by Amanda Black
We both started frantically adjusting our clothes and attempting to flatten down our messy hair. I noticed that Logan tugged his shirt down in front of him before he reached for the door handle to unlock it.
“Ready?” he whispered.
“As I’ll ever be.”
We walked out into the basement, both of us shielding our eyes from the bright lighting. When we were able to see, we realized that the only people left in the room were our closest friends.
“There they are!” Zoe called out when she saw us, causing the four of them to break out in applause. Owen put his fingers between his lips and whistled while Devon made a bunch of whooping noises.
“All right, you guys,” I said when they quieted down, blushing furiously from the attention.
“So?” Amy asked.
“So, what?” I returned. I hoped she didn’t seriously think I was going to give her a play by play in front of everyone.
“Are you guys fucking dating yet, or what?” Devon barked out.
I felt my face becoming even hotter. “Well, we’re going out tomorrow night,” I said quietly, staring down at the floor.
“Finally!” They all yelled at the same time.
“Dude, I’m telling you, that closet works every time,” Devon laughed. “Remember, Zoe?” He wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively.
“You guys set this all up?” I gasped. “Even the closet?”
“Duh!” Devon snorted. “We were tired of being the only ones who knew you two needed to get together.”
All right, so maybe I had been a little slow to realize Logan’s potential. And he was too damn shy for his own good. But as I looked over to find him smiling down at me with a matching blush on his cheeks, one thought kept repeating in my mind.
Now that I had him, I wouldn’t let him get away.
Chapter 10
After that, we said our good-byes for the night. Logan kissed me quickly on the cheek and promised to pick me up at six o’clock on Saturday. He said he wanted to take me to a restaurant in the Quad Cities, and then maybe to a movie. I told him I couldn’t wait and then left with Amy and Zoe for our sleepover.
As soon as we got in the car, the inquisition began.
“I know you don’t think you won’t spill,” Zoe said, snapping her seat belt shut.
“Yeah, we totally handed him to you on a platter, Eden,” Amy added, backing the car out of the drive. “You at least owe us something!”
I had no intention of sharing every private detail with them, but I figured that a little girl talk wouldn’t hurt anything. “Well, what do you want to know?”
That unleashed the firing squad.
“Is he a good kisser?”
“Was it romantic or dirty?”
“Did you let him touch your boobs?”
“Did you see it?”
“Did you touch it?”
“How big is he?”
“Okay, okay!” I yelled, interrupting them before they got even more inventive with their questions. “That’s enough. This is what I will tell you: His kisses were wonderful. I could tell he was new at it, but he made up for his inexperience with enthusiasm. I thought it was all sort of…sweet and sexy. No, he didn’t touch my boobs, and no, I didn’t see it or touch it.”
“So, you just talked and kissed?” Amy asked. “That whole time?”
“Well… We might have dry humped a little,” I mumbled.
“And?” Zoe goaded.
“Okay, it was the sexiest fucking make-out session I’ve ever had in my entire life!” I blurted out, unable to hold in my excitement any longer.
“You two are gonna be great together!” Amy squealed. “I just know it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before that Logan liked me?”
“Well, I didn’t connect all the pieces until recently,” Zoe explained, “but we always thought the two of you would be cute together. It completes our little group of friends perfectly.”
“Yeah,” Amy agreed. “We just didn’t want to push you into it. I knew you were still upset about your breakup, and not really ready to think about other guys yet. I was thrilled when you asked me about dating somebody new! I always thought Logan was a good match, but I didn’t realize how bad he had it for you.”
“She’s not always as observant as I am,” Zoe teased. “Sometimes she gets lost in Owenland.”
“Oh, shut up!” Amy stuck her tongue out at Zoe and we all broke into laughter.
* * *
As we all settled into bed that night, I thought to myself that I had never had such caring, decent friends in my whole life. Just as I was about to drift off to sleep, I heard my cellphone buzzing near my head. I’d placed it on the floor next to my sleeping bag. Picking it up, I saw a text message from an unknown number.
Hope you don’t mind, got your # from Dev. Just wanted to say that I’m crazy about you. Can’t wait to see you again.
“Oh my God, that’s so cute!” I cried out, waking the other girls.
“What is it?” Amy groaned.
“Logan texted me!”
That had them both sitting up, suddenly wide-awake. I leaned over and showed them what it said, and they had the same reaction.
“Told you that boy’s a fucking keeper,” Zoe mumbled as she rolled back over.
I dashed off a quick reply before I lost my nerve.
Thank you for a wonderful night. Can’t wait to see you, either.
I hit send, then realized that I had avoided the sweetest part of his text. Before I could chicken out, I sent another one.
I’m pretty crazy about you, too. *kiss*
I lay there smiling, hoping that he didn’t mind the second text, when my phone buzzed again.
Even your text kisses are sweet. Good night, beautiful. Thank you for making me so happy.
I couldn’t resist sending another one, regardless of the late hour. Like me, he seemed too excited to sleep, so I didn’t think he’d mind.
That gets you two kisses. *kiss, kiss* Good night to you, too.
I turned my phone off, fighting the temptation to send any more. As I stared up at the ceiling, I wondered if I had ever felt so giddy about a boy in the past.
I could honestly say that I never had; not even about Riley.
Logan Black was something special.
* * *
When I got home the next morning, I figured it was best to just rip the Band-Aid off quickly. I was going to tell both my parents about Logan at the same time, but I’d forgotten that my mom was off somewhere with my grandmother picking up a few new outfits for her upcoming publicity tour. I decided to tackle one obstacle at a time.
“Dad, I won’t be home to cook dinner tonight,” I called out as I walked through the living room, depositing my overnight bag on the floor next to me as I sat down. “I have a date.”
“That’s fine,” he said distantly, absorbed in SportsCenter on the flat screen. “Your mom should be back by then, or I can just grab a sandwich.” I watched his face while I waited for him to realize what I’d just said. I could spot the exact moment—his eyebrows shot up to his hairline and his head whipped around at me so fast I thought he might hurt himself. “A date?! With who? Since when? Last I heard, you didn’t like any of the boys in town.”
My father had never forbidden me to date, but had been very relieved after one awkward conversation we had on the subject post-Riley, in which I told him I had better things to do with my time than date immature idiots. He had wholeheartedly agreed with me and from that point on considered the subject closed.
“With Logan Black, and since right now,” I replied after his eye finally stopped twitching. “I haven’t been interested in any boys, until now. I’ve been getting to know him a bit and he seems really sweet.” Plus he makes the sexiest whimper when I suck on his tongue and it drives me crazy—but I didn’t think my dad needed to know that.
“Wait a minute…Black?” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Douglas’s boy?”
“Uh, sure?
I really don’t know, I’ve never heard his parents’ names.” I tried to remember any bit of info I might have picked up about him around school. “I think I heard that his dad’s a doctor.”
My dad nodded. “Yeah, that’s Douglas.” He reached up and scratched at the stubble on his chin as he mulled over what I’d told him. “He’s a good man, real caring doctor. He’s the guy who took over Grandpa’s practice when he retired.”
“Really? I didn’t know that.” It seemed that the universe was pulling me closer to Logan with every new thing I learned about him.
He looked at me quickly. “This kid isn’t some little entitled, rich brat, is he?”
“Not that I can tell,” I answered honestly. “I really hadn’t even thought about him having money before. He doesn’t act like a snobby rich kid. Believe me, I’d have absolutely zero interest in him if he did.”
“Good. You don’t need another one of those.” He thought to himself for a minute before speaking again. “I can’t imagine Douglas raising a boy like that, anyway.” I watched as he rubbed at the back of his neck, trying to soothe the tension headache that I’m sure was forming at that very moment. Letting out a loud sigh, he finally turned to face me. “I thought you were gonna make this year easy on me, kid.”
“Come on, Dad. What kind of teenage daughter would I be if I didn’t make you stress out over boys at least once while I’m here?” He merely grumbled in reply, so I laughed and kissed him on the top of his head as I stood.
“Does your mother know about this?”
“Nope. It’s a very new development. You got the breaking news.”
“Where’s this kid taking you, anyway?” he asked, already pulling out his cellphone to call my mom as I was heading for the stairs.
“Some place in the Quad Cities, I guess. Maybe a movie after; depends on what’s playing.”
“All right, well, no later than one o’clock, got it?”
“Yes, Daddy,” I said sarcastically, shooting him an angelic smile and batting my lashes as he dialed.
“Get out of here, smart-ass,” he laughed. “Hey, baby,” he said into the phone. “Guess who has a date tonight? Well, we can if you want, but I was talking about our daughter.”
I left him to finish gossiping and flirting with my mom as I threw my bag over my shoulder and ran up the stairs to my bedroom, shutting the door behind me. Flopping face down on my bed, I marveled at my good luck.
For one thing, that whole discussion went much easier than I expected.
For the second—I was only going to ask for midnight.
And third, I didn’t even have to tell my mom. He did it for me.
Sucker.
I grabbed my cell and hit the speed dial, scooting back to sit against the headboard while it rang.
“Did you forget something?” Amy giggled, sounding too chipper for the time of day. “You just left here less than an hour ago.”
“Yeah, I forgot to avoid you in the mornings,” I grumbled.
“Eden, it’s almost eleven! It’s not my fault you were up texting all night.”
“I was not! It was just a couple times.”
“Whatever you say,” she laughed. I heard a masculine voice muttering in the background for a moment before Amy sighed loudly. “No, Owen, I don’t want to watch The Wall again.” There was more mumbling from him before she continued. “I don’t care if it’s a classic, it’s too early in the morning for that shit.”
“But Amy, it’s almost eleven!” I teased.
“Oh, shut up,” she laughed. I heard her voice get muffled for a moment, as if she were covering up the phone. “No, not you, Owen. Just let me finish my phone call, okay? Then I’ll bake us some cookies… Yeah, the chocolate ones… No, I don’t have any ice cream… Yes, that’s good, go watch the fish tank.”
When she came back I couldn’t stop laughing. “Jesus, is he already baked?”
“Of course,” she sighed. “He knew my parents were going out of town today, so he started early. He’d be annoying if he weren’t so cute about it.”
She was totally right, too. I normally couldn’t stand hanging around stoners for very long, but Owen just had this way about him. He could mellow just about anyone out within a few seconds of talking, which made him perfect for Amy. She was normally so high-strung, like a little hummingbird flitting around in your face.
They balanced each other out.
“So, what did you need?” she asked, reminding me why I had called.
“Okay, I’ve been cleared to be out until one o’clock tonight,” I explained.
“Ooh, good time.”
“I know! And I didn’t even ask—Dad offered!”
“Without trying to lowball you first? Amateur,” she said to herself.
“Hey, his inexperience is my gain,” I laughed. “But now I need to know what I should wear tonight. I mean, a skirt has its advantages, but I don’t want to send the wrong signal.”
“Yeah, wearing a skirt on a first date walks a fine line between ‘I’m totally classy’ and ‘I’d totally let you finger me during the movie.’”
“Exactly!” That right there was why I loved Amy. She just got me.
“That’s not to say it’s a bad signal to send eventually, but it might be a bit much for poor Logan on a first date.”
“Right, and I’d like a chance to actually get to know him a little bit without everyone else around. I don’t want him staring at my legs all night and tuning out everything I say. So what says ‘I’m fun and worth knowing, but a little naughty, too’?”
“That’s easy,” she replied, like I’d asked her the answer to two plus two. “You should wear those jeans that make your ass look great and maybe a nice top. Nothing too tight or low cut. That blue V-neck sweater you have would look good, sort of studiously sexy. Just the right peek of cleavage. Men are visual creatures, so you want to give him something pretty to look at with a hint of sex appeal, but nothing too overt in the getting-to-know-you stage.”
“Where do you get this stuff?” I laughed. “You’re like a fashion guru,” which was actually perfect, since I’d always gone to my aunt Emma—who now lived three hours away in Chicago—in all matters fashion. It was nice to have some local support.
“Cosmo,” she said simply. “Oh, and be sure to wear a necklace.”
“A necklace? Why?”
“Because, that way if you catch him staring at your boobs, it gives him an out to say that he really likes your necklace. Believe me, he needs all the extra help feeling comfortable that he can get, and if he thinks you know he’s ogling you, he’ll get really embarrassed.”
“God dammit, Gump! You’re a God-damned genius!” I yelled. We both broke into laughter at my over-used movie quote. Every time Amy imparted some valuable wisdom, which she was known to do rather frequently, I would start laughing and yell it at her.
“Hey, it’s what I do,” she chuckled. “Now I better let you go before Owen starts feeding my fish pizza.”
“Yeah, go ahead. You don’t want to leave Chong unsupervised.”
“No kidding,” she grumbled. “Anyway, call me tomorrow. I want to hear a play-by-play.”
“All right. Thanks, Amy.”
“Sure. Happy to help.” Right before she hung up the phone, I heard her muffled voice yell out, “Owen, no! Put Nemo back!”
After hanging up, I went to my closet and pulled out the blue sweater she mentioned. Holding it up in front of me, I turned to look at myself in the mirror.
“All right, Logan Black. I’m getting borderline sexy for your cute ass. I hope we can actually get some talking done tonight.”
Then a thought hit me. What would happen when we were done talking?
I ran my fingertips over my lips, feeling tingles as I remembered our frantic kisses from the night before.
Yes. I definitely wanted more of that.
Chapter 11
There was a major flaw in my plan for our date.
I’d spent all my tim
e worrying about how to keep him from getting too distracted, how to keep him focused on getting to know each other better.
What I hadn’t taken into account was how hard it might be for me to stay focused.
The moment I opened the door and saw him standing there in a pale blue dress shirt, unbuttoned at the collar, and an adorable gray cardigan, I knew I was in trouble. He didn’t just look cute.
He looked sexy as hell.
His little black glasses only made him hotter for some reason. I couldn’t wait to rip them off his face and smother him with kisses.
Could girls have librarian fantasies, too?
Or sexy schoolteacher fantasies… Oh, yeah.
“Hi, Eden,” he smiled awkwardly, snapping me out of my daydream of one Professor Black forcing me to stay after class to earn a little extra credit. “Um… I brought this for you. I hope that’s okay.” I looked down to find him holding out a long-stemmed red rose.
“Oh, wow! Thank you!” I took it from him, holding it up to smell the lovely fragrance. “Why wouldn’t it be okay?”
“Well, I didn’t know your favorite flower, or if you even liked flowers. I figured a rose was a safe bet.”
“I love flowers, just about any kind of flower. And roses are beautiful.” I smelled it again and smiled up at him. “Nobody’s ever given me flowers before,” I whispered.
“Really?” He stood up a little straighter, as if that had given him an extra boost of confidence. “Well, I’m glad you like it.”
“Why don’t you come inside for a minute while I put this in some water, and then we can get going?” I stepped toward the kitchen, beckoning him to follow me.
I couldn’t remember where Mom had stored our bud vases when we unpacked, so I did my best to find the tallest glass in the kitchen. Filling it with water and cutting off the end of the long stem, I angled the flower in the glass so that it wouldn’t tip over. It was still way too long to fit properly, but I couldn’t bear the thought of cutting it any shorter. I figured this would buy me some time until I could ask Mom about the vases later.
