Jean was never the type to visit a bar on her own, but for a long day like this she made an exception. Pulling the pins from her hair, she shook her elbow-length curls loose and rubbed the tension from her scalp.
"From the guy at the bar," the waitress announced herself with an envious twinge to her voice. She raised her head to look at the drink.
"Which one?" Following the line of her gaze, Jean scowled at the familiar profile.
"If you won't take him home, I'll be glad to."
Jean sniffed dismissively. "I live with him," she muttered as she took the glass of wine anyway.
"Long day?" She looked up through a messy curtain of hair as Logan stood on the other side of the table, a short glass in his hand.
"The longest."
"I could make your night much better," he smirked, taking the seat to her left.
"Didn't tell you to sit," she grinned over her glass.
"You accepted the drink, you get my company," he pointed out, resting his elbows on the table.
"Why do you have to look at me like that?"
"Like what."
"Like you'd eat me alive if you had the chance."
"Well-"
"Don't."
"You said it, Jean, not me."
"Just...don't. Control yourself," she put the glass down barely sipped at.
"I can't."
"Sure you can. I've seen you use control not to kill Bobby when he gets out of hand."
"Jean, when it comes to you-" he shook his head.
"Why not," she smiled with mild amusement.
"You and me, we're the same kind of animal."
"We're not animals, Logan."
"Yes, we are. Our instincts are sharper than anyone else on the team."
"You've got the wrong idea about me."
"The problem is you don't trust your gut. You think too much."
"It works for me."
"It used to," he corrected.
"If you're such the alpha male, why don't you try to take Scott's place as team leader."
"I'm a mercenary. I go where the pay is good or there's a lot of fighting. Besides, I get to have more fun with Scott that way. He doesn't have to follow me, can't tell me what to do."
"But you're saying we lead the team anyway."
"Yeah," he downed his drink and signaled for another round.
"You tryin' to get on my good side with compliments?"
"You're the lead female here, Jean. Not Ro. They look to you first. You need a man that appreciates your natural dominance, not a kid who is jealous of his woman's power."
"Scott is not jealous of me."
"You may be a mind-reader, but you don't know him very well."
"What about you, tough guy?"
"I'm the outsider, I don't play nice because I don't belong anywhere."
"That's not what I was asking."
"That makes me necessary. Why do you think Charles asks for you at every turn? You rule this team because you nurture, you encourage everyone's ideas even when they're wrong."
"I am no leader, Scott has always been the better person for the job."
"He leads because he feels he's best for the task. You lead when it's needed."
"When do you lead?"
"When you need me to," Logan grinned slowly. "I don't smell Scott on you much these days."
"He's busy."
"I prefer it, I hate smelling him on you."
"As opposed to you smelling like a whorehouse every time you come back from your trips."
"Don't accuse me of what I don't do."
"Take your own advice."
"If you could stand to be close enough to me, you'd know I don't smell like any woman. There aren't any women for me."
"Except me. You think I'm your match."
"Unless you refuse him for some reason or another, I have to spend as many nights away from the place because I can hear you two down the hall, and I can't stop myself from wanting to go in there and grab him off you."
"Logan, stop it," she warned him with an air of true anger in her eyes.
"You're gonna hear this, Jean. He makes you feel safe because he's familiar, you've been together a long time. But you two are different now, he's comfortable with his lot in life. You are only getting started."
"Why do you do this to me? I don't want to hear this!"
"The truth is hard to hear, Jeannie. It's not the nice, tidy package Scott has planned for you."
"What if, in this world, I want nice. I want tidy."
"Our life is never going to be that, and you know it."
"I want a life that's mine."
"Don't be a child."
"I asked you once not to make me choose. I'm tired of this."
"I'm tired of waiting for you to decide."
"I haven't decided," she challenged.
"No, you haven't even tried to."
Jean left him at the table, trying not to run out the door. Hoping he got the point, she turned the key in the door when his hand covered hers.
"Jean."
"Leave me alone, Logan."
He leaned in close, the smell of him made her dizzy. "Decide," his fingers wrapped around her hip and kneaded into the muscle under the fabric of her slacks.
"You're hurting me," she lied.
"You think I'd hurt you," he growled menacingly, snapping his teeth next to her ear.
A groan dragged out of her throat.
"If I can make you groan just by breathing, imagine what I could do if you let me touch you."
"You need to give me space, or I'll stay with Scott just out of spite because you're crowding me," she spoke without choosing her words more carefully.
"Then space is what you'll get."