by Aiden Bates
"But Sam does love you. You absolutely broke his heart when you took off, and he deserves better. He's miserable, and he deserves to be happy. He was happy about building our family up, and he deserves to have that again. For reasons that I don't entirely understand, he's decided that you're the one he loves."
Logan opened his mouth. "I need to take that job if I'm going to contribute to that family, Silas."
"Have you listened to a goddamn word that I've said? This is your last chance. We don't need your money. We have our own. I started making the money, Sam started growing that money, and we'll do just fine without you. What I am offering you, Logan, is a chance to stay here in Maine, have a job in your field, and to be a part of your child's life. Sam doesn't know that I'm here. If you don't say yes, right the hell now, I will walk out this door and any future conversations will be with a lawyer or my fist."
Logan swallowed. His palms were slick with sweat. "What if he doesn't want me anymore? What if he hates me too much?"
"That's not what I asked you. If you're here, you'll still be part of the kid's life. If being part of the kid's life is important to you, then stay. If that clown Utkin is more important to you than your own child, tell me now and I'll leave."
"Sam is more important to me than either of them." Logan could barely get the words out.
"Well, don't you have a funny way of showing it?" Silas stretched his neck out. "Are you staying or not? This is a binary question, buddy. Yes or no, on or off."
"On." The word spilled from Logan's mouth before he could stop himself, but he didn't regret it. "It's a risk. I'm terrified that it's all going to go south and Sam and the kid are going to wind up homeless. But if you're telling me that you think he still loves me, then I'll go over there right now and try to get him to take me back."
"Fine." Silas turned on his heel and stalked toward the door. "Gonna have to change your clothes, though. You can't go into Joe's dressed like that. It's against the dress code."
Logan raced for his car, bringing his suitcase with him.
Chapter Twelve
Sam grabbed a pint glass from the shelf under the bar and filled it with beer for Jerry. Jerry was probably about seventy, or at least that was what Sam would have guessed. He could have just been forty or so with a lot of hard living behind him. The road had been a rough one for Jerry, that much Sam knew. There weren't a lot of older omega bikers, or at least not older omega bikers who came into Joe's. Jerry was about it.
Sam liked him. He did wonder, sometimes, if he wasn't looking at his own future sitting there at the bar. The thought didn't do much to chase away the chill that had gripped him when Logan left.
"How you holding up, Sam?" Jerry's voice was a deep rasp. He'd smoked for a long time, at least twenty years, although he'd given it up recently. "Can you feel the baby move yet?"
"Not really." Sam shook his head and dropped his hand to his belly. He didn't think he was showing all that much yet, but he still felt more than a little conscious of his little baby bump. The bump gave him mixed feelings, which he tried to ignore. On the one hand, it was a tangible sign that he was going to be a father. He should be excited for that. On the other hand, it was a constant reminder that he would never be enough. "Probably not for a while yet, they said."
"That's probably for the best. It's kind of creepy, when you think about it. Someone just hanging around, swimming because they feel like it. I'm glad those days are long behind me." Jerry shuddered.
Sam tried not to sigh. Once the baby was out of him, those days would be behind him too. Sure, he could probably go out and find a casual partner to sleep with again, but he didn't want to. He just wanted to focus on his kid and his family. "Probably for the best. It is a little gross if I think about it. I try not to."
"I always said you were a smart kid, Sam." Jerry raised his beer in salute and took a giant gulp.
So Jerry had at least one kid, but he was spending Christmas here. Maybe he'd given his kids up for adoption. Maybe his kids lived with their father or fathers. Either way, those kids weren't part of Jerry's life now. At least Sam would always have Silas. Jerry had no one.
The door opened and Silas walked in from wherever he'd gone, off to deal with Town Hall for permits for next door or something. "Hey," he said, stomping the snow off of his boots. "How's things?"
Silas always asked that, like the bar was going to freaking burn down without him there. "Fine." Sam jerked a thumb at Jerry. "Jerry's here."
Gus waved. "I was ten minutes late."
"Guess it's amputation time." Silas shook his head in mock sorrow. "It's your first offense, so we'll just take a toe. Come on out back, kid. I'll heat up the axe and hopefully that'll cauterize the wound, take care of any blood."
Gus paled.
Jerry laughed out loud. "What is this, hazing the new kid?"
Sam shook his head. "He's hardly new, he's been here what, a couple of months now?"
"Newer than you." Jerry gave Sam a very pointed look over the rims of his glasses, and Sam had to concede his point.
"Where's Kaylee?" Sam asked his brother.
"She's around. I think she's upstairs, working on meals for the week. Something about someone not gaining enough weight." Silas put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "We talked about this, kiddo."
"Ugh. I'm fine. I just have a fast metabolism." Sam slid out from under Silas' hand. He hated that he was making his brother worry.
Just then, the door opened again. Sam stared at the newcomer. Logan stood there in a pair of old jeans with paint on them, and snow boots covering his feet. He wore a button-down shirt, but if he'd been wearing a tie he'd gotten rid of it before coming in. It was probably with his coat, wherever he'd left it. Leaving his coat behind on a cold Maine night had been a stupid move, because Logan's dramatic entrance was marred by the way he ran his hands over his upper arms over and over while his teeth chattered.
Sam scowled. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Siena whined from back in the office. Sam immediately felt guilty for lashing out. This was a public drinking place. Logan met the dress code, he could drink where he wanted. Siena still liked him, anyway. Sam found his hand reaching for the martini glass and pulled it back. He could feel guilty about getting snarly, and that was one thing, but he shouldn't go acting like nothing was wrong.
Logan walked up to the bar. "I wanted to see you."
Sam shook his head. "It's been weeks. You had plenty of time to see me." The silence from Silas dawned on Sam. "You set this up," he said, turning to point at his brother. "You brought him here. You set this up!"
Sam couldn't remember the last time he'd been so angry with his brother. Logan paled, and Siena whined again.
Silas held his hands up. "Hey. We're opening the restaurant either way, okay? And I didn't so much set anything up as point out that time was running out." He reached out and took the bar towel from Sam. "Go. Talk. There's no one next door, the workers are all done for the day. Talk things out, try to work out some kind of peace between you. If you can't forgive him, and I can see why you might feel like you couldn't, then at least find a way to get along for the baby's sake. I may loathe this guy, Sam, but he doesn't have to be Dad. There's still a chance."
Sam gripped the bar for a few seconds, and then he let go. "Fine." He grabbed the key off its hook and turned to his ex, who stood there looking stricken. "Let's go make peace or whatever. I'll hash things out with my brother later."
They walked quickly between the two properties, and Sam turned the lights on when they got into the former trattoria. No light from the street got in; the shutters were down on the windows. They had complete privacy.
Logan stuck his hands in his pockets and looked around the place. "You guys have made some changes already."
"Yeah, well, we're running a business here. Not building a monument." Sam crossed his arms over his chest and tried to ignore the ache in his heart. Even if seeing Logan, hearing his voice, hadn't been enough to kill him, th
at black-tea scent was enough to knock him over. God, he'd missed him. He still missed him. "What do you want, Logan?"
Logan sighed. "Isn't it obvious? I want you, Sam." He stepped forward, closer to Sam. "I want to be with you. I want to be with our kid. I want to be a father to our kid."
Sam snorted. "Don't you think it's a little late for that? I mean, you're more concerned with making money than with making a family."
Logan reached out and grabbed Sam's arm, but gently. "It was never like that. I mean, sure, before I met you maybe a little. After, and especially once the baby was on the way, Sam, it was about wanting to support you. You know what happened with my dad, and my mom. I can't be the one to do exactly what my dad did. I have to be able to keep my kid, and my partner, safe and comfortable."
"How exactly were you going to keep us safe from Connecticut, genius?" Sam shook his head. "We don't need your money. We've got our own. My kid needed a dad."
"He's got one." Logan let go of Sam's arm, but didn't step back. "I'm staying." He swallowed. "I mean, you don't have to take me back. I've screwed up and I own it. But I'm staying here. Your brother offered me a job."
Sam clenched his hands into fists. "Without talking to me first. Awesome."
"Sam, please. Don't get mad. He's trying to help. He just wants you to be happy."
"How the hell am I supposed to be happy when the only person who sticks around is my brother, because he feels he has to?" Sam stepped away from his ex and turned his back. "He thinks that bullying you into staying in Maine is going to help? Making me work with you day in and day out, having to see you every day, having my nose rubbed in it every day, is going to fix something?"
Strong hands gripped Sam's shaking shoulders. "I'm not going anywhere, Sam."
"You will. You already did. You left me pregnant and alone. Utkin is more important to you. The goddamn country club is more important to you." Sam didn't scream, but he wanted to. At the same time, he wanted to lean back and wallow in having his alpha's hands on him, even for a second.
"No." Logan dug into Sam's shoulders, working on the tense muscles. "They were important. And I'll sell my clubs tomorrow if it makes you feel more secure. I almost left—I'm alpha enough to admit that I screwed up. Everyone makes mistakes, but Sam, I came back. I'm going to prove to you that we're meant to be together, because I love you." Logan wrapped his warm arms around Sam and held on tight, mouth caressing Sam's sensitive neck.
Sam tilted his head to the side, giving his lover more access. He knew he shouldn't do this. He knew that he should push Logan away and say no. Instead, he pressed back into Logan's touch. He didn't believe Logan, but he wanted to. His alpha's touch, and his scent, drove his responses, and it felt so good to give in. Sure, he'd feel terrible later, but right now he wanted this as much as he wanted air.
He turned around so that their chests were pressed together and let Logan claim his mouth. Logan tasted like himself, with an added little hint of desperation there. He had been upset, and scared. Some of that fear had probably come from Silas, but a lot of it had probably come from the situation. He hadn't been so casual about losing Sam as Sam had thought.
Sam unbuttoned Logan's white button-down and slid his hands up Logan's torso, warming his hands on the heat of his lover's body. He hadn't thought he'd do this again, not with Logan and not with anyone. The hard lines of Logan's muscles felt so much better for having been forbidden for so long.
Logan pulled back. "Are we really going to do this?"
Sam licked his lips. "Logan…"
"I want to." Logan laid a finger on Sam's lips. "I want to. I just… shouldn't we go upstairs or something?"
"Kaylee's up there." Sam shook his head. "Not in the mood for that right now."
Logan bit his lip. "Okay. Give me half a second." He ran out the back door.
Sam's heart fell, and he walked over to the bar to sit in silence for a long moment. He only picked his head up again when Logan came back inside, locking the door behind him. He was carrying his suitcase, along with a blanket. "I had some lube in my suitcase from an old business trip," he explained. "Are you sure you want this?"
Sam still had time to back out. He didn't want that. Not right now, anyway. "Yeah." He didn't believe that Logan would stay, but he had Logan right now. That would have to be enough.
He took off his shirt, running his hand over the baby bump as he moved. He definitely didn't feel great naked, not like he used to. He couldn't pretend that he didn't see the way that Logan's eyes lit up at the sight of the little protrusion rising up from his stomach, the stylized vine tattoos only just starting to rise toward the bump. "What?"
Logan lifted Sam up and put him on top of the marble bar. Then he dropped a huge kiss onto the bump. "This is beautiful," he whispered. "You're beautiful." Then he unbuttoned Sam's jeans and slid them down his legs, leaving them on the floor.
Sam slid back down onto the ground and kissed Logan as he helped him with his own jeans. "I've been thinking about this counter ever since that photo shoot." He turned around, presenting himself for his alpha.
"Seriously?" Logan nibbled down Sam's neck and across his shoulders. "I guess that this might be the only time we get to do this, then."
Sam hissed as the first slick finger entered him. "I don't know," he said, looking backwards with a saucy grin. "We're leaving it in place, so who knows?"
Logan gave him a low, dirty chuckle. "Naughty!"
"You know it!"
Logan took his time opening Sam up, and while Sam was eager to get down to business, he appreciated the care his lover took with him. When Logan finally slicked himself up and worked his way into Sam's body, though, Sam almost cried with relief.
Logan hadn't used a condom. Sam hadn't asked him to. That ship had sailed, after all, and he might as well enjoy the benefits of going bare with his mate. He let out a long groan as he adjusted to the intrusion. "You have no idea how good this feels," he told Logan. "Move, please."
Logan moved. He kept the pace slow and romantic, being careful with his lover so as not to hurt him. Sam didn't need that, necessarily — he was pregnant, not hurt — but he didn't mind either. As a general rule, his encounters with guys were frenzied affairs. They were usually both too worked up to take it slow. This was different, though, and it felt incredible.
When they were finished, they leaned against that marble-topped bar in a heap for a little while. Then Logan spoke. "We should probably head upstairs, or back to the bar or something." He kissed the back of Sam's neck, producing a whole new round of goose bumps. "I do have a favor to ask though."
Sam bit his tongue. "What?"
"Do you mind if I stay the night? I'll stay in a hotel if you want me to, but I already signed a contract for the sublet, and I feel like I've got a lot of time to make up for." He grabbed his pants off the ground.
Sam stared at him for a moment, and then he laughed. "I guess you can stay the night." He grabbed his own pants. "No promises about the others, though."
Logan caught him up in another embrace. "I don't care about them. I only care about you."
***
Logan knew that Sam didn't trust him, not right away. He understood that. He had two jobs right now: to help get the new restaurant up and running, and to earn his way back into Sam's heart. It wasn't going to be easy, but he was committed and he wasn't going to quit until both goals were achieved.
Winning Sam back was a project that he could start on immediately. He moved into Sam's room that very night with just his suitcase, donating the looted booze from Trattoria Siena to the common bar upstairs. Kaylee, who was staying in Silas' room, was less than enthusiastic about seeing him up there. She gave him the cold shoulder for a few days, but she couldn't hold her rage over Christmas day.
Logan demonstrated his commitment the day after he moved in by calling the movers and rerouting them. His furniture could go into storage for the time being. Then he sent a formal message to Utkin, via email so that a documentable tr
ail existed, thanking him for his kindness but declining his offer of employment. Family reasons compelled him to stay in Maine. He wished Utkin and New England Restaurants well, and appreciated everything that they had done for him.
Utkin's response came not by email, but by telephone, and Utkin was angry. "Do you really think that you'll ever amount to anything up there in that pathetic backwater, Logan? You're a nobody. You're never going to find a job, do you hear me? I'm personally going to make sure that you're blackballed from every restaurant in the country."
Logan sighed. He couldn't understand Utkin's fury. He knew that Utkin could get nasty when crossed, but it wasn't as though he and Logan had a close relationship. They were colleagues and alphas. Nothing more. "I'm sorry that you feel that way, sir."
"This is about that mouthy little omega you had your eye on when I was there, isn't it?" Utkin gave a nasty little chuckle. "You do realize that he let me touch him, right? Oh yes, I had him right up against the bar in the trattoria, five or six times."
