Page 25 of A Reputation Dark & Deadly

Logan turned around and quirked a brow, clearly not understanding what she was referring to. When Peyton nodded at the board, he furrowed his forehead until it wrinkled. "You do?" he asked in just as much disbelief as she had.

Peyton scoffed. "No need to sound so surprised," she said. She should probably head home. She wanted to sleep more and then maybe get some soup in her system before she had to go to school the next morning. Instead, she bit her bottom lip almost shyly and looked up at him with green eyes. "Wanna play?"

* * *

Peyton was surprisedhow intense the chess game between her and Logan got. She chose the white pieces, he preferred black anyway. When she inquired about his chess playing ability, he was surprised she liked playing. They set up the game quickly at his dining table and they sat across from each other. Peyton didn't know if it was because she genuinely wanted to play against Logan or if she was trying to buy more time with him that compelled her to challenge him. Truth be told, it was probably both and she didn't feel that defensive about it when she realized it.

"Why don't we make it interesting?" Logan asked as they had set up their sides of the board.

"Oh?" Peyton tried to pretend as though she wasn't particularly intrigued by his offer but she knew she had a terrible poker face. He chuckled and she glanced up to look at him.

"You better work on your face, sweetheart," he told her, his eyes twinkling. "I'm going to win if you don't."

"Win what?" Peyton asked, perking her brows.

"That's the thing," Logan said, locking his eyes with hers. "Let's come up with a wager. What do you say?"

"What do you want?" she asked, her eyes narrowed into his, not trusting him for a second. If he wanted to wager, he wanted something. It was her job now to try and figure out what that was unless he just came out with it. It would save her a lot of trouble.

His smile slithered across his face like a snake until it crinkled his eyes. "Well, I'm glad you asked, sweetheart," he said. "If I win, I want you to assist me with grading all of my classes, besides my intro class, of course."

"And if I win?" Peyton asked.

He leaned forward, his eyes an intense shade of gold. She was captivated, couldn't look away. "If you win," he said slowly. "And that's a big fucking if, I'll take you on a private tour of Old Newport Jail. Since you get wet at the mere mention of Alvin Herbert." He slowly raised a brow. "Is that sufficient enough for you?"

Peyton's eyes brightened and she nodded her head. It was the first time all morning that her head wasn't light and throbbing.

"Maybe I should feed you first," Logan said, scratching the stubble on his face. "Don't want you fucking saying I cheated because I took advantage of you in your post-inebriated state."

And that was how she found herself, eating a breakfast burrito with extra cheese made by Logan Jeffrey himself, playing it safe and moving her pawns one by one across the chessboard. Logan was an aggressive player. His first move employed his knight in front of his pawns, almost as though the horse were leading the charge. Peyton allowed him to capture her pawns one by one, not worrying that he was collecting her pieces at a relatively fast pace.

"You're not making this fun, sweetheart," he said after a moment.

"Collecting pawns isn't going to mean shit in the end," Peyton said, her eyes fixed on the board. "As long as I capture your king, I win. I don't even need to capture anything else."

Peyton had been playing chess since she was young. Her uncle played it, her brother played it, and she was even part of chess club in high school. She loved the challenge of the game, loved that all she needed to do was capture the king and the game was done.

In as many moves, Logan had capture three pawns and a knight while Peyton had one of his pawns. But that was okay because she had a strategy. Logan could be as aggressive as he wanted to be. In fact, Peyton loved playing against that type of chess player. Typically, they were talented but cocky and as the game progressed and confidence increased, they started taking unnecessary risks in order to capture unimportant pieces to add to the collection.

Peyton, on the other hand, was patient. Playing against her brother forced her to be. She learned everything she knew from Wes, her younger brother by three years. He was social and loved sports but when he wanted to focus and calm down, he pulled out his chess board and all but forced Peyton to play with him. At first, Peyton did it to amuse him but things always got competitive. He taught her tons of strategies she never would have employed without his education, including the one she was using against Logan now.

He moved his rook forward, sensing a shift in the atmosphere. Peyton kept her face indifferent, not staring intently but not looking away from his inquisitive gaze, either. Logan dropped his eyes back to the board, making sure this was the correct move he wanted to make and then slowly released his fingers from the piece.

Peyton released a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. She slid her queen all the way to Logan's king, trapping the piece with nowhere left for him to go. She smirked when she released her queen, snapping her eyes into his.

"Checkmate, sweetheart."

His eyes snapped into hers and he waited a moment. Then two. He was typically such a controlled person that to see him look even the slightest bit frantic was a win in her book. She finally released her smirk onto her face, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Old Newport it is," she said and then threw her head back and laughed.