Chapter 166

Ella

The party was raging on, the music thumping in my chest as I finished my drink. Logan turned to me, his eyes filled with a mix of concern and anticipation.

“You ready to head out, Ella?” he asked, his voice almost drowned out by the music.

I glanced around at the raucous crowd and the flickering bonfire. The crowd had grown as more people arrived. Somewhere off in the distance, a couple of cars were doing burnouts on the desert sand. Those two twins from earlier were driving the cars, and I kept looking over, intrigued.

Part of me knew that I had said that I would go home after one drink, and that drink was gone. I knew that it was safest for me not to let this go too far, for me to return to my apartment and not get too close because I knew that the end of this charade with Logan was coming sooner or later.

But another, bigger, part of me wanted to stay and soak in the wild atmosphere a little longer, to experience something different for once.

“Stay,” Ema said, her voice a low purr in my mind. “You know you want to.”

“I do want to,” I replied. “And that’s the issue. With Marina… I’m not sure if it’s a good idea.”

“Ella, I thought we talked about this earlier.” Ema sighed with exasperation. “Why do you need to push him away? Why? Because you’re scared?”

I almost sighed out loud. “Yeah, Ema, I am. Because I might actually be starting to like him, and if he found out that I was taking Marina’s orders to bring him down, he’d… He’d hate me.”

“Ella?” Logan’s voice broke me out of my reverie and snapped me back to the present. I blinked, taken aback, and forced a smile.

“Sorry, what?” I asked.

“I asked if you’re ready to head out,” he said with an amused chuckle. “You finished your one drink. You wanna go?”

I paused, looking down at the empty bottle in my hand, then back up at Logan. His smile was infectious, and I found myself caving in.

“Damn you, Ema,” I thought.

“I guess I could stay for just one more drink,” I replied with a smile, earning another grin from Logan.

“Good,” Ema purred, satisfied by her prodding. “You’ll be happy you stayed, I think.”

Choosing to ignore my wolf—and my better judgment—for just a little while longer, I offered Logan a tense smile and held my bottle up. “I guess I’ll get that second drink,” I said, heading toward the cooler. “Want anything?”

“I’m okay,” Logan said. “Don’t get lost.”

I headed over to the cooler for another drink, the cold bottles glistening with condensation. As I reached for one, I noticed a tall figure standing beside the cooler, his eyes shadowed beneath a baseball hat.

Jet.

There was still something oddly familiar about his stature, but I knew that there was no way I knew him. Under what circumstances would I possibly come into contact with someone like this… right?

But then, my eyes flickered over to Logan, who was chatting with someone by the bonfire. I had just run into him on the street, after all. I mean, I knew we were fated mates, but what were the odds? I decided then and there that I needed to find out, just to be sure.

“Hey,” I greeted with a slight smile. “It’s Jet, right?”

He looked at me for a moment, his expression unreadable. I couldn’t see much of his face, but something about his demeanor made me think he was standoffish, or maybe he was just wary of me because I seemed like Logan’s girlfriend.

But then he nodded.

“So, um, the race was interesting tonight. You’re really good.”

No answer. But, buoyed by the alcohol and a sense of confidence that I didn’t know I had, I kept going.

“We don’t know each other, do we?” I asked.

Jet stared at me for a long time—or at least, I thought he did. I could barely see his eyes beneath the shadow of his hat, and that alone made me feel uneasy. For a moment, I thought he wouldn’t respond. But when he finally did, his voice was low and gruff and entirely unfamiliar to me.

“Nope.”

I swallowed, feeling a bit put off by his one-word answer. “I was just wondering,” I said as I retrieved my second beer. I held my bottle up with a tense half-smile and shook it ever so slightly. “Cheers.”

He responded by clinking his bottle against mine, a simple acknowledgment. His eyes remained hidden beneath the shadow of his hat, and I couldn't help but find it a bit unnerving.

Uncomfortable, I decided to make a quick escape and joined Logan, who was still engaged in a lively conversation with some of his friends, completely oblivious to my strange interaction with that ‘Jet’ character. He noticed my arrival and flashed me a warm smile.

“You okay, Ella?” he asked, leaning in closer to hear me over the music.

I nodded, a hint of unease still lingering from my encounter with the mysterious man by the cooler. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just ran into your rival, the guy with the hat.”

Logan’s expression hardened, and he shot a look in the direction of the cooler. “Uh, yeah,” he muttered under his breath. “Just steer clear of him, Ella. He’s... not like the other drivers. I’m not even sure why he comes to these parties.”

I furrowed my brow, curiosity getting the better of me. “Why is he so different? What’s his deal?”

Logan hesitated, his gaze fixed on Jet. “He’s just... strange. Silent. Keeps to himself. For years, he’s been like that, but he almost always shows up to these events. Gives me a bad vibe, honestly.”

I couldn’t help but wonder about Jet. What made him so different from the other racers? Why did he choose to remain silent and distant? Part of me couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy for him.

“Maybe he’s just lonely,” I suggested, although the look in Logan’s eyes as I said those words told me otherwise.

Logan shook his head, his expression stern. “Lonely? Look, Ella, people have tried. He’s just a weirdo. Steer clear of him; I don’t trust him.”

I sighed, realizing that Logan was serious about keeping his distance from Jet. But the mystery surrounding the enigmatic racer gnawed at my curiosity, and I couldn’t help but wonder what secrets he might be hiding beneath that baseball hat.

As the night continued, I couldn’t shake the feeling of unease whenever I caught a glimpse of Jet.

There was something undeniably intriguing about him, and I wanted to uncover why he was so stoic and silent, but Logan’s warning echoed in my mind, reminding me to keep my distance.

The party roared on, the music and laughter filling the air, and I tried to refocus my attention on Logan and his friends. As much as I hated to admit it, it was… fun.

And it was a new side of Logan that I hadn’t seen before. A freer, looser side. And I liked it.

But even then, I found myself inadvertently stealing glances at Jet, his eyes perpetually hidden beneath his hat, his face obscured by his bandana. He never drank, never ate, never talked. He just… stood there.

It was like he was just observing—but observing what?