Chapter 10 Gwendolyn #2
“What crawled up her ass?” Jackson asks, his eyes staying locked on my best friend until she reaches the bar. Even then, he can’t keep them away from her form for too long.
“She’s been feeling a little behind these days.” I weigh how much information I want to give them before continuing on. “I think she’s feeling the pressure of figuring out what she wants to do with her life.”
“I thought she was doing well with that online art shop.”
“She was,” I nibble on my lower lip as I track my eyes back over to my best friend to find her chatting with a man at the bar. “But after that first burst of orders when she opened, everything kind of fizzled out.”
Piper was an incredibly talented artist, something she always enjoyed but never knew what to do with it.
When you’re younger, it’s always the pressure of what do you want to be when you grow up, but when you answer ‘artist’, the responses are never that exciting.
So after the first few teachers told her to be more realistic with her dreams, she tried every job under the sun to see what would appeal to her enough to stick to it for life.
Nothing ever did, but her love of art never wavered.
I turn toward Logan, a thought forming in my mind that I don’t want to lose.
“Not to talk shop, but I have an idea for the festival.”
Logan grins. “Always working. Alright, lay it on me.”
I’ll lay something on you, my mind conjures up the thought, along with a mental picture of exactly how I would do that as I watch his tongue peek out, tracing a wet path over his lower lip.
“Um,” I shake my head to clear it. “I was thinking maybe we use social media to our advantage this year. We can make some online posts for ads to get some more attention than just making flyers to send out to the local towns.” I look over at Matt. “Didn’t you do that recently?”
He nods. “Worked pretty well, too. I’ve got a new house build a couple hours away set up for after the new year.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Logan says. “I’m shit with social media though.”
I look back over at my friend, who is now hand in hand with the guy she was talking with at the bar, leading him to the dance floor as an older country ballad plays over the speakers.
“Me too, but I know just the girl for the job. Not only could Piper easily handle the social media side of things, but she could design all of the material too. Not to mention, we could use some fresh banners to spruce up the town.”
“Sounds like a great plan to me. Include it in the proposal for my mom and see if we can add some extra marketing to the budget.”
I grin up at him, loving the way he chuckles as he reads my face.
“Planning really does do it for you, doesn’t it?”
“You have no idea.”
“Alright, alright,” my brother puts his hands between our faces. It’s only when he almost touches my nose that I realized how close I was to Logan in our shared moment.
“No shop talk tonight. Gwen, you need to turn that brain of yours off for a bit before you break down.”
My mouth falls open. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Seems like I’m not the only one that has noticed all you do is work.” Logan leans over, whispering loudly to me.
“You have no idea,” Matthew chuckles.
“I’m not some workaholic, you know.”
Jackson rolls his eyes. “Whatever you have to tell yourself.”
“I’m not!” Offended, I think hard for proof that I’m not. “I took the day off the other day!”
Matt cuts his eyes to Jackson. “Was that the same day she helped Bernie paint some rooms in his house?”
“Yup. And don’t even say you had a free evening the other day when I know you were babysitting for the Erikson’s.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “They hadn’t had a date night in months! It was important.”
“So what I’m hearing is Gwendolyn is a people pleaser.”
“Basically.”
“You’ve got it.”
I scoff, hopping down off my stool. “I’m feeling a bit ganged up on right now, so I am going to join Piper on the dance floor. Maybe those guys she’s with will be a little nicer to me.”
Jackson’s head swivels around so fast, I worry for a second he might sprain something. He locates Piper in record time, and I watch as his jaw clenches.
“Chill on the overprotective big brother act, Jacks.” I say. “She can handle herself.”
He doesn’t respond. Instead, just glares in their direction for another moment before turning back to the table. He throws back his beer quickly.
“I’m headed for another one.” And just like Piper before, he doesn’t want for anyone to respond as he walks away.
Matthew follows a moment later, grumbling under his breath about making sure the local vet doesn’t get arrested for assault.
It’s just Logan and me at the table as we watch our group around the room.
“I didn’t mean to upset you with the people pleaser comment.” He says finally.
I wave my hand dismissively. “It’s fine. Nothing I didn’t know already.”
We both watch quietly as the crowd pairs up while the music turns to a slower beat. I’m about to offer to get another drink for real this time, when Logan speaks up first.
“Wanna dance?”
I jerk my head in his direction. “Seriously?”
He chuckles. “Don’t act so offended. A simple ‘no’ would work fine.”
“No, it’s just not something I would expect you to ask.”
Not to me, at least.
He takes a half step back, putting his hand between us silently waiting for me to accept it. I stare down at it before flicking my eyes back up to his.
He waits with a small grin on his face. “I don’t want to rush you, but if we don’t hurry up, this song will be over, and then I’ll look like a fool for wanting to still get my slow dance during whatever top 50 chart topper comes on next.”
My mind practically short-circuits at the thought that Logan wants to slow dance with me. But it definitely spazzes out at the feeling of his hand on mine as I slide my palm against his.
The designated dance floor area starts only a few feet from our table, and once we are with everyone else as they sway around us, Logan spins me around until I land in his arms. My breath catches in my throat as we stand chest to chest in the middle of the other dancers.
He grins down at me as he takes my hands, which are laying against his chest, in his and moves them around his neck.
I can feel my blush overtaking my skin, from the top of my head to my toes when his hands find their resting place on my lower back.
Logan leans his head down so his lips meet my ear and this time I can’t fight the shiver as he whispers.
“Is this okay?”
Is this okay? The words echo in my head.
This was more than okay. This was teenage Gwen’s dream come true. I never thought I would ever be in Logan’s arms, but even when I daydreamed, it never compared to what it was really like.
Unable to speak, out of fear the words would come out garbled against the lump in my throat, I just nod my head and silently hope he can’t feel how hard my heart is beating. Especially when he keeps his cheek against me as we sway back and forth.
We stay that way for the remainder of the song, which is over too fast in my opinion. I wonder if he feels as content as I do in the moment as we slowly move to pull away from each other as everyone moves to a new beat around us.
I’m slow to look up at his face, scared that I’m feeling too much in this moment. That I’m feeling something different than him, but when I finally get the courage to meet his gaze, all I see is a reflection of the wonder I feel coursing through me.
His lips part to say something, but my view is cut off from him as a shot glass is pushed in my face. I pull back, disconnecting the hold Logan still had on me, taking in Piper standing next to us.
“This is for you. Drink up, girly. You got some catching up to do.” With that, she tosses back one for herself in her other hand.
I grab the shot, mostly because the way she’s moving has me worried she’s about to wear it.
She nudges it to my lips and I toss it back as I wonder how many she has had since she left the table. The glassy look to her eyes tells me more than the one I just witnessed.
“Perfect. You have two minutes to get ready. I put us down to start karaoke tonight. Woohoo!”
“Piper!” I screech as she skips her way back to our table, where I can see my brother and Matt have returned.
“Sorry about that. I should go check on her.” I gesture toward my friend, worried when I look up to meet Logan’s eyes about what I might see.
But there’s no need when I see nothing but humor and curiosity.
“Honestly, I think I really want to see this performance you’re about to give.”