Read Reckless Secrets for Free Online Page A

Out into the bracing cold of the November afternoon where my breath made puffs of white in the air.
    I paused with tears in my eyes on the path up the hill toward the main body of campus away from the stadium, trying to catch my breath. In real danger of hyperventilating. I was still shaking.
    "El! El!" Logan chased after me.  
    I heard him pounding after me, gaining on me. I should have started running again. But I couldn't make myself.  
    He caught me and wrapped his arms around me from behind, curling around me like he wanted to protect me from the world. "You're freezing." He pressed his head to mine and kissed the top of my head. "I'm sorry. The things that douchebag was saying…I couldn't just stand by."  
    A sob stuck in my throat. He sounded so contrite. He deserved to know why I was acting like I was.
    "I couldn't let him get away with it, El."
    "It's—"
    "Logan!" Harlan strode up the hill toward us, carrying our coats. "There you are." He shoved a jacket and an instant ice pack at Logan and gave me a hard stare as he held my coat out to me.
    I took my coat from Harlan reluctantly and caught my first glimpse of Logan's eye. Schwartz had decked him a good one. His eye was swelling. But it wasn't as bad as the shiner he'd had when I first met him.
    Logan helped me into my coat before shrugging into his own and putting the ice on his eye.
    "I've taken care of things," Harlan said to his son. "That asshole will be feeling the beating you gave him for a while. That's what I always say—if you're going to strike, strike hard." He sounded proud of Logan, rather than upset.
    Once his coat was on, Logan wrapped his arms around me again.
    "Good thing Amber stepped in when she did." Harlan turned his gaze on me again, studying me in his son's embrace.  
    I knew from the look on his face I'd lost some respect in his eyes. Not that I cared, except for Logan's sake. If he admired striking hard, I was certain running displeased him. But I wasn't going to explain myself to him.  
    His gaze flitted briefly to Logan's arms around me again and his eyes narrowed. "Spend Thanksgiving with us," he said out of the blue, like he was just continuing a conversation that had been momentarily disrupted. It was less an invitation and more of a command. "Logan's mom will want to meet you."
    I should have been pleased, but I didn't trust his motives. I looked up at Logan for confirmation he wanted me with him for Thanksgiving. Truthfully, the prospect scared me.
    Logan hesitated. His arms felt stiff around me.
    I opened my mouth to refuse just as Logan spoke up.
    "Say yes. Please, El." It wasn't his usual tone of voice, the one that made me weak in the knees. He was trying to mask it, but I got the feeling he really didn't want me to go home with him for the holidays.
    Maybe my emotions were just too raw from all that had happened. After all, we weren't even really officially dating, so why should I expect him to want me with him during a family holiday? But I was hurt all the same.
    "Thank you, but no. I really can't—"
    "Come on, El," Logan said, snapping out of whatever had made him waver in the first place. "You have to come. You can't say no." He turned on the charm and was back to himself.
    Even as upset as I was, there was no way I could say no now.
    "Okay," I said, looking up into his eyes. Then I turned to Harlan. "Thank you. I accept."
    He nodded, but rather than looking embarrassed the way lots of men do when they're caught in a sentimental gesture, he looked smug. And that scared me.  
    Harlan smiled broadly. "Let's get to the game. We don't want to miss the kickoff."
    Logan let me go and grabbed my hand, leaving so much unsaid and hanging in the air between us. We made our way to our seats on the fifty-yard line, avoiding the major issues, either lapsing into silence or making small talk. I was quieter than usual, still trying to get control of myself. Trying not to be angry and upset with Logan for defending me. How could he