Chapter 36

ELEANOR

My first day of college was a whirlwind of emotions.

Dean and Constance had driven me across the state to Los Angeles, where they dropped me off and carried my suitcases and boxes into my dorm room.

Dean helped me put up my paintings, and I put my favorite of his, the northern lights, at the head of my bed. Constance fussed over my wardrobe space and the food in the canteen.

When they had thoroughly exhausted all the little tasks they could help me with, they embraced me tightly and left quickly, making me promise to call every weekend.

I watched them drive away, my heart racing. It was bittersweet to see them go. They had been the best foster parents, yet I was giddy for the new life ahead of me.

My studies in aeronautical engineering fascinated me. I was also signed up for different painting classes.

Dean always insisted that a painter’s creativity couldn’t be taught in a classroom, yet I believed a minimum of education on techniques and famous painters could do me no harm.

My roommate, June, was a small girl with thick glasses, a heart-shaped face, and dark curly hair that she kept pinned back tightly.

She was a bubbly girl who had already decorated her side of the room with fairy lights, stuffed animals, and a large bookshelf.

She’d been very gracious and helpful in bringing my stuff up as well.

Her sister was two years older than her and had invited her to a party that night. Not keen to go alone, she asked me to go along.

Invited to a junior party my first day at college, and I was already doing well!

We dressed in tight-fitting dresses with low necklines and high heels. June loaded the makeup on heavily and took her glasses off before blow-drying her hair into a wild bushy mass of ebony locks.

I grinned at her.

She led the way across the campus. We had expected it to be closer, but we ended up walking in our heels for a good twenty minutes before arriving at the party house. Our ankles were aching.

It was a squat modern house with two floors and a balcony. Though we couldn’t see them, we could hear the partygoers.

June and I rushed up the stairs excitedly and burst into the house. It was packed. Drunken guys played video games while others played beer pong. Girls amassed in corners, drinking and giggling.

There seemed to be a dance floor where couples were grinding completely off-beat. The music was so loud, I could barely hear June’s voice as she dragged me through the house.

She led me to the kitchen, where she spotted her sister and ran over to see her. I followed behind quickly.

“Mae! This is Ellie! My roommate!” June was shouting. Her sister, Mae, similarly small, with very long black hair, was grinning widely.

“I’m so glad to meet you! Oh, you girls are going to have the best year! Do you have something to drink? Here, I’ll get Logan to make you girls a cocktail! He works in a bar, so he’s really good! Logan!”

She was jumping up in front of us, having her hands around.

“Are you okay drinking?” June asked me. I nodded with a grin.

“My foster father has been teaching me to enjoy fine wines since I moved in,” I told her. She arched her brows and nodded gaily.

“Perfect!”

“Logan!” Mae had pulled herself up on the kitchen counter and was waving her friend over. “Get over here and make us cocktails!” she sang.

Her friend sauntered up, grinning lazily. He was tall. He towered over June and her sister, running a hand through his dark hair pushing it back out of his light whiskey-colored eyes.

I held his gaze as he moved closer, his eyes roaming slowly over my body. He winked at me. I could feel my cheeks reddening.

“What can I make, you ladies?” he asked, gazing at me. “Sex on the Beach? Orgasm?” He was grinning at me.

“Stop scaring the freshmen!” June’s sister snapped. “Mojitos!”

Logan tipped his invisible hat to her and winked at me again. June and her sister immediately engaged in a conversation about the dress June had worn while I watched Logan making his cocktail.

He cast a small glance at me and indicated for me to come closer.

“What’s your name?”

“Ellie. I hear you’re Logan, the bartender.”

he chuckled, squishing the mint and sugar at the base of the glasses. “That I am. So, Dimples. What’s your major?”

“Dimples?”

He winked.

“Aeronautical engineering.”

His brows shot up, and he cast me a sideways glance, his eyes moving up and down my body.

“Interesting.” He chuckled. “You’ll be the only girl in those classes. Jeez, those guys are gonna suffer.”

“What about you?”

He glanced at me again as he poured the shots of rum into the glasses. He served each glass, then poured an extra shot and pushed it toward me, his brows arched.

“Architect,” he replied. “You ever taken a shot before?” he murmured. I shook my head.

“I was always more of a stay home and drink wine with my parents type of alcoholic,” I admitted.

He chuckled. “Well, now’s the best time to try new things.” He held up the shot glass.

I took it gingerly, holding his gaze. I lifted it to my lips and chugged it. The alcohol burned down my throat, and it took everything I had in me not to cough.

I put the shot back down on the counter with a smile. Logan was grinning at me.

“I think I’ll enjoying the rum more with the mint and the sugar,” I admitted.

He laughed, pouring the soda water into the glasses and pushing one toward me.

“You deserve it, Dimples.” He winked.

“So, IT Architect or building architect?” Logan’s eyes twinkled.

“IT.”

He grinned at me. “Do you do any coding?”

“No, I just had a brother who liked to impart this type of useful knowledge to me,” I replied.

June and her sister scurried over to grab their drinks, and we made a quick toast to new beginnings.

“Ellie,” Logan was by my side. I felt his hand resting on my hip. It sent warm tingles through my body. I glanced up at him.

“Come with me? I want to show you the view.”

I nodded, and he guided me out of the kitchen and upstairs. There were people scattered all over the house, leaning against hallways, dancing on beds, crying on their friends’ shoulders.

Logan steered away from them and took me out to a balcony. Below us was a wide swimming pool, already full of drunken, half-naked frat boys.

“Wow, please don’t tell me this is where you jump off from.” I leaned over the railing. Logan placed his hand on the small of my back.

“No, unless you enjoy breaking both your legs and your spine.”

“Hopefully, no one had to learn that the hard way.” I giggled.

Logan made a face and slowly nodded.

“Oh my God, seriously?”

“Yeah, the first party we held in this place.” He grimaced.

“Is he okay now?”

“Wheelchair.” Logan ran his fingers through his hair again, then turned to me with a brilliant smile. “Do you like your drink?”

I sipped at the mojito and nodded. “It’s great!”

He grinned at me slowly, lifting his hand and caressing my cheek. I felt the heat rising in my face as I tried to stay very still, my heart racing at his touch.

“So, Dimples, tell me a little about yourself. Where are you from? What do you enjoy doing?”

“Oh, well, you know, typical story really. I’m a princess of a tiny European country with a name that ends with ‘ia’, and I’m also an influencer.” I shrugged nonchalantly.

Logan chuckled, his hand moving slowly up and down my back. I leaned toward him slightly, enjoying the attention and the twinkle in his eyes.

“Well, that works for me, you know, because I’m a prince too. And can’t be seen with commoners. It’ll mess up my reputation.” He snickered as he played along.

“One must protect one’s reputation,” I agreed.

“So, tell me seriously now.” His whiskey-colored eyes widened, his hand resting on the small of my back.

“Adopted, abandoned, six foster families.”

“Shit.” He arched his brows and leaned heavily against the railing.

“What about you?”

“White picket fence suburban family.”

I smiled. “That sounds nice.”

He barked out a laugh and turned back to me, gazing down at me. “So, where are you from?”

“Originally Alaska. But I’ve been in foster families around California for the last eight years.”

“So, you’re actually pretty hardcore, huh? I should watch my back around you?”

I laughed lightly and shook my head. “No, I’m a misunderstood artist. I couldn’t hurt a fly.”

He grinned at me.

“So, million-dollar questions now, Dimples. You got a boyfriend back home?”

I swallowed. Just then, three guys appeared, laughing loudly. When they spotted us, they bounced over.

“Logan, my man! Who are you hiding up here?”

“Whipped her away before any of us could check her out!”

“Fuck off.” Logan waved them away playfully.

“I’m Levi.” The one with a blond man bun told me, sliding up next to me.

“Ellie.”

“Well, she’s delectable. You a freshman?” Another reached out to shake my hand.

“Would you fuck off?” Logan growled at them. His hand on my back, he pulled me behind him slightly so he could face off his friends.

They snickered at him. Levi waggled his brows at winked at me.

“Looks like you’re already taken. Logan was too fast, again,” he said with a grin.

Logan gave me a pained look. “I’m sorry about these assholes.”

“No worries, they seem harmless.”

Logan grinned at me. His friends had got the message and were slinking off again.

Logan turned back to me, stepping a little closer to me until I was backed against the railing. He placed his hand lightly on my cheek, brushing my hair out of my face.

“So, I was asking you, do you have a boyfriend?”

“Right.” I was blushing. I knew he could feel the heat in my face. He was grinning at me. “No, I don’t.”

“Do you want one?”

“I dunno, are they any fun?”

“They can be if you choose the right one.”

I laughed. “Maybe, they’ll have to convince me a little first.”

Logan moved his hand slowly down my arm and settled it against my waist. He pulled me against him slowly, holding my gaze.

“Well, I think you’re amazing. Beautiful, smart, and funny, which is usually what I bring to a relationship,” he grinned. “So, what do you say? Do you want to have dinner with me tomorrow night?”

“Okay.” My heart skipped a beat as he lowered his head so fast and pressed his lips lightly against mine.