A Trip to Remember

by Meg Harding

  He grabbed his chin, tilting his head farther back. Colin might have wheezed in surprise. Logan’s brows shot up. “Okay there?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Logan’s fingers were hot against his face, gripping firmly onto his jaw.

  “It’s really stuck on here,” said Logan, scraping at the dried blood with his fingernail for a second. “You might have to take a bath to get it all off.”

  Colin hissed as he scraped over a mole, trying to jerk his head away.

  “Sorry, sorry,” rushed out Logan. “I’ll be more careful.” He let go of Colin’s face, but he scooted even closer, hunching over him more. “Face now,” he said. “It’s a mess. You look like a vampire in a bad horror film.”

  His eyes closed in mortification. “Gee, thanks,” he muttered.

  “You’re welcome,” he laughed. His fingers brushed along Colin’s cheekbone as he tilted his head to the side. The cloth started to scrape over his face. “You know, you’re lucky you only got a nose bleed from your stupidity.” He looked him in the eyes, gaze serious. “Really lucky.”

  Colin narrowed his eyes at that. “This is going to be an unpleasant weekend if you keep making comments like that.”

  “But it’s so much fun watching you get all worked up,” teased Logan.

  Colin’s mouth dropped open. “I’ve just been through an ordeal, and you’re trying to work me up? Who does that? You don’t even know me!”

  Logan pushed his mouth shut, swiping the cloth over his chin. “Apparently, I do. If I’m going to be stuck with you for Christmas, I’m not going to treat you like a stranger.” He started trying to clean around Colin’s nose, gently dragging the cloth over the area. “It’d be laughable at this point anyway.”

  He leaned away after several minutes. “That’s the best I can do. Do you think you can handle a bath? I can make breakfast while you clean up. Do you need help getting up?”

  “Course I can, and I’m fine,” said Colin, already attempting to push himself up to a sitting position. A bath sounded like heaven. His back creaked as he moved, and he groaned.

  Logan laughed, holding out his hand and wiggling his fingers. “Are you sure?”

  “S’not funny,” said Colin, but he reached for the offered hand and allowed Logan to pull him up. His body was stiffening up after his ordeal.

  Once Colin was standing, he forced himself to move away. “I’ve got this,” he said, and headed for the hallway on the other side of the room.

  “Do you know where the bathroom even is?” asked Logan.

  “No, but I figured you’d tell me.” Really he’d just wanted to escape the room and Logan’s overwhelming presence. He needed to get himself to a less pathetic-looking state.

  “Up the stairs, and second door on the right.”

  For all of a second, Colin was tempted to ask Logan to carry him up the stairs. He so badly did not want to climb them.

  Chapter Two

  COLIN WAS relaxed and a half second away from falling asleep in the tub. He hadn’t had a bath in years, and he was thinking that he’d definitely been missing out. Logan’s bathtub was more like a hot tub: huge and round, with jets and ridiculously hot water and all kinds of little shelves to sit or place things on. He had a pillow propped behind his head for God’s sake!

  So when Logan knocked on the door, he barely heard it. He certainly didn’t acknowledge it. He didn’t have the energy to do so.

  Logan didn’t wait, though; he walked in anyway, and that did get Colin’s attention. Instinctively Colin moved to cover himself, feeling the flush that was spreading over his chest and up onto his face. “Excuse me!” he said, very aware of his nakedness and Logan’s gaze on him.

  “I see you found the bubble bath,” said Logan. He set the breakfast tray he was holding down on the counter. “You do know I can’t see through it, right? You can stop trying to protect your virtue.” He grinned at him as he grabbed the tall glass on the tray and held it out to Colin.

  Extending one bubble-covered hand, Colin accepted the glass and took a sip. “No more hot chocolate?” he asked, making puppy dog eyes up at Logan. The taste of orange juice was strong in his mouth.

  “You are so unbelievably spoiled,” snorted Logan, smiling wide and rolling his eyes. “Would you like me to hand feed you as well?”

  “Is that an option?” asked Colin, trying to sound as sincere as possible.

  “I’m going to dump this plate over your head,” said Logan, laughing, holding out said plate for Colin to take.

  Colin looked around for a towel to wipe his hand on. He didn’t want the bubbles on his food. Sighing, Logan set the plate back down and passed him a hand towel. Colin wiped his hands and traded it for the plate. He pulled his knees up out of the water—they looked like twin white peaks rising above the mountain of bubbles—and balanced the plate carefully on them.

  The first bite of the pancake had him moaning. “Oh my God,” he mumbled around his mouthful. He swallowed, savoring the taste. “This is amazing.” He’d never had a pancake that tasted so good. Hell, he wasn’t even a big fan of pancakes. He shoveled another bite in. He didn’t even care that Logan was watching him eat.

  “Wait till you try the eggs,” said Logan.

  He didn’t even question him. He scooped up a forkful of the fluffy eggs and shoved them in alongside the pancake. “Son of a bitch,” he groaned, forcing himself to slow his chewing so he could properly enjoy the taste. “Are you a cook?” he asked once he’d swallowed his large mouthful. He did still possess some manners.

  “Nah,” said Logan. “It’s just a hobby.”

  “You’re missing out on your calling.” He cut off a piece of the pancake, dragged it through the syrup, and stabbed some eggs onto his fork with it for good measure. He put it all in his mouth.

  Logan looked a mix of horrified and amazed. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it,” he said. Colin could hear the repressed laughter in his tone. “Though maybe you’re enjoying it a bit too much.”

  Colin shook his head. “If anything, I’m not enjoying it enough.” He glanced at him. Logan was standing next to the tub, staring down at him. Colin abruptly realized he was still naked and in the bath. He cleared his throat and forced his hand to still before he tried to shove more food in his face. “Are you going to keep standing there?”

  He blinked at that, as if awakening from a daze. He took a step back. “Sorry,” he said. “I’ll just be….” Logan pointed to the door and swiftly made his exit. It clicked shut sharply behind him.

  If he hadn’t been so busy finishing his excellent meal, he would have been mortified.

  WHEN HIS skin resembled a prune more than anything else, Colin decided it was time to remove himself from the comfort of the bath. Standing was akin to torture, cold air assaulting his heated skin. He shivered, quickly wrapping a towel around his waist and another around his torso. He didn’t care if he looked ridiculous.

  The only clothes in the bathroom were the ones he’d removed prior to his bath. He pulled the pants on once he’d dried off, but the shirt had residual blood from his nosebleed on it. He tossed it in the hamper.

  “What did you do with my suitcase?” he asked, walking downstairs, skin pebbling from the chill in the air.

  Logan looked up at him from where he was lounging on the couch, his dog curled up against his side. The dog growled as Logan stood. “What did you do with the other shirt?”

  “Hamper,” said Colin. “There was some blood on it.”

  Logan nodded. “Okay. I put your suitcase in the guest room.” He motioned for Colin to go back up the stairs. “Once you’re dressed I’ll give you the tour of the place.” He followed him up the stairs. “You’re looking a little stiff,” he said when they reached the landing. “Does your back hurt?”

  “Leg hurts,” said Colin. He’d tried massaging it in the bath, but the muscle was tense and unwilling to completely relax. He hadn’t thought it was noticeable.

  “Walking should help. I’ve g
ot icepacks in the freezer too. If it’s still bothering you, we can put one of those on it.”

  Colin turned to look at him. “Thank you,” he said.

  Logan looked surprised. “What are you thanking me for?”

  He gestured around widely with his hand. “For everything. You didn’t have to go to all this trouble.” The man had made him a gourmet breakfast. That was going above and beyond.

  “Earlier you were berating me for not cleaning up the blood, and now you’re thanking me ’cause I’m offering you an icepack?” He looked amused now, his lips quirking at the corners. He patted Colin on the back, moving past him and farther along the hall. “It’s all good. Don’t spend this whole weekend thanking me.”

  “About that,” said Colin, following him. “How is this going to work?”

  Logan stopped in front of an open door, motioning inside. The room was nice, with tan walls and dark blue accents. The bed was a ridiculous four-poster monstrosity that Colin hadn’t thought people had anymore. His suitcase was lying on a bench at the end of the bed.

  Logan leaned against the doorjamb and watched Colin as he opened his suitcase. Colin thought about asking for privacy, but that would be a little obnoxious when all he was doing was putting on a shirt.

  “What do you mean how is this going to work?” he asked, waiting till Colin had his shirt halfway over his head.

  Colin tugged it down and ran a hand through his hair to put it back to rights. “Are we going to pretend this isn’t weird? It’s Christmas weekend, and we’re strangers, and you were supposed to spend the holiday with your family. Are we going to try and celebrate it or just ignore the holiday?”

  Logan scratched at his jaw. “I told you, it’s only weird if we make it weird. Stop focusing on the stranger aspect of it. We’re stuck, so we should make the most of it. I’ve got a kitchen full of Christmas food, and I’m not going to let it go to waste. If you don’t want to partake, that’s on you.” He arched a brow, lips quirking up at the right corner. “Are you really going to turn down a Christmas dinner? Made by me? I’m a fantastic cook I can assure you.”

  “You’re going to make me Christmas dinner.”

  “No, I’m going to make dinner and make you watch me eat it all while not allowing you a single bite.” He rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’m making Christmas dinner. If you want to eat it you’re more than welcome to.”

  He straightened up. “Come on, I’ll show you the house.”

  He led Colin on a tour of the rather large house, pointing out his many guest rooms and his own room, which was two doors down the hall from Colin’s. The ground floor didn’t have any bedrooms, but it did have a game room (filled with actual arcade games, a pool table, Ping-Pong table, and a state-of-the-art video-gaming system), a kitchen worthy of a master chef, and a gym that included a heated pool and hot tub. The walls to the game room were glass. Colin could see the frozen wasteland that was Logan’s backyard. It was a really large backyard.

  Colin had to bite his tongue to refrain from asking just what Logan did for a living.

  “This is some place you’ve got,” he said, for lack of anything more tactful to say.

  “You’ve got full run of it while you’re here. I’ve got some extra swim trunks you can borrow if you want to use the pool.”

  “Swimming at Christmastime,” mused Colin. “Feels a bit weird, yeah?”

  Logan arched his brow, his expression the picture of judgmental. “Most gyms in Toronto have an indoor pool. It’s not that weird.”

  Colin ran a hand through his hair, looking out over the still surface of the water. The one and only time he’d used a public gym had been when he was in college, and it came packaged with his tuition. He’d figured if he was going to be forced to pay an athletic fee, he might as well use the gym to get his money’s worth. He preferred to work out in the privacy of his own home.

  “It’s nice,” he said. “Maybe I will.”

  “Don’t strain yourself.”

  When he turned around, Colin sarcastically mimicked him behind his back.

  “So, what do you want to do?” called Logan, already out in the hall.

  Colin caught up with him, stuffing his hands in the pockets of the sweats he had on. “Ummm.” He thought of the game room and the heaven it represented. “Ping-Pong?”

  IF LOGAN hadn’t made his fortune from being a Ping-Pong champion, Colin was going to be forced to judge him because obviously the man had spent way too much time playing the game. He was a master at it, and he didn’t even look like he was trying. Colin, on the other hand, felt like he was playing a game of tennis with Andy Roddick. He was actually sweating. His arm was sore.

  “I hate you,” he said, or rather huffed, as the little ball went sailing past him.

  Logan beamed. “I can’t help it,” he said. “I’m just that good.”

  “You’re a cocky asshole,” said Colin.

  Logan’s grin just got bigger. “Are you going to go get that ball?” he asked. Colin threw his paddle at him, and a laughing Logan dodged it easily. “Now you’ve got to pick that up too. Look at all this work you’re giving yourself.”

  The paddle was on Logan’s side of the table, but damned if he didn’t make Colin walk over to grab it. He smirked the whole time. Colin kind of wanted to throw the paddle at him again. Did Logan have any clue what that smirk did to Colin? It was simultaneously beyond attractive and yet extraordinarily irritating.

  “We can play something else,” said Logan.

  “Are you going to suck at any of your other games?”

  “Probably not.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  Despite this, Colin only managed another twenty minutes of Ping-Pong before he had to give it up. Between frustration and the ache in his shoulder, he couldn’t take it anymore. “Video games,” he said. “Let’s do that.”

  While Logan got all of his stuff turned on and set up, Colin wandered to the windows and looked out at the winter wonderland that was Logan’s backyard. “I’m surprised you don’t have a skating rink back here,” he joked.

  “There’s a pond,” said Logan. “I skate on it when it freezes over.”

  Of course he did. Colin squinted, like that would help him see through the thick haze of snow. It was coming down quickly, making it difficult to see anything. The pond was probably buried beneath the snow anyway. “What is it you actually do?”

  “I’m a personal trainer.” Logan came up beside him. “This is going to ruin all my decorations.”

  He looked at Logan rather than the snow. He could definitely see personal trainer making sense. “You had decorations out there?”

  “Yep.” He pointed a finger a little to the right. “If you concentrate, you can see the top of one of my candy canes poking out. A couple of them have already blown away.”

  “At least you have power,” said Colin. “My place had lost it when I left.”

  “I’ve got a generator,” replied Logan. He put his hand on Colin’s shoulder. “Come on, time for me to kick your ass some more.” He’d definitely figured out how to poke at Colin’s competitive side and was taking full advantage.

  “I’m picking the game,” Colin warned him, not about to back down from the challenge.

  “By all means.”

  Colin collapsed on the couch, biting back a moan when he found out just how comfortable it was. He wiggled himself into place, sinking into the cushions that molded to his body. Logan tossed a controller on his lap, jarring him from his appreciation.

  He surfed through Logan’s extensive collection of games and in the end chose Mario Kart. He was awesome at Mario Kart, a champion if there ever was one. At least with it he’d stand a chance.

  Logan didn’t look like he cared.

  Colin hunched forward on the couch as they started, fully focused on the screen. Before long they were screaming and shoving as they tried to make one another wreck. When Colin’s car shot across the finish line first, he raised his arms in the
air and gave a shout of triumph.

  “Wow,” said Logan, laughing. “Someone’s competitive.”

  “Oh my God,” said Colin, turning to look at Logan’s smirking face. “You have room to talk.”

  “I’m a much more graceful loser than you are.”

  Colin pointed his controller at him. “So you admit you are a loser?”

  Logan picked up one of the throw pillows and beat Colin about the head with it. “I admit nothing,” he said. “Let’s go again.”

  With each loss he got a little less graceful, until he finally threw the controller down and tackled Colin. “You’re cheating!” he accused, trying to wrestle the controller from Colin’s hands while they both giggled crazily. On the screen his little car went careening off the road. A second later they went careening off the couch.

  “Oof,” Colin grunted, squished beneath Logan’s bigger body. He shoved at him, and it devolved into a ridiculous skirmish, the coffee table getting pushed aside as they rolled around on the floor.

  Colin’s elbow made contact with something hard, and the pain was blinding; his noise of discomfort was enough to freeze Logan on top of him. “Did I break you?” asked Logan. He actually looked worried.

  “My elbow,” gritted out Colin.

  Logan contorted himself, trying to get a look. His entire weight was resting on Colin, shoving the breath from him. Their hips were aligned, their chests pressing together. Despite the throbbing in his arm, Colin was more than aware of their proximity and all of the muscles that were pressed along him. The gym was definitely not just for show.

  “I guess this means I win,” said Logan, smiling widely down at Colin. The corners of his eyes were crinkled. He had a dimple in his right cheek. Colin thought he was way too cute to be such an asshole.

  He brought his free hand up and shoved Logan’s face away so he didn’t have to look at it. Logan started laughing, making his body shake over the top of Colin’s. Colin’s hips twitched. No, he thought, that was not happening. “I can’t breathe with your heavy ass crushing me,” he said, hoping the strain in his voice lent credibility.