The Spin
The circle felt smaller than it was, like the walls of the room were closing in around me. I sat with my knees tucked against my chest, staring at the bottle in the center, wishing I could disappear. Laughter and teasing echoed around me as it spun from person to person, each turn cranking up the tension in my chest.
I tried not to look at Logan. He was sitting directly across from me, leaning back on his hands with that lazy grin that made him look like he didn’t have a care in the world. Vanessa was tucked neatly beside him, her perfectly manicured nails tracing small circles on his arm. My stomach twisted at the sight, but I didn’t let it show.
“Alright, next spin!” Vanessa called out, her voice cutting through the din. She smiled sweetly, but her gaze flicked to me for just a second—enough to make it clear this was no accident.
The bottle spun.
My heart pounded as I tracked its path, each rotation feeling slower and slower. It was like watching a car crash in slow motion, except the car was heading straight for me.
When it finally stopped, the air seemed to vanish from the room.
It was pointing at Logan.
I froze. My hands clenched around my knees as the room erupted into cheers, catcalls, and laughter.
“No way!” someone shouted.
“Spin it again,” Vanessa said sharply, her smile cracking just enough to show the strain beneath.
“No take-backs, Vanessa,” one of the guys teased. “Rules are rules.”
All eyes turned to Logan, who was grinning like he’d just won a prize. He leaned forward, his eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made my skin tingle.
“Well, well,” he said, his voice low and teasing. “Guess it’s you and me, Em.”
The circle buzzed with anticipation, but all I could hear was the blood rushing in my ears.
“Let’s get it over with,” Vanessa snapped, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “We don’t have all night.”
Logan ignored her, his attention solely on me. He leaned in slowly, the grin softening into something gentler, something that made my heart ache in ways I didn’t fully understand.
“You okay?” he whispered, his voice low enough that only I could hear.
I nodded, though I wasn’t sure if I was okay or on the verge of passing out.
And then he kissed me.
It started soft, tentative, like he was giving me a chance to pull away. His lips brushed mine, warm and featherlight, sending a shiver down my spine. I didn’t move, couldn’t move, as his hand came up to cradle my jaw, his thumb brushing against my cheek in the gentlest way.
The noise of the room faded away, the world narrowing to just him—his touch, his warmth, the faint scent of his cologne. My heart hammered against my ribs as the kiss deepened, his lips moving against mine with a confidence that left me breathless.
Someone whistled, and the circle erupted into cheers and gasps, but I barely noticed. Logan tilted his head, his fingers tightening slightly on my jaw as his lips coaxed a response from me that I didn’t even know I was capable of.
My hands moved on their own, one clutching the hem of my shirt, the other bracing against the floor to keep me steady. Every nerve in my body was on fire, and when he finally pulled back, I wasn’t sure if I was breathing.
The room was silent for a moment, the stunned expressions around the circle slowly registering in my dazed mind.
Vanessa looked like she’d swallowed a lemon. Her perfectly glossed lips were pressed into a thin line, her eyes narrowing into slits as she glared at me.
“What the hell was that?” she snapped, breaking the spell.
Logan leaned back on his hands again, his grin returning as if nothing had happened. “That,” he said casually, “was a kiss.”
The group exploded into laughter, and someone shouted, “Ten out of ten, Reyes!”
I tried to laugh along, but my body still felt like it wasn’t mine. My lips tingled, my cheeks burned, and my heart felt like it might actually beat its way out of my chest.
Vanessa wasn’t laughing. She was staring daggers at me, her hand gripping Logan’s arm tightly. “Seriously, Logan? That’s how you’re going to play this?”
Logan shrugged, glancing at her with a raised eyebrow. “Relax, Van. It’s just a game, remember?”
Her nostrils flared, but she didn’t respond, turning her attention to the bottle instead.
Meanwhile, Logan turned back to me, his smirk fading into something quieter, more serious. He leaned in again, close enough that only I could hear him.
“Emma,” he murmured, his voice so soft it sent shivers down my spine. “We need to talk.”
