__________
Realizing that Logan’s email was from this morning and my reply is much later, I may not hear from him any time soon. It is Thursday night, a popular night for SBU students to party, so he may already be out.
I need to finish up my essay on “The Great Gatsby” since it’s due tomorrow. I pull it up on my computer and start re-reading it, making any corrections, as I go. The house is too quiet so I switch on my iPod dock, my playlist on the shuffle mode.
Finally, I’m starting to unwind. My mind is focused on my writing and thoughts of Logan are kept in the back of my mind. I concentrate on the words on my laptop’s screen, altering them here and there and moving some paragraphs around.
I’m just writing my final concluding paragraph when I hear a soft knock on the front door.
The quiet knock startles me even though it’s barely audible. Sometimes Bryn forgets her key so my assumption is that it’s probably her. She said she would be late but you never know with her, maybe she forgot something or maybe she got in an argument with Josh.
As I open the door I say, “Bryn, did you forget your key again?”
“Hi baby.” He whispers. At first his face is serious but then his demeanor changes. His mouth moves from a solemn line to a slight smile. He’s wearing black sweatpants and a grey fitted t-shirt, showing off his perfectly sculpted physique.
“Hi.” I breathe.
“May I come in?” He asks with amusement in his eyes.
“Oh. Sure.” I say. I step back so Logan can enter our house.
“I got your email and thought I’d come over.” He smirks.
“You’re here to persuade me to go out with you tomorrow night?” I can’t help but smile. I shut the door behind him and lean against it.
“So you wrote that just to lure me over here?” He smiles as he places his hands on each side of me, his arms are outstretched and I’m pinned against the door.
“Um. No. You have me trapped.” I blink up at him. “That’s not really fair.”
“Who said anything about playing fair? If I’m going to convince you, I think I get to choose my plan of persuasion, not you.”
“But I can’t move.” I say as I plot my escape in my head.
“Looks that way.” He smiles as he leans closer to my face, our lips almost touching.
That’s when I make my move. In a flash I playfully dodge under one of his arms. As I fly up the stairs my hair tie falls out, leaving my hair cascading down my shoulders.
Logan turns and quickly charges up after me. My heart is pounding and I’m laughing so hard when I get to my bedroom that tears start to well up in my eyes.
He starts to move closer to me. “It’s a good thing you are fast or I would have caught you on the stairs.”
I struggle to stifle my laughter. “Okay. That’s enough.” I put up my hands up to signal a time-out.
He grabs my waist and in the blink of an eye tosses me on my bed. I’m once again trapped, this time beneath him.
“Looks like you have me trapped again.” I giggle.
“It does appear that way. I wonder. How will you escape this time?” He says as he slowly puts more of his weight down on me.
I can barely breathe as I stare into his piercing blue eyes. The familiar electrical current is making me feel deliciously dizzy. My arms are at my sides but he’s not holding them down. I take them and reach to feel his muscular upper arms and shoulders.
I blink up at him under my lashes and he leans closer to kiss me softly on my lips. My hands slide from his arms and shoulders to his strong, fit back. Pulling him closer, my tongue is in his mouth. He pulls me tighter with one hand reaching in my hair and the other cupping my breast. We moan in each other’s mouths. My blood is racing through my body but those unwelcome thoughts start to resurface in my sleep-deprived mind.
I pull back; Logan with his eyes closed rests his forehead on mine to catch his breath.
“You are beautiful.” He says when he opens his eyes and looks in mine.
“You persuaded me a long time ago.” I smile.
“I was done persuading you. You are beautiful.” He leans over and softly kisses me on the forehead.
“That’s not part of your plan of persuasion?”
He rolls off me and leans his head on one of his hands with his elbow pressed against a pillow.
“No. Just stating a fact.” He thinks I’m beautiful!
“Did you really think I was serious about saying no for tomorrow?”
“I can never tell with you but I had a feeling you were just giving me a hard time, like usual.” He says, his blues eyes glinting.
“I think you have that the other way around.” I say leaning on my side parallel to him.
My laptop is still resting on my bed when it catches his eye.
“What’s your essay on this week?” He says as he moves closer to the screen.
I make a quick move to try and pull the laptop’s lid down but he pulls it away and out of my reach.
“Now you have me intrigued.” He smiles. “Are you hiding something?”
“No. It’s on The Great Gatsby. I’m still working on it so I’d rather you not read it.” I casually say.
“I’m not buying it, Miss King.” He smirks.
I shrug. “You promise you won’t get mad?”
“I promise.”
“It’s an essay on the central theme of hedonism in The Great Gatsby.” I mutter.
Logan’s expression is unreadable. “Did you get assigned that topic or did you choose it?”
“I chose it.” I whisper. “Sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?”
“Because I think you’re mad.”
“I’m not mad but it’s obviously still a concern of yours if you’ve chosen to write an essay about it. Am I right?”
“Yes.” I breathe.
“You’re worried I’m going to end up like Gatsby? Living a life of pleasure and then I’ll end up dying sad and lonely with hardly anyone coming to my funeral?” He teases.
“It’s not funny.” I roll on my back and turn my head up to look at the ceiling.
Logan takes his hand and softly places it on my cheek, turning my head back towards him.
“What are you so worried about?”
“I don’t see how you can just leave that lifestyle behind, just switch it off?”
“You bewitched me. I don’t know how else to explain it. I met you and I realized that only caring about pleasure and instant gratification just made me feel empty, lonely. Does that make sense?”
“Yes.”
“Good so we’re getting somewhere. What else?”
“You just don’t think of me as another conquest just for your own pleasure?” I say in a serious tone.
“Well, I would hope we are together not for my own pleasure but for our pleasure.” He smiles.
“I guess that sounds okay.” I say trying to lighten the mood.
“Good girl. So you aren’t going to worry anymore about this?”
“I can’t promise you but I’ll try.”
“It’s getting late. Is it okay if I stay?”
“What if I say no?” I tease.
He rolls back on top of me so that I’m pinned against him.
“You enjoy this game, don’t you?” He grins down at me.
I giggle up at him. Once again his lips are on mine, our tongues entwined. He softly brushes my cheek, gently kissing along my cheek to my chin.
“You are beautiful.” He whispers.
“I’m glad you didn’t email me back.” I shyly smile.
“Yes. It’s much easier to persuade in person than through emails. That’s Persuasion 101.”
“Is that what you business majors have to take?” I giggle.
“Yes. And other classes prone to induce sleep.” He smiles.
“Your persuasion tactics don’t make me sleepy, in fact, they seem to have the opposite effect.” I swallow as I inch my body closer to him.
/>
“You told me you wanted to take things slow.” He says as he reaches to turn off the light on my nightstand.
We are lying in bed with just the luminescent light from the moon on our faces. I can only hear our shallow breathing and a distant sprinkler in someone’s yard.
He pulls me close to him. “If taking it slow means I won’t lose you, then so be it. Plus instant gratification isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
Facing each other, on our sides, each of us with an arm draped across the other’s waist, we lie like that for some time. I feel my eyes getting heavy as I gaze at his too perfect face.
He leans forward and softly kisses my forehead.
“Sleep well, baby.” I hear him whisper before my eyes shut.
THE FIRST THING I FEEL when I wake up is Logan’s body pressed against mine. His arm is draped across my chest and one of his legs is sprawled across mine. I’m hot, very hot. It’s the middle of October but these are typically the warmest weeks of the year and Logan’s body temperature is no doubt adding to the overwhelming heat.
I can’t move but I can see that my fluffy, down-filled comforter is in a heap on the floor. Glancing over at Logan, I see that he is still sound asleep. There’s just a sheet that’s been kicked towards the bottom of the bed, our feet trapped beneath it. I make a slight move, trying not to wake him up and to get some relief from my overheated and sticky body.
His eyes reluctantly blink open as he gazes down at our bodies.
“I see I have you trapped once again.” A slight smile curls up on his lips.
“Yes. It appears you have me at yet another disadvantage.” I smile back at him. I shuffle beneath him trying to loosen his grip but he continues to keep me pinned down.
He props his head up on his hand, his elbow in the pillow. He looks at me with an amused expression.
“You seem to be in quite the rush to get out of bed. It’s still so early.” He says.
“I need to go for a run before class.”
“Can’t I persuade you to stay? Maybe I could help you with research on Gatsby and his hedonistic lifestyle.”
“Well, I already finished that essay. It’s actually due today. But thank you for offering to help.”
“There’s always extra credit.” His voice is soft and his eyes are alight with mischief.
“You are incorrigible. You expect me to believe that you’re a changed man?”
“Just trying to help you get an A on your paper, baby.” He smirks.
I can’t help but giggle. “That’s your excuse?”
Pulling me closer to him, he says, “Yes. That and I enjoy being in bed with you.”
“While you are quite tempting, if I don’t get in my morning run now, I’ll have to do it later after classes and work. Then I’m afraid I’d miss our date.”
“Are you negotiating with me, Miss King?” He says quietly.
“No. Just stating the facts.” I say proudly.
“Beautiful and clever, quite a deadly combination.” He leans closer and kisses me softly on my cheek. Then reluctantly unwraps his leg around me.
“Thank you.” I say sweetly.
I slide out of bed and realize that even though I’m hot and sticky, I’m surprisingly well rested. This is the third time, including, my brief sleep on Thousand Steps Beach and his family’s home in Montecito that I’ve slept with him. I’m surprised by how safe and comfortable I am with him.
I head to my dresser and toss on my bed, running shorts, a sports bra and a tank. I slide off my sweatpants and glance at Logan who is comfortably resting with his head propped up on his folded arms behind his head.
I stand in my panties and white tank with my sweatpants in my hands.
I look at him and ask, “You admiring the view?” I tease and repeat his words from our morning in Montecito.
“Yes. I am.” He grins.
I playfully toss my sweatpants at him. “You are quite the distraction.” I say, heading to the bathroom to finish getting dressed.
In a moment I’m dressed in my running clothes with my hair tied up in a high ponytail. I’m in the middle of brushing my teeth when Logan taps on the door.
“Come in.” I mumble, my mouth full of toothpaste.
Logan enters and stands closely behind me as I finish with brushing and rinsing.
“You want to borrow mine?” I ask as I hold up my toothbrush.
“Thanks.” He says as he takes it and squeezes some toothpaste on it.
I grab my iPod and head down the stairs. When I pass Bryn’s bedroom, I notice her bed is still made. She was right about not staying up to wait for her.
I’m in the kitchen, eating a yogurt when Logan walks in. He looks gorgeous with sexy, unruly hair. I notice his previous night’s clothes don’t even appear to look wrinkled.
“Would you like something to eat?” I ask.
“No, thanks. I’ll get something later.”
He kisses me softly behind my ear and my body shivers in response. Wrapping his arms around my waist he trails kisses from the back of my ear, along my jaw to my lips. My hands are in his soft hair, pulling him closer. My lips press against his until we are in a sensual fervor. He pulls back and we both steady our breathing.
“You are welcome to come over and persuade me any time.” I gaze up at him.
“I’ll pick you up from work at five thirty?”
“Sure.”
He heads out the door but before he leaves he looks back at me.
“Oh. We’re going to an outdoor concert. I wasn’t planning on telling you but I remembered you told me you don’t like surprises.”
14
I ALWAYS KNEW I was fast. Competitive running on a team didn’t start until I went to middle school. But as long as I can remember I won every race I entered. I was about seven years old when I ran in my first fifty-yard dash. It was at my elementary school’s Field Day and my entire first grade class, about a hundred kids, was in a massive cluster at the starting line.
The starting gun popped and it was as if my feet didn’t touch the ground. Everything was a blur; all I could hear was the wind whistling in my ears. I won the race. I not only beat all the girls but the boys as well. There was one boy in particular who was not too pleased a girl beat him.
I remember the boy’s name was Max. He was so annoyed I beat him he started a rumor I cheated. He claimed I made a false start; I started running before the gun went off. The next day at school everyone was talking about how I cheated and I really didn’t win the race.
I was devastated when I came home from school that day. I told my dad what happened and he explained that Max was just a poor loser and how boys sometimes can’t handle it when girls beat them. From that day on, running changed for me. I now had something to prove. So every year, whenever we had our school’s Field Day I proved Max wrong. I came in first place every year since first grade, beating everyone, including Max.
Remembering this story as I run towards our house makes me smile. I didn’t realize it at the time, but years later I reflect on how a person can bring out the best in you even if that’s not their intention. I’m certain it wasn’t Max’s motive when he made up the lie about me cheating. But now I’m thankful for his lie. It’s funny how something bad can motivate you.
After my run and shower, I head downstairs and find Bryn sitting on one of the barstools at the kitchen island.
“Welcome back.” I say to Bryn as I grab a bottle of Fiji water from the refrigerator.
“Hi.” She says with a yawn.
“Not much sleep?”
“Not really.” She smiles.
“So things with Josh are good?” I ask.
“Yes, very good.”
“You won’t be headed back to Bacara any time soon?” I tease.
“Hmm?” She asks with furrowed brows.
“Oh, yeah. That was just innocent flirting. Josh is the real deal. He’s good…really good…at everything. Even if I’m a bit sore.”
&nbs
p; I giggle and blush at her TMI. “I’m glad things are so good.”
“Were you okay here all by yourself?” Bryn asks.
“Um.” I hesitate to answer.
“Um?” She raises an eyebrow at me.
“Logan stopped by.” I take a sip of water.
“Oh?”
“He was replying to my email.” I say in a matter of fact tone.
“You asked him to come over?”
“No. He emailed me about going out tonight and I replied something like what if I said no?”
“Playing hard to get, Emilia. Smart move.” She beams.
“No. It wasn’t like that. It was just a joke, something he had said earlier to me.”
“So instead of emailing you, he just showed up?”
“He thought he needed to come and persuade me.” I smile.
“Oh. I like it. Persuading sounds so…so naughty.” She teases.
“Well, he is quite persuasive.”
Bryn jumps up and grabs me. “Did you?”
“No. He’s respecting my wishes to take it slow.”
Bryn drops her hands from their tight grip on my arms. “That’s odd.”
I can feel my eyes start to well up with tears.
I nod. “You’re right. It is odd.”
“Oh, Emilia. What’s wrong? I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No. You didn’t say anything I wasn’t already thinking. I don’t understand. Here’s this gorgeous guy who has had sex with probably hundreds…”
Bryn pulls me into her arms and hugs me tight. She leans back and continues to hold onto my arms. She looks at me sympathetically.
“You told him you wanted to take things slow and with all you’ve been through that’s what you should do.”
“Still, it’s all so confusing.” I say and my tears really start to flow.
“You’re making it confusing.” Her eyes are full of concern. “Wouldn’t you rather wait until you know him better?”
“I think so.”
“Honestly, I give him props for not persuading you to do something you aren’t one hundred percent ready for.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“I know I’m right.” She says as she takes her hand and softly wipes away my tear-stained cheeks.
“So, you sure it’s not odd.”
Running from Romeo Page 17