Page 7 of Ruthless Rebel

“Logan,” she drags out, looking pointedly at our daughter, but he just shrugs, with that insufferable smile still in place.

“Where’s Superman?” Cassie cuts in, breaking the tension and dropping my least favorite name, and Logan immediately turns his attention to her.

“He’s in the shower, he will be down soon,” he replies and Cassie screws up her face in question.

“But he got a shower last night before bed, he told me,” she starts, staring at him in wonder before shrugging her shoulders. “He must be very dirty if he already needs another one,” she adds innocently, and Logan’s smile only widens as he flicks his stare back to meet mine.

“Oh you have no idea,” he purrs, with another cocky wink,and my fingers flex in anticipation of hurting him, but that would only serve in pissing off Elle.

“Logan, I swear to god,” Elle starts, pointing the whisk at him, and he holds his hands up in defense, just as the man in question enters through the kitchen door, looking fresh and clean.

“Superman!” Cassie yells, almost diving off the island, forcing me to snap forward to break her fall with one arm, so she can reach the floor and barrel towards him.

Of course he catches her with ease, an easy smile spreading across his mouth as my daughter embraces him with nothing but love, and for a second that darkness that always surrounds him lessens. I see it every time they interact, the hole she and Elle have penetrated through the mask he wears for the world. I know the effect they can have on people, I see it with everyone in my life, but no one more than him.

“Morning, Cass,” he greets her, bringing his stare to the rest of us as he adds with a nod, “Elle, Ash.” That one shortened syllable of my name infuriates me to no end. He knows it, yet he still uses it every day.

Of course he doesn’t need to greet Logan, because they spent the whole night together, well most of it at least. So instead, he moves towards me with purpose, my daughter still gently gripped in his hold, as he reaches around me to grab a coffee mug. I can feel the heat of the shower still clinging to him, and the cedar wood scent his skin no doubt soaked in as he washed, and I grimace at both, ignoring the goosebumps it evokes as my daughter smiles up at him.

“Do you want to have some pancakes with me and mommy?” Cassie asks sweetly, and Logan instantly protests.

“Hey, you didn’t offer me pancakes,” he grumbles, taking the same seat Lincoln was in around the island last night, and pouting at her.

“Maybe because you were being an asshole,” I mumble quietly into my coffee, but apparently not quiet enough.

“Swear jar, Daddy,” Cassie yells from beside me, and Lincoln smirks, as Elle huffs at all of us.

“Children,” she mutters under her breath, giving up on waiting for Cassie to return to her, and dumping the pancakes into the pan to start cooking.

“Yeah, Daddy, pay up,” Logan flirts once more, and I roll my eyes, as I reach into my wallet and hand him a Benjamin, which he promptly puts into the very full swear jar that sits on the center of the counter.

“None of you are getting pancakes if you don’t stop it,” Elle cuts in, shooting a scathing look at all of us, and we don’t dare say anything in return as she flips all the ones she has in the pan.

Instead I focus on drinking my coffee as Lincoln moves to take a seat beside Logan, my daughter still in his arms as if she is the most precious thing in the world to him. Oblivious to my watching, Cassie points out all the toppings to the pancakes she and Elle have placed in little bowls, and both of them listen to her animated story with keen interest.

When she is done and Elle starts plating up breakfast, Cassie looks up at Lincoln and frowns. “You look tired, Superman, are you tired?” she asks full of concern, and for a second his eyes collide with mine before they focus back on her.

“Just a little, I didn’t sleep very well,” he admits softly to her, and I don’t miss Logan’s smirk at his words, as if recalling the very reason why Lincoln didn’t sleep well, and I grind my teeth.

“Did you have bad dreams again?” She pushes for more information, and the question strikes me because it’s clear this is something they have talked about before.

“No, not last night,” he tells her with a reassuring smile, no doubt not wanting her still innocent mind to worry about him.

“That’s because Uncle Lo was here,” she replies simply witha smile. “I never have bad dreams when I have someone to cuddle with.”

At her words, Lincoln flicks his stare to the man in question and they share a smile. A smile that holds secrets, a smile that holds promises, a smile that holds something more than casual, and suddenly my coffee tastes a little bitter in my mouth as I watch them. They look just like everyone else in this house: happy, settled, in love, it makes my stomach turn. All the blood, all the trauma, and somehow they are able to get through it because they have each other.

“I mean, I am an exquisite cuddler,” Logan beams, reaching out to steal Cassie from Lincoln, pulling her into a bear hug and making her giggle.

“Hmm, you’re alright I suppose,” Lincoln murmurs as he watches them, before his eyes slowly lift to mine, holding my stare as he adds, “I haven’t had better yet.”

With his response, I feel not only Logan’s stare boring into the side of my head, but Elle’s too, and thankfully my best friend decides to take pity on me. “Come on, baby girl, let’s go and eat in the dining room, and leave these silly boys to all their testosterone,” she says to our daughter. Okay maybe not pity.

Logan shakes his head with a laugh as he drops a final kiss to Cassie’s head and sets her down, as she responds to her mom, “What’s testosterone?”

Elle looks pointedly at the three of us, before dropping her gaze to Cassie. “It’s what makes boys dumb,” she replies casually, slipping her own hundred in the swear jar as she adds, “Bye assholes.”

Cassie quickly stops to hug my legs. “Bye, Daddy,” she muffles against my thigh, and I have barely cuddled her back, before she is taking off after her mom. “Bye, Angel,” I call out after her, but she is already quick on Elle’s heels.

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