Logan (Carolina Reapers 4)

Quinn nodded, squeezing my hand. “You can’t blame me,” she said as we resumed our walk. “I want to protect you. I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

“You won’t,” I said, determined. “Definitely not in the way I was before. Learned that lesson the hard-as-hell way.” I huffed.

“Asshole,” Quinn grumbled.

“Yeah.” An old familiar rage prickled my skin, but I shoved the feelings down. “Anyway, I’m not trying to turn this thing with Logan into anything else—”

“Omigod,” Quinn cut me off. “Is that—?”

“Logan!” His name left my lips in a startled gasp as I spotted him and Cannon racing toward us, sand flying behind them in their haste.

“Delaney?” He tilted his head, slightly out of breath as he and Cannon skidded to a stop before us. “What are you doing here?”

I eyed the two of them, both clad in sleek, tight long-sleeved Under Armor shirts and warm athletic pants, and suddenly the crisp air wasn’t so cold anymore.

“We were uh…” my words failed me.

“Going for a walk,” Quinn answered.

“It’s nearly freezing out here,” Cannon said.

I shrugged. “Less crowded. And you two are…” I motioned to their clothes. “Working out?”

Cannon slid a sideways glance to Logan, who straightened. “Yeah,” he said, his voice cracking a bit. “Have to stay in shape, you know? Heart health.”

I held back a laugh, not sure what was funnier, the clearly nervous look in his eyes or the way he was worried about his damn-near perfect body. “Yeah, I can see that,” I teased, eyeing his body. “You’re really letting yourself go, Logan. It’s sad.”

Cannon snorted, and Logan gave me a wicked grin that made every single inch of my body tingle.

I stepped forward, lowering my voice a bit. “You didn’t text,” I said.

“Miss me, Delaney?” he teased right back.

I scrunched my nose. “Not in the slightest,” I said. “But I did worry you fell asleep in the bathtub or something.”

He chuckled. “That was one time,” he groaned. “And I told you that in confidence.”

We both laughed, and then I was just staring up at him, noting the subtle flecks of amber in his dark eyes.

“After our run, we planned on hitting up the library,” he said. “I have a book to return.”

A warm shiver ran the length of my spine.

Cannon started jogging in place, clearly ready to get said run over with.

I nodded and hurried to step out of their way. “Have fun,” I said.

“Always.” Logan winked at me before picking up his pace, and soon he and Cannon were halfway down the beach.

“Damn,” Quinn said, fanning herself. “The heat between you two is enough to make me want to take a dip!” She motioned to the cold ocean.

“Oh, stop it.” I waved her off.

“No,” she said, laughing. “Is return a book code for friends only sex? Because damn.”

I gaped at her. “Of course not! I just explained to you—”

“Friends,” she cut me off. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. But I hadn’t seen that before.”

“What?”

“The sparks flying between you. If I didn’t love Jarred so much, I would’ve had to jump Cannon just to relieve the pressure!”

I laughed, shaking my head as we continued our walk. “You are insane,” I said. “And I’m glad you have Jarred because Cannon…he’s kind but it took him months of checking out books before he said more than two words to me. There is some real intense pain going on underneath that sexy, tatted exterior, and I pity the woman who is brave enough to unearth it.”

Quinn glanced over her shoulder, a visible shudder shaking her body. “Way to kill the mood,” she said, and I laughed again. “Still,” she continued, bumping her shoulder with mine. “That was some serious sexual tension. You know you can’t ignore that forever.”

I hated that she was right. That I was already having a hard time ignoring it. It didn’t help matters that he was hilarious and awesome and fun to be around even if we were doing something mundane like grabbing coffee.

“I can,” I lied. “Besides, look at him.”

“I did.”

“And look at me.” I pointed out my oversized sweater, the plain black leggings and scuffed boots, the messy top-knot I’d pulled my hair into. The lack of makeup. “It doesn’t really match up, does it?”

Quinn rolled her eyes. “You’re delusional. Beautiful, too. But delusional. It’s obvious he’s attracted to you.”

“Even if he was, which he isn’t, bad ex, remember? Too recent—”

“I’m not saying dive into a serious relationship with the man,” she said over me. “I think I was pretty clear on how I want to protect you after the last one. But,” she hurried on. “Friends-only sex can be amazing. No strings. No one gets hurt. All the pleasure—”

“Isn’t that how you met Jarred?” I cut her off, and she hissed. “You were friends, then did the no-strings thing?” I eyed her left hand where a pretty diamond rested on her ring finger.