Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? (The Big Bad Wolf Trilogy Book 1)

by Janie Marie

  He gave her several small kisses to her lips and cheeks, letting their fight and her insecurities grow weaker and weaker.

  He pulled back. “Why was she trying to take weapons to you?”

  “You mean the things Ryder stopped her from getting?”

  “Yeah.” He waved his hand toward the wall. “She was going for the paintball guns. Were you planning on teaming up on me?”

  “No.” She couldn’t believe that had been Janie’s plan. “I’d never hurt you.”

  “Aw, honey.” He kissed her forehead. “She’s just playing. Those aren’t even for training. They’re to goof around with.”

  “Oh.” She sighed, leaning against him. “I was about to say that she was crazy. She was talking weird and acting like a little kid.”

  His posture stiffened, but he held her close. “No, she’s not crazy. She’s just—” He let out a breath. “The sad ones are always the people who smile the brightest.”

  Kylie frowned. Was he talking about Janie’s rape? It wasn’t like he knew Janie blurted out her past, so she wasn’t sure what Janie had to be sad about right now. Other than Ryder getting angry earlier, the girl should be fine.

  “At least you’ve had a bit of time to bond with her. It won’t be so awkward tonight.” He grinned, but it was a nervous smile. “Right?”

  She shrugged. “I guess.”

  “I realized you’d actually not spoken to her at all,” he said. “You’ve kinda only talked to people around her.” He frowned, caressing her hair. “I guess rumors about her and me are the worst ways to view her.”

  “I guess you’re right,” she said. “Well, I’ll try to learn more about her, but don’t expect us to be friends.”

  His body tensed, but he stayed quiet.

  It worried her because she always said the wrong things to him. She was being honest, and it was making everything worse. She didn’t want things to be bad between them.

  So she pushed up on her tippy toes to distract him with a kiss him. With a smile, he lowered his mouth to hers. He pulled her closer before he pushed her mouth open so his tongue could meet hers.

  She could kiss him all day. So powerful but gentle at the same time.

  “You’re going to give me a hard-on,” he murmured.

  She chuckled as he pressed a few smiling kisses to her lips. “You’re so perverted. Can’t we have one moment of you not telling me how turned on you are?”

  “No.” He kissed her before standing straight. “And I’m so fucking turned on with your little hood on. You look like Red Riding Hood.”

  “Is that a turn on for you?” She gasped. “Oh, gosh. Gawain told me about your families. I had no idea you were related to the fairy tales. You’re all famous.”

  “Oh.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. It’s no big deal. I wasn’t raised to join the family legacies like the others.”

  “Legacies?” She must’ve missed something.

  “Don’t worry about it.” He cupped her cheeks, kissing her again. This time, he kept it short and sweet. “I have to warm up.”

  “Oh—right. Um, kick his ass. Don’t get hurt.”

  He chuckled, smoothing her hair back. “I’m imagining you playing sexy nurse with me afterward.”

  “Logan.” She pushed his hands away. “Just concentrate on your fight.”

  “I think I can beat anyone knowing you’re cheering me on.”

  She gave him a skeptical look, but she was melting. “Don’t try to butter me up. I’m going to put you in one of those choke hold thingies.”

  He laughed. “I’ll fight with one hand tied behind my back to even it up then. Sort of.”

  “Are you ready?” she asked, stopping him from embarrassing her.

  He nodded, smiling and looking confident. “I think I’ll let him hurt me just a little, though. Will you wear one of those sexy nurse costumes and take care of me?”

  “Do you have one?”

  His eyes went wide. “Are you serious? You’ll dress up?”

  She bit her lip, always surprised by what flew out of her mouth when he was around. “Do you want me to?”

  He studied her. “Baby, I want to do everything with you. But only if it’s something you want.”

  Oh, wow, that was the most perfect thing to say. “Then I’ll dress up for you one day. Maybe I’ll even be a real Little Red Riding Hood.” She traced a Red Riding Hood tattoo on his forearm.

  “I swear to God I’ll lose my fucking mind if you dress up in a sexy Red Riding Hood costume.”

  “And would you dress up like the Big Bad Wolf?” Kylie watched him, confused when his smile vanished.

  Logan shrugged, and that’s when she remembered he seemed to have a strong dislike for the reference.

  “I think I prefer Logan Grimm,” she said softly, praying his smile would return.

  “Who doesn’t?”

  He never missed a beat.

  “You ready, Grimm?” Ryder asked.

  “Yeah. Give me a sec.” Logan looked back at her. “Good luck kiss?”

  She didn’t wait and pulled him down to her, instantly taken over by his kiss.

  “God, I love,” he whispered, pausing to kiss her harder before he pulled back, “these lips.”

  Her heart hammered away in her chest as he let his eyes drift over her face. He was staring into her eyes, and he looked happy.

  “Stay with Janie,” he said. “Don’t talk to any guys walking around; they’re not all good people.”

  “Okay.”

  He pecked her lips and grabbed her hand to pull her to the gate Ryder had just helped Janie out of. “And thank you, baby,” he said, kissing her hand. “I’ll make everything up to you.”

  “I’ll try not to hurt him too bad, Blondie,” Ryder told her before turning to glare at Janie when she smacked his butt. “Babe.”

  “Babe,” Janie said, copying his annoyed tone. “You two play nice.”

  “I’m not nice,” Ryder said, looking as if he really had no way of accommodating her request.

  “See you in a bit,” Logan whispered in Kylie’s ear.

  “Logan,” Janie said, linking her arm with Kylie’s, “don’t hit my baby’s face. I want him nice and pretty when I pop him in the nose for being a poop face.”

  Ryder scoffed. “He won’t land a hit on my face unless I let him, baby girl. You don’t have to act tough to protect me.”

  Janie rolled her eyes and tugged her away. “Never mind, Logan. Go ahead and hit him in the face.”

  “Babe,” Ryder said, making Janie sigh and turn back to them, “don’t go wandering around. Got it?”

  Janie nodded as Logan seemed to give Kylie the same warning with his eyes.

  Ryder winked at his girlfriend. “I’ll behave.”

  Logan shook his head, smiling before resuming his warm-up.

  Kylie watched Ryder scan the growing crowd before he went toward Logan.

  “Not the way I envisioned you showing him your balls are bigger than his,” Janie said as they walked to a set of chairs. “But you certainly stood up to him while proving you’ll fight to keep him. Good job.”

  “Thanks.” She smiled at Janie before nervously checking out the groups of rowdy fighters.

  “Don’t worry about them,” Janie said, not looking at the crowd. “The boys get all protective—but no one will bother me . . . well, us.”

  Kylie returned her attention to the two man-boys as they bumped fists. “I guess a meanie like Ryder has his perks—no one messes with you.”

  Janie chuckled. “There are still monsters who don’t fear the consequences—not even Ryder. Never forget that.”

  Kylie realized Janie, too, was incredibly wrapped up in the fairy tales her stepfather’s ancestors had created. It had never been in her interest to listen to Janie when she spoke in class, but now that she thought about it, the girl spouted off philosophical stuff quite a bit.

  It was dumb to get this way over stories, but they could’ve been drug dealers o
r killers. Instead, they were just some weirdos with rich families, and they liked to use their stories to make sense of things.

  Well, she could pretend to go along with their nonsense. After all, Logan was a Grimm. So she grinned at Janie as best she could and said, “Yes, Master Anakin.”

  “Smartass.” Janie beamed up at her. “But you are learning, my young Padawan. I knew the Force was strong with you. But smart off to me again, my young apprentice, and I might have to force choke you, bitch.”

  It was probably a real threat, but Kylie wasn’t going to cower. Unfortunately, she didn’t know any more Star Wars quotes. It didn’t matter anyway, because Logan and Ryder’s fight had started.

  Pain tugged at her stomach when Ryder hit Logan with what seemed to be a testing punch to the face.

  Janie grabbed her hand and squeezed. “It’s okay—it’s just a spar.”

  Ryder attacked with a more aggressive combo, hitting Logan in the cheek before Logan returned the favor.

  Kylie’s breath sped up as the crowd started cheering them on, her eyes on Logan as he showed no weakness, no fear against Ryder. He was a warrior fighting against a god. She couldn’t stop her smile, remembering that Janie’d said Logan was a Batman fan, while Janie was all Superman.

  Janie got really antsy, bouncing her leg before she yelled, “Superman ain’t got nothing on you, babe!”

  “Too bad Batman beats Superman,” Kylie blurted.

  Janie’s eyes widened. “In your dreams.” She turned, grinning at the octagon. “Kick his ass, babe!”

  Ryder swung at Logan, hitting his stomach.

  Kylie stood, hollering, “Come on, Logan!”

  He locked Ryder up, landing a knee before Ryder somehow took Logan down to the mat. Logan blocked the next punch coming at him and locked Ryder in a hold of some kind, making the guys cheer even louder. And she cheered right along with them, out-screaming Janie.

  Twenty-Six

  KISS IT BETTER

  “Ow.”

  Kylie smacked Logan’s hand when he tried to reach up to his cheek. “Stop.”

  “Baby, it hurts.” He stared up at her from where he lay on the sofa in his locker room.

  She sighed and applied ointment to the cut on his eyebrow, softening her glare when he began playing with the hand she was resting on his chest. He’d showered after his draw with Ryder, so he was in a shirt now. Neither one wanted to yield during their fight, but it looked like they were both holding back. Eventually, they both nodded at each other, ending the sparring match.

  “I know it hurts,” she said, leaning back and smiling as he scooted over to give her more room on the sofa. “But you’re supposed to put this stuff on. Evander told you to.”

  Logan rolled his eyes and pulled her down, shuffling so they could both fit on their sides, facing each other. “He’s required to say that. That’s his job.” He tilted her face so he could kiss her, but she pressed her lips together. “Hood.” He kept nipping her lips. “I’m wounded. You have to kiss me better.”

  She shook her head.

  “Why? I know you’ll make it better.”

  She stared at him, wondering if he had already forgotten how badly he’d hurt her.

  He leaned away. “Am I still in trouble?”

  She nodded, feeling her chest ache as he pressed sweet kisses to her cheek.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have calmed down and tried to understand how you were feeling. And I shouldn’t have expected you to want to be around her, or compared either of you to each other—that wasn’t what I really meant anyway. I just see how much Ryder does for her, and I wanted to be that for you. And then you basically accused me of wanting her over you, and of lying to you—it pissed me off.”

  “I shouldn’t have said I hate you. I don’t.” She lightly trailed her fingers around his cut. “It was just a shock to look in the mirror and see myself. I usually avoid looking in mirrors. It’s like I forget I’m not pretty when I’m with you.”

  “No, honey, you’re beautiful.” He held her cheek, kissing her as he took a deep breath. “I know what you mean, though. About forgetting, and that you feel upset when you see your wounds.” He touched her side. “They do look better. Keep doing whatever you’re doing. Everything’s healing faster than I would’ve expected.”

  She frowned because nothing about her care had been different than any other time Maura had hit her.

  “You’re really doing great, Hood.” He tugged her hair. “Nothing about you needs to change, except you need to stop hiding. You’ve done amazingly already.”

  “Sometimes I want to hide under my hood again.” In the dark.

  “That makes sense.” He twirled her hair. “I want you to try to believe what I tell you about yourself. When I say you’re strong, beautiful, brave—I mean it. So that’s another thing I want you to try to get used to. The truth is you’re a great girl. You’ve been through shit I can barely fathom, and you’re alive. You’re sweet and innocent.” He chuckled, adding, “Well, when you’re not my super freak.”

  “Logan.” She rested her head against his chest, smiling when he ran his fingers through her hair. She’d always wanted this with a guy.

  “Don’t be upset. I dig the kinky shit.” His laugh vibrated through his chest.

  “Can I ask you something without you getting angry?”

  “Yeah.” He kissed the top of her head.

  “Was I a bet?” She peeked up, seeing his eyes wide.

  “No. Never.” He held her cheek. “I swear.”

  “What about the bet I heard you placing when I was at your apartment the first time?”

  Logan sighed, looking away. “I was talking to Chris. He was arranging a bet on a girl. I was putting my money in that I would fuck whoever he picked. It had to be someone I’ve never been with—which was always my preference.”

  She swallowed back her tears and continued in a low voice. “And those girls he had lined up for you, you were meant to pick one?”

  He nodded, still not looking at her.

  “But you brought me.”

  “I didn’t care about the bet after meeting you, Hood. I’d actually forgotten until he walked up to us.” He looked back at her, his gaze soft and begging. “I was fine with losing.”

  She felt her pain fade, but she wanted to clear up the doubts she had about him. She wanted to know him. “And Chris?”

  He started rubbing her side as he talked. “It’s more than me and him who bet on this. A lot of guys do it, a lot of people with money, but I’m usually a sure thing for anyone needing to score a win. He had money on me, so he was pissed you were with me. He knew I wouldn’t bet you by the way I acted. Plus, you’re a minor. We could have all gotten in trouble.”

  She frowned as it all came together. “So that’s why he said I wasn’t special. And it was Janie he was talking about.”

  “Yeah.” He leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “I was eighteen when I started fighting, but I was still in school. I took her, of course, and everyone found out she was only fifteen. Chris didn’t like it. He tried to say it was important to focus, and a young girlfriend would only ruin my future. It makes sense, but that wasn’t really the problem. He just didn’t want a girlfriend fucking up the way things worked with the team. And having an underage girl around, especially one with a family like hers, would be trouble for him. I guess he feared if she ever saw the shit going on, she’d tell the Knights, and they’d shut him down.”

  “What kind of stuff?”

  He shook his head. “Shit I don’t want you to think about. I swear I’m not doing anything like that anymore.”

  “But I’m underage.”

  “Only for a little while longer.” He shrugged. “And I fired Chris.”

  “What happened after I left that night? Evander said some things . . .”

  He leaned his head back, closing his eyes. “I was scared when I looked out in the crowd and saw you’d gone missing. He said you begged to leave, that y
ou’d called for a ride. I was pissed. I thought he was telling the truth’.”

  “So you picked one.”

  “What? No!” He lifted his head, his eyes wide.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I admit I got trashed.” He gave her an apologetic look. “I was mad he let you go, but it was more because I thought you left on your own. I was worried about you. I know it was stupid of me to think you’d just accept me, but I’m not used to women turning me down. It infuriated me you would just keep letting yourself get hurt.”

  “I was scared, Logan.”

  “I know.” He sighed, caressing her cheek. “I’m just a dick, and I don’t always think shit through. But I didn’t pick any of those women.”

  Kylie leaned forward to kiss him softly, to tell him that she believed him. His body relaxed and he hugged her to him, running his hand up and down her back. Smiling against his lips, she kissed him one last time before pulling back to see him pout. “I still want to talk,” she told him as he sighed and nodded. “You did say we would.”

  “I know. What else do you want to know?”

  She grinned as he began playing with her hair. “Why did you break Chris’ arm?”

  He darted his eyes away from the lock of hair he was twirling in his fingers to stare at her eyes. “Who told you that?”

  “Trevor. At school today. And Evander told me about Chris winding up in the hospital—that it was about me.”

  His eyes moved all over her face. “It was about you. But not in the way you might think.”

  “I just want the secrets to stop. And you were a total jerk to leave me like that.”

  He smirked, making her smile like he always did. “Hood is getting feisty. I like it.”

  “Just talk.” She laughed at his smile.

  “Fine. But only because you got hot-angry. Don’t be afraid to punish me later. And I want to know why you looked like you did after you both came out.”

  “Trust me, your punishment is coming.”

  “Can’t wait.” He chuckled and pecked her lips. “I like the way you evaded the last part there.”

  Sighing, she nodded. “I’ll tell you, but I want some of this other stuff cleared up first.”