14. Logan
14
LOGAN
This wasn’t how I was expecting the night to go. I imagined us cuddling on the couch, but in my fantasy, there was more making out and less yelling at the refs for penalty calls against the Flyers. Daphne is so sweet, but put a hockey game on the TV, and she goes into beast mode. Philly is playing Boston, so it’s a hard-hitting, fast-skating game, with both teams generating penalties, something Daphne is taking personally.
“C’mon! That was a trip! Where’s the call? What do we need for you to call in our favor? Gritty blow you during intermission?”
I shudder at the thought of that but laugh. She’s hilarious to watch a game with. When we go to games in Philly, I make sure she only drinks soda, and I keep her full of snacks because mixing hockey and a hangry, drunk Daphne is not a good thing.
We’re sitting on the couch, and Daph is snuggling up against me with my arm around her shoulder. The bowl of Chicago mix popcorn rests on her lap. This feels comfortable. I wasn’t expecting us to have sex tonight. I wouldn’t mind at all if we did, of course, but I figured we’d take things slowly. Not this slowly though. There are glaciers moving faster than this. This reminds me of being a teenager.
Huh. If Daphne is as inexperienced as I assume she is after her earlier outburst, she might be at the-teenager-watching-TV-on-the-couch stage of things. Okay, how did I do this at fifteen?
I brush my fingertips along her arm where my hand rests around her shoulder. She shivers, and goosebumps rise on her skin. She’s responsive. That’s good. I angle my head to nuzzle her temple and place a tender kiss there. She sighs, and her lashes flutter. I snag a handful of popcorn and turn my attention back to the game.
Daphne peeks at me for a moment before also focusing on the game again.
There are only four minutes left in the first period. I can be patient.
She leans forward and places the bowl on the coffee table, then snuggles deeper into my side. I tighten my arm around her shoulder and watch the seconds tick down, marking the end of the period.
She gets up from the couch, grabs her glass, and looks at me. “Do you want anything to drink? I’m going to get a bit more soda.”
“No, I’m good,” I say, standing as well. “Be right back.” I lean to place a quick kiss on her lips and place my hand on her hip when I shift past her in the space between the coffee table and couch. After I brush my teeth and change into an old T-shirt and gray sweatpants I have in my dresser in the second bedroom, I grab a blanket and pillow off the bed I use when I stay here and return to the living room. I see Daphne had a similar idea and changed into a tee and blue sleep shorts with cartoon sheep on them. Her shirt is from a co-ed softball league we were in during college. She has her own team T-shirt, but seeing my last name on her back stirs something possessive in me. I enjoy seeing my name on her very much. It belongs there.
“Great minds think alike,” I murmur.
“And fools seldom differ,” Daphne finishes the familiar phrase with a grin.
I spread the blanket over the back of the sofa and lie down.
She quirks her head. “Where am I supposed to sit?”
I pat my chest. “Lie right here. We’re cuddling while watching the rest of the game.”
Her skeptical expression cracks me up. I shift to my side and press my back against the rear cushions.
“Fine, we’ll do it this way. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you don’t fall off. I’ll hold on to you.”
“I bet,” she mutters. But she settles against me.
I reach back and pull the blanket over us, then wrap my arm around her waist and pull her snugly against me. Her hair is in a low ponytail and pours over the bicep of the arm I have folded under our heads. It’s silky, smelling of strawberries and vanilla. I’m suddenly craving strawberry shortcake. Daphne wiggles a bit, getting comfortable as the Flyers face off against the Bruins to start the second period. Her curvy ass nestles against my crotch, and my cock stirs in interest. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea.
Daphne sighs and relaxes against me. “I never thought we’d be here like this, Logan. This has been the best day of my life. Thank you.”
I brush a kiss on her shoulder. “Best day so far. There will be more even better than this. Trust me.”
She burrows more deeply under the blanket and against me. “I can’t wait.”
Okay, this was a good idea.
This is the calmest Daph has ever been watching a hockey game. If she hadn’t yelled at the refs for a bad call against the Flyers’ center, I’d think she’d fallen asleep. Gritty is dancing in the stands as the Flyers leave the ice going into the second intermission. He’s a happy…I’m not sure what he is. A deranged Muppet? But it doesn’t matter because Philly is beating Boston four to one.
Daphne stirs and turns to face me, draping one arm over my waist and reaching up to caress my cheek with her other hand. I unfold my bottom arm to embrace her fully and pull her closer to me. We both give in to the temptation and indulge in a kiss.
I don’t know how we went all those years without doing this. It’s addicting. Her lips are so soft and pliant, and I trace her lower lip with my tongue, seeking admission into her sweet mouth. Our tongues dance, and her hand moves up my back to caress my nape and play with the hair brushing the collar of my T-shirt, while mine moves lower to palm her ass and press her tighter against me. My cock stiffens, and I long to press it against her sweet warmth, but that’s too much, too fast for my girl. It would be oh so easy to keep kissing and let hormones, lust, and love, at least on my part, sweep us away. But Daphne isn’t ready for that yet, and if we got carried away tonight, it wouldn’t be fair to our relationship. I’m in this for the long haul. I can be patient. We haven’t said it yet, but I know I love Daphne, and she’s worth waiting for.
No one has ever actually died from sexual frustration, right?
I soften our kiss and pull back slightly, gazing into unfocused, lust-glazed pools of molten chocolate. Somehow Daphne has ended up on her back, and I’m half covering her with my body. It would be so easy to lower my head and pick up where we left off, but I push up off the couch. I’m tenting my sweat pants, but there’s nothing to do about it now. I back up so my cock isn’t right at eye level when she sits up. I’d love to introduce them to each other, but now is not the time.
The roar of the crowd on TV pulls my attention and gives me the excuse to turn and face the screen while I try to get my erection under control. The last period of the hockey game has started.
“Do you want to keep watching?” I ask her.
Her nimble fingers braid the hair she has pulled over her shoulder. She’s doing this to have something to focus on while deciding how to answer. I know her so well. At least, I think I do. She hunts for and finds the elastic tie I had slipped from her tresses while we kissed and uses it to secure her work.
“No,” she finally says, “I’m good. I’ll catch the highlights tomorrow if anything exciting happens. I have to get up for work anyway.”
I didn’t think about her having to work tomorrow.
“Do you have to go in? Can you call out?”
“No, I can’t call out,” she says a bit testily. “Mallory took off on Friday. I had to cover things she normally handles, so I didn’t get to do everything I needed to for my own duties. I need tomorrow to get back on track.”
I run my hand through my hair. “I’m here until next Monday, and then I have to head to Portugal and Spain. How’s your Spanish? There are so many places I want to show you. You’re going to love it.”
She shakes her head, and the tenting situation in my pants is finally resolved.
Standing and scooting past me, she ventures to the kitchen. I can see a sliver of her tummy when she reaches into the cabinet for a glass.
“Do you want some water?” she asks with a quick glance at me before her gaze skitters away. The rigid line of her shoulders reveals her feelings even though she hasn’t voiced them.
“No, I’m okay,” I say as I approach her.
She turns to face me, the kiss-dazed expression on her face gone. I miss it. Instead, her clear brown eyes look back at me. I don’t know if there is an actual sheen of tears or if it’s a trick of the lighting.
“You’re leaving?” she asks. “You’re only here for a week?”
I nod. “Yeah. Coming here was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I have assignments lined up for the next six or seven weeks until right before Christmas. I have events in Spain and Portugal for one leg and then Germany and Switzerland back-to-back for the Christmas markets. You’ll love the Christmas markets. You have a current passport, right?”
I thought I had seen all of Daphne Foster’s expressions, but this mixture of sadness, disappointment, and anger combined is something I never expected to see on her beautiful face.
“You’re here for a week on a spur-of-the-moment whim and think I can drop everything to go off with you when you leave? Logan, I have a job. I have responsibilities. I can’t wake up and decide to go off on a lark because you drop in, ask me to be yours, then say ‘Hey, let’s go to Portugal!’ My life doesn’t work like that. I don't know what made you think I’d go for it.”
She takes a deep breath. Okay, that sheen isn’t from the lighting. It’s tears. Now the question is, are they sad tears or angry tears? I guess they could be both? We’ve never fought before, and I’m not sure we’re fighting now, but whatever this is, it’s the closest to fighting we’ve ever gotten. And if I don’t figure out what to say, we’ll be fighting for sure. Even my bird brain knows that saying her job doesn’t need her isn’t the right way to go. She hates her job. If they called her tomorrow and said they closed her department and no longer needed her, I bet she’d be thrilled.
Hmm…would Dad and Uncle Will go along with that? Who am I kidding? She’d freak out about not having a job, especially if it was a sudden thing.
Okay, think, Morris. You can do this.
Daphne’s pacing, restless. She throws her hands up in the air. “Up and follow you across the world? I can’t do that. I want to be with you. I care about you. But I need to work, Logan. Yeah, I have my trust fund, but that can’t be the only income that supports us. We’ll have to have a home, raise a family, pay for college educations, and fund a retirement. Plus, I need to do something. I can’t just be stagnant.”
“You’re right, Daphne. It’s not fair for me to spring this on you and think you’ll just jump in my arms, ready to run away with me. Let’s sit and figure this out.” I reach out for her hand, and she doesn’t pull away. That’s a good sign, right?
She shakes her head. Not a good sign. Crap.
She’s still shaking her head, her shoulders slumped. “Logan, it’s late. I don’t want to talk about this now. I need to get to bed so I’m not a zombie at work tomorrow. Can we discuss it when I get home tomorrow night? It’s been a long day, and I’m beat.”
I’d rather discuss it now so we can hash it out and move on, but Daphne’s tired. She’s had a lot sprung on her today. If I push to talk now, she’ll dig in her heels, and I won’t like the results. Where I’m a face-things-head-on-and-fix-it-all-now type of person, Daphne needs time to process everything and decide on her own. Could I say and do the right things to get her to do what I want eventually? Yeah, probably. But I will not manipulate her. That’s an asshole thing to do. This is long-haul stuff, not just a right-now solution.
I pull her toward me and wrap my arms around her waist. I rest my chin on the crown of her head. After a moment, I feel her arms circle around my waist, and she rests her cheek against my chest.
She presses a kiss over my heart and gazes up at me. “I don’t want to fight with you.”
I give her a gentle squeeze. “Oh, Daph. We aren’t fighting. We’re figuring out. Let’s go to bed, and we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
She smiles and stretches up to kiss me. Our lips cling to each other, but we don’t deepen the kiss.
She pulls back first and gives me a soft smile. “Okay, you’re right. We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Good night.” With a quick peck, she pulls from my arms and goes to her bedroom.
And closes the door.
I guess I’m sleeping in the other bedroom? Yeah, this was not how I was expecting this night to go. I turn off the TV and the lights in the living room and kitchen, grabbing my pillow and blanket as I go. I’ll need them on my lonely bed tonight.