by Alison Mello
“Well, we’ve pretty much been living together since the attack, even though I didn’t give up the apartment right away. Things are going well. He gets me, and it’s like he can read me. He knows if something is bothering me and he’s good about getting me to open up.”
“That’s awesome. I’m so glad I dragged you out with me that night.”
“Me too, because I have seriously fallen in love with him. I haven’t told him yet but I totally will.”
“What do you mean you haven’t told him?”
“We were having this conversation at the house and he told me he loved me, but I didn’t say it back. Then later that day I explained to him that I didn’t say it because I wanted him to know I was saying it because I meant it not because he said it. He seemed quite happy with that and we dropped it.” The waitress returns with Sadie’s soda and we place our orders. I ordered a Rueben and she ordered a bacon cheese burger like I thought she would.
“What kind of wedding info have you started collecting?” I’m secretly hoping she isn’t going to turn into bridezilla or make us wear ugly dresses.
“I have collected pictures of dresses I like, hall decor, DJ names, florists, and stuff like that. Jonah swears he can get the DJ from the club, but I don’t know how he’ll do that when he’s at the club on Saturday nights.” She makes a disgusted face. “Oh yeah, Jonah told me that the creep who attacked you showed up at the club the other night.”
“Yeah. What Jonah doesn't know is that someone bashed in Logan’s car that same night and we don’t know if it was Billy, since we saw him at the club, or Troy, since he’s pissed at Logan for not dropping the charges. Not knowing which one it was is killing me.”
“Oh my god, no way! That would totally freak me out! Was Logan pissed about his car?”
The waitress returns with our food and tells us she’ll be back to check on us shortly. I continue with my story while we eat.
“Nah, he has insurance and it isn’t like he can’t afford another one. The thing was destroyed, headlights, windows, taillights, everything. Someone pretty much took a metal bat to it and beat every inch of his car. He called the police and arranged for his limo driver to come back for us and take us home from the club.”
I start blushing thinking about the amazing sex we had in the limo on the way home.
“What are you thinking about?” Sadie asks, shoving her burger in her mouth.
“What? Nothing.” I shove a french fry in my mouth so I can think of something to change the subject.
“Bullshit. You were biting your lip, and red is creeping up your neck.”
I give her a sideways grin and drop my voice so no one will hear. “We had the most explosive sex in the back of his limo on the way home.”
She laughs at me. “I would never say this in front of Jonah but Logan looks like he’s pretty killer in the sheets.”
“In the sheets, on the couch, in the office, in a limo, it doesn’t matter where it is, he’s incredible.” I smile and add, “He always takes care of me first, and that’s something I have never had before.”
“That is awesome!” Sadie smiles back at me, and I can tell she’s genuinely excited for me. “I’m glad that Jonah and I still have good sex, because I don’t know what I would do if it faded.”
“I can’t see anything changing with Logan and me either, and our schedules are so great, especially now that I work at the club with him. We get our time apart when I’m off, but when I’m working I still get to see him and I have him take me home after work so I’ll never be alone. I can’t believe we’ve been seeing each other for a few months already. Time is moving quickly, especially now that we have set a routine.”
The waitress comes to remove our plates and asks if we want another round of drinks. We both say, “Yes please,” and Sadie flips the binder open. The first thing she has in the binder is the different locations that she would like to get married and different color options she would like.
“I’m thinking about a spring wedding, and if I can line up a place I’ll do it this coming spring because Jonah and I want to be married sooner rather than later. Jonah is asking Logan to be his best man today.” She shows me the coral color dresses she’s thinking she’ll probably go with.
As we’re talking, I have a strange feeling, like someone is watching us. I look up around the diner and see nothing until movement outside catches my eye.
“Oh my god, he’s here.” I grab my phone.
Sadie says, “Who?”
I casually nod toward the window. “Look at my car.” Logan’s phone rings; he answers right away. “Hey, sweetie, what’s up?”
“Logan, he’s here leaning on my car. He knows my car.”
“Shit! You’re at Trisha’s right?” He’s trying to sound calm, but there is panic in his voice because we’re basically sitting ducks.
“Yeah, Sadie and I are inside.”
“Don’t leave the diner. And call the cops. We’re on our way.”
“Okay, we’ll wait for you to get here.”
I hang up and call John, the police officer that came the night Billy attacked me, since he gave me his card. I inform him that Billy is leaning against my car and has been stalking me. I tell him about how I saw him in the club while I was onstage but didn’t report it because, despite being on camera, he got away. He tells me to hold on for a second while he calls for backup and to keep an eye out in case he leaves. They need to know what he’s driving.
“Sadie, Jonah and Logan are on their way. They want us to stay in here. We’re all going to go to Logan’s and hang there where they can keep us safe.”
“I have a good mind to go out there and kick this guy’s ass.”
“You tell her to stay put and do not go anywhere near him!” John yells into the phone, apparently hearing Sadie’s comment. “What if he’s armed?”
“John heard you and is yelling for you to stay in the diner, so stop,” I say to Sadie, then address John. “He’s getting in a beat up pick-up truck. It looks like a Ford, two doors, and it’s a dull black. It looks pretty old, but I have no idea what year it is. He’s driving toward the building with no front plate so I have no idea what else to give you. He drove around the back of the diner to leave. He must have seen me on the phone.”
“I’m almost at the diner now. Stay put until Logan gets there, and I’ll try to catch up with him. I’ll call you guys a little later to update you.”
“Thank you, John.” I end the call. “He said he’s almost here and he’s going to go after him. wants us to stay put until Logan and Jonah get here.”
“We might as well look at the binder some more and talk about ideas.” She flips the page.
“Have you called any of these locations to see if they are available and get pricing?”
Sadie shakes her head. “I was hoping maybe you would help me with that.”
“Sure. We can call as soon as we get to my place. That way you can print them out and see what’s in your budget and what isn’t.”
“My parents said they would give us money toward the wedding though they can’t afford to pay for it all, so we have to make sure the place isn’t crazy. We aren’t having a huge wedding since neither of our families is big, but still this is LA. Everything is expensive. Unless you're rich and famous, then they give it away, which never made sense to me, by the way. You’re rich so you can afford anything, but because they want you at their location they’ll give it to you for free just to say you got married there.”
I roll my eyes at her. “They should charge them so they can afford to give better rates to us poor people.”
Sadie bursts out laughing. “If only!”
A moment later Logan and Jonah come running through the door like we were under attack and they had to protect us. “Where is he?” he asks, panting like they ran a marathon.
“He left in a black pick-up truck while I was on the phone with John. He went to follow him and asked us to stay here until you guys got here. H
e said he would call us later with an update.”
“Okay ladies, let’s get out of here so we can get home and you two can continue planning Jonah’s funeral.”
“Screw you, man,” Jonah says, nudging his arm angrily.
“Wait, Logan, I haven’t paid the bill.” I nod over to my waitress, who brings the bill over.
Logan hands her a fifty, telling her to keep the change. We head out to my car and find my tires are slashed. Logan makes a call to have my car towed and my tires replaced before we head back to his house.
“We’re going to drop Sadie’s car off at our place and then we will head to yours,” Jonah tells us.
“Cool. We’ll get some takeout for dinner later,” Logan calls to him as I get in his car.
“I’m glad you called me as soon as you spotted him,” he says when he gets in.
“It was weird, Logan. I had this feeling of being watched, and when I looked outside there he was, leaning against my car. I hadn’t even noticed he slashed my tires.”
He glances at me quickly. “Don’t worry about the tires. They’ll be replaced and your car will be back at the house tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Logan.”
He gives me a sideways grin. “It’s no problem, love.”
I can’t help but grin. That is the first time he has called me that.
“I have to admit this guy is starting to creep me out a bit, and now that he knows my car I can’t help but wonder if he bashed your car too.” I shake my head. “I hate we don’t know if it was him or Troy.”
“I know, and I promise I’m doing what I can to figure that out.”
I look out the window, trying to think about why he would be doing this. I mean seriously, telling a guy to keep his hands to himself is hardly a big deal to be carrying on this way. There has to be more to it. I try to think about how long this guy was hanging in the bar and if I could have done something more to piss him off, but I’m not sure. I know he’d been hanging around with his friends for a while and they get pretty drunk on sports nights. As a matter of fact, I cut off one of his friends one night because he was drunk and being obnoxious, but I don’t think I’d ever cut him off other than the night he attacked me.
“What are you thinking?” Logan asks, drawing my attention back to him.
“I’m trying to figure out why this guy is doing this. Clearly there has to be more to it than I shut him off and told him to keep his hands to himself. It wouldn’t make sense for him to continue carrying on like this over something simple like that. I also don’t believe he doesn’t remember anything from the night before. I think that’s a crock of shit and he just said that to make it look like a drunken accident.”
“You're right, but unfortunately until the cops do their digging, we have no idea why he’s doing this. Have you ever noticed him at any of the clubs you sing at?”
I stop to think for a moment. “No, but with the lighting it isn’t always easy to clearly see faces. He could hide out in a corner of the room and I would never see him. I can’t help but think there’s more to this, and I wish I knew what it was.”
We pull up to the building and get out of the car. As we approach Greg, Logan lets him know we have guests coming and they’ll be arriving shortly. He tells us to have a nice evening as we head toward the elevators.
Once we are inside I head straight for the fridge and pour myself a glass of Moscato. I don’t usually drink this early in the day, but my nerves are on edge and I need to relax. I’m finally going to have a night with our friends relaxing in our home, and I want to be able to enjoy myself.
Logan walks up to me, taking my glass and placing it on the counter. “You know I’ll keep you safe right?” I look to the floor for a moment. “Skyler, look at me.”
He raises my chin so I’m forced to look at him and he kisses me gently, never taking his eyes off mine. “I love you and I’m not going to let anything happen to you. If I have to hire security for when I’m not around I will, but we’re almost always together so don’t stress it, okay?”
“And who is going to protect you? What if he comes after you, Logan? I can’t stand the thought.”
“Listen to me, love. If things start to get out of control, I’ll get security for both of us. If that’s what it takes to make you feel safe and you’ll be happy then that’s what I’ll do. For now let’s wait to see what John says when he calls a bit later.”
He kisses me a bit more passionately this time and then gives me the big hug I need. The phone rings and it’s Greg letting us know our guests have arrived and are on their way up. Sadie and I hug and Jonah and Logan shake hands. I offer Sadie some wine since I’m drinking already and I offer Jonah a beer. They both accept and I hand them their drinks. Sadie and I take our drinks and head to the balcony to look over the rest of the binder. She picks up where she left off with flowers and dress ideas and so on. We make a few phone calls to see who has availability for the spring and get some prices.
As we are calling around, we find a few places do have a weekend or two open for the spring and can squeeze in her small wedding though she’ll need to make a decision quickly. One of the locations is way out of her budget so she rips it from her binder and crumples it up. Two are perfect for her budget and she made an appointment to go see them this week. The last one was slightly out of her budget but she figures if these two suck she can probably make it work.
“I may have to beg Daddy for a little more money.” She winks at me and giggles.
“You know your parents will give it to you. We have made good progress. Let’s take a break and get some more wine. Then we can see what the guys are up to.”
***
Logan
“Fuck me,” I mumble to John when Skyler and Sadie come walking back in. They have the worst timing, because I didn’t want Sky hearing this conversation.
“Um, that’s my job,” she says jokingly.
Jonah turns around and mouths to her, “It’s John.”
Her eyes grow wide because she knows I’m talking about her stalker, and I’m sure she can tell I’m ready to explode. She walks to the kitchen to pour herself and Sadie some more wine as I hang up the phone.
“You do not leave this house alone, am I clear?”
She nods. “What is going on?”
“The police lost him earlier but got a warrant for his arrest. They went to his house and found a Skyler shrine in his apartment. He has pictures of you singing in clubs, working behind the bar, going in and out of my place. Apparently he’s an alcoholic who has been sentenced to rehab twice now. One of the times he was in rehab Troy was with him, so now we don’t know who bashed my car or if they are in this together.”
I can see she’s visibly shaken. She downs her wine.
“How long has this guy been following me?”
“It doesn’t matter. When the police catch him he’ll be going to jail for a long time. This isn’t something we need to think about right now. We have friends here and we need to decide on some dinner so we can relax a bit, okay?”
Sadie takes her hand and pulls her to the couch to try and get her mind off things, and I’m glad because I need to talk to Jonah.
“You need to know he had pictures of you too. They were more recent. I’m assuming he knows it’s you that kicked his ass outside the bar that night, so watch your back because he may be gunning for you.”
“Thanks for the heads up, but I’ll be fine. I have a license to carry. I’ll start using it.”
“I’m setting up security for Sky. Do you want me to set it up for you guys too?”
“Was Sadie in any of the pics?”
I shake my head. “No, it was you, me, and a shit ton of Skyler. This guy is obsessed with her.”
I hate that Skyler is living in fear over what will happen next in her life and I need to do everything I can to protect her. That means making some calls first thing in the morning to find a good security detail for her.
“Let’s go figure out wha
t the girls feel like ordering for dinner.”
We walk over to the couch with beers in hand.
“Ladies, what would you like for dinner? I have a ton of takeout menus in the kitchen.”
They both reply at the same time, “Chinese food,” and Jonah and I crack up laughing.
“Yeah, they're not best friends, are they?”
“Hey, welcome to my world, Logan.” I walk into the kitchen to get the menu for my favorite Chinese take-out and hand it over so they can decide what they want to eat.
***
It’s pretty late, and Jonah and Sadie are heading out, which is perfectly fine with me. I want to take my girl upstairs and make sweet love to her. I’m hoping she’ll fall asleep and dream of me after and not the psycho following her. The girls say their goodbyes and we make a promise to get together like this weekly to hang out outside of work. Once they’re out the door and I lock up, I walk toward Skyler, who has headed into the kitchen to put her glass in the sink.
“You ready for bed?” I ask, gliding my hand across her cheek and tucking a strand of her beautiful light brown hair behind her ear.
“Absolutely.”
From her smile I know we’re on the same page. I take her hand and pull her toward the stairs. She runs up them to our room and I follow behind her, checking out her ass. She has the most gorgeous ass.
When I get to the top of the stairs she’s standing against the pole of my bed in nothing but her thong and her bra. I lean against the door frame. “You should have removed the thong too,” I say with a laugh. “You know I’m only going to rip it off.”
She chuckles and tries to remove them.
“It’s too late.” I walk toward her slowly like she’s my prey. I kiss her hard, seeing her standing here wanting me has me hard as a rock.
I skim my fingers across the waistband of her thong and she braces herself for the rip, which never comes. I lean into her neck and take in her scent, licking her from her collarbone to her ear. My hand is sliding up her stomach to her breast. I pull it out so it’s pushed up over the top of her bra and pinch her nipple hard. She moans as I nibble on her ear. I kiss my way to the other side of her neck so I can free her other breast. I pinch her nipple and she winces, her nipple pebbling under my assault. Her head goes back and her eyes close as she takes in the sensation of my hands on her body. I lean down to take her nipple in my mouth, sucking on it hard while I grab her ass and press her into my erection.
