by Dakota Lee
He looks sincere. His eyes are clear and unguarded. There’s only one way to find out. Releasing my grip on my book bag, I say, “I wanna believe you, Logan, but the last time I let you handle your friends, all you did was double down on proving how much of an idiot I was for ever trusting you in the first place.”
“I know, baby.” He grazes a finger across my cheek. “You’ll never know just how much I regret that.” He steps back, showing off his dimple. “I want a fresh start, so can I please feed you?”
He wants to be seen with me. I take this as a win, but there’s no time to gloat. Instead I say, “Lead the way.”
“Damn girl. You going out like this?” Kassidy asks, pointing to my costume.
Non-Toga Party. That’s what the invitation called it, but we’re still supposed to dress up. This is the most daring thing I’ve ever worn, and I’m a ball of nerves. “Yup. You like?”
“Do I like your belly on display and your nips barely covered by this see thru drape?”
“Sexy devils and nurses are gonna be wearing less than this. Besides, don’t I live my life safe enough? Just one night, I want to not care that my reputation was destroyed last semester. I just wanna have fun tonight. Drink too much and scream I don’t give a fuck into the void.” Telling her that boosts my confidence. There’s a specific reason I picked this outfit.
Doing a little dance, I hold my hands out to her. Reluctantly, she joins in, and we spin and turn around the room. “Okay, okay.” She laughs, finally relenting. “I guess it’ll be fun to pretend to be someone else for a while.”
“Good.” I say, swatting her ass. “Now go get your costume on.”
I know this getup is out of character for me, but it’s all a part of my plan to throw Logan off balance.
* * *
“Jordanna. I didn’t think you’d come.” Noel says, pulling me into a hug.
That makes one of us, because from the moment I got the invite, I knew I’d show up. Maybe not wearing this, but there was no way I’d miss a chance to make things difficult for Logan tonight.
Shrugging out of my coat, I say, “You know the undergrad crowd and I have a hate-hate relationship, but then I figured what the hell.”
“Damn,” he says taking in my costume.
“Something wrong?”
“Not at all. You look. Amazing.” He walks around me, brushing his hand down my arm. When he’s back standing in front of me, his smile is kind and comforting. “I need to go finish making my special punch. Go on and mingle and make sure to save me a dance.”
Kassidy is already off somewhere, likely with a drink in her hand. Right now she’s probably in research mode for her folks. Then when she’s talked or observed enough, she’ll flip into party mode. The odds are 50/50 on whether or not I’ll see her again this evening.
Thirty-Two
Logan
I watch Jordanna weave in and out of the crowd, stopping every few minutes to talk to another Grad student or frat idiot. What is she doing here, and what the fuck is she wearing? I’m sure Noel invited her, but what in the hell possessed her to say yes? I see him watching her from the stairs with want in his eyes. Shit. My time is up. This is when he’s going to make his move. I cut through the crowd to head him off, but he reaches her seconds before I do.
“Jordanna, there you go.” He says, tugging her arm, pulling her away from me. “I was looking all over for you.”
She smiles brightly, going into his waiting arms. “Noel. This is such a great party. I’m so glad you convinced me to come.” Shaking her hips, she asks, “Are you ready to dance with me, now?”
He’s looking at me when he says, “Anything for you, my lady.”
This is a game to him. A way to take a shot at me without being too obvious about it. I let them walk away, because grad row is no place to draw attention to myself. Just like the undergrad side of campus is my domain. This side is his.
I force myself to ignore the compulsion I feel to break up their dance. Eventually Noel’s called away for more hosting duties, leaving Jordy free to get into trouble. This genie of the lamp shit she’s wearing over black panties leaves nothing to the imagination, and every horny asshole is dying for a closer look.
She disappears into the crowd and it takes me ten minutes to find her again. Somehow I wind up dancing with Olivia, while Jordanna’s sandwiched between Noel and one of his friends. Her arms are around the guy’s neck, Noel’s hands are on her hips. They’re grinding their bodies against hers and she’s doing nothing to stop them. Someone calls Noel’s name from near the front door. I can see he’s disappointed he has to leave Jordy alone with his buddy.
The guy’s hand slips lower and lower on her back. I clench my fist, keeping my temper in check. He too is called away, and she drifts over to a guy wearing a batman mask. Our eyes lock, her challenge and taunt reaching me across the space. She sways and rocks, pulling him closer, likely making his dick hard. When his hands finally grip her ass, she reaches up to push his mask away. Stuart, the guy behind the mask, is a sophomore on the debate team. When his identity is exposed, he hurries off to the other side of the room.
She’s so busy watching his retreat, she doesn’t hear me come up behind her. “You’re making these guys so horny with your dancing that they have to run to a corner to jack off.” I say, kissing her neck as I pull her against me.
“Oh yeah?” Turning to face me, she asks, “You got a problem with that?” Our bodies are pressed close together and I know she can tell I’m no less affected by her than anyone else. The difference is, I’m embracing my body’s reaction. We move in synch the way we have every other time we’ve been together. Her body primed for my touch. I hate that she was dancing with someone else all evening. She’s made it clear that she doesn’t think we’re together. But that doesn’t stop me from thinking my scent is the only one she should have on her.
I dip my head, pressing my lips to hers for a kiss. Our mouths open at the same time, our tongues tasting each other. She’s on her toes, pressing her cunt against me. A groan of frustration rumbles in my chest when she pulls away.
She crooks her finger at me, backing to the edge of the room and over to the alcove behind the steps. Inside the bathroom, she kisses me again before pausing to remove my shirt. Her nails rake across my chest and she teases my nipples with her teeth. She moves behind me and lifts my hands, placing them against the wall. Her lips glide across the back of my neck. My arms. The small of my back. Then she’s back in front of me, unzipping my pants with a soft hiss as she lowers herself to sit on the closed toiled seat in front of me. She takes me in her mouth. No games. No hesitation.
I’ve dreamt of being in her mouth again, since that alphabet shit. Now that it’s happening, I’m worried I’ll lose control. Pulling her to her feet, I turn her around, shoving her flimsy pants and bottoms to her ankles. Kissing and nipping her ass and I stoop down. The string closure on her top barely conceals her breasts. I untie that, swiping my palm across her nipples, before standing up and entering her from behind. Her moans mix with the music pumping on the other side of the wall.
“Fuck me harder. Logan. Harder!” She pants. Her tits are smushed against the frosted glass of the door as I slam into her again and again.
“So good.” She groans. “So fucking good.”
And she’s right. It is. Time fades and all that exists is her and my need to reclaim her. “Jordanna. I’m the only one who will ever make you feel like this.” I’m getting closer, and she’s already cum twice but I want one more. I need more. “You’re mine. I don’t care how much we argue. How much we fight. And you can hold on to your hate for me. But this pussy. You. You’re. All. Mine.”
She’s close again. Whimpering. Overwhelmed by the sensations, of my unrelenting strokes inside her and my fingers toying with her clit. She clamps around me, yanking my orgasm from my control.
“Mine.” I whisper again, my face buried in her neck.
The noise swells around us, and she
finally shifts in my arms. “You should probably head out first.” She says, pulling away to retie her shirt
I pull up her pants, then straighten mine. When we’re both dressed, I grip her head kissing her. “We’re going out there, together.”
Jordanna
Meeting the family. That’s the true test of a relationship, right? Last time, Logan never included me in the important parts of his life, and what I knew about his family I could have read in an article and condensed into two note cards.
I made excuses before, but the hard truth is, our dating was a joke. Now that I’m playing the game, I understand his position. If he hadn’t shown up on my doorstep, he never would’ve met anyone in my family either.
Logan says he’s committed to doing things differently this time around. I guess that’s why I’m being dragged to breakfast with his dad. “Logan, it’s wrong to just spring a guest on him. Look what happened the last time.” I say, reminding him of his birthday brunch.
“I’m not springing a guest, I’m bringing my girlfriend.”
There he is, using that word again. It started after the costume party. I tell myself the only reason my heart reacts is because it means I’m closer to my goal.
“Why are you so nervous? You’ve already told him off.”
“That’s not true.”
“Then what would you call it?”
“I’d say I strongly expressed my opinions about the tabloid he owns.”
“Fine. But nobody strongly expresses their opinions to Davis McKay.”
“Not even you?”
“Correction, no one outside of the family. Most people are too busy kissing his ass, to ever allow themselves a moment of honesty.”
Like father, like son. Surrounded by ass kissers. “I wasn’t trying to be rude. But, Penn and my mother…”
“Are your triggers.” He lifts my hand from my lap, kissing the back of it. “I was proud of the way you stood up to him, and I’m proud to walk through that door with you. I should’ve brought you home before now.”
“I guess it’s kinda sweet you want me to get to know your dad better.”
“Parents. I want you to get to know my parents.”
Shit. What? “Your mom will be there too?”
He nods as if he didn’t just drop a bombshell in my lap. “And my two favorite littles. Thankfully, their mothers aren’t coming.”
Okay, okay, okay. I can do this. I can do this without hyperventilating. I can totally handle meeting Logan’s family. Now, I’m fidgeting in my seat. To calm my nerves, I tell myself that this is an opportunity to learn more about him. Every bit helps.
Looking at where our hands are still joined, I ask, “Are you sure about this? I mean, there’s no going back. Bella, your friends, the whole damn school will find out when you march me into your country club to meet your family.”
“Good, then there will be no confusion that you’re mine.”
My heart flips again. It’s an involuntary response and it means nothing, Logan looks good on paper. What girl wouldn’t like hearing he’s staking his claim?
* * *
Stepping into the country club, my eyes dart towards the hall I took the last time I was here.
Logan’s lips brush my ear when he says, “Focus, Jordy. Now is not the time to be thinking about leading me to my doom again. Or at least let me say hello to my mother first.”
“I’m pretty sure you liked the way I destroyed you.”
“Fuck yeah, I did.” Tugging my hand, he leads me towards a table in the corner of the room. “Come on.”
“High honey.”
“Mom.”
He leans down, planting a kiss on her cheek. When he steps back, I get my first look at the woman who birthed the larger-than-life man standing next to me. She’s stunning and smiling. Not one of those fake ones either. Her smile goes all the way to her eyes, and she looks like her cheeks are flushed. Has she been drinking? Beside her is a gentleman with his hand on her neck. She leans into him, her lashes fluttering closed. Oh. No. It’s not a drink. She’s happy.
“Hi, I’m Jordanna.”
“Jordanna, I’m Emilia, and this is my husband Doug.”
Doug nods at me and I say, “Nice to meet you both.”
Logan waves at the rest of the table. “You’ve met my dad, and these two…” He pulls me to the side of the table, “Are Hunter and Ava.”
“Hello Hunter and Ava. It’s so nice to meet you, I’m Jordanna.”
Hunter eyes me up and down, clearly suspicious about the woman who’s shown up with his brother. Glancing over at Ava, I see she’s not much more welcoming. Time to win them over. “That’s a really pretty dress Ava.”
She blinks and smiles. “It has ribbons on it.”
“I know.” I turn so she can see the back of my dress. “I love ribbons too.”
She touches her hair, “And I have ribbons in my hair.”
I stoop down so she can see the bow I have on my ponytail.
She smiles again, her cute little dimples popping out. “You wanna sit next to me?”
“That would be awesome.”
One kid down, one to go. Hunters still staring at me, when he blurts out, “Do you work with my daddy?”
“No, I um. I go to school with Logan and we work on the school’s paper together.”
“So Logan is your boss?”
“Yes, he is.” They’re starting him out recognizing the power structure a little young aren’t they? Poor kid. “But, I’m also his friend.”
“His friend?” He frowns as if I owe money to the swear jar. Shit, did I use the wrong word? Maybe friend isn’t a term he’s familiar with.
“Yes. We hang out, eat food together. Work on our artwork. Do stuff outside of work and school.”
“We do stuff like that too, on McKay Sibling Day.” Ava says.
“McKay Sibling Day? I’ve never heard of that holiday.” Turning to the boy he might be about to have me thrown out, I say, “Hunter, can you tell me more about it?”
His chest puffs out a little. “It’s the day when Logan comes home and we come from school and we hang out and do all sorts of fun stuff. Sometimes dad is there, but sometimes he’s not. We drive to the store in Logan’s car, and sometimes I get to navigate. And once I’m taller, I can learn to turn it on, and then drive so we don’t always need a driver and can come home whenever we want. Right Logan?” He says all on one breath.
“That’s right.” Logan agrees.
“What else do you do?” I ask.
“We swim, and…”
“And?” I prod when Hunter clams up.
“And do some other things that we can’t talk about because it’s just between us.” His eyes dart to Logan’s, like he’s said too much.
“Well, I think it sounds wonderful and you must be a great confidant if Logan trusts you with his secrets.”
Hunter nods as if that part’s obvious. “I’m his best friend, like Simon, right Logan?”
“The absolute best. Come here, bud.” Hunter climbs from his chair walking over to Logan with his eyes still on me. Logan leans over to whisper something in his ear. Hunter’s eyes widen and he giggles, then goes back to his seat. He looks at me and giggles again.
“Something you want to share with the table, Hunter?” Emilia asks.
He shakes his head and says. “I can’t. It’s a secret.”
Her eyes slide to me and the look on her face says what I’ve already suspected. Whatever secret Logan just told him is about me.
Thirty-Three
Logan
I was nervous about Jordanna meeting my brother and sister. She won Ava over quickly. But Hunter was suspicious of her, and I know it’s because I’ve never brought a girl around him before, at least not one he hasn’t known since birth.
He’s used to Tabitha, she’s like a big sister to him, and he’s seen Bella at various functions over the years even though she can’t be bothered to talk to him. Everyone else is an employee of d
ad’s or a daughter of one of his associates and at eight, Hunter already understands that our interactions are business driven. So to have Jordanna say that we’re friends. That had to be a lot for him to take in.
I fully expected him to challenge her on the friend thing, but then she asked him to explain McKay Sibling Day. Not me, not one of the other adults. She treated him like he was mature enough to answer questions, and that was the best thing she could have done.
So many times people overlook him because he’s not the firstborn boy. He’s eight, but that doesn’t mean he’s an idiot. Hunter’s smart and observant and he deserves to be seen and heard. I don’t know how Jordanna recognized that he needed that, but she did. Which had him warming up to her before I told him my secret.
Not that it’s really a secret. Showing up with Jordanna was a statement. One my parents recognize means she’s important to me. She’s stretched out on the bed at my studio, staring at me as if she’s trying to read my thoughts. She’s been doing that a lot. I hate that she thinks she has to study as if I’m holding something back. I’m not, and if she wants to know something, all she has to do is ask.
I kiss her, softly brushing my lips back and forth against hers. The other times we’ve been together, we’ve been in a hurry. I’ve been in a hurry. Today, I’m taking my time, relearning every inch of her body. My hand grazes across her side where the tattoo is. I tamp down the urge to gloat about how many times I’ve seen it, and I didn’t have to pin her down to do it.
Kissing a slow path down her stomach, I rest my chin right below her belly button, peaking up at her I say, “I wanna show you something.”
“I’m pretty sure I’ve already seen everything you have to show me.”
“No, you haven’t.”
She sits up on her elbows. Peering down at me through squinted lids. “Are you back to keeping secrets from me, Logan?”