by K. B. Webb
“Oh no, Brian, things have already changed. You need to accept that things will never, ever go back to the way they were.” Her fists were balled at her sides. It looked like she was about ready to show him the mean right hook she had told me about. I could tell that her teeth were clenched and her eyes were pulled together in a scowl. After a stare down that lasted what felt like forever between the two of them, Molly muttered ‘whatever’ under her breath and turned back to me, pulling my arm to lead me into the restaurant. Brian was still staring when I turned my back on him to follow her.
Something definitely wasn’t right between those two. Whatever they had talked about earlier had obviously not sat well with Brian, but it was also obvious that Molly didn’t give a damn about what Brian thought about the situation.
I couldn’t believe that son of a bitch had the nerve to show up, in front of our friends, just to tell me that he didn’t like our conversation. Well, hell, I knew he wouldn’t like it, but I also was not backing down this time. For the first time in years, I felt like I could finally stand up for myself, and I knew it was because of Logan. His friendship had given me back the backbone I’d lost four years ago.
Now don’t get me wrong, Wynee was the best friend a girl could ask for, but Wynee would also tell me that I could run for president and win if I wanted to. I don’t think America would approve a President that said ‘shit’ in her State of the Union Address, but Wynee would have backed me a hundred percent and ran for Vice President if I asked her to.
See, that’s the thing about best friends who know you better than anyone else, they support every decision you make. Good, bad, ugly, even downright stupid; they tell you that you can do anything you set your mind to. If I told Wynee that I was going to finally tell Brian that it was my way or the highway, she would have been behind my decision all the way. It was different with Logan though. Even if he didn’t know it, he was supporting me through the whole thing with Brian just by telling me I was a strong person. Logan didn’t know me from Eve and was still right behind me every step of the way. That blind faith he seemed to have in me gave me strength.
We made it to the booth that Wynee and Justin were already sitting in. They were whispering back and forth with their heads close together. When they saw us coming, they both plastered fake smiles on their faces and tried to act like everything was perfectly normal.
“Hey, guys! So Logan, how you feeling today? I heard you had a rough one last night, and I also heard you serenaded my girl here.” Wynee winked at him and I could tell he was instantly nervous by what she had said. He laughed and placed Lyric’s car seat in the booth beside Wynee before letting me slide in next to her.
“Ugh, yeah, I guess you could say it was a little rough. I woke up with the worst hangover I’ve had in months, but it was totally worth it.” He winked at me with the last sentence and I almost moaned aloud. Winking, really, Logan! That’s just not fair!
Our waitress came and we all ordered burgers with curly fries. No one ever brought up why Brian was here or the confrontation between him and Logan. We all just talked about Ricky’s, Justin’s work on the farm, Logan’s new construction job, and old stories of Justin and Logan from high school. Those two sure as hell got into a lot of trouble!
“So, Molly, obviously you and Wynee have heard tons of stories about my younger days, what about y’all? Y’all have any crazy stories to share?”
Wynee choked on her sweet tea, and a little came out of her nose from laughing at him. “I could tell you tons of Molly Scott stories, but then she would kill me! I will tell you this though, Logan, there has never been and will never be a dull moment with this one!” She hooked her thumb in my direction and stuck her tongue out at me in true Wynee fashion.
“Really, Wynee! Now he’s going to bug you for all those damn stories!” I was laughing out of pure nervousness, because there was one story I was praying to God Wynee never told Logan. I knew he would find out about Colt eventually; I just wasn’t ready for that yet. I decided to tell one of my all-time favorite stories of mine and Wynee’s crazier years though. A little dirt wouldn’t hurt, and I hoped it would bide me some time before the deeper stuff starting coming out.
“I have a good one though. So when Wynee and I were juniors in high school, she met this guy from Shreveport. He was way too old for her and she knew there was no way in hell Becky would approve, so she used to make secret trips to see him. A few days before Christmas, she had this genius plan about how we could both go visit and never get caught! We told Becky that we really wanted to go to our friend Sarah’s Christmas party, but there was no way my grandfather would let us go. So, we asked her to cover for us. Let us say we were going to stay at Wynee’s grandma’s house for the night but we would really be at the party. She agreed only because she knew John Sanders was a hard ass and because she knew Sarah and her parents. So, we lied to my grandfather and told Wynee’s mom we would be back around lunch the next day. We never actually went to the damn party. Instead, Wynee made me go with her all the way to Shreveport to visit this douchebag. We ended up staying in some shitty hotel and slept through check out the next day and didn’t wake up till around three. Becky had already called both of us at least ten times by the time we were headed back to Sterlington. Now, keep in mind that Shreveport is about an hour and half away from here. Wynee called her mom and told her that we were leaving Sarah’s and would be home soon. Sarah lived not even twenty minutes away from us! I have never seen someone drive so damn fast in my life! Wynee’s little-ass car was actually shaking because she never went below ninety! I kept telling her to slow down because we were going to get pulled over, so this genius turns her hazards on and drives even faster. Somehow, we made it home in one piece, and neither Becky nor my grandfather ever found out. But that is a day I will always remember. Wynee was tripping shit the whole drive home! It was hilarious!”
By the time I finished with the story, everyone was laughing and Wynee had tears in her eyes. “You forgot the best part though, Molls! When we finally got home, Colt about flipped shit on both of us. He forbid me to even drive for a week! He always acted like he was my damn dad or something!” My face dropped at the mention of Colt’s name. That was the second time she had brought him up in under twenty-four hours, and it was like an ice-cold knife through my heart. The look on her face showed that she instantly realized what she had done.
“Who’s Colt?” Logan looked back and forth between me and Wynee waiting for someone to answer him. Fuck! I was not ready for this!
“Oh, just some guy Molly used to date. Don’t worry about him.” Wynee brushed it off like it was no big deal, and luckily for me, Logan bought it. God, I loved my best friend. She could dig herself into a shit hole and then build a fucking ladder to get out of it in a minute flat.
After having a great lunch with Wynee and Justin, they left to visit Justin’s dad. Logan and I stayed behind because I refused to leave The Creamery without some ice cream. As I scarfed down my double-scoop waffle cone of chocolate chip cookie dough, I caught Logan looking at me out of the corner of my eye. He was licking his lips.
“What, do I have something on my face?” I frantically started wiping my mouth fearing I had ice cream everywhere.
Logan gave me one of those token laughs and shook his head slowly. “No, not at all, Cookie. Your face looks perfect as always.”
“Cookie? Did you just call me Cookie?”
“I did. I’ve decided that’s my new nickname for you. Everyone calls you, Molls, so I wanted to be different.”
“You can’t call me Cookie!” It wasn’t meant to, but it came out as a yell.
“And exactly why the hell not?”
I took a big lick of my ice cream cone. “Because, I feel like you calling me Cookie is you implying I eat lots of cookies, therefore, I am a fat ass, and I don’t like implications, Logan.” He took his thumb and ran it across my bottom lip. When he pulled it away, I saw he had a little bit of cookie dough on it. He ever so
slowly put his cookie-dough coated thumb in his mouth and sucked on the tip of it. That was hands down, the sexiest damn thing I had ever seen.
“I would never think you were a fat ass, because your ass is amazing. I’m going to call you Cookie because that’s what you are. You are the best kind of cookie there is; a little hard on the outside, but sweet and soft on the inside, mouthwatering, made to perfection, and I could eat you all day long and never get sick of you.”
“Oh.” That was my only response. I knew my cheeks were bright red, but there was no way in hell to not blush at that. Did he just say he could eat me all day? Oh, dear God! Logan Wade was going to be the death of me, and my vibrator’s batteries!
I knew I had probably taken it a little too far with the cookie comment, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. Around this girl, that little part of my brain that thought things through before they came out of my mouth, just didn’t seem to work. I had no filter when it came to Molly. I was scared that she would freak out and start pushing me away once she heard why I wanted to call her Cookie, but instead, she just blushed, awkwardly laughed, and changed the subject to what had gone wrong between me and Lizzy.
I didn’t really like sharing things about Lizzy with her; I honestly thought that Lizzy was my past and Molly was my future, and I didn’t want to merge the two. I knew though that telling her things about Lizzy would show her that I felt like I could trust her with intimate details of my life, and I was hoping it would make her feel like she could do the same. We talked for about half an hour about how I met Lizzy, how long we were together, our engagement, and finally how things ended between the two of us.
I remember feeling like my break up with Lizzy was the be-all and end-all for me. I felt like I would never love, or trust, another woman again after the number she did on me. If only I could have known how wrong I was. Ending things with Lizzy was the best thing that could have ever happened to me, it led me back to Monroe, and that led me to Molly.
I paid for our lunch despite Molly fighting me about it. In her words, “this is not a date, Logan.” No shit, it wasn’t a date. The first date I took Molly on would be the best damn date of her life! I was sure Brian never paid for anything, since he was unemployed, so having a man pay for things for her was not something she was used to. If Molly was going to spend time with me, she would have to get used to things like me paying. I was a Southern boy who was taught to always take care of a woman by my momma. In the South, chivalry ain’t dead.
We headed out to her car, and I opened the door for her before putting Lyric’s car seat back in its base in the backseat. I stared at my sweet little buddy for a second and wondered why I felt such a connection to a child that wasn’t mine. I knew she was Brian’s daughter, but every time she looked at me with those big blue eyes and wrapped her tiny little hand around my finger, she pulled at my heart a little more. I knew I had more than just a strong attachment to her. I loved her, and no matter what happened between Molly and me, I would always protect her.
The ride back to Ricky’s to pick up my truck was filled with laughter and singing on Molly’s part. “Meet Virginia” by Train came on, so she turned the song up and belted out every lyric. She really did have an amazing voice, and I could tell she felt the words she was singing. She was the girl the song described, flawed but beautiful.
When we pulled up at Ricky’s, she turned in her seat so she was facing me. God, she was absolutely breathtaking. With the sun shining through the window, her green eyes sparkled and the hint of red in her hair shone brightly. I could have just stared at her all day memorizing every inch of her soft, creamy skin.
“So, Logan, I just want to say that I think this is the start of an amazing friendship. And I wanted to say I’m really sorry about Brian earlier. We had a bit of a fight this morning and he didn’t like some of the things I said, but I honestly don’t give a damn. I know he’s your friend, and I don’t want you thinking any less of him, but the Brian I know is a lot different than the one you know. He just, he needs to learn to make some changes, or things aren’t going to work between us.” She wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t know. He did need to fucking change. Brian treated her like she was a second-class citizen. He didn’t show her affection or respect.
“Look, Cookie,” she smiled shyly at the mention of her nickname, “I’ve known Brian for a long time. I know the kind of guy he is. So you aren’t going to make me think any less of him. He needs to grow up a lot. I mean hell, the guy is twenty-four-years-old and unemployed. That’s just not normal. I just want you to know my friendship with Brian in no way affects my friendship with you. So if you ever need to talk about anything that is going on with y’all, you can come to me, with anything. Your secrets are safe with me, Cookie, I promise.”
“That’s the thing though, Logan, I can’t talk to anyone about it. Things haven’t been good for a long time, but I’ve finally just learned to accept that this is how our relationship is. But there are things that go on between us that I need to just keep to myself. Some things just shouldn’t be shared.”
That was frustrating. She was keeping some huge secret about Brian to herself and I was not okay with that. I wanted her to let me in, to tell me all the things she was keeping bottled inside. I wanted to be the person she could depend on. I thought about pushing the issues, but decided not to. This was a new thing for her, being friends with someone other than Wynee and Justin, so I was going to give her time to get used to the idea.
I told her I would call her later and I would come by her house sometime that week before her shift at Ricky’s. What she didn’t know though, was that I was already planning ways to see her every day. I had to have my Molly fix. As I was about to get out of the car, she wrapped her tiny hand around my arm and pulled me back in. Then she did something I never expected; she pulled me against her, wrapped her arms around me, and gave me the best hug I have ever had in my life. Just holding her body close to mine made it easier to breathe. She smelled like coconuts again, and it reminded me of the beach, which made me think of Molly in a bathing suit. Damn, I have got to see that.
“Thank you, Logan. For talking to me last night, for dealing with Brian, for lunch, and mainly for just being my friend. It’s nice to know I have someone like you in my life.” She gave me a kiss on the cheek and pulled away smiling. I sat stunned for a few seconds; I never knew I could get turned-on just by hugging a girl and getting a kiss on the cheek, but now I knew it was totally possible.
After I finally got blood flowing back to my brain instead of straight to my dick, I noticed she was looking at me with a nervous expression on her face and was chewing that damn lip again. “Anytime, Cookie. I’m always here for you and Lyric, please don’t ever forget that. Text me when y’all make it home, and I will see you tomorrow.” I squeezed her hand before getting out of her car and heading for my truck. I could feel her eyes on me as I opened Old Blue’s door and I decided to pay her back for what she did the first night we met. I turned around and caught her staring at me, and winked at her. She just laughed loudly and waved before she drove away.
Once her car was down the road, I climbed into Blue and cranked her up. I sat alone for a second just replaying the last week or so in my head. I never thought I would be here again, having a woman fill my every thought, but I loved every second of it. If daydreaming of Molly Scott could be a fulltime job, I would have been fucking-Bill-Gates rich.
The next two months seemed to fly by. Lyric was the most amazing little girl I could have ever asked for. She was finally sleeping through the night, which was like a Christmas present for me. She smiled all the time, especially when Logan was around, which was almost every day. I had mentioned one day that I wanted to start running again, so he took it upon himself to be my running buddy. Every day during the week, he would come over a little after five and run with me. We always brought Lyric with us. She would sit in her stroller and just take in everything around her. Logan always insisted that he push her, an
d I really thought it was just so he could stare at her while we ran. I would catch him all the time just looking at her with the sweetest expression on his face. He would run to her the moment she even made a peep, and spent hours on the floor just playing with her.
Things with Logan were damn near perfect. He was either at my house or at Ricky’s almost every day, and when we weren’t together, he was texting me constantly. I was starting to wonder if he ever worked because we talked all day long. On many, many occasions, we did a little harmless flirting. He constantly called me beautiful, and he still insisted on calling me Cookie.
Wynee asked me once why he called me Cookie shortly after he gave me the nickname. When I told her, she about choked on the pizza she was eating. We were having lunch together at Johnny’s Pizza, the hands down best pizza place around, when I told her the story of how my nickname came to be.
“Damn, Molls, you can’t honestly still think that boy doesn’t want you! He said he wanted to eat you! What more does he need to do? Buy a billboard on 165? Would that get your attention?”
“Wynee, he does not want me! I’m not sure why he said that, but there is no way a guy like Logan would want a girl like me. It … it just doesn’t work like that.”
Wynee wiped her grease-stained hands on her pants and then folded them in her lap. I knew by her body language she was about to lay a heavy dose of Wynee logic on me.
“Look, Molls, I’m not sure why you insist on believing that you aren’t beautiful, but you are! Logan can see that. I think you have just been with that jackass too long to know what it feels like to have a real man give you attention. I know we agreed a long time ago to stay out of each other’s love lives, but I have to say something, and you aren’t going to like it.” She took a big breath in and released it as if she was trying to prepare herself for what she needed to say. “Molly, the girl you have been the last few years is not the strong, confident Molly I have known all my life. Look, sweetie, I know losing Colt fucked you up in more ways than one, and it sure as hell didn’t help that Ryan up and joined the Army right after. But, Molly, you have to quit punishing yourself for what happened to Colt. It. Was. Not. Your. Fault. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that before you get it through your thick head! No one blames you. Ryan told you that what happened wasn’t y’all’s fault. If he can forgive himself, why can’t you? You stay with that fucking asshat because you think you don’t deserve happiness. You think spending your life with Brian is what you get for what happened with Colt, but it’s not! Colt loved you, Molly. He would want you to be happy, not fucking miserable pining over his memory.”