Chapter 15 – Nalia #2
Looking past them, my eyes land on Logan standing at the top of the stairs with his gaze on me and a soft smile on his lips. The visceral reaction I have to his presence no longer catches me by surprise, and neither do the butterflies that have taken flight in my stomach.
As I close the distance between us, I’m glad I didn’t decide to change and that he kept things just as casual as me in a pair of worn jeans and a tee that looks like he’s had it for a hundred years.
“You okay?” He steps down the stairs and ducks his head, brushing his lips against my cheek. God, he’s ridiculously gorgeous and smells way too good.
“Yeah,” I tell him as Zuri chimes in.
“Nalia almost ran over Matthew.”
“What?” Logan asks, holding open the door for us. I start to open my mouth to explain what happened, but before I can, Gigi comes around the corner with a bright smile on her face.
“Hey, honey.” She smiles at Zuri, touching the side of her face like my mom does, and Zuri’s face softens.
“Hey, Gigi.”
“I’m not sure if Coop told you, but we’re gonna go get some food and ice cream, then come back and watch a movie.”
“He did, that sounds cool,” Zuri tells her, and Gigi smiles, then looks at me.
“We won’t watch anything scary.”
“I trust you,” I assure her as she wraps me in a tight hug, whispering. “You look beautiful.”
“Thanks,” I whisper back, laughing.
“Okay.” She claps after she lets me go. “Are you kids ready?”
“Oh, wait, let me give you some money.” I start to open my bag, and she smacks my hand not hard enough to hurt, but it does startle me. My eyes fly up to hers, and I hear Logan laugh. “I’m not taking your money.”
“Gigi.”
“Don’t Gigi me, I got it.” She looks at Zuri and Cooper. “Give hugs since they won’t be here when we get back.”
While Cooper goes to his dad, I give Zuri a hug.
“I have my phone if you need anything, just call, and if you can’t get a hold of me, call grandma or grandpa.”
“Okay.”
“She’ll be fine,” Gigi says, then adds. “We’ll try not to get into too much trouble.”
“Be on your best behavior, bud,” Logan tells Cooper, who rolls his eyes in response.
“You two have fun,” Gigi says while she ushers both kids out of the house ahead of her.
“Thanks, Ma.”
“No problem.” She looks back at us, smiling.
“Alright,” Logan says when the door closes behind his mom. “Tell me what happened with Matthew.”
“Him and some of his friends came out of nowhere and cut across the road in front of my car. I didn’t see them, so I had to slam on the brakes.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, but it’s okay. He and his friends were sweet and apologized profusely when I rolled down my window and told them to be careful.”
“Seriously?” His chin jerks back.
“No.” I laugh. “They all called me a few names, and Matthew flipped me off while calling me a bitch before he rode off with his friends.”
“That sounds more plausible.” He shakes his head with his jaw tight.
“It’s fine, the kid’s a jerk, so it’s not a surprise that he acted like that. I’m just glad that I didn’t unintentionally hurt anyone since none of them were wearing helmets.”
“I’m going to ask a friend of mine who works for the police department to put out a statement about bike safety.”
“That would be smart,” I say, then we both look at the door when the bell goes off.
Walking to it, he opens it up, and a pretty blonde with hair so long it touches her waist, wearing a country girl dress and cowboy boots, tosses her arms into the air above her head.
“Your designated driver has arrived,” she sings, throwing herself at Logan and wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
“Missy,” he mutters, patting her back. Her eyes come to me around his shoulder, and she lets him go as quickly as she latched onto him.
“Let me guess.” Her hands come to rest on her hips, and she raises a brow. “Nalia?”
“That’s me,” I agree, and she lets out what can only be described as a war cry before coming at me full force, causing me to step back a foot when she crashes against me. “Oh my gosh.” She rocks me from side to side. “You’re prettier than I thought you’d be.”
“Ugh, thanks.” My wide eyes meet Logan’s, and he laughs.
“You’re welcome.” She releases me, then jumps up and down, her boots clicking on the hardwood floors. “Are you guys ready to go?”
“Where’s Hanson?” Logan asks as we follow her out of the house.
“In the car.” She turns around and starts walking backwards once she’s off the porch.
“He’s on the phone with his dad.” Her finger goes to her mouth, and she makes a motion like she’s gagging, then looks at me.
“Sorry, his dad is so evil he makes every Disney villain seem like Prince Charming.” Unsure what to say, I say nothing, not that I need to worry about replying, since she turns around and starts skipping towards a matte black sports car parked at the end of the driveway.
“Where’s Billie?” I ask Logan when he stops to lock the door, and I realize that I didn’t see her.
“She asked if Cat could sleep over tonight, so they went to her house with Dozer to pick up some clothes.”
“Come on, guys, we have places to be,” Missy shouts. I turn to find her hanging half out the window while motioning with her hands for us to come her direction like a teen in a ’90s movie.
“Is she always so…”
“Animated,” Logan finishes for me, and I nod, thinking that is an understatement, as he takes my hand and helps me down the steps I don’t actually need help navigating. “Yep.”
“Wow.”
“The first time Hanson brought her around, I was sure she was on something. Turns out it’s just her.” His hand squeezes mine. “She’s sweet, though.”
When we reach the car Logan opens the back door and the guy behind the wheel turns to look at us.
Like Logan he has a full beard. Unlike Logan, his hair is long and blond, and his eyes are dark and filled with curiosity, but apprehension.
“Honey, this is Nalia, Nalia, this is Hanson if you two haven’t met.
” Missy introduces us I climb across the back to the seat behind Hanson’s.
“Nice to meet you,” I tell him, and he grunts a quiet ‘hey’ or ‘yo’, it’s hard to make out.
“Okay,” Missy says, typing on the screen on the dashboard, putting in an address. “One more stop and we’ll be on our way.”
I look at Logan.
“We’re picking up Benett,” he tells me, reaching across the space between us to touch my hand that is resting on the seat at my hip.
“Have you met Benny?” Missy asks me.
“I don’t think so.”
“You’ll love him, he’s the sweetest.” She rests her hand on Hanson’s arm. “Obviously not as sweet as my Hanson.”
Okay, I’ve read the grumpy sunshine trope a few dozen times, but I’ve never imagined how that might play out in real life. I guess I’m going to get a front row seat to it tonight, and I have to say I’m not sure I’m really excited about it.
“So, tell me,” Missy says, turning around in her seat to look at me as Hanson pulls out onto the street. “How did you meet Logan?”
Oh god, I don’t want to do this, not anytime but for sure not right now when I’m still trying to figure out for myself what is happening between Logan and me.
“She brought her car into the shop,” Logan answers.
“Aww, that’s how I met Hanson.” She smiles, reaching over to touch the back of Hanson’s neck, then looks at me. “The van that I use to haul all my stuff around for work needed a custom wrap, so I called a number given to me by a friend, and next thing you know, I’m dating this guy.”
“What kind of work do you do?” My guess is a hair stylist, makeup artist, or maybe Miss Tennessee. I can totally picture her on stage, wearing a crown with a sash across her body, holding two dozen roses, talking about how she’s going to save the cows or whatever Miss Tennessee’s cause is.
“I’m a real estate agent.” She smiles at me. “I’m the number one seller in Nashville and number eight in the state.”
“Really?” Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. I bet she’s amazing at approaching clients and closing deals with her bubbly personality. “Do you know April Mayson?”
“Are you kidding? Of course, I know her. How do you know her?”
“She’s my cousin,” I tell her, and she throws her head back laughing.
“I knew I was going to like you," she tells me. Then she shares how she met April, and that before April got married, they used to hang out, but they don’t see each other as often anymore.
It's not a surprise now that April is married to Maxim and they have a kid.
She spends all her time with her husband and son.
Before long we are stopping in front of a small bungalow type house with a neat little yard and a Harley parked out front next to a fancy pickup truck. When the front door opens a good-looking guy with a shaved head and a scruffy jaw step outside and Missy rolls down her window shouting.
“Benny boy, I’ve missed you.”
“Missy.” He lumbers towards the car, shaking his head, and she laughs loudly.
Opening the back door, he bends down and looks inside at Logan and me.
“I’ll sit in the middle,” I tell Logan when he starts to scoot my way.
“It’s alright, I don’t mind.” He might not mind, but his legs are a mile long and his knees are already pressed up against the back of the seat, so if Benett sits next to him, it’s just going to be worse. And not just for him, since it seems that Benett is just as tall as he is.
“It’s fine.” I look over at Benett. “Do you want to come around to this side?”
“Yeah.” He slams the door shut and I scoot towards Logan and put on my seatbelt, a second later his friend slides in next to me.
A second after that Logan wraps his arm over my lap placing his hand between Benett and me.
I don’t say anything about the territorial display even though I probably should.
I also probably shouldn’t like it, but I do.
“Since no one else is going to introduce you, Nalia, Benett, Benny, Nalia.”
“Hey.” I smile over at him, and he jerks up his chin while slamming his door.
“Let’s get this show on the road,” Missy says, and Hanson pulls away from Benett’s house.