Chapter 32
thirty-two
BLAIR
I wake to the sound of a photo being taken.
It takes me a minute for my brain to get back online. Where am I? Who’s taking a photo of me? Why does my neck hurt?
“I knew it,” Reed whispers.
Forcing my eyes open, I find Reed standing in front of the couch with a shit-eating grin plastered across his face. “What are you doing?”
“Taking a picture so I can blackmail you later. You’re drooling on him, so I figure it’s worth a new pair of shoes or something.”
“What?”
The warm body beneath me groans and stirs.
Wait. The warm body beneath me?
Oh, shit.
“What time is it?” Logan slurs.
Logan stayed the night. We must have fallen asleep on the couch after our emotional conversation and the movie.
And at some point during the night, we went from snuggling up in a seated position to me sprawling on top of Logan.
He’s tall enough that he takes up the entire length of the couch and then some.
He’s lying on his back with my chest plastered to his.
My cheek is pressed against his shoulder.
And dammit, Reed is right. I drooled on him.
My cheeks flush with heat from that realization, and the fact that I can feel Logan’s hard dick pressing into my stomach. Our legs are tangled together, and the throw blanket is haphazardly covering us.
“It’s nine,” Reed crows.
“Shit.” I struggle to push myself off Logan, but his hands grab my hips and keep me still. When I look down at him, his eyes are wide.
Right. Probably doesn’t want my little brother to see the morning wood he’s sporting. Fair enough.
“You’re not missing practice or anything, are you?” Reed asks.
“No,” Logan says gruffly. “We’re off today.”
“Good. Then you can stick around for breakfast.” Reed snaps another photo before laughing his way into the kitchen. Cabinets bang and pans clatter as he gets everything out and ready to make pancakes and eggs. “We have bacon, right?”
“In the fridge,” I say, my focus on Logan.
He looks… good. I don’t know how it’s possible for the man to be even sexier when he’s sleep-rumpled and squinty-eyed, but he is. The scruff on his jaw is slightly longer, and his hair is sticking out in all sorts of funny ways, but even that doesn’t detract from his charm.
“Morning,” he says huskily.
“Hi,” I breathe out. I have to hold back a moan when Logan shifts beneath me and his dick grinds into my stomach. “Sorry about the drool.”
His eyes crinkle in the corners as he smiles. “It’s all good, angel. Sorry your brother got a blackmail photo.”
“It isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last,” I tell him, chuckling. This time, when I push myself up, Logan lets me. He shifts around too, and then we’re sitting beside each other rather than tangled together. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t post it anywhere.”
“I’m not worried about that.” Logan reaches over and brushes an escaped strand of curls away from my face. When he leans in to kiss me, I pull back.
“Morning breath.”
“Like I give a shit.” And then his lips press against mine in a brief, soft kiss.
“Get a room,” Reed calls from the kitchen. It makes my cheeks burn even hotter.
“I’m going to use the bathroom real quick. You can shower if you want to.”
“I’m good. I showered after the game last night. You go ahead. I’ll help Reed get breakfast ready.” Logan stands, pressing a kiss to my forehead, and I watch him saunter into the kitchen, slap my brother on the back, then mess up his curls. Reed beams up at him, and my heart squeezes.
Escaping into the bathroom, I need a minute to get myself under control.
Between our conversation last night, the vulnerability he let me show and showed to me, and how it felt waking up tangled up on the couch, I’m feeling all the things.
And now Logan’s in the kitchen making breakfast with my little brother like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
How did I get here? And how can I stay?
When I wash my face and stare at myself in the mirror, I don’t look any different.
Physically, I’m the same Blair I was before Logan showed up at our door last night with pizzas and flirtatious smiles.
Emotionally, I’m standing on the precipice of something that will either be a terrifying or exhilarating fall.
“He stayed the night,” I whisper to my reflection as I redo my bun, capturing all the stray strands that escaped as I slept. “He never stays the night.”
Because that’s what he’d said that night in LA, wasn’t it? That he doesn’t do sleepovers. He doesn’t do morning afters or breakfast.
But here he is, in my apartment, doing all those things. He’s making breakfast with my little brother, for fuck’s sake.
What does that mean?
I know what it feels like. It feels like we’re heading into relationship territory. This feels like boyfriend and girlfriend stuff. But Logan doesn’t do relationships.
“Don’t overthink it,” I tell myself. “Enjoy it while it lasts.”
Once I’ve taken care of my business, I hurry into my room and change into clean clothes.
When I head back into the kitchen, Reed and Logan are laughing about something as they maneuver around each other.
Logan is manning the bacon while Reed spoons pancake batter onto the griddle. The sight makes my heart swell.
Reed looks so happy.
“How can I help?”
Logan looks over at me with a smile. His eyes survey me from head to toe, and I shiver. It just makes his smile widen.
“I think we’ve got it all covered, angel. You can set the table.”
“Angel?” my brother asks, his eyebrows rising. “Gross.”
“Oh, shut it,” Logan says, laughing. He elbows Reed playfully before oiling a pan and cracking an egg.
“So are you two like, dating, now?”
I hold my breath, and I know I must look like a deer caught in overly blinding LED headlights.
Logan chuckles. “We haven’t really talked about it yet, but I’d like us to be.”
Holy shit.
“For real?” Reed turns to gape at Logan.
“For real.” Logan isn’t looking at my brother. He doesn’t see that Reed’s mouth is hanging open. He doesn’t see Reed turn to me with wide eyes. “If she’ll give me a chance.”
“I…” I try to form words, I really do. They just don’t seem to come.
“But why don’t we talk about that later? We don’t want to have a serious conversation on empty stomachs.”
“Don’t worry,” Reed says. “She likes you. If she tells you she doesn’t, she’s lying.”
“Reed!”
My brother smirks at me. “And I give you both my blessing.”
“Thanks, bro,” Logan says, suppressing laughter. “That means a lot to me.”
“It should. Just know that if you ask her to marry you someday, I expect you to ask my permission first.”
“I’m going to kill you,” I grind out.
Logan, to his credit, doesn’t appear terrified at that pronouncement. He just looks amused. I probably look ready to crawl into a hole and die. Because that’s exactly what I want to do.
“How do you like your eggs, angel?”
“Over easy,” I murmur, turning away from them both to focus on setting the table.
“Me too,” Logan says, pleased.
“You two are disgustingly cute,” Reed says.
I’m going to murder him.
“I’m going to Eddie’s,” Reed announces after breakfast. “I’ll probably stay through dinner, so you two can go on a date or talk about your relationship or whatever.”
Ohmygod. Why?
I suck in a breath and try to keep my face from showing how annoyed I am. “Eddie’s mom said that’s okay?”
“Yep.”
“Okay. Do you need a ride?”
“Nope. They’re picking me up.” His phone buzzes. “In fact, they’re here now.” Reed grins as he ties his shoes and puts his coat on.
“Well, call me if you need a ride home, okay?”
“Will do. You crazy kids have fun. Make sure you use protection.”
“Reed! Oh my god. What is wrong with you?” I can’t even look at Logan. My face is on fire.
The hockey player in question laughs. “Later, man. It was good hanging out.”
“Yeah, it was fun. You think you’ll come to another one of my games soon?”
“Definitely. The guys asked if they could come, too, so you may have a whole Rogues cheering section.”
“For real?” Reed’s whole face lights up at that. He looks so happy. So young and carefree. “That’s awesome. Maybe Blair and I can cheer you on at one of your games soon?”
“I’d love that. I’ll get you tickets for the next home game.”
Reed’s phone buzzes again. “Shit, I gotta go. I’ll see you later, Blair-Bear. Later, Logan.”
Logan and I watch as Reed races out the door, a massive smile plastered on his face. There’s a matching one on mine, I can feel it. Logan agreed so easily to go to more of Reed’s games. I wonder if the guys on his team really want to go?
“I mean it,” Logan says, stepping closer to me. He brushes his knuckles over my cheek. “I want you two at my next home game. Can I give you tickets? I have seats I rarely use.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know. I want to, though.” His fingers move to the back of my neck, and he tilts my head back. “Is it too much to say that I want you at all my home games?”
My breath catches in my lungs. All I can do is stare at him, wide-eyed and stunned.
When it’s clear I’m not going to answer him, Logan grins and continues. “And I meant what I said earlier. I’d like to date you, Blair. And I know that probably sounds unbelievable coming from me, but you make me want things I’ve never wanted before.”
Holy shit.
“I do?”
He nods. “You do. I’ve never actually dated anyone before, so you’ll probably need to be patient with me, but if you’re willing, I’d like to give this a try?”
“When you say dating, what does that mean to you?” I ask quietly.
I’m almost afraid to hear his answer, but there’s no way I can agree to this until I know what Logan means by dating.
Because to me, dating means exclusivity.
It means you think you may want to commit to each other.
But to Logan, dating could just mean hooking up regularly.
And if that’s the case, it won’t work for me.