After Kayla’s stressful day, things seem to calm down. Suzanne stuck to her side when she could while on campus, and I managed to talk Dax into walking with her, too. While things have calmed down for us, I got a call Thursday to watch the kids for Sydney. There was some kind of hoopla going on with the wives and she and Ian didn’t want to take the kids with them. Whether Ian realizes it or not, that totally counted as one of his last-minute babysitting deals.
Tonight, I’m taking Kayla out. She just doesn’t know it yet. I’ve spent time at her dad’s nearly every night, save for when I was babysitting. I asked her to come over then, but she wouldn’t. She refuses to leave unless she has to. For the most part, I can’t say I blame her. The weirdo watches her every move. But like her dad keeps telling her, she needs a sense of normalcy. That means she’s going out with me tonight.
I push the doorbell and wait. A moment later, Kayla answers with surprise.
“Logan, what are you doing here?”
“We’re going out. Grab your key and let’s go.”
“What? No.” She takes a step back into the house, her gaze darting over my shoulders as if she could spot him. “I don’t want to go.”
“Kayla.” Her name hangs in the air between us. “The last time we went out was Valentine’s Day earlier this week and that didn’t end well. If you can go to school, you can go on a date with your boyfriend. Please? Baby, I’ll get on my knees and beg until you say yes. I mean it.”
She doesn’t look close to changing her mind, so I begin to drop to my knees. They’re an inch from the ground when she reaches out and grabs my elbow. “Fine! I’ll go, but you owe me.”
I laugh. “I owe you for making you go on a date with your own boyfriend?”
She glares at me for pointing out how ridiculous she sounds before disappearing inside for a few seconds to grab her house keys and her phone. Brent appears in the doorway and hands me a bag with a sour-looking face.
“I expect you to take care of her while she’s with you,” he states the obvious.
“I’ll bring her home tomorrow safe and sound.”
“What is that?” Kayla asks, eyeing the bag.
“You’re staying with Logan tonight. I packed your bag,” her father says.
Kayla’s eyes widen. “You’re making me? What is wrong with you? He’s supposed to be a jackass, remember?”
“I want you out of the house. You’re turning into a hermit. Any other Saturday night and you’d either be with Suzanne or Logan. You most certainly wouldn’t be home. Get out of here and don’t come back until tomorrow. And double check the bag to make sure I packed everything you need.” Brent walks away before she can argue.
Kayla snatches the bag from me, opens it, and turns on her heels. Looks like he forgot something. She returns a minute later. “Well, let’s go.”
“Hey.” I grab her hand as she tries to stalk past me. “I didn’t do this to piss you off.”
“I know.” Her tone is slightly sulky. “He sent more pictures today and it has me anxious. I’m sorry. Let’s go.” She tugs on my hand to pull me to the car.
“Where did he drop them off this time?” I ask.
“He stuck the envelope under the windshield wiper of my car while I was on campus. Dad has been reporting everything to the cops, but so far, they haven’t reported anything back to us. He apparently wants to know if I’m cheating on you with Dax.”
I open the door for her and she slides in, reaching back to put her bag into the backseat. I walk around to get settled in myself. “I’m sorry, Kayla. We can go out and forget about it for a bit.”
That’s the game plan anyway. I came up with the perfect plan to keep Kayla happy and for me to still have fun with her. She’s confused when we pull up to my apartment complex.
“I thought we were going out.”
“There are many versions of going out,” I reply.
She glances around as we get out of the car, walk to the elevator, and to my apartment. She follows me to my bedroom to drop off her bag, which is where she finds her bikini lying out on my bed.
“How’d you get that?”
“I told your dad to pack a bathing suit, but he said he couldn’t find it. I called your mom and she said you had one there, so I went and picked it up. Let’s change.”
“Into our bathing suits? What are we doing?” she asks incredulously as if swimming in February is so crazy.
I shed my clothes while she waits for an answer. “We’re going swimming, Kayla, now change,” I eventually have to say.
Finally, she starts moving and changing. Her body is too pretty not to look at while she switches clothes, even if she seems to be in a hurry.
“What if he sees me like this?”
It pisses me off beyond belief that because of some guy, when she should be thinking of the fun we’re going to have, thinking about my eyes on her body, the only thing she can think of is whether or not he’ll see her in a bikini. That’s not something she should have to worry about.
“You can wrap up in a towel, or wear some of my sweats.”
“Can you get me your sweats?”
“Yeah, baby.” A towel will be easier and makes more sense, but I’m certainly not about to tell her no. With my trunks on, I move to find her the cover-up clothes she wants and hand them to her. While she puts those on, I grab us towels, the key, and my portable speaker, so I can hook my phone up and play us some music.
“I’m ready.”
I hold out my hand to her and she takes it without hesitation. We walk out of my apartment, back onto the elevator, and up to the top floor. There’s a pool and a hot tub up here. You have to have a key to get in and any windows that allow you to look in are frosted. There’s no reason we shouldn’t have complete privacy unless another tenant happens to be here. Her stalker shouldn’t be able to take photos of her while we’re in the pool. Hopefully, Kayla can relax for a few hours knowing that he can’t see her.
“Do we have to swim?” Kayla asks once we’re inside the room, tugging on my hoodie.
“Look around, Kayla.” She does. “No one can come in here unless they live in the building and have a key. No one can see in. Baby, you can relax.”
“Oh, yeah. I guess you’re right.”
I hook up my phone and start playing music while she undresses once more. She seems to be waiting for me. Well, I won’t make her wait long. I grab her hand and drag her with me, jumping into the deep end while she shrieks in protest for no good reason. She’s smiling when we pop up to the surface.
“That’s what I wanted to see. Come here.” I hook my hands behind her knees to wrap her legs around my waist. “Do you know what I need right now? Right this very second? What I’m craving so badly it’s driving me crazy because I haven’t had it in days?”
“What?” she asks.
“I need for my sugar to give me some sugar.”
She laughs. “Did you age without me knowing it, handsome?” Her fingers curl into the hair at my neck. If she’s calling me handsome, then things are right on track.
“The only way to find out is to kiss me. If I’m better, then yes. If I’m the same, then no. Because a person gets better with age, you know.”
She laughs again, shaking her head at me. “What if you’re worse?”
“There’s no use in worrying about what isn’t possible.” I rest my forehead against hers, pull her a bit closer to get rid of some of the space between us, and run my fingers back and forth over her back. “Why are you stal—”
Her mouth crashes into mine before I can finish my question. Ever since I told Kayla I planned to do a real proposal one day because I want to marry her, it’s been on my mind. Daydreams of various scenarios involving knee-dropping questions swirl in my mind during lulls at work, of her clothes taking up all the room in my closet, of coming home from work and she already being there, and of one day in the distant future actually being the dad instead of just an uncle. And when she kisses me like this?
Like she desperately needs one thing in this world and that one thing is me?
Like she must kiss me with all the passion she possesses because she can’t hold it inside of her any longer?
Well, I want to do all of those things I’ve been daydreaming about right now. The flurry of emotions that stirs within me is crazy. Scary, too. I’ve never wanted a person even a tenth of the way I want Kayla. Certainly never thought seriously about marriage or kids of my own. At one point, I was pretty certain I’d be an uncle forever because I didn’t think I wanted to handle kids full-time.
“Logan,” Kayla murmurs against my lips. “You’re pulling my hair.”
I release my hands from her hips and she moves to pull her hair up with the hair tie that’s on her wrist. She somehow takes all that hair and puts it into a bun, up and out of the way. “Watch yourself, sweet cheeks. You’re giving me free access to your neck.”
She grins. “I’m not worried about you. You were holding me awfully close, though.” Her legs move to put more space between us. “Let’s race, handsome. We came here to swim, didn’t we?” Before I can object, she untangles herself from me and swims to the closest end of the pool. I did say we would swim.
Damn it.
We race back and forth across the pool, Kayla deeming herself the winner every time whether she actually wins or not. When she gets tired, she takes my hand and we float.
“Which comes first? Marriage or moving in together?” I ask.
Kayla stands and looks at me. “What?”
“Just curious, sugar.”
She doesn’t seem to believe me as she lies on her back again. “I don’t know. It could go either way, I think. Dad might say marriage first, but I don’t think he’d be upset if it was the other way around.”
“And when is the appropriate amount of time after a couple starts dating that one should ask his girlfriend to move in with him?”
“I don’t know, Logan. Why are you asking me?”
“Thinking about the future is all.”
“Pump your brakes, handsome. When we’re ready, you’ll know. I’ll know. You can ask me the actual questions instead.”
I chuckle. “Maybe you’ll be the one asking me.”
She laughs. “Don’t hold your breath.”
Just to mess with her, I hold my breath and sink into the water until my lungs burn with the need to breathe. Kayla rolls her eyes when I rise to the surface with a grin. “Come here. I have something to ask you.” Kayla swims over and hooks her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist.
“What is it?”
“You haven’t had dinner with your mother yet, have you?”
She frowns. “No.”
“Maybe we should do that tomorrow. What do you think?”
“How has your week been?” she asks, though she already knows.
I chuckle and dip my head to kiss her neck. “Don’t change the subject. Let me officially meet your mom and you meet her boyfriend. I need to thank her for giving me this bikini for you to wear.” I kiss her shoulder. “And for me to take off of you later.” My mouth moves up to a spot below her ear. “So? A meal with your mother tomorrow, baby? Yes?”
“Are you trying to meet my mother because you want to propose again?” And my Kayla is officially back based on the teasing tone in her voice.
“Are you proposing to me?” I grin at her.
She rolls her eyes. “You can not get that from what I said. You have me, handsome. Stop trying to make it more than what it is.”
Something about how she says it rubs me the wrong way. “Are you saying you don’t want to think of what it would be like to be married to me?”
“What? No. I’m saying let’s enjoy what we are for now. My biggest concern is my stalker.” She kisses my cheek. “Thanks for coming and making me get out of the house. I’ll admit that being here with you is better than you with me at my dad’s.”
I hum and pretend to ponder a thought. “That almost sounds like you want to live with me, sweet cheeks.” My lips rise slowly into a grin. “Say the word and I’ll make room for you.”
She laughs. “Are you going to find ways to keep mentioning me moving in and proposing until I surprise you one day and say yes?”
“Do you think it’s a good method?”
“No. What if you get tired of me saying no, so you stop asking?”
“Sounds like you better say yes now to prevent that. Let’s squash that fear of yours right now.”
She smiles as she shakes her head and splashes me a little. “Where’s the fun in that, handsome? Besides, have you asked my father for my hand in marriage yet?” she asks as her hand moves down my chest and trails over the top of my swim trunks.
“You can’t ask a question like that while thinking dirty thoughts.”
Kayla grins. “You only think I am.” Her hand lifts to my shoulder. “Well, have you? I can’t give you an answer unless you have. To the marriage one, at least. I don’t need his permission to move out. So, unless you’ve faced the man who likes to call you a jackass, you can’t propose to me anymore.”
“Fine. Move in with me then.”
“Logan,” she begins.
“No excuses. Yes or no is fine. Just remember you might break my poor fragile heart, depending on your answer. I mean, what does a guy have to do? He proposes within minutes of seeing you. He takes you to meet his family. He shows you the best food in Raleigh. He lets you meet a celebrity slash professional athlete. He falls in love with you. He faces your dad who likes to call him names. He’s not afraid to ask you over and over to move in and marry him. What more must a guy do?”
She stares at me like I gave her the most complicated math problem she’s ever seen.
“What?” I ask.
“What’d you say?”
“You want me to repeat all of that? It was a mouthful, Kayla.” What is she tripping over anyway?
“You’re in love with me?” she asks carefully.
Oh. Totally didn’t mean to say that. The idea still scares the shit out of me, but it’s not like I can change it. Or that she shouldn’t know about it. Or that I want to change a thing about our situation, aside from the whole stalker thing. That’s certainly not something I want to keep in our lives. But right now, the girl needs to laugh. She needs to relax. She needs to enjoy our night.
“Kayla!” There’s pure exasperation in my voice. “Why do you think I’m asking you those questions?” Then, I roll my eyes hard. “Of course I love you, pooks.”
She giggles. “Pooks?”
“Sounds a bit better than pookie, right?”
A loud knock on the door scares the hell out of Kayla. She screams and whirls around to face the door.
“Logan?” Carey’s voice sounds on the other side as I hug Kayla to me.
“It’s okay,” I soothe, though I’m pissed Carey is here once again. It’s my fault, though. I’ve pushed off the inevitable conversation I promised Kayla I’d have with my best friend. Every time I think about telling Carey she can’t use my apartment as her temporary sanctuary, it feels wrong and I feel bad about it. But seeing Kayla’s reaction and the anger overtaking her features has me regretting it.
“You haven’t talked to her?” she shouts. “I thought you talked to her!” Kayla pushes me away with one hand, the other over her racing heart. “What were you doing, filling my head with shit the other day to calm me down?” She turns and swims away to climb out of the pool. “If you were so wrong, you would’ve talked to her, Logan!”
“I’ll do it right now,” I say in my calmest voice. I don’t want to piss her off further or add fuel to the fire.
“I’m sure you will! You can do it while I go home!” She yanks my clothes on over her body as I pull myself out of the pool.
“Kayla!”
“No!” She whirls to face me. “You promised me a night where I didn’t have to worry about anything and you didn’t make sure that the one person,” she shoves her hand out with one finger up, “you could prevent from ruining our night didn’t show up!” Kayla takes a deep breath and she seems eerily calm all of a sudden. “I’m going home,” she whispers. She turns and leaves now that she’s dressed and has her things.
“Kayla, wait,” I plead as I follow after her. How does she plan to get home anyway? I picked her up! Her dad will kill me if she calls him upset like she is to come pick her up, especially since he’s trusting me to take care of her and keep her out of the house for the night. “Kayla!”
She pushes right past Carey and runs to the elevator.
“Is she okay?” Carey asks with concern filtering over her face.
“No! What are you doing here? What the fuck happened this time? And it better be good. You just scared the hell out of her for no good reason. All that relaxation I told you I needed to get her to do? You’ve ruined it! Not to mention, she’s pissed at me because you’re here!” I take my anger at myself out on her.
I can’t believe she’s even here. I happened to mention what Kayla and I were doing when we were on the phone and that I needed Kayla to relax after a stressful week. Why the fuck would she show up knowing we needed this time together and to ourselves? I don’t care what kind of argument she had with Jerry, it’s no reason to come over here as an escape, knowing what kind of night I needed to have with my girlfriend.
“I think he’s cheating on me!” she blurts out.
Oh, hell. I hope he’s not. “Why do you think that?”
“He’s acting strangely. I’ve caught him in some lies, too.” Her eyes well with tears and I pull her into my arms for a hug.
“Damn, Carey. I’m sorry.” But then I remember my girlfriend, how I just told her I love her, and how when she first brought this shit about Carey up to me, I told her if I had to choose, I’d choose her over Carey. What the fuck am I doing still standing here? My arms fall to my sides. “This, you coming over unannounced? It has to stop, Carey. Go home and confront him. Find out. If he is, kick him out. Bottom line is you can’t hide out here anymore.” Her eyes water, but I don’t let it get to me. “Carey, you’re my best friend and I love ya, but you’ve got to go home. I can’t let you interrupt my time with Kayla; it’s not fair to either one of us. You can call me tomorrow and tell me what happened.”
She nods. “Okay. I’m sorry.”
“Come on. I’ll walk you down. Maybe Kayla hasn’t left yet.”
But when we get down to the parking deck, Kayla is nowhere to be seen. Damn it. Time for me to get my shit together, find her, and apologize. If tonight has taught me anything it’s that I need to follow through on my word and that Kayla means too much to me to make another mistake. I need to fix this. I need to make this right. My chest aches at how pissed and upset she was. Hurts a hell of a lot worse than seeing Carey upset and telling her that she can’t come over like she’s used to doing. Tonight has made it crystal clear that all I need is Kayla.
And for that crazy stalker of hers to go away.