Logan and Cecile

by Ryleigh Rhodes

  Annie held down the bakery, and as soon as everything was under control and I explained my sorting system, I left for Logan's. I talked him into taking his presents’ home with him a few nights ago. That was one less thing I have to worry about. He had also volunteered to grocery shop for me. My little, okay maybe big, ray of sunshine was a complete time saver. I gave him a list, and I hoped he didn't miss anything.

  Clicking the garage button, I waited for the door to open. Yes, Logan insisted I park in the garage when I stayed there. I agreed, mainly because I liked the gesture, and I liked my car being sheltered from the harsh Montana weather.

  This morning, I baked extra cookies, muffins, and other treats, to bring home, and for Annie to take to Randy's parents' house. Poor thing was nervous, even though she'd met his parents before. Neither of us wanted her to show empty handed, and I wanted a quick breakfast and snack option tomorrow while I cook.

  After unloading my car, I started a pot of coffee. My plans included staying up late with Logan, and sleeping in tomorrow morning or attempting to. I sit and relax waiting for the coffee to finish. Once it's done, I poured a cup and started setting out things for dinner.

  I was putting the finishing touches on the shepherd's pie when Logan walked in. His hair was covered by a beanie, his cheeks slightly redden from the wind. Looking at his big, tall, strong body coming towards me. My mouth went dry. He made his way to me giving me a sweet, light kiss.

  "You're cooking," he informed me. Kind of obvious since I was standing in the kitchen with an apron on. A wicked thought pops into my head.

  Grabbing his hands in mine, I smiled. Going up on my toes, I linked his hands behind his neck. Pushing him backwards against the fridge, his body jerked in surprise. "Keep your hands there, or I'll stop. 'Kay?" Smiling, he nods.

  Swiftly I unbuckled, unzipped his jeans, I kneeled in front of him. I was in the process of giving him a happy ending and the front door opened. I hear Nathan call out. Shooting up I pulled up his boxers and jeans, apparently hearing my brother’s voice during the act was an instant boner killer. Fucking hell. Another reason to lock the damn doors.

  Logan's thumb shot out and brushed saliva off my lips. His arms pulled me closer into him, wrapping me in a cocoon. As we're chest to chest, I managed to button his jeans, but not his belt. My face was flushed with embarrassment, so I tried to hide it in Logan's chest.

  "Did I interrupt something?" Nathan asked, smirking.

  Logan replied, "No." As I said, "Yes, get the hell out." I was mortified, beyond mortified. My brother walked in on me performing a sexual act on Logan.

  Logan rubbed my back with his hand, attempting to soothe me, but it's not working.

  "I'm heading into town for last minute groceries, guess you two don't need anything?" Logan shook his head no. For the love of God, why isn't he leaving? I finally get the nerve to turn around.

  "Nathan, seriously, get the hell out. For fuck's sake knock next time." I brushed past him towards Logan's room, and I hear Logan reply, "Stock up on beer for tomorrow."

  ######

  Christmas music was blaring in the living room. Logan walked down to the barn to do a quick check on the horses. We exchanged our gifts last night. I gave him a bottle of Paco Rabanne 1 Million, he smelled like leather most of the time anyways, along with new bamboo sheet set, and new pillows. I knew it seemed like a lot, but with Logan's immediate family gone, I wanted to fill the void. He gave me a very nice, expensive spa package and black satin silk, baby doll from La Perla. How he even knew what La Perla was, as beyond me. Honestly, I didn't want to ask because I might not like his answer.

  I was feeling overly giddy. I mean, I was rested, well sated, and my closest friends would be here soon. If there were a better way to spend the holiday, I sure didn't know how. A spiral cut ham was baking away in the oven. I made the glaze from scratch, making the kitchen smells like maple syrup and clove.

  The brie was ready to be popped in the oven, when people start arriving. I had cookies and a cheese plate next to the mulled wine. Re-arranging the chocolate covered pretzels next to the small Crock-pot of creamy spinach artichoke dip, I finally took a break. Pouring myself a cup of coffee, I sat on a bar stool by the island.

  My butt barely hit the stool when Logan returned with Nathan and Tyler. Logan gave me a brief hello kiss before heading to the coffee pot.

  "How's the mare?" I asked.

  "She's about to pop any day now," Nathan answered, reaching for an iced sugar cookie. I did miss being able to ride every day. Maybe once the bakery was steady, and we found reliable help, I could make the time and do that.

  "Glad you could make it, Ty," I told him, as I stood up and gave him a loose hug.

  "I wouldn't miss your cookin' for nothin'," he said, popping a cheese cube in his mouth. I wish I had that kid’s metabolism.

  There's a knock on the front door and it opened. A few seconds later, Annie and Randy filed in with their overnight bags. He had his arm around her shoulders, keeping her close to his side.

  "Nathan's in Logan's old room. You guys can take the guest room," I mentioned, sliding the pastry wrapped brie in the oven.

  "Whoa. You two are together now too?" Nathan seemed baffled almost shocked by this. He was the one most adamant about preventing us from dating. Randy nodded and slowly smiled. "When the hell did this happen?" With everyone's busy schedules, it makes sense Nathan hadn't seen them together until now. Between the bakery, Nathan starting at the clinic, and Randy working and in law school there wasn't much time for us to hang out.

  "The robbery put us on that path. It sort of ignited from there." He smiled down at Annie, and holy crap, it's adorable.

  "I'm losing my wingmen." Not true, he still had Tyler. But Tyler's underage so he was pretty much losing his wingmen. Not that Randy was much help at the Iron Horse after Thanksgiving, but it was entertaining watching them crash and burn.

  Randy finally left Annie's side to take their bags into the guest room. Logan escorted Randy down the hall, which I found slightly amusing because Randy had been here thousands of times. The table was loaded with decorations. Candles, candy canes, pine cones, looking at the excessiveness of it all, I might have gone a little overboard. Annie stopped and examines the mini red and white knit stockings. I used those around the table at each place setting to hold the silverware.

  "Where'd you find these?" she asked me.

  "In one of the many Christmas boxes. I think Logan's mom might have made them." I was a pretty casual girl, especially when I was cooking all day. I was sporting jeans, a red cashmere sweater with wool socks. Looking at her, she's dressed in a long sleeved black dress that hits above her knee, and heels, I knew Randy's family was very formal at least for Christmas. I said, "You look good. How was yesterday and this morning?"

  "Great." She smiled. "What about you?"

  Looking over my shoulder I saw Nathan walked back into the living room to watch TV.

  "Nathan walked in on us. I was so embarrassed." I felt my cheeks flush, tilting my head I rest a hand against my cheek. Logan and Randy rejoined us in the kitchen. "Do you want to go change?" Randy asked. I nod toward the guest room.

  "Yeah. Why don't you go smooth things over with Nathan?" she asked Randy, but it wasn't really a suggestion. He nodded, Logan retrieved two beers from the fridge and they went in the living room.

  Annie and I head to the guest room. I shut the door as she pulled out a pair of jeans and a sweater.

  "How are you not freezing in that?" I asked.

  "You should have seen me sprint inside. So what happened with Nathan walking in?" She questioned then started stripping out of her dress.

  Extreme mortification.

  "I was going down on Logan in the kitchen, totally spontaneous. Nathan didn't knock, just walked in and called out, which at least he called out. If he hadn't called out he would have literally caught me sucking off Logan. I managed to pull everything together, but Nathan asked if he interrupted and Logan acted
like he didn't. What's up with that?"

  She pulled the sweater over her head before answering, "He didn't want to gloat about it, maybe?"

  I shook my head. "I don't know. You know they use to brag about that shit though. It ruined the moment." Even the few times I was around Nathan and Ashlee, they did not care about shoving PDA down my throat. If Nathan ever started dating anyone, I was so going to pay him back. Being a pain in the ass for a night would be doable, he deserved it.

  "Yeah, but you're his sister, and it's different because Logan's serious about you. They didn't respect those girls in high school," she said, shimmying into her jeans.

  I never thought about it like that. I mean chicks were always attempting to befriend me to hook up with Nathan, and they never tried to hide it. Hearing about who your brother made out (or more) with was gross, but that was part of my middle and high school experience.

  Annie sat on the bed, slipping on her socks. "Is there anyone else coming?"

  "Courtney texted me earlier, said they'd be here." I was excited about her and Kevin being here. Courtney told me she'd browse her wedding photos and see if there was a picture of Logan and I that wasn't horrible.

  "So there's eight of us?"

  "Yeah, I set ten places just in case. Should have plenty of food." Once she's dressed, I said, "Come on. Let's get you a drink."

  Annie brought over two wine glasses while I opened a bottle of Gewürztraminer. I had a few bottles of Riesling, and Pinot Grigio in reserve for later. I hope I made the right assumption with the guys drinking more beer than wine, but we'll see.

  Kevin and Courtney arrived as I finished pouring.

  "Hey guys!" I called out. "Would you like a glass of wine, Courtney?" I asked. She nodded. Courtney's gorgeous in a blonde hair, blue eyes, Nordic goddess way.

  "The guys are in the living room, Kevin," Annie said, pointing down the hall.

  Kevin disappeared down the hall as Courtney's digs through her massive purse. She pulled out a photo frame and picture envelope.

  "Sorry, I wanted you to approve of one of these before I put it in the frame," Courtney said. We swap the photos for the wine glass, and I opened it. Annie looked over my shoulder as I studied the first photo. It's a candid shot of Logan and I at the bar. I was sitting, head thrown back laughing. He's standing close to me, leaning slightly toward and looking down at me, smiling.

  Flipping to the other picture, Logan and I were slow dancing. He was holding my hand in his, with my shoulder on his chest, and we're both smiling.

  "I love both of them, I can't pick one."

  "The one with you laughing. I'll get a frame for the other one, and we can put that up in the bakery," Annie suggests.

  "I like them both, but the bar one I liked better," Courtney agreed. Setting her wine glass down, she placed the photo in the frame, hiding it back inside her purse.

  Call me sentimental, but those photos made me extremely happy. I was glad we had pictures from that night, even though I didn’t really remember much. Stupid champagne.

  "You guys ready to eat?" I asked. I've lightly grazed all day, and I was starving.

  "Yes. Randy's mom served duck. I had to pretend to eat it. I was famished," Annie said.

  Courtney gasped. "You don't like duck?" Annie shook her head.

  "I haven't tried to change her mind yet," I admitted.

  "Oh. Well I could eat," Courtney agreed.

  "Whenever you guys are ready to eat, we can serve dinner," I yelled toward the living room. Big surprise, Ty's the first in the kitchen offering to help. Between the girls and Ty we had the table filled within minutes.

  Once we're seated, Nathan gave a quick toast to "food, family, and friends," and we passed dishes around filling our plates, and digging in.

  "What brand of cranberry sauce is this?" Kevin asked. Logan made eye contact with me, and grinned then shook his head.

  "Not the kind from a can." Kevin looked worried, and I felt a little insulted by his comment, but I let it slide. "Logan made the same mistake about my ranch dressing." Courtney laughed and continued eating.

  Ty refilled his plate for a third time, and I bug my eyes out at Annie.

  "Jesus, Ty. Do you have a tape worm or something? 'Cause I know Aunt Cathy feeds you too." It was a compliment he's eating so much, but I didn’t want him to get sick either.

  "He's trying to bulk up for football," Nathan quickly defended Ty. I shrug.

  Getting up, I put my dishes in the dishwasher. Logan walked up behind, wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me into him. He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against my neck.

  I tilted my face up and look at Logan. His lips started descending towards mine and he kissed me, but only for a second. We both wanted more, but we had an audience, so it'll have to wait.

  Logan topped off my glass of wine and pushed me towards the living room. "We can handle the dishes, go relax in the living room." He made a nodding motion towards Annie and Courtney as well, and they followed me into the living room.

  Soon the guys join us, and we're ready to open presents. Kevin picked Courtney up, then sat down keeping her on his lap. The only presents I had to wrap were Logan's. The rest were small enough to put in a nice envelope. Lazy I know, but convenient. Deciding to go first, I get up and hand everyone their respective envelope, and sat back down next to Logan. Nathan ripped his envelope open first, and give me a thumbs up. Score for maid service.

  Annie opened her envelope next. Randy and I were in cahoots for Annie's gift. It was from both of us.

  "Conceal carry license?" Annie asked. I went to Randy because I wasn't sure what paperwork I needed or if I had to take a class, and he gave me the information. Also I wanted to go myself. Annie and I could complete the class together.

  "CiCi's getting one too," Nathan butted in. I turned to look at him. How did he know I was already going?

  "The three of us are splitting the cost for both of you to do the class, and pay the fees. It'd make us feel better after the robbery," Randy casually mentions, there went my gift to Annie. A heads up would have been nice.

  "I want in on that too," Courtney said. Kevin nodded. Guess that'll be a fun girls’ weekend. Courtney jumped up and ran back towards the kitchen. She came back with the picture frame, handing it to Logan, before plopping back down in Kevin's lap and ripping open the envelope.

  Logan's smiled down at the picture of us from Kevin and Courtney's wedding. Courtney lets out a shrieks, "I love free cake!"

  Ty and Randy opened their envelopes.

  "Date night coupons. Can I bring myself as a date?" Ty asked, causing me to laugh. Bottomless pit of an appetite.

  "Now you just have to get a date," Nathan mocked.

  "You're both sure about this?" Randy asked, shaking the card.

  "Consider it payment for dealing with the new system, and it's not like Annie charged you half the time anyways."

  Nathan plucked the paper from Randy's hands. After looking at it, he said, "Why can't I have gratis for life?"

  "Keep Cindy out of our bakery and I'll think about it," Annie chimed in. I nodded in approval. Nathan's liked Randy. Ninety percent of the time he came in we didn't charge him, but he'd leave a tip in the jar.

  Nathan rose, handing Annie and I each a small envelope. "While Randy was having the system re-wired. I had a guy come in and update the sound system. Randy has the paperwork, but you should be able to link the office computer to the system and stream iTunes."

  "You're now on the house for life," Annie said, without even opening the card. I opened my card and found a gift card for the iTunes store. If Annie wasn't around for me to talk to, I'd have my ear buds in listening to music. Best gift ever!

  "What are we gonna do now?" Ty asked. "Watch TV?" He glanced around the room waiting for an answer.

  Swirling my glass, I mention, "I need more wine."

  "Me too," Courtney agreed, and Annie concurred. We headed into the kitchen, and the guys followed.

  "There's
eight of us, we can play Monopoly," Annie suggested. If you'd ever seen Rain Man and remembered Dustin Hoffman's card counting skills, well Annie was the same with Monopoly. It's uncanny. Once you realize you'd never win, it's entertaining to watch her wipe the floor against her opponents.

  "No, the last time we played monopoly, you," Nathan pointed at Annie, "kicked everyone's ass." Logan and Randy smiled, I was not sure if Randy's ever played Monopoly with Annie, but Logan had and he knew. I think Randy's just smiled because his girl was kick ass, and he's smitten.

  Looking over at Tyler, he had a devious grin on his face. "We could turn it into a drinking game," he suggested. Annie started setting up the board, and we settled in around the table.

  "I'm okay with that. What are the rules?" I asked, and I might actually have a chance to beat Annie, because she's a lightweight.

  "Okay. Um—Go to Jail—you drink. Roll doubles—you drink. Land on tax—you drink. Pass go—you drink. If you land on free parking, everyone else drinks. If there's someone in jail and you're just visiting—you both drink. Simple enough or you want more rules?" Tyler looked around the table. Everyone, including me nodded in approval.

  "I call the shoe!" Annie shrieked. Everyone started claiming their pieces leaving me with the thimble. Seriously, the thimble, I never managed to snag the car.

  Several hours passed as we played. Courtney was knocked out first, either she's a lightweight or truly sucks at monopoly. Kevin's out next mainly because Courtney's being whiney since she couldn’t play anymore, and she's bored. As soon as he hands over his last dollar to Nathan, Kevin and Courtney head to their room for the night.

  Ty's the next one out, he didn't whine just grabbed another beer. Logan landed on Annie's boardwalk and she wiped him out. I landed on Marvin Gardens, which Randy owned, and he cleaned me out as well. I shrugged and finished my beer.

  Nathan hated losing, so much so he reverted into this angry child. Annie just wanted to be challenged, and she’d accept defeat cordially. Randy landed on a railroad, which Annie snatched all of them up early in the game. She smiled blows him a kiss, and proceeded to take all of his money and properties.