Chapter 20
Chapter twenty
You’re about as subtle as Walton at a wine bar
Logan
The first thing I notice is the weight.
Not the heavy kind, the good kind. Warm and soft, and a curl of limbs tangled up with mine.
I blink into the pale strip of sunlight sliding through the blinds and look down. Lulu’s sprawled across my chest, her cheek pressed over my heart. One of my old hockey T-shirts hangs loose on her, a shoulder slipping free, the hem barely covering the tops of her thighs.
My shirt. My bed. My girl.
I should move, should untangle before I wake her. It’s still so early. But my arm stays locked around her waist, greedy and unwilling to let her go.
She stirs, lashes fluttering, mumbling into my chest. “I should go for a run…”
A low noise rumbles in my throat, and I tug her closer. “The fuck you are.”
Her smile ghosts against my skin. “Bossy.”
“Yeah.” My hand slides up her thigh, under the shirt. “Not letting you leave this bed until you need to.”
She hums, a soft little sound that drives me insane. Her skin is warm and silken, and I’m done pretending I’m not already hard.
Her eyes blink open, blue, and still hazy with sleep. “What if I want to run?”
“No fucking way.” My mouth brushes her temple, then trails lower, catching the edge of her jaw. “Right now, I want you.”
She tilts her head back, granting me more, and that’s all the permission I need. I ease her onto her back, the sheets twisting around us, and brace myself over her.
Morning light spills across her flushed face, hair a mess, lips parted. She looks disheveled already, just from waking up in my bed.
Her fingertips slide around the back of my neck, pulling me down. “Then take me.”
I tug the hem of her T-shirt higher, baring her completely, and bend to take her breast into my mouth. Her moan shatters the quiet, back arching as I flit my tongue over her nipple before sucking deep and slow.
“Logan—” Her back arches, hands tangling in my hair, holding me to her.
My kisses trail lower, across her ribs, then back up to catch her mouth in mine. I brace my hands on either side of her head, watching every twitch of her mouth, every shiver when I press my hard cock against her. “New lesson today, Lu.”
Her nails scrape my back. “Lesson?”
“Yeah.” My voice roughens as I slide my boxers down. “You’re gonna tell me all the ways you want it. Every time I sink into you, I want a fantasy. One after the other. Don’t hold back, okay?”
Her eyes flare, wide and bright, and she nods. “Yes.”
“Good girl.”
She laughs, soft and sleepy, but it turns into a gasp when I slowly push inside. The way she clutches me, the way morning light glows across her skin, I could drown here.
“Start talking. Number one.”
“Hard.” She pants, gripping me tighter. “Pin me down and pound me. I wanna feel ruined when you’re done.”
My cock jerks, and I have to grit my teeth. “Done. Next.”
“Slow.” She gasps, legs trembling as she spreads her knees wider. “So slow it feels like torture, like I need to beg you to give me more.”
“Fuck.” I rock into her, torturously slow, swallowing her whimper with my mouth. “That’s two. Keep going.”
Her voice shakes, but the words are sharp. “In a dressing room. Up against the mirror while people walk past outside.”
My hips snap harder. “Shit, Lu. You’re gonna finish me.”
She’s breathless but relentless, nails dragging down my spine. “Over your kitchen counter. You bending me forward, me begging for more.”
“Four,” I groan, already losing rhythm. “One more, baby. Gimme one more”
Her eyes lock with mine, wild and beautiful beneath me. “On your knees. Your mouth on me until I can’t breathe.”
I nearly collapse, pounding harder now, control gone. “Five. You’re killin’ me, Parnell.”
My restraint snaps. The rhythm burns to nothing, and I drive into her hard and fast, her moans puncturing the air with every slap of our hips. She clutches me, chanting my name, and I can’t stop the praise spilling hot against her mouth.
“Atta girl. Look at you. Gonna come on my cock every damn day.”
She shatters, body clenching tight, scream muffled by my shoulder. I follow her under, groaning against her throat, half-crazed and completely hers.
Her body’s still trembling under mine, sheets tangled around us as though they’re trying to hold us together. I roll to my side, dragging her with me, not ready to let her go just yet. She comes willingly, curling into me, head resting back on my chest, fingertips softly tracing over my abs.
“You’re dangerous, you know that?” I say quietly, my voice rough in the hush of the room.
Her head lifts. “Me?”
I nod, thumb dragging absently over the curve of her hip. “You’re the one who wanted lessons, but I’m the one who’s fucked.”
Her grin is wide, shameless, the kind of smile that I want to memorize. “You’re just saying that ’cause I made your legs shake.”
“Yeah,” I mutter, the corner of my mouth tugging even as the truth weighs heavy. “Exactly.”
What I don’t say is that it wasn’t just my legs, it was everything. My whole fucking world shook loose the second I gave in to her. And I’m terrified I’ll never feel steady again.
Worse still, I don’t want to.
My phone suddenly lights up on the nightstand, buzzing itself around in a little circle.
Eli.
Fuck my life.
Lulu’s still sprawled across my chest, her hair fanning over my shoulder. She blinks at the screen, then at me, eyes twinkling.
“Answer it,” she whispers, teeth flashing.
I shoot her a look that could level a man on the ice.
“Don’t,” I warn, reaching for the phone.
She just bites her lip and drags a lazy circle over my chest with her finger.
I swipe and press it to my ear. “Hey.” My voice comes out hoarse. Shit. I clear it and try again. “What’s up?”
“On my way to the gym,” Eli says, engine noise in the background. “Figured I’d swing by your place, see if you wanted a lift.”
Lifted your sister about ten minutes ago. Onto my cock.
Lulu’s eyes are wide and sparkling. She’s thriving off this. Her hand skims lower, fingertips brushing dangerous territory. I grab her wrist under the blanket and pin it to my stomach, praying my voice sounds normal.
“Uh—nah. Already… uh, I’m good. Got my own plans.”
He grunts. “Keener. Good shit.”
Yeah, real fucking keen. To make her come again before she goes to work.
There’s a pause. “Hey, Lulu’s house is supposed to be dried out today. You seen her yet this morning?”
In every possible way.
Lulu snorts into my chest, and I smother it with a cough. “Not yet. She’s probably… uh, sorting things out. I’ll check in later.”
“Appreciate it,” Eli says, easy and unsuspecting. “You’ve been helping her out a lot, man. Means a lot. Especially when they all ride her hard at that school.”
Been riding her hard all morning, actually.
My grip on the phone nearly slips, and Lulu covers her laugh with the pillow, shoulders shaking.
Eli barrels on. “Anyway, thanks for stepping in. You and Hutchy. I owe you both a beer. Career Day’s a bitch.”
I stare at the ceiling, every muscle locked. Lulu’s teeth sink into my shoulder just to mess with me. “Yeah,” I manage. “Glad to help.”
“You sound weird,” Eli mutters.
“I’m fine.” Too fast, too defensive. “Just—uh—just been running some drills.”
Drilling your sister.
“On your day off?”
“Gotta stay sharp,” I grit, shooting Lulu a glare, who pulls the covers up over her face.
Eli snorts. “You’re solid, Miller.”
Yeah, I’m solid. Rock fucking solid for Lulu.
“Thanks,” I mutter, dragging a hand down my face.
“Good man,” Eli says, distracted by something in the background. “Alright, I’ll catch you later.”
“Yeah. Later.”
I hang up and drop the phone like it’s burned me.
Lulu rolls onto her back, laughing hard. “You—” She gasps, tears in her eyes. “You almost lost it.”
“Almost?” I pin her under me, growling into her throat. “Fucking torture.”
She turns her head, giving me more access to drag my lips over her skin. “Pretty sure that’s payback for capsizing my flamingo.”
I groan, dropping my head onto her shoulder. “Pretty sure that was the hardest penalty kill of my life.”
***
The weight room’s already humming by the time I walk into the gym. Plates clink, music thuds, and Chase is halfway through yelling at Ryan about form on his squats. I keep my head down, shoulders tight, and head for the dumbbells.
Doesn’t work.
Reid’s already there, leaning on the rack like a fucking gargoyle, towel slung over one shoulder. Calm. Watchful. Eyes enough to cut steel.
“Miller.”
My grip tightens on the handle before I even lift it. “Hutchy.”
He doesn’t move. Just studies me, long enough that my skin starts crawling.
I lift once, twice. He doesn’t look away to the point my skin prickles. “You planning to just stare at me, or…?”
“Thinking.” His voice is low but sharp enough to cut glass. “About how you’ve been twitchier than a rookie on his first shift.”
I grunt and keep curling. “I’m fine.”
“Sure.” He tips his chin toward the rest of the room. “Everybody else might buy that. I don’t.
I set the weight down harder than I mean to. “Define don’t.”
Reid crosses his arms. “Back-to-back texts lighting up your phone as much as they do your face. The way you almost snapped Walton’s stick in half when he cracked a joke about hot teachers. And the look on your face yesterday when Eli started sniffing around.”
My throat locks. “You keeping a diary, Hutch?”
“Don’t need to. You’re about as subtle as Walton at a wine bar.”
Across the room, Chase gasps. “I heard that!”
“Good,” Reid fires back without missing a beat, then drops his voice when he turns back to me. Eyes flat, unblinking. “It’s Lulu, isn’t it?”
The name lands hard in my ribs, and my stomach lurches.
I try for a laugh, but it’s too sharp, lifting another dumbbell. “What makes you think—”
“Because you look like you’re skating with a grenade in your pocket every time her name comes up.” Reid doesn’t flinch. “And because I’ve got fucking eyes.”
I drag a hand down my face, trying to buy myself half a second. He waits me out, like the patient bastard goalie he is, killing time on a power play.
Finally, I set the dumbbell back on the rack, slower than I want to. “Yeah.”
The word drops between us, heavier than any weight in the room. My chest feels cracked wide open, because saying it out loud makes it real in a way it hasn’t been until now.
Reid doesn’t blow up, doesn’t even blink. He just leans back against the rack, folds his arms across his chest, and exhales through his nose. “Thought so.”
I scrub my palm over my jaw, every nerve screaming. “Before you say anything—”
“I’m not Eli,” Reid cuts in, quiet but firm. “I’m not gonna punch your teeth out for looking at her. But she’s not my sister. And I’m not covering your ass either.” His gaze pins me, unrelenting. “You in this? Or are you half-assing it until it blows up in your face?”
My chest constricts, forcing me to face the truth of it.
“I’m not half-assing shit.” The words rip out before I can think. “She… Fuck, she makes me want shit I didn’t even know I wanted. She’s like sunshine that burns if you stand in it too long, and I can’t fucking stay out of it.”
Reid actually blinks, then exhales. “Jesus Christ.” He scrubs a hand over his jaw, the closest thing I’ve ever seen him do to recoiling. “Didn’t need your fucking vows, Shakespeare. Dial it back before the whole weight room hears your sonnet.”
“Yeah, well.” I drag a hand through my hair, heat crawling up my neck. “You fucking asked.”
“Then you better be sure,” he says simply. “Because she’s not the type you mess around with. She’s part of our crew. You fuck this up, Eli won’t be the only one you answer to.”
I nod once, jaw tight. “I know.”
Something flickers in his expression—approval, maybe. Then he pushes off the rack, grabbing a med ball like nothing just happened. “Good. Because tomorrow’s this fucking Career Day I saved your ass from, and I’m not carrying the whole dog-and-pony show by myself.”
Despite myself, a laugh huffs out. “Yeah. Wouldn’t wanna deprive the kids of your sparkling personality.”
“Shut up and spot me.”
I move in, catching the weight as he starts his set, but the truth won’t quit echoing.
I’m all in, and I don’t think I’ll ever want a way out.