Chloe
They say that moving house was one of the most stressful things you could do – they’re totally right. It had been two weeks since we’d got the keys and I was desperate to move in. The place needed a new bathroom, kitchen, tiled kitchen flooring and carpet throughout though, so we decided to paint the two bedroom house and schedule all the work in those two weeks before we moved in.
As much as I just wanted to move I was glad we waited and didn’t have to live around the mess as the work was being done. Finally though, fifteen days after the house was officially ours we were ready to move in.
Surprisingly, Logan had the most stuff. His parents’ garage was full of gym equipment and furniture he’d bought over the last few years. The removal van was parked outside and our helpers were loading everything up.
Being impatient as hell, last night I dragged Cassie and Nell to mine where we boxed the final things up and took them to the house. I couldn’t wait and knew that Logan’s stuff would take forever. My things, which wasn’t much, were already put neatly away.
“Logan!” I shouted. “Why are you still here? The sofa is being delivered this morning and no one’s there to—” He kissed me, which was both of our preferred way of shutting me up.
“I’m now going. Stop stressing, sweetheart.”
I couldn’t stop stressing; it was kind of what you were supposed to do when you moved. There were a million things going on at once and Logan was a little too laid back.
“Mum’s going over in a minute with boxes of kitchen shit. She said she’d stay there now and unpack it. Want to go too, and decide where we’re keeping stuff?” Logan’s collection included everything we’d need to cook and eat. The boy had done good because over the last year all I’d bought for a house was three cake tins.
“Yeah, okay.”
He kissed me again. “I’ll see you over there in a few. Got your key?”
Once I’d forgotten my key but do you think he’d let it go?
“Yes,” I replied, giving him a shove in the direction of the door. “Go! If you miss that delivery and we can’t christen the sofa tonight I won’t be happy.”
That did it. His eyes widened, blistered and then he was jogging out of the door. Men were so easy.
“Chloe, want me to accidentally break this?” Jace asked, holding up Logan’s framed old Jack Daniels poster.
That was such a tempting idea. The thing was ugly. “No,” I said and sighed. “I appreciate the thought but I’ll just make him have it somewhere it won’t be seen. In the walk-in wardrobe behind the clothes maybe.”
He laughed and said, “Alright.” It had been a little over eight months since Jace came home and things were finally okay. He’d started seeing a lovely girl called Daphnee last month and I was thrilled for him. Jace had even reached the point where in an argument with Logan he could shut him up by saying whatever, man, you stole my girlfriend. It was quite effective, until Logan started giving him a dead arm.
“Daph stopping by tonight?”
“If she gets off work early enough.”
“Cool,” I replied. “Would be good to see her again.” Despite the history and unique situation between me and Jace I got along with Daphnee really well. She was a bit of a gamer too, so a much better fit for Jace than I ever was.
“Don’t you have some girlie night planned?”
“Next week, yes. Don’t worry, I’ll look after her.”
He widened his eyes in mock horror.
Daphnee was a new addition to my group of friends that since Jace getting back and being run over had got a lot closer. I loved having the people I cared about closer together. Plus, I was on a mission to sort out Nell and Damon’s idiocy and find Cassie a man that deserved her. Daphnee was a bit of a romantic so I knew together we’d make a great cupid team.
“Are all the boxes out of the garage yet?”
He grinned too wide for it to be genuine and that was my answer. “We’ve loaded about half. Good thing you have a big garage.”
“That’s the only reason all his stuff is coming with us.”
I picked up a box labelled DVDs and carried it out to the front garden where we were chucking everything for my dad and Daryl to load it up.
Nell moved round the house like a whirlwind, dishing out orders and pulling funny faces to make me smile. She was the sole reason I hadn’t killed today.
“Smile, Chlo Chlo, you’ll be sleeping in your new house tonight,” she said, dancing around me and bounding back towards the garage.
I did smile because she was right, all the stress of solicitors and estate agents was over, we’d packed up and all we had to do was finish getting everything in the van then unload it the other side. Tonight I could relax in my new house. And have a few hundred drinks.
***
There were about five people too many in the living room but I couldn’t have cared less. All the people that meant the most to me were finishing off their fish and chips dinner in the living room of my first house, and first house with Logan, after helping us move all day. I didn’t even care that after spending almost two thousand on a sofa I was sitting on the floor. Logan’s arm was around me as he ate one handed so that helped me to not give a crap, too.
Daphnee had made it in time to eat which made things a little more complete. Over in the corner Nell was scowling at her phone. Last night she’d slept with Damon after holding back for over three months. Apparently, in all their wisdom they’d decided friends with benefits was a great idea again yesterday.
They could both have meaningless sex which was all well and good when you had that sort of agreement but things between them was anything but meaningless. My point being proven right now as she angrily tapped a reply to whatever he’d just said.
And she thought watching me run from Logan last year was frustrating.
She caught me shaking my head at her and glared, throwing her phone in her bag. Oh yeah, friends with benefits working out just fine.
Logan yawned loudly. “I’m tired. You tired, Chlo?”
“Very subtle, son,” Daryl said.
“Nope, not tired at all,” I said, grinning up at him.
“No, I’m sure you are.”
Mum stood up and laughed. “I think that’s our cue to leave.”
“Oh, you don’t have to, Bethany,” Logan said, chuckling.
“I’m sure you two want a few minutes to yourself,” she replied, biting her lip in amusement.
I could feel that Logan was about to bite back about lasting a lot longer than a few minutes so I slapped my hand over his mouth, earning laughs from everyone but my dad.
Logan just looked at me, all gorgeous and deep blue eyes, grinning behind my hand like a naughty child. God, I loved him.
“Yeah, we’re out. You two make me sick,” Nell said, turning her nose up.
I removed my hand, hoping Logan would behave and pointed to her. “We’ll be talking tomorrow.”
“Looking forward to it,” she replied sarcastically and pulled me up for a hug.
“Come on, Nell, I’ll give you a lift,” Cass said as she kissed my cheek.
It couldn’t have been two seconds after I closed the front door behind everyone that I was scooped up into Logan’s arms. I squealed, not expecting it, and held on around his neck.
“We skipping the clean up?” I asked, pressing myself to him.
“I’ll chuck the rubbish in the morning, right now I need to get you naked and horizontal in that big bed of ours.”
“And what if I don’t want to be horizontal?”
“Baby,” he said, walking upstairs with me in his arms, “I’ll take you anyway you want.”
He bloody would too, the pervert.
“Hmm, that’s okay, I don’t mind being under you.”
He put me down in our bedroom and I stopped by the bed, arching my back as Logan started his assault by kissing up my neck. “You’re eager tonight,” I said, gripping the muscular forearm that pinned me to his chest.
“I’m eager every night, Chlo.”
Now that was true. At least now we had our own space and could make as much noise as we wanted. Although I was kind of going to miss his hand covering my mouth as I came.
I closed my eyes and my head hit his shoulder.
“Not getting into bed?” he asked.
“Enjoying this,” I replied.
I was suddenly on my own and jumping as the loss of his body supporting mine almost made me fall over. He slapped my bum. “Get in bed, you.”
“That was mean,” I said.
“Oh, I plan on picking up where we left off the second you’re laying down.”
I gripped the cover and whipped it back. Something caught my eye and after taking a second to register what it was, I gasped. Sitting on the bed was an open, red velvet box with a gorgeous glistening ring nestled into it.
“Logan,” I whispered. He was proposing! In an odd way but what else could I expect?
I was stunned to the spot so he reached over and picked it up. “Chloe Holland.” I started crying, already, he’d only said my name and I was already bloody crying. “I’ve loved you for…” He gulped. His voice was thick with emotion and I could see the start of tears – his eyes had glazed. “I… Chloe…”
I smiled through my tears and gripped his shirt.
“Fuck it! Just marry me, sweetheart.”
Now that was a Logan proposal. I sobbed and replied, “Of course, I will.”
He picked the ring up, taking it out of the box and slipped it over my finger. Then I was in his arms, lifted off the floor and being crushed to his solid chest.
I laughed along with him, blinking through tears before his mouth found mine and he kissed me long and deep. He lowered us to the bed and taking it slow had been completely forgotten, we attacked each other like wild animals. Clothes were ripped – actually ripped off – and tossed on the floor.
My eyes rolled back into my head as he entered me sharply and quickly found a hard, fast, relentless pace. We were slick with sweat in a second. I clawed his back, moaning loudly. I could see the indecision in his face, he wanted to kiss me but he also wanted to hear me.
“Logan,” I panted, fisting his hair and pulling his head down. He kissed me, tongue flicking into my mouth at the same pace he was pushing into me. Seconds later I came around him, kissing and biting him as I fell apart.
He wasn’t done with me yet, he pulled out to flip me onto my stomach and everything below my waist clenched in anticipation.
“I love you,” he said, entering me slowly, teasingly.
I was about to say it back when he pulled back and thrust hard, going deeper. “Shit,” I hissed.
“Ahh,” he whispered. “And I love hearing you.” He lay down, covering my back and kissed my shoulder. His arm reached underneath me and his fingers found their goal immediately. I groaned into the pillow and fisted the sheets as Logan kissed and nipped on my neck, finding the punishing pace as before.
I was going crazy beneath him. I felt like he was everywhere. It was stimulation overload and I could barely take it. “Logan,” I didn’t know what I wanted to say – tell him to stop or to never stop. I was building again, so quickly. My body tightened and I fought to push back, to do something to deal with how he was making me feel.
I felt his smile against my skin. He clamped his mouth around my shoulder and bit down. I let go again, unexpectedly, and spiralled into one of the most intense orgasms I’d ever had where my body shook and my vision blurred. His fingers circled my clitoris, prolonging the torture.
He grunted behind me, moaning in my ear as he thrust hard and deep one last time.
Logan rolled me onto my back and then into his arms as I floated back to earth. We laid still, stuck together by sweat, trying to get our breath back. I snuggled against his chest, needing to be closer.
“Well,” I said. “That was…” There were no words.
“I know. I don’t mean to brag but I was fucking awesome.”
I couldn’t help laughing. I don’t mean to brag my arse.
“Yeah, that definitely made up for the less than romantic proposal,” I teased.
“Shit, you’re right, that wasn’t at all romantic, was it? I’m so sorry, Chlo, you deserved better than me swearing and demanding you marry me. God, I didn’t even ask you.”
“Don’t,” I said and kissed his soft lips. Why did I have to say that and make him feel bad? “Logan, it was perfect and it was very you. I love how you proposed – although when I tell my nan I’m missing out the part where you said fuck it. I wouldn’t change a thing about that proposal.”
He pressed me into the mattress and I wrapped my arms and legs around him. “This is going to be a short engagement. I’m getting another ring on that finger as soon as I can.”
“Fine by me,” I breathed just as his lips moulded to mine. “I love you,” I murmured into the kiss.
He pulled back enough to see me properly but still close enough to drive me wild. His eyes had never looked so striking and so full of love. He’d never looked so content before and I was sure I had the same deliriously happy expression as he did.
He smiled and it made my heart ache. “Sweetheart, you have no fucking idea.”