Logan shakes his head, his voice lowering and making it hard to hear over the music. “I’m not fucking with you, Chanel. I want to make this work. I’ve been waiting a year for you to come around, and I don’t want to wait anymore.”
“You’re serious,” she murmurs, inching in closer, her big eyes only for him. Logan nods and her brows furrow. “But I like the way we fight.”
“I know,” he says, his hands falling to her waist. “That doesn’t have to change. Hell, I’m sure we’ll probably fight more. But I want it all, including the fucking angry sex that comes afterward.”
“Logan,” she hisses, insisting he keep his voice down, but it’s a little too late for that.
Nervousness flickers over his face. “Please don’t say no in front of all these people. I’m already embarrassed enough. Just smile and nod and then tell me to fuck off later.”
Chanel laughs and places her hands on his chest, sliding one of them up around his neck. “You’re an asshole,” she tells him, her eyes sparkling with happiness. “But I swear, if the fighting stops and you become all lovey-dovey on me, I’ll break up with your ass so fast.”
“Wait,” Logan says, his whole body tensing. “Does that mean yes?”
“Yes, you big mor—”
Logan kisses her so fast that she doesn’t even get to finish her insult, and the gathered crowd cheers for the new couple. “HELL YEAH!” Ilaria shouts, throwing herself to her feet. “SHOTS ALL ROUND.”
Happiness bursts through my chest as Tanner’s arms lock tighter around me, and before I know it, Logan’s hands curl around Chanel’s ass and lift her off the ground. I suppose the party is over for them as he strides through the crowded bystanders, more than ready to get her naked.
The guys laugh and Riley shakes his head. “Fuck, I thought he’d never find the balls.”
“Nah, I knew he had the balls,” Hudson says. “I just thought he’d fuck it up before he got to the end.”
Tanner takes my waist, twisting me on his lap until we’re face-to-face. “If they can figure it out, then surely we can too.”
“Yeah but … It’s Logan and Chanel. I’m not sure their version of figuring it out is exactly the same as ours. They’ll be arguing with each other and broken up by the end of the night.”
“True,” he says. “But then they’ll fuck and make up, just like couples are supposed to do.”
I press my lips into a hard line, knowing just how right he is but still so nervous about completely handing over my heart. “Don’t push your luck, Morgan.”
“Can’t help it,” he mutters, his eyes lighting up like the Fourth of July. “You’re the hot sauce to my wings, my ride or die, baby. We’re supposed to go together. I lean, you lean.”
My heart flutters as nervousness creeps into my veins. I hate it when he says stuff like that. I’m so used to him being the broody douche canoe full of assholish comments that it always throws me off guard to see this softer side of him. But on the other hand, I love it. Like, really fucking love it.
“Tanner Morgan, are you going soft on me?”
Tanner gasps, feigning outrage. “The very idea that I could ever go soft on you offends me.”
I groan and roll my eyes. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
“You know, bro,” Riley says, leaning into Tanner’s side. “If you’re having problems in that department, you can talk to me. Otherwise, they have pills for that sort of stuff. Sort your shit out.”
“Great,” Tanner groans. “The whole fucking football team is going to think I have a limp dick now.”
I grin back at him, wide eyed and as innocent as ever. “I can always show them your cum shot video,” I suggest, being my usual helpful self.
Tanner’s arm scoops beneath my legs and he makes a show of lifting me up. “Take it back or you’re going in the pool.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” I challenge, narrowing my stare. Tanner just looks back at me, his brow slowly arching before I realize just how serious he is. “Okay, okay,” I rush out, my hand gripping onto the seat behind his back. “I swear, it’s for my eyes only.”
“What’s for your eyes only?” Arizona questions, leaning down to place her empty glass at her feet.
“Tanner’s cum shot video,” Riley responds.
“The fuck, man,” Tanner says. “Do you have to listen to every private conversation around you?”
“Can’t help it,” he says with a slight shrug of his shoulders. “It’s a gift.”
“Finally,” Arizona says, cutting off the boys’ bickering as she glances out toward the pool, watching as Jax protrudes from the hidden cave beneath the waterfall. She stands and a stupid grin stretches across her face.
Ilaria shakes her head, and I can’t help the laugh that bubbles up my throat. I know I shouldn’t watch what’s about to go down, but the cold hard truth is that it will turn into a trainwreck, and I simply can’t look away. I mean, how? There’s no way she can pull this off in such a huge crowd, and where exactly does she think she can do it? There are people everywhere, plus she wants it to be a birthday surprise, so it’s not as though she can just lure him into a hiding spot. Though judging by the way she’s been sitting here, mostly in silence, I can only assume that she’s been planning out every second of this. I think she was hoping that it would be spontaneous, and it will be for him, but for her, this is planned right down to the second.