Page 77 of All My Firsts

She shook her head slowly. “Not yet. I think Ty needs some time with him alone. Ty knows better than me how to help Logan, and I’m not sure even Ty can do it. Logan’s not doing great, and it may seem like it’s all because of you, but it’s not. I think you were the final straw. He’s got some crap from home too, but he won’t talk about it. Sound familiar?” She chuckled softly and looked at me with sad eyes. “I’ll go find them in a bit. Right now, I want to be here with you.”

“Well, aren’t we a sorry bunch? What’s that saying – ‘Misery loves company’? We’ve given it new meaning, I think,” I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. I sat next to Becca on the bed, and her head landed onmy shoulder.

“How about the three of us go get some food? Becca, you text Ty. Let him know that’s where we’ll be.” Xander was still all business, the adrenaline of the moment not out of his system. “They can meet us there. If not, we can meet up later and all talk again if they want to. How doesthat sound?”

Xander forced his hands into the pockets of his jeans, his forearms bulging under his pushed-up sleeves. Whenever he did that, his chest muscles flexed – involuntarily, butit happened.

Andit was sexy.

He was so damn sexy, and he was standing here, trying hard to make this all work out for me. And that made him even sexier. Becca saw the way I was looking at him, and she clearedher throat.

“Maybe food is not what’s on Lanie’s mind at the moment,” Becca said witha sly grin.

“Oh my God, Becca, stop.” I was beet red and mortified that she’d caught me eyeing up my own boyfriend.

“Shit, don’t be embarrassed. He’s hot. He’s some major man candy on a stick, Lanie. If you aren’t eyeing him up, someone else would be, so you better be doing it,and a lot.”

Xander started laughing as he shuffled us out the door and toward the elevators, obviously wanting to stop Becca and her comments. He started walking ahead of us, and she continued her line ofquestioning.

“So, are big muscles any indication of a big, you know, stick?”

“Becca, you know I can hear you, right?” Xander called from down the hall.

“Of course I do. Either one of you can answer my question. Curious minds wanna know.” Becca wrapped her arm around my neck as we bounced down the hall behind Xander, my smile wider since she had returned. I was feeling more and more confident we could do this– together.

Chapter 21

“How’s he doing?” I asked Becca as she walked into our room, Ty right behind her. I had hoped a night of sleep would help Logan handle everything he heard about me, coupled with what he was dealing withpersonally.

“He’s a little better today, but still not talking much. I think he’s struggling with it all, ya know, because of what happened with the two of you,” Ty responded. “I think he’ll be OK, Lanie. We just need to keep an eye on him the next couple of days, maybe distract him a bit, go out.” Ty was being hopeful. But I think we all felt the potential for Logan to make another scene. My phone pinged, and I couldn’t hide my smile at seeing whoit was from.

“Gotta go. Xander needs to talk to me.” I was concerned about Logan, hoping this wasn’t going to put him over the edge. But I was thankful for the diversion. I wasn’t comfortable talking about him anymore. Maybe it was selfish, but I felt like I had enough on my plate. I didn’t want to add his problems to my list of concerns. But my heart rate was rising as I approached Xander’s door, unsure of what he needed to tell me. The door flew open asI got to it.

“What’s wrong? Is it Max again?” I asked.

He grabbed me before answering, pulling me into his room. “Actually, the only emergency is I missed you.” His mouth was on my mine before my next breath, but then he pulled back. “There’s nothing out of the ordinary from the asshole, nothing you need to worry about. Still him asking where you are, why he can’t reach you, why he has to deal with me and not you, yada yada yada. Threatening to come here again to ‘set me straight’ and ‘set you straight,’ and I tell him to do it. But so far it seems like empty threats. Bryce seems to have a track on him with the locals in San Antonio, and we should know ahead of time if he’s on his way. They also don’t think there’s anyone here watching you, sowe’re good.”

“Bryce could do that? Oh my God, that’s amazing! I’ll have to shoot him a text to thank him.” I wasn’t used to good news or the way it made me feel.

“Yeah, he would appreciate it.”

I grabbed a hold of Xander’s belt loops and pulled him closer, grinding my hips into his. “So, you missed me? Didn’t we just see each other when we woke up this morning?”

“It’s four in the afternoon. How long do you expect me to go without missing you?”

His hands worked their way around to my backside, easily lifting me up as I wrapped my legs around his waist, my arms grabbing hold of his neck. He walked us over to his bed and laid me down. He stood up, and I watched him in awe as he reached behind his back with a hand to pull his shirt over his head, his stomach muscles tightening while doing so. His almost black hair was longer now, hitting his shoulders; he had to push it out of his eyes as he leaned down, his arm muscles tightening as he held his weight above me. I rubbed my hands along the corded muscles in his arms as he lay suspended above me, his intense blue eyes lookingdeep inside.

“I love you, birdie. I will forever be falling in love with you.”

The words came easily now but didn’t mean any less because of it. My hands worked their way up his arms, over his tight shoulders, through his hair, finally to his face. My thumb rubbed along his bottom lip, and his eyes fluttered closed for a moment. I pulled his face down toward mine, bringing hismouth to me.

“I love you, too.” I closed the distance between our mouths, our tongues mingling. The softness of his lips such a contradiction to the hardness of his body, the hardness of his need. I felt that as he gently laid his body on mine.

But the moment our bodies touched, intense desire took over, no space between us. Our limbs immediately entangled, our arms and legs entwined as if in a web, seeking as much of the other’s skin as possible. Pieces of clothing were tossed across the room at record pace until both of us were finally at peace, warmed by one another in our embrace. The cool sheets on his bed soothed the scorching heat building between us as we settled next to one another, face to face.

Being bold in bed, with sex, was never something I would have considered myself to be. However, at that moment, I craved havingthe control.

My hand reached down and found his engorged shaft, his hard cock twitching between my fingers. The smooth skin pulled tight as my fingers explored the full length of his dick, from the silky tip to the veined skin at the base. I had never taken the time to enjoy touching him, and the feel of him was creating a pool of wetness between my legs.

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