Forever Logan

by Elena Matthews

  Ally scoffs, staring daggers at me for suggesting she’s in her mid-thirties. “I’m twenty-six, asshole.”

  “And she’s being verbally abusive,” I add.

  She shakes her head with an eye roll. “You’re really going to have me arrested?” she asks with disbelief.

  I shrug my shoulders just as my partner gets out of the car behind us. “You leave us no choice.”

  Just when I think I’ll have to manhandle her out of the car—which I’m really hoping I will—she throws her hands up in the air with frustration. “Fine, you Neanderthal, you win.” She huffs out a breath. “I’ll get out of the car.”

  She unbuckles her seat belt and swings the car door open, almost hitting me with it.

  “Whoa, someone has anger issues,” I mutter, and she just glares at me.

  Leaving the car door open, she walks several feet in front of me, heels clacking against the asphalt. “Happy?” She waves her arms in the air in a theatrical manner, which makes her seem a little psychotic in a Harley Quinn kind of way, and I fucking love it.

  Then, she starts walking toward me in a straight line, just as Joe approaches with a quizzical look scrunched along his face.

  “And, as you can see, I’ve not had a single drop of alcohol because I’m walking in a straight line with six-inch heels on—which, FYI, can be quite difficult, even sober.”

  I throw her a lazy smile as she steps up to me, and that’s when I realize I don’t have to peer down to look at her, as we come eye to eye. That’s also when I notice how smoking she looks, like date-night worthy. I start from her long, wavy hair and make my way down. She’s wearing a beige miniskirt with sparkly gold entwined within the material, a thin creamy knit sweater that’s tucked into the skirt, and the sexiest pair of over-the-knee gray boots I have ever seen. She looks like a naughty schoolgirl but hotter.

  Then, I frown. She’s wearing this for him. That douche bag boyfriend of hers.

  “Everything okay?” Joe asks.

  I have to tear my eyes from her perfection to look at him, and I nod. “Yep, she’s finally cooperating. But can you tell her that I didn’t pull her over to mess with her? That her brake light is really out. She’s having a hard time believing me.”

  Ally expectantly turns to face my partner.

  “He’s right. Your brake light is out,” he tells her.

  “Okay, I didn’t know. But I only live, like, four blocks away. Can’t I just drive the rest of the way, and I’ll make sure to get it fixed once I’m home?” she asks, a lot calmer than she was just a few minutes ago.

  With me, she turns into the devil. With everyone else, she’s a freaking angel.

  “We wouldn’t want to put you or anyone else on the road at any further risk, driving with only partial brake lights.”

  Joe glances at me for a brief moment, and already reading his mind, I just nod my head.

  “But two lights are better than none. How about this? We’ll let you drive home, only if you let us escort you and you promise to get the brake light fixed.”

  Relief floods her facial features, and she smiles. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.” Then, her attention comes to me, and the smile slips, replaced with a sneer. “Why can’t you be like your partner? He’s so much nicer than you.”

  I glance at Joe, and I see he’s trying to stifle his laughter. “Hey, I’m nice. I’m so nice that I’m even going to drive with you while Joe follows behind. I’m literally putting my life at risk to ensure you get home okay.”

  “I have an even better idea,” she says with mock happiness. “How about Joe drives with me while you follow?”

  I’m already glaring at Joe before he can blink, and I see the glee dancing in his eyes as he begins to back up toward the police car.

  “Um, Logan’s a better people person than me. I’ll let him ride with you,” he tells Ally. Then, he looks at me. “I’ll follow behind and meet you there.”

  “Copy that, Joe.”

  He returns to the car, and all the while, I feel daggers staring at me. I ignore her and make my way to the passenger side. When she doesn’t make a move to get into the driver’s side, I glance at her and see she’s still staring at me. She doesn’t look angry per se, just irritated with my presence.

  “Are you getting in, or are you walking?”

  The sound of my voice sets her off, and with an almighty huff, she climbs inside and slams the door shut. I’m left chuckling under my breath as I open the passenger door. As soon as my ass hits the seat and I’ve closed the door, Ally’s sweet scent envelops me. It’s such an intoxicating aroma, one that has me wishing I could smell it for the rest of my life. It’s like fresh flowers and clean laundry with a hint of sherbet. She smells like she would taste so fucking good.

  I’ve just about buckled myself in when she puts the car in drive and begins the journey to her house.

  “Is your job so boring that you have to harass poor young women?” she practically demands while she picks up speed.

  “Oh, my job is far from boring. You want to know about my day?”

  “Not really,” she sighs.

  I ignore her protest and tell her anyway, “This morning, we managed to talk a suicidal guy down from a bridge, and we took down two drug dealers—one who was hell-bent on trying to kill us, the other who was just stupid as all fuck. And to finish off the day, we helped a woman avoid a possible car collision due to her lack of a brake light.”

  “Wow, you’re just the neighborhood’s knight in shining armor, aren’t you? You must brag about the size of your badge all the livelong day, huh?”

  I can’t keep the smirk off my face. “Oh, I have plenty of people who already do that for me, baby.”

  She pivots her head to look at me, a beautiful snarl tilting her lips. “Do not fucking baby me. I ain’t nobody’s baby and especially not yours,” she snaps before returning her attention to the road in front of us.

  Jesus, she’s so high-strung. I’m guessing it’s been a while since she’s had some.

  “When’s the last time you actually had sex?”

  The car jolts slightly as Ally steps on the brakes before returning her foot to the accelerator.

  “That’s none of your business, asshat!”

  I hold my hands out in defense. “I’m just saying, everyone knows sex is good for the soul and one hell of a chill pill. It might be good for you, you know, to mellow out your inner bitchiness a bit.”

  “Jesus!” she roars. “Don’t you have an off switch?”

  “No, I don’t. I’m like the Energizer Bunny; I can go all day.”

  “Well, for your information…I have sex. I have it all the time.”

  “Well, with your shitty attitude, my guess is, it mustn’t be any good. But we are talking about your darling boyfriend here, who, even hard, I can’t imagine he’s any bigger than three inches. Not exactly the equipment to supply you with a mind-blowing orgasm.”

  Ally turns to me with her mouth agape as we come to a stop at a set of lights, and just when I expect her to go all Carrie on my ass, a giggle bubbles from her chest, and she starts laughing hard. Now, getting her all mad is one thing, but seeing her laugh is another. She’s just all kinds of beautiful right now. And the laughter? I did that. I made her laugh, and I have to say, it feels damn good.

  “You are such a dick.” The insult comes right off the bat, but she says it while still laughing.

  “Yeah, but you’re not denying it though.”

  She glances at me with an amused smile before focusing forward just as the light changes to green, and the car gains speed again. “I’m only laughing because I’m mad at him.”

  With how dolled up she is, I’m guessing that’s why she’s heading home before nine o’ clock.

  “Why are you mad at him?”

  She snorts. “Like I’m going to tell you,” she quips, though she’s still smiling.

  “Try me,” I tell her without an ounce of amusement to my tone. I want her to know she
can take me seriously, that I’m not always the joker.

  When she doesn’t speak, I pivot my body to face her and take a good look at her, my heart constricting at how breathtaking she really is.

  “I think I can hazard a guess. It’s date night. Instead of picking you up like a real man would, he told you he’d meet you at a restaurant. I’m thinking, Italian—you know, something romantic. You decide to make the effort, so you get dressed up in something sexy. You want him to be unable to tear his eyes off you. You get there at the arranged meeting time of seven thirty, and you’re the first one there. You order a glass of wine, a chardonnay or little bit of fizz, while you wait for him. Five minutes pass, and there’s no sign of him. You text him to make sure he’s okay. He doesn’t reply. Another five minutes, and nothing. Twenty minutes and a glass of wine later, there is still no sign of him. By this point, you’re pissed. You call him, and just when you think the call’s going to go to answerphone, he picks up. He gives you some lame-ass excuse as to why he’s late and says that he can’t make the date. So, you’re forced to go home, hungry and pissed off. Then, to make matters worse, you get pulled over by the police for a brake light violation. Am I right?”

  She briefly glances my way, eyes wide, a little stunned. Then, she steels her spine and focuses back on the road again. “No. It was a sushi restaurant, and I actually had a water—you know, because I was driving.”

  The fact that she only had water makes me proud. Good girl.

  She continues, “But the rest is pretty spot-on.”

  Damn. He really is a shitty human being.

  “What excuse did he give you?”

  She sighs. “He fell asleep and forgot to set his alarm.”

  I can’t help the snigger that leaves my lips. “He fell asleep? He’s a kindergarten teacher, for Christ’s sake. He doesn’t even work eight hours a day.”

  She shrugs her shoulders as she makes a left turn onto a residential street, a pretty nice one at that. “You know what? It is what it is. He said he’d make it up to me tomorrow night.”

  “You should stand him up, see how he likes it,” I offer, disliking the fact that even after being stood up, she’s still willing to go out with him again.

  “But the difference between me and a dude is, I’m not an asshole.”

  I tilt my head to the side, smirking. “I beg to differ. You’re nothing but an asshole to me.”

  “Yeah, but I’m only an asshole to you because you deserve it,” she says as she pulls up into the drive of a two-story house.

  “You might be right about that,” I begin, unclipping my seat belt. I inch closer to her until our arms are touching, and the single touch burns all the way to my soul. I keep my voice low when I speak again, “But I do know one thing. If I were lucky enough to go on a date with you, there’s no way I would screw it up by standing you up. He missed out on seeing how amazing you look tonight. He doesn’t deserve a beautiful woman like you.”

  The air between us grows thicker, and the temperature rises at least thirty degrees hotter. It’s only slight, but I hear the hitch of her breath, and I know what I feel for her isn’t a one-way street. Her eyes flicker to my mouth, and they stay fixed there for a moment, almost as if she’s contemplating kissing me. Then, her eyes focus back on my face, and like a spell has been lifted, she blinks and pulls back, clearing her throat as she kills the ignition.

  “Well, I’ve arrived home in one piece. You can get out of my car now.”

  She resumes back to scowling at me, like I’m nothing more than shit on her shoe.

  “All right, I’ll leave in peace, so you can do evil voodoo on your boyfriend or pray for his dick to fall off—whatever you chicks do when you’re pissed off.”

  A light giggle leaves her throat, and the sound is everything. Just like her.

  “If I’m doing voodoo, it’ll be on the guy who almost had me arrested, making my night even shittier.”

  “How do you know I wouldn’t like it?” I tell her with a suggestive waggle of my eyebrows.

  “Just get out of my car, dipshit,” she says with a no-shit attitude, all the while smiling at me.

  I do as I was told and finally exit her car. As I adjust my posture, I glance up to the renovated American Foursquare house with slate-gray finishing, and I notice the curtains twitch in the far-right window.

  “I think your roommate is spying on us,” I point out as Ally climbs out of the car.

  She gives me a knowing nod as she waves at the person in the window. “That isn’t my roommate, just my mom. Though, since I’m living under their roof again, I kind of am their roommate.”

  “You still haven’t found a new place to live yet?” I find myself asking.

  She shakes her head. “No,” is all she says.

  With the way her eyes downturn and sadness sets in her features, I’m guessing there is more to it. I don’t push her. I can’t even begin to imagine the turmoil she went through, surviving two house fires, mere months from each other. The first one nearly killed Remi, and the second one could have easily killed us all. It nearly did kill Nate and me. Luckily, I’ve always quickly bounced back from any kind of trauma, but I know, for some people, mental health can really get into your head.

  And because of my strong mentality, I was able to return to work soon after getting shot a few months ago. Yes, I needed physical therapy, and I have the battle scars to show my fight against this messed up world. But, emotionally, none of it fazed me, and I think it gives me an edge as a cop. You can’t be scared each time you walk out the door, thinking that every time you step outside, it could be your last. You can’t think of the what-ifs. You just do it without an ounce of hesitation. It’s why a lot of cops suffer with PTSD—because the stuff we deal with isn’t for the fainthearted, and even those with strong exteriors can crack under the pressure. I’m just relieved that I’m unaffected by a lot of the stuff because if I wasn’t, I would struggle.

  However, I think Ally is more of an emotional creature, and that’s okay. It’s okay to not be okay.

  I might have saved her life in that last fire, but it kills me that I can’t control any of that inner pain I see in her. She might not realize it, but I see Ally. Every single molecule of her.

  “You look like you’re thinking a little too hard over there.”

  I blink through my internal thoughts, but just as I’m about to respond with something snarky, the sound of a front door opening pulls my attention, and I see a woman and a man in their late fifties step outside with concern marring their faces. Her parents. Even if I didn’t know we were outside Ally’s parents’ house, just by looking at them, I’d know they’re related. Ally is a perfect creation of her mom with her brunette hair, cute button nose, and complexion, but she is also every bit like her dad with his round face, same blue eyes, and scowl.

  “Is everything okay?” Ally’s dad asks his daughter before returning his eyes on me.

  Ally flashes me a glare, and her lips pull up in a snarl. “Do you see what you’ve done? Caused unnecessary panic just because you’re a douche,” she says under her breath as she rounds the car beside me.

  “You’ll have to define the word okay,” she tells them.

  I chuckle at her attitude, seeing in my peripheral vision the roll of her eyes. Wow, I’m surprised she doesn’t have a constant headache from the amount of times she does it.

  I step up to her parents. “Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, everything is fine. I’m a friend of Ally’s.”

  As soon as I say this, Ally scoffs as if to say, Yeah, right.

  “Sorry, I should rephrase that. Ally is my friend, but some reason, she doesn’t like me,” I tell them, unable to hide my amusement, and I swear, this time, I can hear her roll her eyes. “I spotted her in her car earlier while patrolling and noticed one of her brake lights was out. So, instead of letting her continue to drive at risk, me and my partner”—I point to the cop car in front of the house—“escorted her home.”

  Ally’s fat
her looks at me with pure gratitude.

  “Thank you, Officer…” he says with a pause, awaiting my name.

  “Jensen, but you can call me Logan.”

  He nods with a friendly smile. “Thank you, Logan, for looking out for my little girl.” He looks to his daughter and shoots her a glare of pure disappointment. A look I’ve seen from my dad too many times to count over the years.

  Oh, she’s going to get an ass-whooping.

  “Why would you drive your car, knowing you had a brake light out? I was the one who taught you how to maintain your car when you were sixteen. You know how to check your brake lights.”

  “Dad,” she complains, and though she doesn’t give him an eye roll, I can hear it in the tone of her voice. “I didn’t know. It must have just blown while I was out. Trust me, the last thing I needed tonight was to be pulled over for my brake lights, especially by Logan of all people.”

  Her mom’s the next to speak, but she aims her gaze on me, humor in her eyes, “Why doesn’t my daughter like you?”

  I shrug my shoulders. “You’ll have to ask her. I’m actually a delight to be around,” I say, giving her my most charming smile.

  “That, and drop-dead gorgeous,” she unabashedly tells me without a single shit given.

  I crack up with laughter while Ally groans.

  Her mom reluctantly tears her eyes from me to stare at her daughter with disgust, as if there is something seriously wrong with her. “Why don’t you like him?”

  “Yeah, why don’t you like me?” I add with a shit-eating smile, crossing my arms over my chest.

  She looks between the three of us and glares at us, huffing out in frustration. “Ugh, this has been the worst night of my life. I’m going inside before I do get arrested for doing something I’ll regret. It’s been a pleasure, as always, Logan.” The words are dripping with sarcasm, which only makes me laugh. “If I ever see you again, it’ll be too soon.”

  She starts storming off, but my next words halt her in her steps.

  “Sorry, sunshine, no can do. I’m seeing you on Wednesday, remember? We’re having dinner with Nate and Remi. You know, so we can miraculously help plan their wedding in a matter of eight weeks.”