Flag on the Play

Part III

A/N: Gads...I feel like I'm forgetting something...

Well, thank you all so much for the reviews! I'm going to respond in the next few days on my profile page. But for now I'll just say thank you all again! Sorry it has taken so long. I know I said I'd have this wrapped up by Super Bowl...eer...I didn't say which one. lol Anyway, it seems that this story is going to be a bit longer than initially anticipated.

On to it...No Beta. Sorry for any mistakes (like Anna-Marie having actually having brown hair. In my head she has red hair and I can't seem to break that image).

Logan watched the woman that had blew his mind and blew him off in the matter of minutes walk away. He wasn't used to that. Most women fell all over him at any given opportunity. What's this chick's problem?

"Hey!" he yelled after her. She kept walking down the darkened street…didn't even pause. "Hey!" he yelled again and began a slow jog behind her. "What's your problem?" he asked once he caught up with her.

"I don't have a problem," she said her eyes staring straight ahead. "I was just stating facts. I do not answer to nicknames, pet names, or epithets. My mother named me Ororo and that is how I will be addressed. Furthermore, I am not a piece of meat. I don't workout and eat healthy for the benefit of others but for myself. Your boorish admiration is absolutely not appreciated."

"Look, darlin'…," he started then quickly stopped himself. "What's yer name again?"

Ororo stopped with a huff turning towards him. "It's Ororo," she said as she bent and removed the too high heels off her feet as carefully as she could so the tiny dress wouldn't ride up her thighs. The shoes were a half a size too small and killing her. "Ororo," she repeated as she stood looking at Logan.

"O-ro-ro," he tried.

"No. You're not rowing a boat," she said with more than a tad of annoyance in her voice. "Ororo," she repeated, emphasizing the smoothness of the enunciation.

"'Roro?"

She shook her head in defeat. "Close enough."

"Look 'Roro, I think we got off on the wrong foot. Name's Logan," he said as he stuck his hand out.

Ororo looked down at it skeptically before taking it. "Nice to meet you, Logan."

"Now what?"

"Now nothing. We get food. Let our friends get to know each other then we part ways, never to see each other again," she said matter of factly.

"So…I'm not getting laid tonight?"

Ororo scoffed, snatching her hand away and began walking again at an even quicker clip than she was before. The diner was just a few yards away. With any luck he'd be hit by a bus before they reached it.

"Joke! I was just joking!" Logan said as he caught up with her again.

"Your jokes suck," Ororo snapped as she stopped at the entrance of the diner and waited for Logan to open the door for her.

"Well," Logan said as he reached for the door, "I'm a football player…not a comedian."

"Same thing," she said as she hurried past him.

Logan sniffed the air as she passed. Not by choice. It was an involuntary reaction to the breeze she'd conjured. Besides the scent of the pending rain in the air there was a myriad of other scents: perfume…lotion…hair product. He didn't like any of them. Not that she smelled bad. He just preferred the natural scent of a woman. Logan shook his head. She had to be like all the over dolled up others.

She was easy on the eyes but she wasn't easy on his ego. Was this a part of her trickery? If it were, he'd be an idiot to admit it was kind of turning him on. No one's this much of a bitch to someone they've never met before.

This had to be a game. He'd been fooled before. Raven had played him like a fiddle and he wasn't going to let it happen again. This chick was toying with him. She was playing at not being interested but she had to be. They were in the Deep South and it was unseasonably warm but it was still January. No one goes out in a dress that short and heels that high if they weren't looking for a good time. He'd play and he'd win.

Logan followed behind, watching the sway of her hips as he tried to figure out exactly how he was going to run the play. She's trying to manipulate me. I'm supposed to think she's different from all the other groupies and pursue her. She'll reluctantly give in and I'm supposed to call her in the morning.

Ororo slid into one of the empty booths nearest the entrance. Her friends apparently wanted some privacy with their dates. Jean and Scott had settled on one side of the diner and Anna-Marie and Remy on the other. She chose a booth in the middle. She needed to keep an eye on them. There was no way they were going to ditch her with this Neanderthal.

Logan slid into the booth across from her. He'd finally get a chance to see her face in the light. Unfortunately his view was blocked by an enormous menu. He could only see the top of her white head. What is that all about? "Ya know what yer gonna get?" he asked.

Nothing.

Logan sighed and waved the waitress over. "Hello, sweetness," he said with a little extra sweetness in his gruff voice. "How's your shift going?"

"Hey, Logan! You guys made me proud again today!" she said as she beamed at him.

"Yeah, we played pretty good. Hopefully we got it in us to take it all the way again this year."

"Not a doubt in my mind," she said before hooting an enthusiastic, "Who Dat?"

Ororo peaked at the waitress from behind her menu. She was surprised to see the wrinkles lining the woman's face. Her voice was youthful and full of spirit as were her hazel eyes. The nameplate attached to her shirt read, "Abby."

Ororo's subtle movement caught the woman's attention. "You on a date too, Logan?" she asked curiously as she nodded in Remy and Scott's general directions.

Ororo's snort was low but Logan heard it. "Not exactly, but I'll buy her some food," then gestured towards Ororo.

"What can I get for you, hun?" Abby asked.

What's with southerners and their need to use endearments for everyone? Ororo lowered the menu placing it on the tabletop and smiled up at the older woman.

My God. If Logan was a lesser man he was sure he'd be panting. His nostrils flared a bit and he unconsciously bared his teeth. She was a beautiful piece of flesh and he'd love to have a taste. He watched her full tinted lips move with predatory eyes.

"I'd like some green tea with honey and a glass of ice water with lemon please," Ororo ordered.

It was Logan's turn to snort. He'd made the sound to mostly break the spell that he'd slipped into. It worked and earned him a glare before Ororo turned her attention back to Abby who'd began speaking, "Sorry, sweetheart, we only have regular Lipton tea begs."

"That will be fine. Thank you very much."

"What about you, Logan? The usual?"

"You know me so well, Abby. Why can't I convince you to leave Jack and run away with me?" Logan asked.

"Cause I'm crazy. Who else besides me is going to cook those nasty swamp rats he keeps bringing home?" she said as she walked away.

Logan's chuckle at Abby's words increased when he saw the mortified look on Ororo's face. "Funny thing is…she's not kidding. He loves them."

"Bleh," she responded as she leaned back into the booth and stared at the man in front of her. She decided that he wasn't bad looking despite his height. His hair was a mess; he needed to shave and his skin looked like it had seen a bit too much sun but that only made him ruggedly handsome.

Ororo didn't usually go for the rugged type. She'd usually only dated pretty boys…pretty boys and smooth talkers. Tall ones. Jerks…

"So, you girls just out for a good time?" Logan asked trying to make conversation and get information.

"We're not girls," Ororo replied coolly.

Logan rolled his eyes. Something he didn't think he'd ever done before. "Well, you answered that question. They were. You weren't."

"Very observant of you," she snarked.

"Are you always this much of a bitch?" Thunder groaned somewhere in the distance.

Ororo opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by Abby placing her tea and water in front of her. Instead she smiled and thanked the waitress.

"Logan, she's a pretty one. Where'd you find her?" Abby asked.

"Yeah…I'm one lucky son of a gun," Logan said dryly as he took his glass of orange juice.

"Aw…that's sweet," she smiled. "Your order'll be up in a few," she said to Logan before looking back to Ororo. "Hun, you sure you don't want something to eat?"

"I'm sure. Thank you."

Abby nodded and left.

"You can be nice. Just not to me apparently," Logan said.

Ororo almost felt bad. She had been rude to him but he deserved it. "You're a jerk. I know you're used to women throwing themselves at you but all of us aren't trying to get knocked up by rich meatheads like you."

Logan's brows rose as he listened to her. Now they were getting somewhere and if he went along with it he might have an opportunity to climb between those thighs of hers. Still…he just wanted to see how far he could push her. "So what kind of rich meathead are you trying to get knocked up by? A doctor? A lawyer? A former president?"

Ororo shook her head as she opened the packets of sugar. "Can you not talk?"

"Nope," he said. "Is this your way of saying that you don't have any "baby daddies" out there?"

"That's it!" she slid from the booth and stood. "You're an asshole and I'm leaving." Ororo made her way towards the door. She glanced towards her friends and was somewhat relieved to find they were engrossed in the men they were with. She didn't need them begging her to stay or trying to convince her they'd make it up to her somehow.

As soon as she'd stepped out of the door onto the damp pavement she realized two things…it was sprinkling rain and she'd forgotten her shoes. Actually Emma's twelve hundred dollar Jimmy Choo's. Ororo looked over her shoulder and saw Logan sipping on his drink with a smug look on his face. He knew she'd forgotten the shoes and she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of going back in to retrieve them. He was an egotistical buffoon but he'd let Emma know the shoes were there. And if he didn't tell her it would be payback for such a craptacular weekend.

Logan watched Ororo turn and walk back towards the club. She was up to one of two things…she either really was a bitch, willing to walk in the rain in her bare feet just to get away from him or she'd left the shoes on purpose so he'd come after her.

He sat for a couple of minutes contemplating his next move. If he doesn't follow her he's guaranteed not to get laid. Bitch or not…she was still a hot piece of ass.

He fished out a twenty from his wallet and threw it on the table. Hell, he didn't have anything better to do.

He stood and took a look around the diner. Abby was busy somewhere in the stock room and Remy and Scott wouldn't notice if the building was on fire.

He walked out the door wondering if she would actually be gone but just as he thought…she hadn't gone far. She hadn't even made it two blocks. Logan sighed a bit to himself. I guess the game is over. Thought she'd play a bit harder.

Ororo sat on a small ledge of a shop display window not bothering to hold back the tears that streamed from the corners of her blue eyes.

"Thought you'd get farther than this," he said as he dangled the heels in front of her.

Ororo looked up and into a smug express of a cocksure bastard. "Go to hell," she said through clenched teeth.

This woman was full of surprises and her tears were something he hadn't expected. He hated to see women cry…even bitchy ones. He'd immediately felt guilty about the things he said back in the restaurant. "Look, 'Roro, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt yer feelings back there."

"You didn't hurt my feelings, you egotistical idiot," she snapped. "If you'd take a moment to realize the world doesn't revolve around you, you'd see the blood gushing from my foot."

"Oh, geesh," Logan groaned when he looked down and saw the bloody foot she was nursing and the bloody shard of glass laying on the ground. "Whatda'ya want me to do?"

"Shut up and do nothing. This is all your fault," she said as she stood and began to hobble, being careful to try to keep the pressure on her toes and not the cut.

"My fault?" he asked as he stayed next to her, his arms outstretched on either side of her just incase she need to lean against him. She ignored the gesture. "Yer the one that ran out with no shoes on…in the rain, no less!"

As soon as the words left his mouth it was if the sky opened. Pelts of rain fell thick and heavy. "Aw, hell," he cursed and picked her in an effortless swoop and began walking towards his car.

"Put me down!"

"Stop yer squirming," he said ignoring her protest. Logan needed to concentrate on getting to his car. His knees were killing him with her extra weight. "Jesus, woman…how much do you weigh?"

"I am not fat!"

"Didn't say you were fat," he glanced at her. "But yer heavy as hell."

"Well, if you'd put me down…"

"Hush. There's my car."

"Your car?"

"Well, you can get your foot cleaned and wrapped or you can bleed on the sidewalk."

"I'll bleed."

"Too bad,"