Huh. “It kind of was, wasn’t it?” I snickered along with her, while secretly pleased that his reaction to me wasn’t all in my head.
“I’ve been trying to draw him out of his shell for the better part of six years. He’s a wonderful person, a trustworthy employee, and he’s polite and courteous to the customers and the rest of the staff, but I haven’t seen him truly connect and be himself with anyone other than his family. You’ve been in a lot this week, haven’t you?” She propped an elbow on the chair next to me, so I settled back for the interrogation.
“Yes, ma’am. The food’s good and prepared quickly enough that I’m back at work in plenty of time.”
She nodded, then smiled back at me mischievously. “Since you sit at this same seat every day, I’m assuming you’re enjoying the service as well.”
“Vonda,” Logan gasped.
With raised arms, she turned and smiled fondly at Logan. “Sorry, I didn’t see you there. I thought you were still helping a customer.”
“I was but”—his face flamed red above his beard—“geez, Vonda. He’s just a customer.”
“Hey,” I whined. “I object. I’m definitely more than just a customer.”
He finally moved his gaze from his boss to me and rolled his eyes. “Really? Whining?”
I shrugged. “Yep. You left me no choice with your casual dismissal of our epic new friendship.” Then I winked playfully for good measure.
Logan and Vonda both blinked at me; he in confusion, and she in amusement. Vonda recovered first. As she passed by me, she bumped my shoulder casually. “I hope we keep seeing you around.”
I smirked at Logan. “You better be nice. Your boss likes me.”
“Seriously, Creed? Everyone likes you. Someone comes in to pick up a to-go order, in the time it takes to get it up here, you already have them eating out of the palm of your hand.”
“What can I say? I’m a likable guy.”
“Pfft.” He stomped away for the second time in five minutes.
While I waited for my food and watched Logan mix drinks and interact with a man who’d walked up to the bar for a beer, I considered what Vonda had said. I hadn’t asked Logan for his phone number yet because I hadn’t wanted to lead him on, and I wasn’t sure what this was. After visions of him floating through my head every time I daydreamed or stroked myself off since I met him, I knew exactly what I didn’t want—platonic friendship. But it had been a long time since…well, it had been years. And honestly, just because he had me all befuddled didn’t mean he returned the sentiment.
“Here’s your food. I’ve got customers.” Logan slammed the biggest grilled cheese I’d ever seen in front of me and spun to walk away.
“Hey, Logan, when you get a second, can you come back?” I said to his retreating back. He immediately came back, and I smothered a grin. I didn’t think he had anyone to check on. I kept a pretty close eye on the other patrons when I came in to eat so that I didn’t overly distract Logan from his job. “Tomorrow is Saturday.”
“Yeah?”
“Well, you’ve never given me your phone number, you told me you don’t work tomorrow, so I won’t see you, and we can’t let the day pass by without at least texting. It is a day to celebrate, after all.”
“Celebrate what?” he asked suspiciously.
“Our one-week friendaversary, of course.”
“You do know you’re ridiculous, right?”
I nodded cheerfully while picking up half of the massive sandwich in front of me. I closed my eyes and moaned as the intoxicating flavors of onion and cheese hit my tongue. When I opened them back up, Logan’s metallic gray eyes had darkened to steel. Before I swallowed my bite, he cleared his throat and walked away, adjusting himself as discreetly as possible as soon as he was in front of the register. Which, in turn, made it necessary for me to adjust my own plumping dick.
I dropped my gaze before he saw me spying on him and happily finished my sandwich. Logan continued to avoid me the rest of my lunch, chatting with others and running out into the dining room to help the waitress. I’d have left annoyed if not for the number stapled to my receipt. Game on.
Chapter Five
Logan
“Mom, Jakey, where are you guys?” I yelled out as I entered my parents’ house after work.
Little feet pitter-pattering down the hall met my ears like the sweetest melody. I’d adored my nephew since the minute he was born, and if you had asked me before if I could possibly love him more, I’d have said no. How wrong I’d been. As he rounded the hall corner, his stumbling legs launched him into the air, but I’d already crouched down in preparation of his full body assault. I knew he loved his grandma, but our connection had strengthened into something special through all the long nights where I held him as he grieved. “There’s my big boy.”
He smiled up at me as he wrapped his little hand around my beard and tugged it in greeting.
“Hi, honey,” my mom said as she passed us, headed for the kitchen.
Based on the direction they’d come from, they must have been playing in the room Mom and Dad had set up for Jakey when Haley found out she was pregnant. Mom’s excitement had bordered on ridiculous, but I’d been thankful that J.J. and Haley had taken the pressure off of me. My parents hadn’t even batted an eye when I told them I was gay—although, given how protective J.J. and I had been of each other, I’d always suspected he’d given them a heads-up to make sure they handled it correctly. He knew how scared I’d been to tell them.
However, as cool as they’d been, Mom had started sharing every story she heard with me about gay couples and children as soon as I’d turned twenty-five. J.J. used to tease her that I needed a man first, but I didn’t have his protection anymore, and these days she’d become obsessed with the idea of me getting married.
“Were you playing in your room, buddy?” Jakey nodded. I stood up with him in my arms and strolled back to a room that I didn’t have to see to know would be pure chaos. Sure enough, toys were strewn about the room. “Let’s clean up so we can head home, okay?” The little guy nodded again and kicked his legs out to be set down. As soon as his feet touched the carpet, he carefully picked up one toy at a time and set them in the containers lining the room. I followed behind him, organizing the blocks into one, the toy boats into another, and the trains into their plastic bin. I figured the little guy cleaned up so well without prodding, so the least I could do was not fuss about where he dropped them.
“Do you and Jakey want to stay for dinner, Logan?” Mom asked from the doorway. From where I hunched on the floor, I turned to politely thank her and decline, but the affectionate way she watched Jakey as he picked up one—always one—toy at a time, I bit back my response.
My parents hadn’t had me until my mom turned thirty, but they’d been trying since they were married at twenty-one. After years, she’d sought the help of a doctor, and then had several pregnancies that resulted in miscarriages. My dad had told her the last time she got pregnant that this was it; if she lost another child, they were done trying. He couldn’t stand watching her disappointment. But that last attempt had produced me. I’d had a good childhood, especially after my cousin moved in and became more of a brother. Unfortunately, the years of perceived failure to produce an offspring had taken a toll on my mother, and in a lot of ways, she was old for her sixty-one years.