The Logan Brothers

Chapter 18 - Interrogation Fit for the FBI

Chapter 18 - Interrogation Fit for the FBI

When I woke up in the morning, there was a thin layer of water covering the floor of the tent. The second I realized I was basically swimming in yuck, I squealed, "Wes!" He didn't move, so I nudged his shoulder. "Wes, wake up!"

"What do you want?" he groaned, covering his eyes to hide from the sun.

"We're laying in rainwater, genius," I grumbled, pulling my wet hair from my back. It smelt like metal and slightly like mildew. Wes took a couple of seconds to process my words; he opened one eye and looked at me, and then slowly he looked at the ground.

“Aw, s**t,” Wes hissed, sitting up. The water sloshed, lapping up over my legs. Internally, I grimaced. There was dirt and leaves mixed in with the water that was slowly stinking up our tent. Not that I didn’t love the great outdoors, but I didn’t want to get so up close and personal with Mother Nature.

“Exactly,” I said, pulling up my sleeping bag. It was dripping, sopping wet. When I picked up my duffle bag, the whole thing sloshed. This was just perfect. “We’re gonna have to go home early.”

“No,” he pouted, sticking out his bottom lip. “I was looking forward to this time with you.” My heart literally melted, and I felt like I was going to fall over right then and there. He was too sweet.

“I know, but our tent is soaked and our clothes are nasty. What choice do we have?” I hated that logic won in this situation. After last night, I had no desire to head home anytime soon. I was feeling guilty, and I had a lot to make up for. If I was going to lie to him about Grayson, then everything else had to be perfect. Alone time was the perfect way to do that.

With a smile, I ducked out of the tent, observing our campsite. The storm had ended pretty quickly, but it had been a bad one. There were little twigs and leaves covering the clearing, and mud was everywhere. I was basically walking through a marsh as I headed to the car and tossed my bag into the trunk.

Wes came out of the tent a minute later, muttering darkly to himself. His bag was less soaked than mine, but there was still water dripping from the edges. He shook out his hair, settling the bed head, and then marched over to the car. I leaned against the back bumper, crossing my arms.

“Good morning,” he greeted, reaching around my body and dropping his bag into the open trunk. I raised an eyebrow at him.

“Didn’t we already have a conversation?” I asked, teasing.

He rolled his eyes at me. “Yes, but I wanted to say it properly.” Slowly, he grabbed my hips and pulled me towards him, lightly pressing his lips to mine. I smiled into the kiss, snaking my arms around his neck and lifting on to my tiptoes. Butterflies were fluttering around in my stomach; I wondered if he felt the same thing.

Finally, I pulled away. “Come on,” I sighed as he rested his forehead against mine. “We should get going. I’m in desperate need of a shower.” I was pretty sure there was dirt in places it should never be.

“Alright,” he groaned, pecking my lips one more time. With a smirk he walked over to the tent, yanking the stakes out of the ground. “Help me flip this over so we can get the water out.”

Flipping a tent inside out is harder than it sounds. It took us about five minutes to figure out how to pull the inside to the outside, and even longer to get it done. I was sweating by the time Wes put the cooler in the trunk and closed it, officially finishing off our packing.

“I think that’s it,” He said, swinging himself into the passenger seat. The second he turned on the car I yanked the AC up, pointing all but one vent towards me. Wes snorted. “Are you hot?”

“You know it,” I said with a giggle. I didn’t know where the flirty comment came from; usually, I had to dig deep inside of me to even muster up a somewhat suggestive smile. This time, I didn’t even have to try. It just slipped out easily, along with the mischievous eye wiggle.

Wes rose an eyebrow at me, shaking his head. “You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?” It felt like a rhetorical question, so I didn’t answer. Instead, I leaned my head against the window, casually staring at him out of the corner of my eye.

What was I doing? Just because Leah and Elsie told me to date Grayson and Wesley at the same time did not mean I had to listen. It wasn’t my style. I wasn’t even the type to date one person at a time! But I couldn’t exactly back out now, could I?

“What are we?” I blurted, biting my tongue. i***t! I told myself. What the hell was I thinking? Suddenly, Wes’ head snapped around, staring at me with wide eyes. My cheeks flared bright red. “I..Um...I mean...You don’t have to answer that.”

“Uh..” he stuttered, going slightly pink himself. Clearly, this conversation was making him uncomfortable. He glanced at me one more time before focusing on the road.

“I just meant like are we dating, just testing the waters, what? We don’t have to be anything if you don’t want to be. I just...Yeah, never mind.” It was moments like these that it was painfully obvious how inexperienced I was. I couldn’t even handle a DTR with my best friend!

Then again, the fact that I was even having to define the relationship with my best friend was a little bit strange.

Wes bit his lip, still staring at the road. My heart was hammering in anticipation, scared half to death of his answer. I didn’t know what I wanted him to say; on one hand, I would’ve freaked out if he had said we were dating, and on the other, I would’ve felt heartbroken if he had said we weren’t. When he still hadn’t said anything a minute later, I covered my face with my hands. I was mortified.

Finally, he said, “We’re whatever you want to be.” I looked up, startled. He was looking at me with a smile, and cautiously, he took my hand. “Seriously, Immy. I don’t want to rush you into anything you don’t want. So for now, call it what you want. If you want to go on dates with me, that’s great. I’d love that. But if you want to be just friends, for now, I can deal with that too.”

I felt like my heart expanded to the size of a balloon. A wide smile stretched across my face, and I squeezed his hand. Timidly, I muttered, “A date or two wouldn’t be so bad.”

**********

When we pulled up to the Logan household, I released Wes’ hand. Grayson’s car was in the driveway, and I didn’t want to risk him seeing anything

Oh my god, this was going to be harder than I thought.

“Well, home sweet home,” Wes smiled, opening the trunk for me. “I’m sorry we had to cut our trip short.”

“It’s fine,” I shrugged, lifting my duffle from the car. “I still had a great time.”

“Me too,” he said, grabbing my hips and pulling me to him. My stomach clenched as he kissed me slowly. Hopefully, the open trunk was enough cover to hide us from sight, just in case Grayson choose that exact moment to look out a window.

When he pulled away, I groaned. “Now I have to go home and face Leah’s very specific version of twenty questions.” The wind tugged at my hair and blew his to the side. He laughed, throwing his head back.

“I don’t think I’ll join you for that,” he muttered, shaking his head. Yeah, I didn’t think so. “I’ll call you later.”

“‘Kay,” I giggled, biting my lip. I had never really felt such girly feelings before, but now I felt like butterflies were having a party in my stomach. It was hard for me to put one foot in front of the other as I walked to my house, and I couldn’t stop smiling no matter how hard I tried.

When I walked in the door, Leah and Elsie were waiting for me with huge grins on their faces. They looked a bit like the Cheshire cat, eyes wide and practically every tooth in their mouth showing. I jumped a little, dropping my bag to the ground.

What the hell were they both doing here?

“What’s going on?” I asked, placing a hand over my racing heart. “Leah, why are you here? No offense.” I added when I saw the look on her face. Squealing, she ran forward and grabbed my arm, dragging me forcefully into the living room.

“Spill,” she ordered, standing over me like some sort of interrogator. Elsie came in seconds later. “We saw you kissing Wesley. What happened? Did you two get together on the trip? What did he say? Did you DTR? Are you going on a date soon? Oh my god, tell me every last detail!”

Holy freaking goodness, this was an interrogation. Leah definitely had a future as an FBI agent.

I must’ve looked overwhelmed, because Elsie stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Calm down, Leah. She’ll tell us when she’s ready, you don’t have to yank it out of her.” There were footsteps behind us and my mom rushed into the room, eyes wide.

“You’re back early!” She exclaimed, jumping practically on top of me to give me a hug. “Thank god, I thought Leah would never leave.”

“Mom?” I asked, looking at my friends for answers. Leah smiled sheepishly and Elsie shrugged. “Why aren’t you at the hospital?”

She pulled away, pushing the hair back from her face. “I’m taking the day off. I needed it after I spent a few days alone with these girls.” She yanked a thumb at the girls, rolling her eyes. “I have a nail appointment at two, is there any chance I can get you to come with me?”

I grimaced. Manicures weren’t really my thing; my mom used to make me get them all the time, but she had forgone her regular appointments as soon as she had started her internship at the hospital. I didn’t want to start that habit again.

“I’m really tired,” I lied, giving her an apologetic smile. Leah snickered, which made me narrow my eyes at her. She was probably imagining all the perverted reasons as to why I would be tired. “I’ll tell you all about my trip when you get home.”

She looked slightly disappointed but nodded. “Alright honey. I’ll be home in like, an hour. Then I expect to hear every detail.”

Good, that meant I had an hour to think of some good lies. She did not need to know about what happened between Wes and I.

The second she walked out of the door, Leah tackled me to the ground. I rolled off the couch with an oof, landing on my back with Leah on top of me. She pinned my hands to either side of my head and sat on my stomach. “Leah!” I cried, looking at her irately.

“Just tell me everything and then I’ll get off of you,” she whined, sticking out her bottom lip. “Come on, I’m dying here!” Obviously, she didn’t know the meaning of curiosity killed the cat. I rose an eyebrow at her exasperatedly, pursing my lips at Elsie who was giggling her brains out on the couch. This situation did not seem fair.

“Fine,” I huffed, blowing a strand of hair out of my face. “We kissed,” they squealed, so I quickly continued. “but then he got all weird and stopped talking to me, so I had to force it out of him. Apparently, he thought he wasn’t good enough for me, which is complete bullshit because we all know he’s like, the best person ever. So I just told him that and he kissed me again, and we kinda made out for a while. But it was raining so we had to go back to the tent. When we woke up in the morning the tent was flooded, so we had to come home early.”

Leah blinked at me, soaking in the information. “So you didn’t DTR?”

“That’s what you got from that?!” I exclaimed, rolling my eyes. Of course, Leah wouldn’t get the big picture.

“In her defense,” Elsie said, still laughing. “DTRing is a big deal. It needs to happen.”

“No, we didn’t DTR...Well, not exactly...” I deadpanned, closing my eyes. At this point I was praying for patience; Leah was still sitting on top of me, which was not enjoyable, and I didn’t appreciate being given the third degree. “We don’t need to. For now, we’re just having fun. I would feel like a w***e if I got into a serious relationship with Wes while I’m seeing Grayson too.”

“No one said anything about a serious relationship,” Leah muttered, sulking. “But you need to know where you stand.”

“I’m not worried about it,” I insisted. In all honesty, this way was easier. If I wasn’t exclusive with Wes or Grayson, then I wasn’t doing anything wrong by dating both of them. Although I will admit it’s a bit screwed up that they’re brothers. “Now will you please get off of me?!”

“Whoa, what’s this? Girls gone wild?” A deep voice said, entering the room. All of our heads snapped towards the doorway. Grayson was leaning against the door frame, a smirk on his face.

Suddenly, I blushed bright crimson. I was still covered in dirt and grime from camping without any makeup on my face. Not only that, but Leah was pinning me to the ground like I was some sort of criminal. It was so embarrassing!

“What are you doing here?” I asked, shoving Leah’s shoulders. She rolled off of me without a fight, laughing. “I mean, how did you get in?”

“The door was unlocked,” he shrugged. “When Wes walked in I knew you were back too, so I wanted to see if you wanted to hang out or something. I didn't realize you would be otherwise occupied.” I sucked in a breath; I wanted to, more than anything, but that would’ve been rude. I couldn’t leave Leah and Elsie by themselves.

“I-”

“She would love to,” Elsie interrupted, giggling. “Leah and I were about to go get some ice cream, anyway.”

Leah looked at her, “We were?” Elsie kicked her shin, narrowing her eyebrows. “Oh! I mean, yeah, we were. Come on Els, let's go.” I rose an eyebrow; since when had they gotten so close? I knew Leah would try to pull something like this, but Elsie?

“Bye girls,” Grayson called, laughing as they closed the front door. He turned to me, smiling. “They were in quite a hurry to get out of here, huh?”

“I really should train them better,” I muttered, crossing my arms. He snorted, sitting down next to me on the floor. He was inches from me, and I was itching to reach out and touch him. I hadn’t seen him in a few days, and it was killing me inside. Things really were changing, and fast.

“So how was the trip?” Grayson asked, sprawling out on the floor. He put his arms out to the side, spreading out like a starfish.

My stomach clenched. This was where my lying skills were going to be tested.

“It was fine,” I shrugged, smiling a little. “I missed you though.”

“You weren’t even gone for that long,” he teased, sticking his tongue out at me.

“What can I say, you’re growing on me,” I said sarcastically, laying down next to him. I rested my head on his arm and snuggled into his chest. “You’re like a fungus.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not…” he trailed off, pursing his lips slightly. “But I’ll take it as a compliment.”

“Of course you will,” I slapped his chest lightly, laughing. He wrapped both his hands around my waist, kissing my forehead. It made my heart flutter.

“I hate that you went away with my brother,” he breathed, nuzzling his head into my hair. I grimaced slightly; it probably smelt disgusting, like lake water and dirt.

“Why?” I whispered, running my fingers through his hair. He lifted his head up, eyes wide.

“Because I always thought you two would get together,” he said after a moment, frowning. “You two have been close for years, it makes sense that eventually, it would turn into...more.”

For a minute, I was silent, processing the information. What was with the Logan brothers and doubting themselves? Grayson had always seemed so confident and cocky, but at that moment, he was vulnerable.

I lifted up, pressing my lips against his. He grunted in surprise, lifting one hand to cup the side of my face. My eyes fluttered closed and I smiled into the kiss, gripping the back of his neck. For a few minutes, we just kissed, letting our mouths melt together. Grayson swung his legs over my hips, placing his hands on either side of my head. Out of instinct, I wrapped my legs around his waist, surprising even myself. I usually wasn't an aggressive person.

When Grayson’s hands started playing with the hem of my shirt, I placed my hands on his chest. I definitely wasn’t ready to go there yet.

“I um…” I stuttered, squeezing my eyes shut. I couldn’t think straight. “I should probably go take a shower. I’m still all nasty from camping.”

“I think you smell nice,” he muttered, nuzzling his nose into my neck. I shivered. “Plus, it’s nice to see you without makeup for a change.”

I groaned, even though on the inside I was screaming. Point for Grayson! “But without makeup, you can see all the red splotches on my face.”

“Your skin is flawless,” he chuckled, shaking his head against my skin.

“Are you trying to suck up to me?” I giggled, pressing lightly against his chest. He pulled back slightly so I could look him in the eye, smirking.

“That depends, is it working?” I rolled my eyes, laughing. Grayson sighed, finally rolling off of me. I sat up, running my fingers through my hair to untangle it. “Seriously though, you’re gorgeous and you don’t need makeup.”

“Thanks,” I ducked my head, blushing. He really needed to stop it with those compliments. Grayson stood up, offering me a hand, which I took.

“You wanna go get a late lunch?” he asked, lacing his fingers through mine. “It can be our first official date.”