Winter Bloom (Dating Season Book 4)
Page 9
It’s been the perfect day, and I spend the next hour eating cake and refilling champagne for the band, hugging Charlotte’s mom and catching up with a few old friends I haven’t seen in a while. And of course, flirting with Logan on set breaks.
“Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?” he says, twirling one of my loose curls around his finger, giving it a gentle tug with a wicked glint in his eye.
I trail my finger down his leather jacket. “Only a few times.”
“It’s Valentine’s Day, ya know?”
“Really? I didn’t know. Will you be my Valentine?”
“Fuck, yes,” he says, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me in for a brief but fiery kiss.
“I made something for you,” I tell him.
“Seriously? I thought only the girl got something on Valentine’s Day.”
“Not if you’re with me,” I tease. I’m gaining so much confidence in my flirting. From my bag on a nearby table, I retrieve the handmade key chain of tiny ceramic drumsticks with a miniature pizza slice dangling between them. “So you don’t forget our two significant dates. I may need to add a sink.”
He takes it from me, studying the painted flame details, like I just handed him diamonds. “This is amazing. I love it.” He reaches in his pocket and pulls out pink tissue paper. “I have something for you too.”
I carefully unwrap the delicate paper and stare at what I’m holding in my hand. The heart he made in my class. “Logan, this is…” I can’t even finish my sentence because his gift is too much.
He moves closer and hypnotizes me with the intensity in his eyes. “You told Pru she should give her heart to someone who will treasure it. I feel like you’ll take good care of it.”
“Ah, God. This is so sweet.” I rise on tippy-toes to press my lips to his. “And so romantic. Thank you.”
He nips my bottom lip. “I’ve also got a big dick for you.”
“Yes, you do.”
He swats me on the butt before he’s whisked back to the stage, and as the evening winds down, Charlotte finds me in a corner, eating more cake.
“My feet are killing me.” She plops down and we share my cake. “Speaking of killing, I can not believe Lucy knocked you over.”
“Right?”
Her eyes light with laughter. “You were there and then suddenly, you were flying sideways.”
And then we laugh at my tumble, nearly choking on our cake. Because it is pretty damn funny now that I’m not sprawled on the floor.
“Did you do something different to yourself?”
My fork stops on its path to my mouth. “Do I look different, Mrs. Charlot?”
“Yeah, but I can’t put my finger on what it is.”
“It’s called closure.”
Before she can question me, James arrives to tell her it’s time to go. She shovels one more bite of cake in and gives me a tight squeeze before floating away with her husband. Her husband.
Everyone gathers outside and a few people discuss an after-party while we send the newlyweds off. As they drive away, I feel a little pang in my chest that this is it. The end of an era. But a larger, more hopeful part of me thinks, “This is the beginning of a new era.”
An era where my…is he my boyfriend? As much as I like him, I haven’t been in such a hurry to label Logan, which feels like growth. Anyway, it’s an era where I have a new, hawt person to leave events with. A Chloe After-Party, if you will. Hm. Am I still high?
The guests disperse, and I hang around with Logan while he and the band load their van.
“What’s the Next Big Thing on your life agenda, Chloe?” Will asks.
“Moving,” I say.
“Back-to-back stressful events,” he says, sliding the door closed. “Packing and shit. No fun.”
“It’s not even the packing that’s got me stressed.” I laugh, don’t know why, cause it’s not a laughing matter. “I have to find a place to live.”
“Hey, don’t stress about it,” Logan says. “You can crash with me.”
Will and Ian give each other a non-subtle look before climbing in the van, leaving us alone. Logan’s offer is nice and all, but I can’t “crash” forever.
He must see what I’m thinking on my face because he tilts my chin toward him so our eyes meet. “I mean, live with me. I know it’s fast, but I want you in my home.”
Wow. That’s...big. A night of so many bigs.
“Think about it,” he says to my silence. “We can start with just crashing and go from there.”
He really understands me. Meanwhile, the van is loaded and the guys are peeking out the windows. We came separately, so I agree I’ll meet him at his place (sleepover!) then he gets in the van and drives away.
Under the stars, I walk to my car on the other side of the venue. When I reach the parking lot, I see Austin hugging Lucy and putting her in her car. Lucy drives off, and Austin looks up at the sky, head tilted back, staring at the moon.
Then he sees me.
He strides over, loosening his tie. It’s so much better now that I’m over him. Hardly any butterflies at all about being in his presence now. And Logan is waiting for me, so if I do have butterflies, I can blame them on him.
“So, I’m not moving out,” Austin says, shocking me. “You can stay if you want.”
“Uh…what?”
“Lucy and I just broke up.”
Chloe’s dating adventures continue in
Spring Fever
It’s time for spring cleaning, but I’m not ready to toss Logan yet…
Out with the old, in with the new… a new me, that is. Now that Charlotte’s married, I, too, have decided to be mature. So Logan isn’t Austin--that’s okay. Better than okay. That’s what I’d wanted all along, someone just as kind and loving and--okay, smoking hot--as my roommate. But a kind, loving, smoking hot someone who likes me back.
Logan has basically been all my dreams come true.
If I could stop stressing about work for five whole minutes to appreciate it, I’m sure I would be really happy. Thank God I have Austin to keep me grounded. Literally, because he makes me garden with him now. And maybe it’s just the stress talking, but it kind of seems like he wants to put down roots too. How come no one told me maturity would be this complicated?
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Visit my website for a more detailed reading order.
Dating Season
Spring Fling | Summer Rebound | Fall Hard
Winter Bloom | Spring Fever | Summer Lovin
Also written with Kayti McGee under the name Laurelin McGee
Miss Match | Love Struck | MisTaken | Holiday for Hire
The Dirty Universe
Dirty Filthy Rich Boys - READ FREE
Dirty Duet (Donovan Kincaid)
Dirty Filthy Rich Men | Dirty Filthy Rich Love
Dirty Games Duet (Weston King)
Dirty Sexy Player| Dirty Sexy Games
Dirty Sweet Duet (Dylan Locke)
Sweet Liar | Sweet Fate
(Nate Sinclair) Dirty Filthy Fix (a spinoff novella)
Dirty Wild Trilogy (Cade Warren)
Wild Rebel | Wild War | Wild Heart
Man in Charge Duet
Man in Charge
Man in Love
Man for Me (a spinoff novella)
The Fixed Universe
Fixed Series (Hudson & Alayna)
Fixed on You | Found in You | Forever with You | Hudson | Fixed Forever
(Chandler & Genevieve) Chandler (a spinoff novella)
(Norma & Boyd) Falling Under You (a spinoff novella)
(Nate & Trish) Dirty Filthy Fix (a spinoff novella)
Slay Series (Celia & Edward)
Rivalry | Ruin | Revenge | Rising
(Gwen & JC) The Open Door (a spinoff novella)
(Camilla & Hendrix) Slash (a spinoff novella)
First and Last
First Touch | Last Kiss
Hollywood Standalones
One More Time
Close
Sex Symbol
Star Struck
Written with Sierra Simone
Porn Star | Hot Cop
Also by Kayti McGee
Dating Season
Spring Fling | Summer Rebound | Fall Hard
Winter Bloom | Spring Fever | Summer Lovin
Written with M. Pierce
By Any Other Name
Written with Laurelin Paige as Laurelin McGee
Holiday for Hire
Miss Match
Love Struck
MisTaken: A Novella
Under the Covers novels
UnderCovers
Topped
Long Shot
Hands Off
Standalone
Screwmates
That Thing You Do
About Laurelin Paige
With millions of books sold, Laurelin Paige is the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Fixed Trilogy. She's a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there's kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn't seem to complain, however. When she isn't reading or writing sexy stories, she's probably singing, watching shows like Killing Eve, Letterkenny, and Discovery of Witches, or dreaming of Michael Fassbender. She's also a proud member of Mensa International though she doesn't do anything with the organization except use it as material for her bio.
www.laurelinpaige.com
laurelinpaigeauthor@gmail.com
About Kayti McGee
Kayti McGee is livin’ deliciously in beautiful Kansas City, Missouri. Go Royals!
She also writes as the latter half of Laurelin McGee. Like her co-author Laurelin Paige, she joined Mensa for no other reason than to make their bios more interesting. Sometimes they podcast as IRL.
Stalk away at:
www.kaytimcgee.com
KaytiMcGee@gmail.com