Addiction

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

With a stifled laugh, Logan threw his arm around Sophie's shoulder one more, tucking her into his side. The girl waited until she was almost blue with the cold to seek his warmth. Damned silly girls and their inappropriate attire – they were all crazy. Why wear a short skirt in February, teamed with a light top and jacket? And the bare legs? A definite no-no.

He had to admit, he was glad of her clothing choice tonight – the opportunity to touch her, to tuck her under his arm as if she belonged there was one in a million. He'd just about lost his s**t when she'd started caressing his stomach in the theater, so hard he'd had to force himself to keep still. He'd been terrified of startling her, or breaking this spell that had seemed cast over her.

As luck would have it, she'd broken her own spell and drenched her skirt in the process. She sure was accident prone – it seemed she intentionally sought out ways to embarrass herself in front of him since day one. He smiled, thinking of the first night they'd met and of tucking her into bed, after plucking her from the bushes down the street. She'd called him 'hot-boy'. The memory brought a smile to his lips every time he thought about it, which wasn't much these days since she'd basically been ignoring his entire existence.

“Better?” At least she'd stopped shivering so badly.

“Better,” she whispered, her hand disappearing into the folds of his jacket.

*

THE PIZZA PLACE WAS virtually empty, the only other people hanging around being cozy couples too intent on staring into each others eyes to notice the hijinks Sophie got up to with a single-serve package of ketchup. She evidently couldn't tear the package with her fingers, and resorted to using her teeth. He could have told her from the get-go how bad of an idea that was, but before he could open his mouth to suggest she let him try, the package tore wide, splattering her face, her hands, the table, and her hair where it hung in soft waves around her shoulders.

With a sigh of frustration, she flung the now useless package away, where it landed with a wet slap on the floor and snatched at the paper napkins from the dispenser on the table. Logan's face turned red in an effort to hold back his laughter, but when she reached the last of the paper napkins and went to fetch more, slipping on the offending package and ending up on her ass looking up at him, he let loose.

By the time he'd calmed down enough to move, Sophie had stormed out, leaving him to scramble in an effort to pack up the pizza and pay the bill before catching up to her. “Hey, Soph. Hey! Wait up.” Though laughter still threatened to consume him, he held it back with a herculean effort.

“Oh, you know what Logan? Just f**k off.” She stormed away from him. “This kind of s**t only ever happens to me when you're around, you know!”

“Aww come on, Soph. It's not my fault!” With a smile still playing about his lips, he bundled the pizza under one arm while twirling her around with the other. “Hold up.” He hadn't ever heard her cuss before, and found he quite liked it.

She sighed, her eyes on the ground. “I'm not always this clumsy.”

“I believe you,” he laughed. “Look, do you wanna go back inside? It's cold out.”

“No,” she replied, still looking at the ground, her arms crossed, palms rubbing up and down her upper arms for warmth.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I think there's a bench around here somewhere...”

She'd chosen to take a cut through the park, and he knew for a fact there was a bench around the corner. “Come on.”

Once they'd eaten half of the pizza each, Sophie sighed in satisfaction while Logan crushed the box to fit into the litter bin beside the bench. When he sat back down he found himself a lot closer to Sophie than he'd originally planned to be, but one look at her shivering again had him raising his arm to pull her against him.

For an eternity – or so it seemed – they sat there, side by side, keeping each other warm. Just as Logan was beginning to think it was time to head back, he heard the town clock strike midnight and turned to face her. “You know what that means, don't you?”

“It's late?”

“It's your birthday,” he snorted. “Happy birthday, Soph. Make a wish.”

She frowned, leaning into him. “There's no candles to blow out.”

His heart kicked up a notch. “Make one anyway.”

“Alright...” She closed her eyes, her chin still tilted upward, and he couldn't help himself. Sitting there, with her eyes closed and her mouth slightly parted, she made an entirely too tempting picture. He lowered his head, placing his lips a hairs breadth from hers. He could feel the heat of her breath, practically feel the softness of her lips.

“What did you wish for?”

“I can't tell you,” she whispered, her eyes still tightly closed. “It won't come true.”

Throwing caution to the wind, he closed the distance between them, fitting his lips to hers and groaning when she opened to him. At the first touch of her tongue, he was a lost cause, his heart working over-time and his pulse racing. As he opened and closed his mouth against hers, her flavor invaded his senses, making him squirm in his seat.

“Tell me something,” she asked, leaning her forehead against his, her breath heaving.

“Anything,” he replied, feeling as though he'd tell her his deepest, darkest secret if only she wanted to know.

“Why do you cheat on your girlfriend?”

He pulled away slightly, a frown creasing his brow. “Girlfriend?”

“Yeah, you know... Janet? I hear you talking to her on the phone sometimes, so I know she's still around.”

Shit, he'd completely forgotten about the c**k and bull story he'd told her about Janet being his girlfriend. Admitting his untruth now would make him feel like a moron. “What about you?”

“Me?”

“Have you forgotten about the Cham – I mean Taylor?”

Her eyes widened, and he truly believed that for a moment she had forgotten her boyfriend's existence.

*