Seven of Hearts

29. Logan

29

LOGAN

“ M erry Christmas, baby.”

I opened my eyes to find Leah in a red velvet slip that was trimmed in white fur. A satin bow in matching crimson tied beneath her breasts and sat on top of her belly like a present I wanted to unwrap.

I sat up in bed and laced my hands behind my head. “Is this my Christmas present?”

Her giggle was mischievous as she did a sexy little walk across the bedroom floor. Leah slid onto the bed, straddled my legs, and draped her arms around my neck. “Do you like it?”

I hooked my finger in the loops of the bow and tugged until the triangles of fabric covering her breasts fluttered open. “Ten out of ten on the wrapping, but what’s underneath is my favorite.”

Leah cupped my cheeks and kissed me. Her mouth tasted like peppermint and hot chocolate.

“How long have you been up?” I said against her lips as I tilted my head and dipped in for seconds.”

Her scarlet lips curved up in a devilish smirk. “Long enough to look pretty for you.” She brushed her hair over her shoulder, making it cascade in big, soft waves—the way it had the night our lives changed.

I slipped the thin straps off her shoulders and ghosted my hands over her breasts. “You always look pretty for me, honeybee.” I leaned forward and buried my face between her tits, licking and kissing across them.

Leah pouted. “I’m supposed to be giving you a present.”

“And I’m enjoying it,” I said as I grazed the swell of her breast with my teeth, making her shiver in delight.

Her teeth sunk into her lip and she let out a whimper. “I had something else in mind.”

“Oh yeah?”

She nodded as she slowly backed up and pulled the covers away from my waist.

Holy shit...Watching Leah peel down my boxers was a fucking sight to see. Those ruby lips were my damnation as she wrapped her hand around my cock and guided the head into her mouth.

“Fuck—” I sucked in a sharp breath as pressure and warmth pulled at my dick. The back of my head hit the headboard with a distinct thunk as I tried to keep myself from coming immediately.

She hummed happily around my shaft, and teased me by swirling her tongue around the tip.

I tangled my hands in her hair, desperate to keep her close. “That’s my good fucking girl,” I groaned as she took me to the back of her throat, then sucked her way to the tip.

She released my cock with a pop. “Hm. I was trying to get on the naughty list.”

I swiped my thumb across her lower lip. “Careful, now. I’ll tie you up with that ribbon and keep you here all day. We’ll miss breakfast over at Will and Kristin’s house.”

She snickered as she dropped her head back down and lavished my cock with sloppy kisses.

“We should probably get going,” I said regretfully. “We don’t want to be late and— oh fuck ?—”

Leah cupped my balls in her hand, massaging them as she sucked me off.

Everything went white hot as my orgasm came rushing in. “Baby?—”

She didn’t stop. She didn’t even slow down.

“ Leah ,” I warned.

She just took me deeper.

“I’m gonna—” That was all the warning I could get out before she made me come faster than I had in years. Fucking years .

Leah braced her hands on my thighs and slowly sat back. Her lipstick was smeared all over her face, and half of it was on my cock.

She was a goddamn sight to see.

I crooked my finger at her, beckoning her closer. “Come here, naughty girl.”

Leah wiped her mouth with the back of her arm as she settled between my legs. I cupped her cheek and tilted her chin so I could kiss her.

“That was some present.”

She smiled sheepishly as she snuggled back into my arms. I didn’t mind being her recliner. Not one bit.

“I figured it was the least I could do since we said no gifts because we’ve been getting so much stuff for the house and for the baby.”

I slipped my hands under the velvet negligee and found where our little guy was sitting. “So you are naughty,” I said as I buried my face in the crook of her neck and nipped at her skin. “You little rule breaker.”

She laughed. “I think you’re fine with it.”

“More than fine with it. And now I don’t feel quite so bad for getting you something.”

Leah stiffened as I reached over to my nightstand and pulled the drawer open. “But—but we agreed?—”

“I started this a long time ago,” I said as I pulled the simple scrapbook out. “I just figured now was a good time to give it to you.”

I laid the book on top of her bump and kissed her cheek. “Merry Christmas.”

Leah opened the cover and immediately pressed her fingers to her lips. “Babe—what is this?”

I held her a little tighter as I looked at the first page. Memories flashed in my mind, reminding me of how scared I had been that first week. How out of control everything felt.

“Remember the week of Kylie’s wedding? I had to come by your apartment to pick up some decorations to take to the venue?”

Leah nodded.

“You had your stamp collection out on the table. I noticed it again when I showed up at your apartment when I found out you were pregnant. I couldn’t sleep that night, so I stayed up, scrolling my phone. I downloaded one of those apps that matches the week of a pregnancy to a fruit or vegetable. And when looking at that made me more anxious, I started scrolling the internet, looking at stamps.”

“You gave me a rare one for my collection.” Her brows knitted together. “But these are different.”

“You were fourteen weeks the day I found out.” I linked our hands together and moved her fingers over the plastic protectors to point at the stamp that had a peach on it.

She let out a little gasp when realization hit.

“I went back and found stamps for all the early weeks, but from that week on, I’d hunt down a stamp that had whatever size fruit or vegetable or flower the baby was.”

“Logan,” she whispered.

“Before I came back here for good, I knew I had to do something so you’d know I was thinking about you. I didn’t know what would happen to us. If we’d ever be anything. But you two were always on my mind.”

The book slid off her belly and crashed on the bed as she turned and threw her arms around me.

Out of the corner of my eye, the screen on my phone lit up. It was a collect call from the prison.

I ignored it this time. My parents had made their choices. It was about damn time that I made mine.

“I love you,” she said with a sniff. “But I’ve been so scared to admit how much I want you. How much I’ve always wanted you. Back when we were teenagers. When you’d come home from college and visit. I don’t know how I got this lucky.”

It’s funny how luck comes in different forms. I used to think getting lucky meant being dealt a good hand. Just sitting and waiting for the cards to come to you. But maybe that wasn’t it at all. Maybe luck is figuring out how to play the hand you’re dealt.

Kristin’s house was teeming with excitement as my totally grown siblings jockeyed for the best position on the couch for present opening. True to tradition, Kristin and Will had made a breakfast feast, then sat back while the rest of us cleaned up.

Bryan, Hunter, and I tackled the dishes while Kylie and Zoey put away the leftovers and wiped down the counters and table. Leah had pouted from her spot in Will’s recliner during the clean-up, but I didn’t miss the way she eyed the tree.

I settled onto the corner of the couch closest to Leah, and reached down to push the lever on the side of the recliner and raise the footrest.

The whole chair tipped back, and Leah screeched. “What the hell?”

“You need to keep your feet up,” I said as I grabbed the throw blanket Kristin had on the back of the couch and draped it over Leah’s legs.

She grunted as she elbowed her way up. “I’m about to open presents, not take a nap, you idiot.”

Kylie snorted as she dropped down onto the couch beside me. “Overbearing much?”

Leah craned around me to see her. “Oh my god. It’s only gotten worse the last few weeks. He woke me up the other night just to see if I was sleeping all right.”

“Hey now,” I said as I rested my palm on top of her belly. “You’re mine. You can’t team up with my sister to gang up on me.”

“She was mine before she was yours,” Kylie countered. “Remember that.”

Will picked up the Santa hat and threw it at me from across the room. “Get to work.”

Hunter, Bryan, and I tackled the pile of presents under the tree, doling them out to the girls first before grabbing our own.

Kristin waited until everyone was settled before giving the signal to start tearing into them. It was a little more restrained now that we were grown, but not by much. We were still a festively feral bunch.

The doorbell rang as I stuck a t-shirt that read “World’s Best Dad” back into the bag that Zoey had given me. “I’ll get it,” I said as I stood and waded through the sea of red and green wrapping paper. Everyone was too engrossed in the fun to notice.

Maybe it was Luca or Maddie coming over from next door. They usually dropped in when everyone was over. Gio probably wanted to see Leah.

I jogged to the door and yanked it open. “Mom.”

That single syllable was a gunshot through the house. The rustle of tissue paper came to a screeching halt, and everything fell silent.

“Well, don’t look too excited,” she said as she stood on Kristin and Will’s porch in a sweatshirt and jeans. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

“And why would I do that?” I clipped.

She scoffed. “Because it’s Christmas. I’m here to spend it with my family.”

A shadow loomed behind me. I knew without looking that it was Will. Leah couldn’t get up that fast, and there was no way my siblings would give Cheryl the time of day.

“You wouldn’t turn me away on Christmas, would you?” She was back to using guilt trips. The same thing she used to do to get me to send her money for years. “I just?—”

“What do you want, Cheryl?” I was done playing games.

She blinked for a moment. I wasn’t coddling her anymore. I wasn’t playing the role of the compassionate son who had hoped she would change.

She wouldn’t.

She was the same selfish woman who had chosen to beef up her income by selling drugs in the carpool line. She was the same person who had pushed those substances to my classmates and put one of them in a casket. She was the same mother who had hidden her stash under my baby sister’s crib, not caring that she was putting us all in danger if someone came looking for it. She was the exact same woman whose choices had put us through hell for years.

“I need cash.”

I laughed, because she was done trying to hide it. She didn’t give a shit about what she had done or who she had hurt.

“I told you. I’m done giving you money.”

“But I’m out of what I had left on my books,” she whined. “Are you still giving your father money? It’s not fair if you give him money and not me.”

“Do you hear yourself?”

“Logan—”

“No,” I clipped. “You have been out of my life longer now than when you were in it when I was I child. That makes you nothing more than a ghost to me. I don’t care if you stay in town, but you will leave me and my family alone.”

Her jaw clenched in a tight line. “Fine. This isn’t even your house. Let me talk to your sisters and Hunter. I know they’re here.”

“He speaks for the entire family,” Will said from behind me.

“How dare you?—”

“How dare I what?” I said. “How dare I put my family first? I can see how that would be a new concept for you. So let me be abundantly clear. You will leave us alone, or I’ll file a restraining order. I’m sure the court would love to see that piece of paper with your name on it.”

She paled. “You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.”

Cheryl glowered, then slowly backed away, muttering under her breath about ungrateful children.

Finally, she disappeared down the driveway and out of our lives.

The cocktail of rage and adrenaline crashed immediately. “I need a minute,” I said as I slipped out the door and headed down to the dock. But to my surprise, Will followed.

We sat in silence, watching the rippling water across the bay. Everything was quiet. Peaceful. I expected the ferocity and rage from the confrontation to make me crash to a record low. But, to my surprise, it didn’t. I felt the same peace that the waves did, gently lapping against the shoreline.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have taken charge in your house,” I said after a long stretch of silence.

Will hunched forward and rested his elbows on his knees. There was a smile on his face. “Do you remember when Kris and I started dating? You were wary of me.”

I remembered it well. After my parents went to jail, I didn’t trust anyone, much less people who seemed too good to be true.

But Will had always been a man of his word.

“You had a lot of responsibility that you didn’t get credit for,” he said. “You and Kristin handled the kids. You were privy to how bad things were, but you still helped Kris protect their innocence. And I know it scared you to have me step into a dynamic that was already precarious. So I made you a promise that I wasn’t trying to take your place as the man of the house.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “This is still your family, Logan. Leah and your baby should, first and foremost, be your priority. But you always have us. Today you were the man of the house. You handled business to protect them just like you did when y’all were living in the trailer in Havelock. And you know what that tells me?”

“What?” I croaked out as emotion pricked at my throat.

“That you’re ready for this next phase in your life. You’re going to thrive in it. And I couldn’t be prouder of the man you’ve become.”