Logan Kade (Fallen Crest #5.5) (5 page)

My heart stilled.

“No. Sorry. Wow. I’m bumbling this, aren’t I?” He tried another smile. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t realize who you were when you first came in, but once you introduced yourself… I’d been meaning to find you before class started. That’s what I’m trying to say. You don’t have to be here.”

A boulder lodged inside my chest. Someone had opened me up, stuffed it in there, and now they were trying to stitch me up around it. “What?” I couldn’t move.

“No, no, no,” he said again, hastily. “This is all coming out the wrong way. I recognized your name on the list, and Professor Gayle asked me to double-check, because she recognized your name, too. She’s a friend of your dad’s, and she remembered hearing that you were in a nursing program already. I double-checked your transcripts and called your last professor.”

My chest grew tighter as he spoke.

He called my last professor…

He knew…

He had to know…

I licked my lips. They were chapped. When did that happen? A slight buzzing sound started in my ears, and I shook my head, trying to clear it. When I spoke, my voice was hoarse. “I took an incomplete with that class, the one like this one.”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “The professor explained where you went when—”

I tensed, waiting for the blow. He was going to say it.

“—you had to take your incomplete. He told me it was late in the semester, and you had a ninety-eight percent in the class overall. He would’ve passed you, but you didn’t take the final you assured him you’d be back to finish.”

This was like a nightmare.

My hands sank into my bag, holding on to it tight. “I left school altogether.”

He paused, his mouth open, then his eyes darted to my face. “Uh, yeah. He told me that, too. I explained that you were a student here now, and he said he’d waive your last agreement. You got an eighty-three percent in the course. That’s what I meant when I said you don’t have to be here.”

“I don’t?”

“I don’t even have you on the list. I already put you in the next class up. Now…” He cleared his throat, sliding his glasses to the top of his nose. “This means you’ll be in class with actual nursing students. They took this course and got into the program, so in essence, you did, too, but not officially. Does that make sense?”

No.

He
knew
. He must’ve known.

He paused again, frowning at me. “Taylor?”

I nodded. He was saying something. I’d remember it later and figure it out. Class. The next one. Not this one. I nodded again, which was enough for him. He launched into the next part of his statement.

I wasn’t listening. I couldn’t.

“…tomorrow then?” He sounded so bright and cheery.

I forced a smile, and a weak “Okay.”

“Great. Good. All right then,” he said. “I have another class in here. What do you have next?”

I closed myself off, and my autopilot turned on. I was fine. I was great. I was so thankful to him for doing that.

And I almost convinced myself that was true as he followed me to the hallway and clapped me on the shoulder before turning toward the bathroom. He had to go before his next class, which he didn’t teach, he explained. He was a normal student like me in that one. I nodded as he disappeared.

And my next class? I checked my schedule. I had enough time to grab a coffee. I was heading back with it when I realized that my next class was in the same building. My last class had been in Room 311...and the new one was 309. People were already going in, and I picked a seat in the back.

A bag dropped onto the desk next to me, and I looked up into the narrowed eyes of Logan Kade.

“You.”

I straightened in my seat. “You.”

“I recognize you from last night.”

My chin went up, all my slight-panic fled, and it was on. I heard the challenge in his voice. “I recognize you from last night, too,” I said. Challenge accepted. My body went from being numb to burning up. All the panic, pain, haunting memories—everything that Jeremy Fuller just brought up in me was wiped out by the mere presence of this guy. I should’ve been grateful, but I wasn’t. I was hot. I was angry. And I knew it had nothing to do with Logan Kade, but like last night, I didn’t care.

“You’re friends with Jason Delray. I remember him now.”

“You’re friends—” I started, then caught myself. “Yes…he is my friend.”

His top lip twitched into a smile. The rest of his gorgeous face was stoic. His eyes were alert, focused on me, but it was his mouth I couldn’t pull my gaze away from. Some of my anger was melting into something else, something I didn’t want to think about. For some reason Logan Kade had already wormed his way under my skin.

He stared back at me for a moment, a mask over his face, before he started laughing. “You are feisty.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Do you not know me? Feisty women are my specialty.”

“You’re arrogant.”

He was full-on laughing now. “Have you not met me? Nah.” He waved that off as his smirk grew. He knew full well the effect he had on everyone. “I’m Logan Motherfucking Kade. I have my own hashtags, but,” his eyes warmed, and he leaned closer, “I want to know more about you. I know your friend, but I don’t know you. What’s your name?”

I held my tongue. He’d find out my name during roll call. I wasn’t concerned about that. No, I was holding my tongue because I was having a reaction to this guy that I’d never had before. Eric was a jackass. He proved that the day my mom died, but he’d been my constant before. He was sweet, popular, and always there. I had feelings for him, that was obvious, but nothing like this. I didn’t quite know how to react to someone like Logan Kade.

The second he sat down next to me, others started glancing back at us, but now that he was laughing, more and more they were openly staring. A few girls down the row were almost glaring. Kade saw them too and raised a hand. “Hey.”

Their stares morphed into smiles, and they waved back. One girl asked how the party was last night, and it clicked. These girls already knew Kade. I gave them a second look. They might really
know
him. A couple were giving him come-hither looks.

I muttered under my breath, “So this is what it feels like.”
Huh
.

“What is?” He leaned back in his chair to rest against the wall behind us. His eyes pinned me down, but not in a bad way. He was curious—and amused. His mouth lifted in a grin. He
was
cocky. I hadn’t lied about that, but maybe I’d gotten the other part wrong. The arrogance of a narcissist was lacking with him. He just seemed to be enjoying himself.

My eyebrows bunched together as I remembered the night before. He’d had the same look. That is, until those guys had gone after his girlfriend. Dark, brooding, and dangerous had taken over then. A shiver went down my spine as I remembered him hitting that guy.

Our professor entered the room, but Logan raised an eyebrow at me. “What
what
feels like?”

She cleared her throat and held up a stack of papers. “Here’s your syllabus. We’re going to hand these out and go through them before we start anything else.”

I shifted back in my seat and shook my head. I was partly grateful for the interruption. Even though I’d just gotten to this college, I knew Kade was at the top of the social ladder. Hell, he probably defined the top tier.

He walked into a room and got attention.

Kade commanded this whole room. It was overwhelming, all of that power radiating from him, and having it directed at me? It was a whole new experience. I shifted in my seat, trying to get comfortable, but I felt torched.

“Welcome to Sociology 101, the scientific study of human society,” our professor announced.

Logan leaned over and whispered, “Or as I like to call it, the tutorial guide on how to mindfuck entire groups.”

WANNA BET?

TAYLOR

“I have a bone to pick with your buddy Delray.” Kade fell in step beside me as we left class. Hooking his arms through his bag, he pulled it onto his back and rested his hands on the straps. Somehow this made him seem even taller, or leaner.

“Yeah?”

He hurried around to walk in front of me, facing backward. I could’ve looked away before, but now there was no chance. I was locked in place. Not wanting him to fall down the stairs, which were ten feet away, I stopped walking. He did as well and smirked down at me, giving me the full impact of his six feet of height.

“I wanted him to do a gambling thing with some of my guys last year. He turned me down.”

I frowned. “Okay?”

“You’re going to get him to do a gambling thing for me.”

I studied the amusement in those chocolate eyes of his. “Are you always like this?”

His smirk deepened. “Gorgeous?”

“Annoying.” But that wasn’t even true. I saw the amusement in his eyes. It was like he was laughing at me, but he glanced at the students filing past us and the look held firm. No. It wasn’t just me. “Like you’re laughing at the world.”

He lifted a shoulder. “Because I am.”

“It’s annoying.” It wasn’t, though. It was something else. Logan made me feel like I was pushed off my chair and had to go through life lying sideways on the floor. It was disconcerting. “Not much bugs you.”

He laughed. “Being called annoying? No. That doesn’t register with me. I’m not being cocky when I say that girls like me—they really do like me. I’m funny, sarcastic, quick-witted, and enough of a bad boy to make girls wet. If I like you, I’m loyal to you. If I love you—and don’t get ahead of yourself because that list is really short—I’ll do
almost
anything to protect you. Girls drink that shit up like it’s booze that makes you lose weight.”

“You just likened yourself to a fat-free beverage.”

“A fat-free alcoholic beverage, and yeah.” His smirk was almost adorable now. “I know how chicks think. If something like that exists—where you lose weight while you get drunk—I’m buying all the stock I can. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t be all over that, too.”

“What? The stock or the booze?”

“Both.” His grin deepened. “Or just me.”

I ignored the last statement, and began walking around him. I had to get lunch and figure out where my third class was, but he walked with me. He held the door open, so I ducked under his arm. I was just stepping outside, almost past him when I looked up. Claire was hurrying my way, her jaw clenched. When she saw me, her eyes slid to the arm I was ducking under and her eyes bulged.

I stepped past him, but I felt him moving with me. He was behind me, his breath on the back of my neck. I tried not to notice—I tried to shut my mind off. I failed. I’d been attuned to him since class started, but this went to a whole other level. He purposely moved so he was almost touching me, and my body went on high alert. My knees threatened to buckle. Sensations shot up and down my spine, and I had a full-on sauna effect going. I almost fanned myself to cool down, but Kade would’ve known instantly the effect he was having on me. I felt an ache between my legs that I hadn’t felt in nine months.

Claire slowed as she approached us.

“Ah.” His breath teased my skin. “Delray’s friend number two. I can chat with both of you then.”

“Hey,” I murmured to Claire.

“Hey,” she said, her gaze glued to him.

Logan chuckled. “You went here last year, right?”

Her gaze cut to mine, questioning.

I stepped to the side, away from Logan. I didn’t want to move. No, actually
I
did, but my body didn’t. I almost cursed myself, but I felt Logan’s gaze on me. It was like he could see inside of me, right past the walls I erected.

“Uh, yeah, I did,” Claire said.

“So you know Delray turned me down last year.”

“Turned you down…?” She glanced at me again.

“The gambling circuit he used to run for Park,” Logan prompted. “Is he still running it?”

“Uh…” Claire had become a statue. She was on the spot, particularly because I was present. Jason promised to quit gambling after we graduated. All three of us made a promise to each other, and that was his. I now knew that he lied, and so had Claire. She knew he hadn’t quit.