Touch of Frost (Mythos Academy #1)(49)
Author: Jennifer Estep

"No," I finally said. "You can’t touch my skin, not without me flashing on you. So, just, uh, put your hands on my waist or something, and I’ll put mine on your shoulders. Okay?"

He gave me a crooked grin. "Whatever you say, Gypsy girl."

Logan’s hands curled around my waist, and I settled mine on his shoulders, somehow resisting the urge to reach up and run my fingers through his thick ink-black hair. Slowly, we began to sway in time to the music, some old, sad song about lost love.

We didn’t speak. I could feel Logan’s ice blue eyes on my face, but I didn’t look into his. I didn’t want him to see everything that I was feeling right now. I wasn’t touching him, not really, not touching his skin anyway, but I still felt so much. The lean strength of his body. The gentle way he held on to me. How easy it was to move to the music with him despite the fact that I was totally uncoordinated and sucked as much at dancing as I did at gym class. It was the first time in a long time that I was completely overwhelmed with sensations, even though I wasn’t using my psychometry magic at all.

A sharp stab of longing pierced my heart, making my whole body quiver with its aching intensity. Because I knew that I was very close to developing a major, major crush on Logan Quinn. If I wasn’t a complete goner already.

I don’t know how long we danced before he cleared his throat.

"You look beautiful tonight, Gwen," Logan said.

He wasn’t flirting with me or talking about sex like he usually did, but, for once, I almost believed him. It was like … I could almost feel him telling the truth, even though I wasn’t touching his bare skin. Or maybe that was just because I was lying to myself, trying to convince myself that this dance, this moment, meant as much to him as it did to me.

"Thank you. So do you. Um, not beautiful, but handsome. Very, very handsome," I finished in a lame tone.

The truth was that he was beautiful-far more beautiful than I could ever be. Logan looked like one of the illustrations out of my myth-history book come to life-like some ancient warrior dressed up in modern clothes. A mix of old and new that seemed like everything to me. That seemed completely wonderful to me.

We kept dancing, and the rest of the room fell away. The other dancers, the kissing couples, the kids hanging around the refreshment table, Morgan and her catty entourage. It all just fell away until there was nothing but Logan and me.

Logan holding me, his eyes on mine, his head slowly dipping lower and lower, my eyes fluttering closed, my breath catching, catching in my throat in anticipation of something that I knew would be completely wonderful-

A sharp tap on my arm snapped me out of my reverie, and a hot spurt of annoyance surged through me at the contact. I jerked to one side, causing Logan’s lips to slide past my cheek and into my hair. The sharp tap came again, and more annoyance filled me. Whoever was stabbing me with her finger, she wasn’t very happy.

I dropped my arms and stepped away from Logan. A girl moved around me and slid in between the two of us. I recognized her as one of Talia Pizarro’s Amazon friends, although she was just my size and not as tall as the other girl. Still, the Amazon was beautiful, with a blaze of red hair and eyes that were greener than the emerald necklace she wore around her pale throat. She wore a form-fitting seafoam-colored dress that hugged her curves in all the right places.

Pop! went my pseudo-Cinderella moment, and I suddenly felt like a giant grape next to her. One that was about to get squished.

"What do you think you’re doing with my date?" the girl asked in a sharp, angry voice.

I looked at Logan. He stared at me, then her. After a moment, Logan looped one arm around her waist and hugged her close.

"We were just dancing, Savannah," he said in a light tone, smiling down at the other girl just like he had at me a moment ago.

Hurt filled me-hurt that Logan could dismiss me so easily. That he could almost kiss me, then look like he was about to do the same to another girl seconds later. Maybe he could, though. Maybe he didn’t feel the things that I did when we were together. Maybe he never had.

I shook my head to clear away the rest of the stupid romantic fog. Of course he didn’t, I chided myself. He was Logan freaking Quinn, the guy who went around Mythos Academy and signed the mattresses of all the girls he slept with. What had I been thinking? Because there was fun and then there was insanity. And anything to do with Logan fell squarely into the latter category.

"Yeah," I said in a cold voice. "We were just dancing. And now we’re not."

Logan looked at me, guilt flickering in his eyes. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something to me, but I didn’t give him the chance. I turned on my heel and walked away, leaving him to his date for the evening.

Chapter 19

I walked away from Logan as fast as I could, slithering through the crowd of dancers, careful not to brush up against anyone so I wouldn’t accidentally flash on them. Coming here tonight had been a bad, bad idea. What the hell had I been thinking? Everyone had a place at Mythos-everyone except me. No, wait. That wasn’t right. I had a role here, too, now-that Gypsy girl who had just made a complete fool of herself. The class idiot, in other words.

I hurried out the front entrance of the dining hall. More kids clustered outside around the doors now, passing cups of beer and silver flasks of who-knew-what from one hand to another, along with cigarettes and even a few joints.

For a moment, I thought about stopping and asking for a drink from one of them. Maybe a couple. I’d never been drunk before, so I didn’t know exactly how many it would take. But they probably wouldn’t share with me anyway. Besides, I doubted that getting drunk would drown out these feelings that I’d suddenly developed for Logan Quinn. I didn’t think anything would help me with that, except maybe a total lobotomy.

I couldn’t go back in to the dance, but I didn’t want to go back to my room either. I already knew that I was a stupid, stupid loser. I didn’t want to sit around and think about it the rest of the night. Besides, I’d put on my damn prom dress. I was at least going to wear it for more than an hour, even if it killed me.

Not really thinking about where I was going, I turned left and stepped onto the circular cobblestone path that wound past all five of the buildings that ringed the quad. I just started walking the huge circle, trying to find a quiet spot where I could sit by myself and … and do something. Maybe scream. Maybe cry. I didn’t know.

I wasn’t the only one who’d left the dance early. Couples sat on every one of the iron benches close to the dining hall. They all stared dreamily into each other’s eyes, giggling and kissing. One guy even had his hand down his date’s dress, and the two of them were practically lying on top of each other.