“He’s drunk. Let him up so he can go to bed.”
Logan takes his thumbs off Trip’s windpipe, and Trip draws in a huge gulp of air. “Call the cops, Emily,” Trip starts screaming. Logan tightens his grip again.
“He has to shut the f**k up if he wants me to let him up.” He looks down at Trip. “I hate a f**king drunk,” he says. “I’m going to let you up, and you’re going to go to your room. Do you understand?”
Trip nods. Logan steps back, and Trip scrambles to his feet, nearly falling over in the process. “I should call the cops.”
“So I can tell them how you were assaulting me?” I ask.
He looks confused. “I just wanted to kiss you,” he whines. He’s not pretty when he drinks. Not at all.
I shake my head. “But I didn’t want to be kissed.” I blow out a huge breath. I feel as though someone pulled the stopper on a big balloon inside me. “Go to bed, Trip. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Trip nods, unsteady on his feet. He goes into his room and closes the door.
I draw in a deep breath, and Logan pulls me into him. I let him hold me because I think he needs it even more than I do. I step back and shake out my hand. I really hit Trip pretty hard, and my palm is still stinging.
“What did he do?” Logan bites out.
I shake my head. He’s not going to stop asking until I tell him. “He tried to kiss me. That’s all.” He lays his thumb on my lips.
“He kissed you?” he asks, his voice soft and reverent. His eyes search mine and I know he’s watching all my nonverbal cues.
“No,” I clarify, shaking my head. “He tried to kiss me. That’s a very different thing.” I unclip the barrette from my hair and brush it out with my fingers as I kick off my shoes. “What are you doing here?” I finally ask.
“I was worried about you,” he admits. His face is stony. “With good reason, apparently.”
I wrap my arms around his waist and hug him tightly. “I’m so glad you’re here.” He helps me shrug out of my coat, and his hands on my arms are freezing. “Why are you so cold?” I ask.
“I rode the bike over here,” he admits.
“A bike?”
“A motorcycle, really,” he goes on to explain.
“You have a motorcycle?” I had no idea he owned a motorcycle.
“It’s Paul’s. He let me borrow it.” He tips my head to the side to look at my neck. “What the f**k is that?” he barks.
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
“It’s not nothing, Emily.” He growls, and I expect to see him pound on his chest like an ape any second. That would be kind of hot, actually.
I don’t want to talk about it anymore. “I’m glad you’re here,” I say. “Can you help me get out of this dress?” I ask because I want to take his mind off my neck and the mark Trip left there.
He points me toward my room and pops me on my butt. “In the bedroom,” he says. He glares at Trip’s door.
“He’s out for the night. He won’t bother us.” I have seen Trip drunk enough times that I’m certain of it. “Can you stay the night?”
He follows me into the bedroom and closes and locks the door behind us. With a pensive look, he pulls my lower lip from between my teeth with the pad of his thumb. I hadn’t even realized I was biting it.
“You have no idea how much I wanted to kill him when I saw his hands on you,” he says.
“Not nearly as much as I wanted to.” I turn my back to Logan, and he slides the zipper down slowly. He pushes my hair over my shoulder and presses his lips to my shoulder, making me go all quivery on the inside. “What made you come here?” I ask.
He shrugs. “I didn’t want to sleep without you.” He tweaks my nose as he starts to unbutton his shirt. He hangs it over the back of a chair, shaking the wrinkles out of it. The racks holding the clothes my mom sent over are still in the corner. “You know,” he says. “I was talking with Henry downstairs. Did you know his wife is so ill she’s in a nursing home?”
I gasp. I had no idea. “Is she all right?” I ask.
“He goes there every night to sleep because he says he can’t sleep without her.” He smiles and tips my chin up. “I want us to be like them when we grow up.” He grins.
“I think we already are them,” I say. It’s true. We are. I am not sure I could live without Logan at this point.
He undresses completely and slips between my sheets. I get ready to pull a T-shirt over my head, my back to him when he complains.
“No, leave that off,” he says, his voice gruff. I shrug, turn the lights down but not off, and climb into bed with him. And then he shows me all the reasons why I never want to sleep in a bed away from him ever again. And then he shows me even more reasons when he pulls me into his arms and holds me close all night long.
Logan
I like having her legs spread around me. I like it more than I should. Her arms are wrapped around my waist, and her face rests against my back. I made her wear the helmet, but we’re only going around the corner so I can drop her off at Julliard, so I’m not too worried about getting caught without one. I pull up in front of the building where her first class is located and kill the engine.
“Do you want me to walk with you to class?” I ask as she gets off the bike and unclips the helmet. She holds it out to me and smiles, shaking her head.