to get the old folks smashed before noon.” Logan’s glare
intensifies, if that were even possible. “You’re going to regret those words,” Logan s ays before
rounding the table, taking up the position on the opposite side of us. I hope I do. Shit, no. Bad
Arianna. “Fuck yes! Kelly, want to come join your man?”
I don’t like the way Ty says that. Even if I can’t have Logan, I mean, I don’t want him, my mother
is awful. She hurt him, cheated on him. She doesn’t deserve to be in the
same room with him, let alone on his team. Then again, I could be completely overanalyzing a
simple drinking game. She looks to Logan, and he shrugs like he could take her or leave her.
Clearly, that’s enough for her because she leaps to her feet, sprintin g over to his side. My mom
attempts to pull him down for a kiss, but when he turns his head, her lips only land on his
cheek. I don’t miss the irritated look that Logan cuts Ty or the challenging one that Ty throws
back at him. What’s up with that? When my mom finally pries herself off Logan, Ty holds the
ping pong ball up, tossing it in the air and sinking it easily into a cup in front of Logan. “Let the
games begin.” Logan glares at his brother before lifting the cup to his mouth, draining the liquid
in one go. I attempt not to watch, but I can’t look away from his throat working the liquid down
so effortlessly. Once he’s finished, Logan takes the ball and tosses it into a cup in front of me. I
reach for it when Ty grabs it, swallowing it down for me. “My hero,” I sigh dramatically, causing
Ty to wink at me. I laugh as my eyes snag on an irritated Logan. Ty gives me the ball, and I line
myself up before tossing it and hoping that it’ll make it in. Unfortunately, it hits the rim,
bouncing out of the cup and across the table. Logan leans forward, that cocky tone I hate rolling
through me. “What were you saying again, little girl?” Annoyance flickers inside me as my mom
takes the ball, also trying and failing. She stomps in irritation like a goddamn toddler , causing
both Logan and I to share an eye roll before taking it from her. From there, it’s pretty much
Logan and Ty playing against each other, both getting progressively more buzzed, although Ty
definitely shows it more. I eventually took over and starte d drinking Ty’s cups because he was
swaying way too much. However, the beer brings out my competitiveness. When I toss the ball,
and it sinks into a cup right in front of Logan, I holler, galloping around the room as I point to
Logan. “Take that, grandpa!” “Grandpa?” Logan mimics, a hint of malice lacing his tone. “Yeah,
you’re way too old to be daddy,” I snort, my foggy brain catching on too late to what I just said.
My mom looks bored, Ty looks shocked, and, to my surprise, Logan seems amused. He doesn’t
say anything as he takes the ball and sinks it into one of our last remaining cups. “I believe that’s
one point, grandpa,” he rumbles, a knowing smirk playing on his lips. “There are no points,” I
say with a roll of my eyes, though I’m not nearly as irritated as I’m pretending to be. Logan grins
at me, and no matter how much I will my body to ignore it, my heart thumps out of rhythm. This
is a side of him I haven’t see n before. A teasing, playful one. It might be my favorite yet. Besides
the one where he dominates me in bed, pins me by the throat, and spanks my ass. Did. I mean,
the one that did do all of those things. Because it’s in the past. It’ll never happen again. Look
how convincing I am. Tom and Marissa ended up wandering outside when the twins came in
and said they were setting up the waterslide. After my mom’s third missed ball, she gave up and
went out in search of a ‘stronger drink than this piss water.’ We e ach have one cup left. Ty goes
to throw it but loses his balance at the last moment, swaying hard to the side. Before he drops
the ball, I quickly grab it, tossing it in the air with extreme precision, obviously. When it makes
that beautiful plink, I leap into the air. Ty and I begin hooting and hollering like we just won the
Super Bowl before I run up to Logan and begin my victory dance. He watches me with an
amused look, but when I spin to face him, I don’t realize how close he is. My chest brushes
agains t his, forcing all the air from my lungs to be sucked out as my eyes meet his. He’s staring
down at me steadily. Suddenly, Ty’s cheers become muffled, and all I can think, all I can see, are
those de ep brown eyes. In the next moment, I’m ripped away from L ogan and tossed over Ty’s
shoulder as he celebrates obnoxiously. “Weeee are the champions, my
brotherrrrr, and we k ept on fightingggg until we beat youuuuu motherfuckerrrrr,” Ty slurs. I
laugh as he begins carrying us through the house and out the back door. I can barely see the slip
and slide through the curtain of my hair, but I
do see Ty pick up speed, his bare feet running through the grass before he’s leaping with me
over his shoulder onto the plastic slide. I tense instantly as I feel our balance shift, only making it
a few feet before Ty loses his footing, and we both go flyi ng. He wipes out onto the slide and
continues gliding all the way down, whereas I hit the ground with a hard thud and skid off into
the grass. My arm stings from what is no doubt grass burn, and my hip throbs in pain. I groan as
I curl up onto my other sid e while Ty’s laughter can be heard in the distance. “Are you okay?”
Melanie asks. I open my mouth to speak when I feel a presence drop beside me, voice low and
full of concern. “Sparrow,” he whispers gently before correcting himself. “Arianna, are you
okay ?” I blink up at him, my vision blurry with tears. God, I hate what a wimp I am when it
comes to pain. I feel Logan’s hand cup my face gently, a look of pure heartbreak in his eyes.
“Where does it hurt?” he asks. “My arm and my hip,” I grit out. He looks m e over before his
eyes come to mine once more. “Do you think anything is broken?” I shake my head. “I’m fine, it
just hurts.” “Come on, let’s get you inside,” he says as he goes to pick me up. “For Christ’s sake,
she can walk, Logan. She’s just being drama tic for attention,” my mom dismisses with an eye roll
as she knocks back whatever was in her martini glass. Logan doesn’t even give her a second look
before I nod. “I can walk.” He frowns like he doesn’t like the idea before helping me to my feet. I
hobble for a moment, my right hip incredibly sore as I limp. Logan immediately slips beneath my
arm, forcing me to hold onto him as he helps me hop towards the house. “Ari? Are you okay?”
Ty calls out like he just now realized I wasn’t beside him. “No, she’s fuc king not!” Logan snarls
protectively at his brother.
I turn to see Ty staring at us with a drunk but concerned look as he pushes himself up from the
ground. “It wasn’t his fault. It was an accident,” I say softly as we continue moving towards the
house. “A reckless one. He had no business putting you in dang er like that.” “It’s not like he
knew we were going to fall. He’s buzzed, Logan.” We make our way inside the house, and when
the door shuts, he looks down at me. “Buzzed or not, it’s no excuse. I would have never put you
into that kind of situation. Ever.” He’s being a little intense, it was just an accident. It could have
happened to anyone. Somehow, I believe him, though. I believe that he is the type of man who
doesn’t take risks, and my safety would never be in jeopardy with him. Maybe that’s me being
n aïve, though. Logan helps me over to the couch before laying me down. He then quickly moves
to the kitchen, grabbing a few ice packs and bringing them over for my hip and arm. “You’re not
bleeding, just a grass burn and a quickly developing bruise. Ke ep th ese on for at least ten
minutes.” I nod as he grabs a blanket, laying it out over me before tucking me in tightly, like he
doesn’t want an inch of my skin exposed. It’s a sweet gesture, and I can’t help but watch him as
he does each task with a furrowed br ow, like he’s de eply upset by this incident. Ty comes
barreling in soon after, spilling apologies all over the place. I try to placate him, but he isn’t
having it, curling up on the floor beside me like a dog as he hands me the remote and tells me
he’s not going anywhere. I smile at him as I look up to see Lo gan watching us with that same
frown. Shaking his head, he leaves the room and heads up the stairs. I stare off in that direction
for longer than I realize before Ty begins gently rubbing my uninjured leg. I give him a tight smile
as I curl myself de eper i nto the blanket and disassociate into the
screen in front of us.