“Hmmm,” I tease, arching a brow in interest as my gaze feasts over the brothers. “Maybe I’ve chosen the wrong asshole to sink my claws into. They’re hot.”
“Watch it, Killer,” he warns, his tone low and threatening in my ear, sending a wave of exhilaration pulsing through me.
“Hey,” Arizona calls, her gaze locked on the party guests around us. “Any of you seen Jax around?”
A smirk pulls at my lips as Hudson responds. “Nah, I think the fucker found some chick early on and has been working his way between her legs. You know how he is. He’ll show up at probably the most inconvenient time.”
The guys scoff with laughter as my gaze falls to Arizona, watching as her face falls. “Oh, okay,” she says, reaching for her drink before glancing back at us and giving everyone a tight, forced smile, the determination slowly coming back to her. My brows furrow as I notice the way she looks longingly back toward the crowd, and I can’t help but wonder if there’s something more there between her and Jax. At least, on her end maybe. Jax’s position with women is clear. He knows what he wants and gets it without trying to break their hearts, and I thought Arizona was down with that. She’s always claimed he was a manwhore and could never want something more, joking about him being a walking STD, but now … I’m not so sure.
A heaviness claims my heart, and I can’t help but notice how Ilaria watches her in the same way, but my concerns are pushed aside when Logan mutters something to himself and slams his beer down a little too hard. “Fuck it,” he says and stands, forcing a chorus of nervous sighs out of the boys.
All eyes fall toward him, watching as he moves toward the fire before stepping up onto the edge of it, the flames close to the back of his legs. He turns to face Chanel and a grin stretches across my face.
“I can’t fucking take it anymore,” Logan announces to everyone in earshot. “Chanel, you fucking infuriate me. Just hearing you sitting over here, laughing with your friends while purposely avoiding my stare is the single most humiliating thing I have ever endured. So, tell me why the fuck I can’t get you out of my head? Why have I been simping for you for over a fucking year, babe? Why am I in love with you?”
Chanel stands, craning her neck to meet his hard stare while glaring at the guy. “Are you kidding me?” she demands, frustration clear on her features. “You think because it’s your birthday, I’m just going to stand here and let you talk to me like that in front of all these people? What the fuck, Logan?”
Riley cringes. “She has a good fucking point, man. I don’t think this is coming out right.”
Logan groans, ignoring Riley as he glares right back at Chanel. “What do you mean, what the fuck? I’m standing here telling you I’m in love with you and you’re throwing it back in my face.”
“Do you even hear yourself?” Chanel demands. “You literally just told me how infuriating it is to have me sitting so close to you and how humiliated you are because I haven’t looked your way in a while, and you think you can make it all good by throwing a quick I’m in love with you on the end while making it sound like the worst thing in the world?”
“What? No,” Logan says, my eyes wide as I watch the exchange like the hottest new mini-series to hit the market. “That’s not what I was trying to do.”
Tanner laughs and pretends to cough. “Bail.”
I shove my elbow back into his stomach, silently telling him to keep out of it. If Logan wants to die tonight then we might as well allow him to dig his own grave.
“Pray tell, Logan,” Chanel says, crossing her arms over her chest as a crowd gathers. “What the hell were you trying to do?”
“Can’t you see?” Logan says, jumping down from the edge of the fire and putting himself right in front of her. “I’m trying to tell you that I can’t go on like this anymore. That I’m so fucking in love with you that being this close without being able to call you mine is killing me. I want you, Chanel. I want to be with you, and not just for tonight. I want to be the idiot waiting by my cell, hoping you call. Fuck, babe. I already do that. You’re turning me into a fucking whipped pussy, but I fucking love it. I’m done fighting with you every day, done with the constant arguing because we’re both too fucking stubborn to make something of this.”
Chanel stares at him, completely speechless as her arms slowly fall from across her chest. “You better not be fucking with me because that’s so messed up.”