Chapter 22
Bout Time
Underground Bar
9:45 PM
He drew a deep breath, setting down the last two cases of Jack Daniels into the undergrounds storeroom before crossing to the small sink in the back. Sighing he turned on the faucet, reaching down and splashing cold water on his face to cool himself down, despite the chill in the evenings air. He had long ago, shucked his shirt, choosing to remove it the minute the evening liquor delivery had arrived. He could have left it to be unloaded later, but he had energy to spare and rather than burn his energy with putting his fist through something or someone's face, he chosen physical labor instead. He was … he racked his mind for the words to describe his present mood none coming to mind.
He was a combination of annoyed, pissed and yet calm all at the same time. Never in all the years he'd known her had he ever wanted to shake the holy hell out of Jean for spewing her Garbage not only at him, but at Mac. He hadn't bought her Holy than though reasoning not for one minute, but it didn't mean that she was right on some levels.
He raked a hand through his hair, trying and failing at pushing the remains of their conversation from his mind, before turning and heading back out into the crisp evening air.
"Not that I'm complaining about free labor, but you do know I have hired help to do that right?"
He turned his gaze landing on Tony's tall form as he leaned against the back door of the bar, his expression unreadable as he nodded toward truck.
"Really?" He paused eyeing the last few cases of beer in the back of the delivery truck before turning to meet Tony's gaze. .
"Looks to me like your help ain't here and I am. Way I see it, you can keep jawin' and finish unloadin' yourself." He reached for one of the cases, hoisting it onto his shoulder, and making his way out of the back of the truck and down the small ramp "or you can shut the hell up and let me finish."
"By all means princess." Tony said, pulling open the store room door to let him through.
"Bastard." He called stepping past him and adding the case of beer to a spot on one of the empty shelves inside the small room. Sighing he wiped his hands on his jeans, ignoring the humor in Tony's eyes as he made his way out of the store room and back into the truck.
"Isn't there something you should be doing, like serving customers? "He questioned hoisting another case of beer onto his shoulder.
Tony shook his head "Val and the rest of the staff have it covered. Only thing on my mind is whether I need to make sure "Luther "is on standby. "
Despite his mood, he felt a smile pull at his lips, "Luther" was Tony's steel bat, and he only brought it out when he decided to rearrange someone face. "Mood I'm in, you'll need to go get "Lucy" he countered bringing up the twelve gauge shot gun that Val kept behind the bar.
Tony shrugged "Little excitement never killed anybody. Besides it's been awhile since you've cost me thousands of dollars in repairs."
"Fixed everything I broke bub."
"Keep telling yourself that."
Shaking his head, he pulled the storeroom door closed before crossing to the truck and putting up the ramp, and taking a seat in the bed of the truck. "You come out here to read me the same riot act, I was getting from Val?" He asked after a moment of silence had passed between them.
Tony held up a hand, disappearing in the store room to only to emerge a few moments later with two beer bottles in his hand, he handed him one before joining him in the back of truck
"Whatever is going on with you tonight isn't my business unless you want it to be."
"You almost have me convinced that you mean that"
"Hell, I almost had myself convinced." Tony agreed
He let out a deep breath settling back further into the cab of truck, his eyes closing as they lapsed into an easy silence.
"You brought Mac back." Tony's deep voice broke the silence "That alone tells me one of two things. You either care about her or you're afraid she's even more damaged than you are."
He said nothing for a moment weighing Tony's words before speaking "Maybe a little bit of both" If he were honest with himself he could admit that on some level Jean had been right.
"She's more than damaged." He said into the still night air.
Tony took another swallow of his beer before saying "You were damaged once. Hell sometimes I think you still are."
Despite himself, he felt another laugh escape his lips "No argument there."
"Ain't a bad thing, just what it is?" Tony said flatly, getting up and jumping out of the back of the truck. Slowly the amusement faded from his friends face his gray eyes going serious "You brought her here." He pointed out again.
Logan nodded "I know." He said not fully understanding the point Tony was making.
"You didn't take her to some piss ass hole in the wall or some random place in town. You brought her here to me and Val. That should tell you something Logan." Tony's gaze was unflinching as they meet his "She walked through those doors damaged, and you still brought her amongst friends…amongst family."
He let out a deep sigh weighing Tony's words. He had brought Mac to the Underground. To a place where he didn't have to keep up a façade and where the people there knew exactly who he was and accepted him anyway. "And maybe that was a mistake."
"If it was you wouldn't have brought her back here a second time."
He let out another laugh, the sound bitter as he lifted his head up to the clear night sky "Maybe I'm just a little dense."
"I won't disagree" Tony replied catching the bottle top, Logan threw at his head "But even the most hard headed of us is usually spot on when we decided we want to show someone we care about a glimmer of who we are. "
He pushed to his feet, climbing out of the back of the truck. "I see you've been reading Val's counseling books again." He muttered, clapping Tony on the back.
"They make for great reading material when I'm on the John." Tony quipped a smile breaking up the harsh lines that usually creased his face. Laughing Logan crossed to the back of the workroom, retrieving his shirt, before sticking his arms into the sleeves.
"I still think it was a mistake." He said slowly, buttoning his shirt, before starting on the sleeves.
Tony shrugged "Doesn't matter if it was or if it wasn't. You brought here her Logan."
He nodded "I know Tony."
"Right or wrong. That should be answer enough." Tony said with a light punch to his stomach and just like that he disappeared into the crowded bar.
He hesitated a moment, before following after him, Tony wasn't a man of very many words but when he did speak, Logan found he often listened. He'd listened at one of the most critical times in his life and he'd managed to get his shit together. He raked a hand through his hair , pausing as he surveyed the now crowded bar, watching as throngs of people made their way to the bar for drinks, while others headed to the already crammed dance floor, twirling and milling about to the Loud sounds of Sam's Hunts "Raised on it" blasting through the sound system.
"You looking for somebody?"
He turned at the sound of Val's voice, shaking his head even as she pointed in the direction of the pool tables. She gave him a pointed look as if to say Liar before adding "been there all night" before hurrying away to serve the drinks she was holding.
He pushed away from the door, weaving his way through the crowd before stopping a short distance away from the pool tables. He crossed his arms over his chest watching as Mac expertly cleared the table of all the colored balls much to the dismay of the two gentlemen she had been playing with. She leaned over taking a shot, her eyes leaving the table briefly before finding themselves planted on his face. Their gazes meet and held for a moment, he watched as the smallest of smiles touched her lips before she once more turned her attention to clearing the table.
Shaking his head, he flagged down a waitress ordering several beers as he watched Mac work. "Unsuspecting bastards" he muttered to himself, pulling out several bills and handing to the waitress once she arrived back with his drinks. In the five minutes it had taken the waitress to return with his drinks, Mac had cleared the table and was already convincing the two men to play again. This time double or nothing.
"Looks like you're already workin' on getting your dignity back." He said leaning up against a nearby wall as he watched the two men she was playing with rerack the table.
"Got it back and then some." She turned to look at him, both hands on her pool stick her gaze searching his. Despite the rocky start to the night she seemed to be in good spirits. Upon arrival to the Bar, she'd bought them both 2 shots of drink she called an adios motherfucker before disappearing to parts unknown. He had a feeling she'd done that more for him than for her. He'd been in a shit of a mood and knew the weary look in her eyes was her trying to gauge where his head was.
"Besides, I wanted to make sure you realized that last time was fluke."
He rose an eye brow at that "I Imagine especially with the welcome distraction you were providing. Not that I'm complaining or plan on complaining again tonight."
His took a slow perusal of her outfit, his gaze moving over the cream colored off shoulder sweater that offered subtle flashes of smooth almond colored skin, before dropping lower over denim shorts that hugged her hips in all the right place before slowly following the path back to her face.
"I fully plan on enjoying the view" he added, she meet his gaze head on, not shying away from the veiled compliment. He liked it, her not running from the heated exchanges they had started having. At some point they'd gone from light and airy to comments filled with tension. Good tension. Sexual tension and a part of him liked it and on some level he felt like she did too.
"I bet." She reached out stealing his beer bottle from his fingers "That mean you up next?"
"I did promise you a rematch"
"That you did." She said, bringing the bottle to her lips and taking a sip.
"By all means, feel free to drink my beer when you have a perfectly good one sitting right in front of you."
She tucked her tongue into her cheek, amusement lighting her features. "This is what I get after graciously sharing my ice cream with you?"
Despite himself, he found his mood lifting slightly at her teasing. "No, one forced you to share your desert with me. ' Sides who knows where that mouths been."
He watched her eyes widen, and watched as a glint of mischief crept into their depths "I was coerced into sharing my dessert with you. Trust me, after tonight I won't be so easily convinced to do so again."
He pushed away from the wall, stepping close enough so that very little space separated them "Seems to me you like to be convinced of a lot of things." He reached out running a finger along the exposed skin along her collarbone "and right now I'm up 2 for 2. "
She held his gaze a moment longer taking a pointed drink from his bottle before handing it back to him. "Not to worry, I can think of a few places that my mouths been" her gaze dropped to his crotch before meeting his a dark brow raising in question.
"Your shot!" A deep voice boomed from behind them shattering the moment that laid between them.
He took the bottle back, a ghost of smile playing at his lips as once more he took his post leaning against the wall to watch her play. Laughing she turned back to the two men, playing but not before muttering "Don't worry cowboy, when I take your money tonight it'll be more than worth it."
"It had better be." He grumbled watching as once more she went to work clearing all the stripped balls from the table before starting on the solids. She was a good pool player, smart with her shots, never hitting the ball to hard but placing just the right amount power into each strike. She was good, damn good but he was better. The last time they'd played he'd let her out of her bet, tonight he he'd hold her to it and then some.
"And that gentlemen is the game." The sound of Mac's voice pulled him from his thoughts as she sunk her last ball on the pool table. She wrapped her hand around her pool stick a satisfied smile on her lips as she gazed at her two opponents. T
"Let's see that was 16 balls at $20 dollars apiece, double or nothing Gentlemen that will be $640"
"Either you're that damn good or you're that damn lucky." The shortest of the men admonished a grim look on his face as he slapped several twenties into her outstretched palm.
"Not so fast Mike." The taller of the two men said, clapping a hand on his friends shoulder.
"I think this broad hustled us." He said stepping closer to Mac, Closer then Logan would have liked. He didn't move, forcing himself to stay seated and watch things unfold.
"I hustled you?" Mac questioned her hands resting on her hips "If anything you two tried to hustle me and in the process got your asses handed to you. Now, I think you heard me the first time, that'll be $640."
"Or we could just say screw you bitch and walk right on outta here." The taller man said again.
Logan felt himself bristle, he was all for Mac handling the situation but his mood from earlier was slowly returning the more the man opened his mouth.
"You could," Mac countered keeping her tone neutral, "but you won't be leaving here with my money."
"Jax, let's just pay her and go." Mike said to his friend, trying and failing at flashing Mac an apologetic smile.
"I'm not paying this bitch anything, she hustled us and for that I think you outta pay us the full amount."
He watched as Mac tossed back her head, laughing the sound bitter "From the looks of it Mike." She said her gaze dropping to the shorter man "I think you'd better talk some sense into your friend. I'm not paying you any money and if you keep calling me out of my name, your gonna have bigger problem than me just wanting my money."
"Like what Bitch?"
He drained, his beer pushing to his feet and crossing the few feet between him and Mac. He'd heard enough "Problem?" he questioned coming to stand a few feet behind her, his gaze flickering between the two men. Mac cast him a cool glance over her shoulder, her expression reading that she had it under control, but he didn't give two shits about what she had or didn't have under control he'd heard more than enough.
"How bout you mind your damn business." Jax said, his gaze still trained on Mac's face.
"See that's just it." Logan said, his hands lightly running over his knuckles "she is my business and where I'm from you speak to women with respect."
Jax laughed the sound bitter "Respect, why the hell would I respect a lying cheating bi-"
SKIT
Without even thinking his claws emerged "Call her that again and I promise I'll slice you into more piece than you can count." The words came out as snarl, his temper flaring.
"Your one of them …." Mike muttered, the words coming out in a whisper as his gaze darted between them, a panicked expression on his face.
"Them?" Mac repeated
"Them Mutants" Jax said managing to keep a straight face, despite the quickening of his heart beat, that Logan could hear pounding in his ears.
"No, I'm not. "Logan countered "I'm your worst freaking night mare" SKIT, the claws on his other hand emerged "and trust me bub, I'm way worse than you could imagine." He growled.
"Look we don't want any trouble. "Mike stammered reaching for his wallet and emptying the contents onto the nearest pool table.
"Then I suggest you pay the lady and get your ass out of my bar."
Logan turned, at the sound of Tony's voice, a smile almost piercing his lips at the sight of "Luther "in his friend's hands. "You owe the lady an apology." Logan growled watching a Jax reached for his wallet "You gotta be freaking-"
"You heard him." Tony Snapped his voice laced with venom and "from the looks of it, you want to make it quick. My wife's' aim isn't too good these and she's bound to hit something important." He nodded in the direction of the bar, Val, was seated over the top of the bar Lucy in both hands, her aim concentrated on the man's crotch. "Shit,"Jax breathed "Sorry. "He mumbled tossing a stack of bills onto the table and pushing Mike ahead of him as they made a beeline towards the door.
SKIT. He retracted his claws, giving Tony an appreciative nod "Thanks for the backup, not that I needed it."
"You may not have, but the twenty grand 'm not spending on repairs sure as hell did" Tony countered clapping him on the back before heading towards the door to speak with the bouncers.
He brought his beer to his lips, taking a long drink, his eyes on the two men's retreating forms. Part of him, wanted them to come back, Tony was right he was on edge and smashing his fist into one of their jaws may have taken the edge off, or at the very least dulled it.
" I had it under control" The sound of Mac's voice, had his gaze flickering to her face , a brow raising at the obvious irritation that he found etched in her features.
He shrugged, once more leaning against the wall his gaze following the two men's retreating forms as the bouncers helped them find their way to the exit. "Back up ain't a bad thing darlin'" he said slowly his attention once more focused on the woman in front of him. She brought his beer to his lips "Way I see it, you should be thanking me for bringing in the needed muscle."
"You want me to thank you for a pissing contest on my behalf?"
"Graciousness, never hurt anybody."
She laughed the sound bitter "you're just happy you won your version of a pissing contest."
"If I'd won there be a lot of broken shit laying around and seeing as there aint anything broken. I'd say it was an even draw." He responded dryly, not to mention Tony would have been raising all sorts of hell at the damage he would have done. The slow ebb of his blood was still on high at the filth that had come tumbling out of those men's mouths, it had taken every bit of his restraint not to slam one of them through table at the first insult.
Mac was silent a moment , making her way to the pool table reaching into the pockets to retrieve the sunk balls before she started re racking them for another game.
"Maybe in your book it was an even draw," her gaze moved to his briefly before once more moving away "or maybe it was you choosing to pick a fight with anyone and everyone tonight because someone said something that pissed you off." She'd kept her tone light, but the weight of her words hung between them thick and heavy.
She'd kept her distance most of the night giving him space, not addressing the confrontation either one of them had, had with Jean prior to coming. He'd thought she'd leave it alone, clearly he'd been wrong.
"Is that what you think I am? "He questioned "Pissed off?" He crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze narrowing on her face.
"Aren't you?"
"No." The word was sent between clenched teeth, he wasn't pissed, he was far from pissed, further from annoyed. "This is ain't pissed "he took a deep breath trying and failing at pushing away surge of anger that rippled through him.
"Then what is it?"
"Rage, "he answered his voice hardly above a whisper "that's all consuming, but for the moment contained." He rolled his neck, trying and failing at loosening the tension that had set in there.
Mac said nothing for a moment, her eyes assessing him quietly before she shrugged slipping her hands into the back pockets of her shorts
"I didn't realize she still had that much power over you"
He almost choked on his beer at her words "What'd you just-"
"You heard me."
His grip tightened on his beer bottle. "Do yourself a favor and don't comment on things you don't know shit about."
She pinned him with a matter of fact look "Trust me when I say I know what the stench of this shit smells like. " She snapped "You've been preaching to me for months on how Jean isn't a factor and five minutes alone with her and you're ready to lose your shit over it."
"Let me make this explicitly clear." He all but growled the words, as he closed the distance between them.
"No one has power over me, someone tried once and turned me into-"SKIT. His claws erupted from his hands, flashing beneath her nose. She didn't even flinch, her gaze was unwavering as she watched him, regret at her words flashing through her eyes.
"I didn't mean to-"She said quickly, the apology already on her lips to be issued.
"The hell you didn't" he snapped. Christ he was more worked up than he thought he was. Jean's words leaving there mark in places they had no business going. Tonight had nothing to do with his past, not even a little bit and if he let that part of him coming rising to the surface he would be handing over a sizeable check to Tony to cover the damages.
"What has me ready to lose my shit has nothing to do with Jean. " If he were honest with himself, he'd admit that his anger over everything that had happened had never been about Jean choosing Scott or Jean walking away from him. It had been about him making a decision that he knew he shouldn't of. It had been his own anger at himself for not following his gut.
"Then what?"
"It's never been about Jean." He stated his voice harsher than he'd interned "It's about me, you….us" He watched her eyes widen at his words, a range of emotions flashing through her eyes as the weight of his words hit home.
"There is no us."
"No, then what have we been doing for the last few months?" He was asking the questions of himself as much as he was asking the question of her. For months they had been building something, the candid late night talks, the light hearted moments they shared, the flirting it had all led them here.
"We agreed that we would just be friends"
"No." He shook his head "You wanted that and I went along with it but we were never in agreement. You asked why I'm so angry, I'm angry because I didn't follow my gut not with Jean and not with you."
.
He watched as slowly she realized where he was taking the conversation, watched the familiar veil fall over her eyes as she stuffed everything back behind the wall she'd erected around herself. A wall that he'd learned to respect in the months that he'd gotten to know her. Right now he didn't want to respect it, he wanted to test it.
"Wolv-"
"Logan." He interrupted "my name is Logan. " He hesitated a moment before adding "It bothers you, doesn't it?"
"What?"
"Calling me that." He answered forcing himself to keep his voice neutral, all the while gauging the slow shifts in current around him. She didn't like the where the conversation, her body language screamed it but now her powers where too… he could back off, but backing off wasn't what he wanted. Tony had been right, he'd brought her here to the underground into his world, to the people he considered family and there was a reason he'd done that.
"Why should it?" She questioned, her arms crossing over her chest. "It's your name."
"Yea, it is." He said slowly "but using it, that scares you." He took a step closer to her. ""Wolverine is the beast, the feral animal out on missions, but Logan…"
He trailed off his eyes searching hers "Logan's the man behind the mask. He's the man that will sit in a med lab for days because the woman in the bed matters to him. " He took a step forward watching as she took one backwards trying to keep the distance between them
"I didn't ask you to do that."
He watched as she sucked in a deep breath, her chest rising slightly as her gaze roamed his face, her eyes darkening to nearly purple as she fought some deep internal war within herself. He didn't need to hear the varying frequencies in his ear to know that inside she was fighting some battle inside of herself, he could see it in the shallow breaths she took, in the flashes of vulnerability that slipped through the well erected wall she had built for herself.
"Didn't have to. I wanted to and that what scares me. I think it scare you too. Maybe that's why we both keep running from whatever this is"
"There's nothing-"
"Don't "his voice was harsh "You can't deny there isn't something there Mac. I feel it. You feel it and everyone else sees it. "
She angled her head to look at him "I could care less about what others see Logan, and I've made it clear that all I want is friendship. Why can't you accept that?"
"It would be easier to accept if I thought that's what you really wanted. I don't think it is. "He raked a hand through his hair." We're friends Mac, but we're more than that. Your only reason for not taking things where they were already headed just got smashed to hell tonight. Way I see it, there nothing else stopping you but you."
"You think you've got me figured out huh?" She questioned regarding him from beneath her lashes.
He shook his head, "Not even close." He stepped closer purposely invading her personal space, the smell of brown sugar and coconut assaulting his senses at having her so close.
"I'm not afraid of you or whatever it is you think is happening between us."
"No? "He rose a brow at the challenge he could hear in her voice. "Then prove it."
Before he had time to change his mind he was closing the distance between them. He reached out his index finger lightly trailing over the smooth skin of her jaw, before dipping lower to lift her chin. He watched her eyes darken to near molten before slowly, he closed the short distance between them his mouth settling overs her.
His kiss was anything but aggressive, it was slow and sensual in a kiss they'd been dancing around for months. He took his time his tongue lightly tracing the fullness of her lips, silently asking for permission to enter. Slowly she granted him access, her fingers digging into the hard planes of his chest as inch by inch her mouth opened her tongue gradually mingling with his own. She tasted of something sweet and spicy, something that tempted you and comforted you all at the same time. He reached between them, untangling her fingers from the fabric of his shirt and slowly snacked them over his neck so that she could fit more comfortably against him.
Her soft moan of pleasure had him wrapping his arms more securely around her, his hands journeying up her back, lightly caressing the gentle planes of angles before slipping around to wind into the thick tresses of her hair holding her in place as he changed the angle of the kiss.
He nibbled at her lips, gently biting before drawing it into his mouth to kiss away the hurt. Another of her soft moans reached his ears as she kissed him back, changing the tempo of the kiss from slow and sensual to hungry and demanding. The hand in her hair tightened, giving a small tug to angle her how he wanted to deepen the kiss yet again, his tongue plundering the crevices of her mouth, as another of her soft moans rolled through them. He wanted more of this, more of the woman in his arms coming undone in the same way he was.
"Get a room!" A deep voice echoed in the background, he felt Mac tense in his arms and the next instant she was pulling away. He watched as slowly her eyes opened, a hand lifting to her lips as if in disbelief before slowly she took another step away from him. Her gaze collided with his and he froze swallowing hard at the unsettled emotions he saw swimming her eyes. He had seen a wide range of emotion from Mac before, but this…
"Mac." He reached for her, she flinched shying away from his touch. Slowly backing away from him before turning and stalking out of the bar. Fuck.
He didn't need to turn his head to know that they'd had an audience, he could all but feel Tony and Val's eyes trained on him. Never in all the years they'd known him, had he ever displayed any sort of public affection to any woman he'd taken home and then had his way with.
Annoyed he stalked to the bar, reaching over the bar to grab the keys to his bike. "Not a word "He growled as Val opened her mouth to say something. She shut it raising her hand and making a locking motion. He turned nearly running into Tony "Not a word from you either." He snapped, ducking past him and heading towards the parking lot. He had a feeling that kiss may have done more harm than good
