I blanch. “God. Of course not. I don’t want to give him a heart attack. He still tries to tie my shoelaces for me sometimes.”
Logan chuckles. “I’m hitting up the grocery store tomorrow. Is there anything special you want me to pick up? Snacks? Ice cream?
“Oooh, yes. Ice cream. Mint chocolate chip.”
“Done. Anything else?”
“No, but I’ll text you if I think of something.” My heart races faster than it should, considering we’re just talking about a weekend visit. It’s not like we’re eloping, for God’s sake. Yet my entire body is crackling with anticipation, because three uninterrupted days with Logan sounds like absolute heaven.
“So I’ll swing by and grab you after your last class tomorrow? You’re done around five, right?”
“Yep.”
“’Kay. I’ll text when I’m on my way. Later, gorgeous.”
“Logan?” I blurt out before he can hang up.
“Yeah?”
I take a deep breath. “Don’t throw out the condoms.”
29
Grace
It’s Friday night. Logan and I are tangled up together on his living room couch, about to watch a horror movie he chose off the film channel on his TV. When we got back from dinner at the fish and chips place in Hastings, I figured we’d go upstairs and rip each other’s clothes off. You know, so I could give him my flower, as my mother would say. Instead, he surprised me by suggesting a movie.
I suspect he’s trying not to seem overeager, but the heated glances he keeps casting my way tell me he wants it as much as I do. Still, I’m not against taking it slow. Letting the tension build, the anticipation simmer.
“I can’t believe this is what you chose,” I complain as the opening credits flash on the screen.
“You told me I could pick,” he protests.
“Yeah, because I thought you’d pick something good.” I glare at the television. “I can already tell this is going to make me angry.”
“Wait, angry?” He shoots me a baffled look. “I thought you were bitching because you didn’t want to be scared.”
“Scared? Why would I be scared?”
Laughter bubbles out of his throat. “Because it’s a scary movie. A ghost is killing people in gruesome ways, Grace.”
I roll my eyes. “Horror movies don’t scare me. They piss me off because the characters are always so frickin’ stupid. They make the worst decisions possible, and we’re supposed to feel sorry for them when they die? No way.”
“Maybe these characters will be smart, levelheaded adults who do everything right but still get killed,” he points out.
“There’s a ghost in the house and they choose to stay there. The levelheaded response? Leave.”
He tugs on a strand of my hair, his tone taking on a chastising note. “Just you wait—there’s going to be a good reason for why they can’t leave the house. I’ll bet you five bucks.”
“You’re on.”
We settle in for the movie, Logan on his back, and me snuggled up beside him with my head on his chest. He strokes my hair as the first scene fills the screen. It’s an incredibly un-scary cold open involving a busty blonde, an unseen malevolent force, and a scalding shower. The blonde meets her grisly end by burning alive—the evil spirit, of course, has ghosted the water temperature. Logan tries to give me a high-five after the death scene, which I refuse to reciprocate because I actually feel bad for the girl. Kudos to her—the only decision she makes is to take a shower, and who can fault her for that?
The movie unfolds in the most predictable way. A group of college students conduct paranormal experiments in the ghost house, and then bam—the first one dies.
“Here it comes,” I say gleefully. “The levelheaded reason for why they stay in the house.”
“Watch, the ghost won’t let them leave,” Logan guesses.
He guesses wrong.
On the screen, the characters argue about whether they should go, and one of the girls announces, “We’re doing important work here, guys! We’re proving the existence of paranormal entities! Science needs this. Science needs us.”
I burst out laughing, shuddering against Logan’s rock-hard chest. “Did you hear that, Johnny? Science needs them.”
“I fucking hate you,” he grumbles.
“Five bucks…” I say in a singsong voice.
His hand slides down to pinch my butt, making me squeak in surprise. “Go ahead and gloat. You win the battle by getting five bucks out of me, but I win the war.”
I sit up. “How do you figure?”
“Because you still have to sit through the rest of this movie, and you’re going to hate every second of it. I, on the other hand, am enjoying it immensely.”
The jerk is absolutely right.
Unless…
As he refocuses his attention on the movie, I nestle close again, only this time I don’t rest my hand on the center of his chest. I plant it lower, mere inches from the waistband of the sweatpants he changed into after dinner. He doesn’t seem to notice. He’s too engrossed in the movie. Ha. He won’t be for long.
With the utmost nonchalance, I drag my hand to where the hem of his white wife-beater has ridden up slightly. Then I sneak my fingers beneath it and lightly stroke the hard plane of his stomach, and his breath hitches. Fighting a smile, I flatten my palm and stop moving it. After a moment, he relaxes.
On the screen, the idiot troupe of paranormal “experts” attempts to record the spirit’s voice using a contraption right out of Ghostbusters.
I scoot up and kiss Logan’s neck.
He tenses, and then a chuckle escapes his lips. Low and mocking. “Won’t work, baby…”
“What won’t work?” I ask innocently.
“What you’re trying to do right now.”
“Mmm-hmmm. I’m sure it won’t.”
I tease him with soft kisses on the side of his neck, angling my body so he’ll be sure to feel the heat of my * against his thigh. God. Pussy. I’m even starting to think like him now. He’s corrupted me with the dirty words he whispers when we fool around, and I like it. I like the thrill of being bold and wanton, and I love the way his warm flesh quivers when I taste him with my tongue.
His head is turned toward the screen, but I know he’s no longer paying attention to the movie. The bulge in his sweatpants grows, hardens into a long, thick ridge that pushes up against the fabric. I kiss his throat, feeling the strong tendons straining, his Adam’s apple fluttering beneath my lips.
When he speaks, his voice is so raspy it sends a shiver through me. “Do you want to go upstairs?”
I lift my head and meet his eyes. They’re heavy-lidded, hazy. I nod.
He doesn’t shut off the movie. He just hops to his feet, pulls me up with him, and leads me upstairs, holding my hand the entire time. His bedroom is a lot tidier than the last time I saw it. The night I showed up to yell at him for that stunt with Morris. God, it feels like a lifetime ago.
We stand two feet apart. He doesn’t move. Doesn’t touch me. He simply stares, with what can only be described as wonder shining in his eyes.