Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 7 – Game On

Rory stared back at him completely bewildered. "Game on? Did he actually just say that?" she asked herself. She looked at him intently, carefully studying the expression on his face. He was serious. Or drunk. Either way she wasn't sure how to react. "Game on? What does that even mean?"

The group headed back to the table and Logan made sure to put as much distance as possible between himself and the pesky blonds. The two looked pleased when he pulled out both of their chairs. However, their smiles quickly became frowns when Logan seated himself on the opposite side of the large table. Those frowns became scowls when he insisted that Rory sit in the seat closest to him, "Sit here, Ace. I want to hear all about London."

Rory was having fun, more fun than she'd had since... She didn't want to think about London…more particularly anyone that London reminded her of. She felt happier than she had in a long time and she didn't want to ruin that. Gladly taking the seat next to Logan, she tried to direct the conversation away from London. "London? There's not much to tell. Let's see…school, studying, internship, studying, school paper, studying, lots of homework, studying, studying…..oh and studying."

Kevin, Logan, Colin and Finn laughed. The rest of table smiled politely, eager to get the conversation off Rory. All of the other girls there were beyond annoyed that Rory was the center of attention.

"So did you study a lot?" asked Colin smiling.

"Some," she replied smiling back at him.

"Well you don't get to be valedictorian by not studying," said Kevin, his eyes brimming with pride as he smiled at his sister.

"Valedictorian? Wow, Ace! Impressive, but then again I'm not surprised."

"Why?" snapped one of the blonds. She was literally seething with envy.

Logan only glanced at her briefly before returning his gaze to Rory. "Ace here is as smart as they come. Absolutely brilliant. She'll put us all to shame when she starts at Yale."

Rory smiled and nervously bit her lip at his compliment. He was trying to make her blush again and she was not going to let it happen. He wanted to play? Well game on. "Thanks, Logan," she said calmly as her hand made contact with his knee under the table. She felt him tense momentarily but he managed to keep his face from visibly reacting. "So, how were your finals, Kevin?" she asked turning her attention to her brother while she continued to move her hand which was now gently massaging his thigh.

Logan tried to keep his breathing even. "Her hand is on my thigh. Holy shit! She's talking to her brother and her hand is on my thigh. Try to relax." Logan could feel himself getting hard. This was not good. "Relax. Relax. Relax. Don't give anything away. That will only make this worse. How could this be worse? Well…her hand could NOT be on my thigh. Yeah, that would definitely be worse." That thought made Logan smile to himself. She was listening to her brother go on about his classes and seemed to be paying attention. Leaning in he whispered in her ear, "What do you think you're doing, Ace? Are you trying to kill me?"

Rory responded by moving her hand further up is thigh and slightly inward. She chuckled lightly when he inhaled sharply. Turning to face him, she innocently asked, "Are you ok, Logan?"

Giving her a pointed stare, he smiled and in a somewhat strained voice replied, "Fine, Ace. I'm great actually." With that he turned his attention to Kevin. "So, Kevin, what are we doing for your birthday next week?" he asked as his hand lightly brushed the surface of her thigh. The hand she had on him stopped moving for a second, surprised at his action, before proceeding with even greater fervor. Her hand was now only inches away from his hardening cock, and Logan was finding it more and more difficult to remain composed. As Kevin, Colin, and Finn discussed possible birthday plans, Logan tried to ignore the sensations Rory was causing and let his own hand explore the bare skin of her left thigh. Sending a silent prayer of thanks that she had decided to wear a skirt tonight, he began caressing her soft skin. At that point he wasn't sure who was more affected. Having his hand on her leg was turning him on even more. Her skin was as smooth and perfect as he imagined it would be. Logan wondered how high she'd let his hand wander before she stopped him. He smiled when she reached for her drink and poured the entire contents of the glass down her throat.

"Can I get you a refill?" asked a new voice.

Looking up, Logan saw it was one of the guys from earlier, Brandon. Rory gave him a questioning look. Distracted from the action underneath the table, she wasn't quite sure the new face was actually addressing her.

"I'm Brandon," he said.

Ok yeah, he was definitely talking to her. "Nice to meet you," she smiled politely. "I'm Rory."

"Rory. That's pretty."

Logan wanted to laugh but masked it with a cough. "Was this guy kidding? 'That's pretty?' How lame are you, Brandon?" Brandon was actually a friend of his. The two had several classes together and Brandon, like many of the guests, was a member of the Life and Death Brigade. Logan always thought he was a pretty good guy…until now. Right now he hated him.

Rory smiled and thanked Brandon for the compliment while giving Logan's thigh a playful squeeze. "I appreciate the offer," she answered referring to his offer to refill her drink, "but I think I've had enough for tonight."

Not looking at all discouraged, Brandon continued, "Well how about a dance then?"

"Not right now," she answered giving him a friendly smile. "I think Finn wore me out earlier. I still haven't completely recovered."

"It happens a lot, love," piped in Finn. "I am a remarkable dancer and my stamina is legendary," he declared.

"Oh come on, one dance?" he pleaded.

"I don't think so."

"Come on. The night's young, what's one little dance? One quick dance?"

Logan was getting more annoyed by the second. Couldn't he see she wasn't interested? He was about to intervene, but Kevin spoke first.

"Hey, Rory, can you get me another drink?" he asked.

"What?"

"And ask Steve to send over another pitcher for Finn." Kevin gave her a meaningful look letting her know she shouldn't question what he was asking her to do.

Understanding, Rory nodded at her brother and reluctantly removed her hand from Logan. "Sure," she said picking up his glass as she stood. "I'll be right back." Rory made eye contact with Logan who smiled reassuringly at her before she walked away. Brandon was about to follow her to the bar but was stopped by Kevin's voice.

"Stick around, Brandon," he ordered.

Turning back to face Kevin, he asked, "What's up, Hayden?"

Kevin didn't answer him, but instead looked over at the table of guys where Brandon was sitting. "Hey, guys, come over here." When the four other guys occupying that table were gathered, Kevin sat up straight and spoke. "I just wanted to make one thing clear. That girl over there," he pointed at Rory, who was having a lively conversation with Steve, "is my little sister Rory. I'm sure you've all noticed her by now. In fact, don't even try to deny it because I've been watching you notice her all night." Speaking slowly, he continued, "Just so we're clear. She is…totally…completely…and utterly…off limits…to all of you. Do you understand?" he asked addressing all of them, but giving Brandon a harsh look.

The boys nodded in agreement. Kevin was usually such a nice guy. They had never seen him look quite so menacing, but hey, she was sister and while they didn't like the fact that none of them could pursue the gorgeous brunette, they really couldn't blame him for being protective. Not to mention the fact that by now, news of both Logan and Colin punching Robert because of her had already made its way through the party. The new girl was beautiful, but she wasn't worth angering four of Yale's most power students.

"Good," said Kevin. "Do me a favor and spread that around."

The group of guys headed back to their table as Rory approached with Kevin's drink. "Here you go," she said placing the tumbler in front of him. "Steve will be around soon with your pitcher, Finn."

"Thanks, love."

Returning to her seat next to Logan, Rory leaned against him and whispered, "What'd I miss?"

Finding her hand under the table, Logan laced their fingers before answering. "Well your brother basically scared poor Brandon away…along with every other guy that may have hit on you tonight."

"Really?"

"Yup…looks like you're stuck with me for the night, Ace." He squeezed her hand and was surprised at good it felt. Having his hand on her thigh was fun, not to mention a huge turn on, but having her hand in his felt even better. Somehow it felt more intimate.

"Poor me," she whispered with a smile.

Kevin and Finn were engaged in conversations with their chosen bedmates of the evening. That, combined with the amount of alcohol both had already consumed, may have made them oblivious to the fact that Logan was currently ignoring his two blonds in favor of Rory, but Colin noticed. He also noticed the subtle glances Logan and Rory had been giving each other since they returned from their dance. An ugly thought crossed his mind that he was trying desperately to rationalize away. "Logan's not stupid. He would never go after Rory. She's practically our sister…except she's not. He can't be interested in her. There's no way he's interested in her. But why is he sitting so close to her? Well I guess it is pretty loud in here. And if they're talking, he'd have to get pretty close to her. But why is he looking at her like that? And I know that look. Oh shit! Logan! Shit! Shit! Shit!" Colin finished his drink in one long gulp. "I must be hallucinating. I have to be hallucinating. Please God let me be hallucinating." It was then that he noticed a small smile that Rory granted him as she whispered something to him. Then it hit him. "Holy Shit! Why is she looking at him like that? This is not good. This is not good. This is beyond bad. This can only end in disaster. I need more alcohol."

"What are you two whispering about?" asked Colin trying to interrupt whatever it was that may have been going on between them, which hopefully was nothing but an innocent conversation.

Logan and Rory turned their attention away from each other and faced the group. "Logan was just filling me in on the friendly chat Kevin had with Brandon and some of the other boys at this party. Thanks a lot," Rory said sarcastically. Although she was very happy he had done it, she was not going to let him know that. Plus, if she played this right, she may be able to score some alone time with Logan.

"Rory…"

"Don't start, Kevin. I appreciate the concern, but for future reference, I can take care of myself. If there's a problem, I'll let you know. But from now on, unless I ask, please don't get involved."

"Fair enough," he relented, not in the mood to argue with her or explain why he had to do what he did.

"I need some air," she announced to the group. Downing what was left of Logan's drink, hoping he would get the message, Rory turned to Kevin and said, "I'll be back, Kevin. I'm just gonna go outside for a minute." Without waiting for a response she turned and headed for the exit.

Logan wasn't expecting her to take off. He missed the physical contact already and was very eager to pick up where they had left off. As he watched Rory's retreating back, he suddenly realized she wanted him to follow her. After all, they could hardly continue with whatever it was they were doing in front of Kevin, Colin and Finn, not to mention the brigade of bimbos following them around. Logan turned to face Kevin, who was also watching Rory, a look of concern on his face. "I'll keep an eye on her," said Logan to Kevin.

"Thanks, man," said Kevin with relief. He didn't want Rory wandering around by herself at this party and having Logan around to look after her was comforting. He handed Logan Rory's jacket as he said, "I'd go myself, but she'd just get mad and accuse me of hovering."

Taking the jacket, Logan smiled and said to Kevin, "Happy to hover for you." He heard a slight chuckle as a smirking Steve arrived with Finn's pitcher. "Shut-up," he snapped with a smirk of his own as he left to find Rory. Last he saw, she was headed in the direction of one of the exits, the one that led to the back alley.

Meanwhile, Colin sat back and watched Logan follow Rory away from the table. He wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but there was obviously some attraction between the two. And it seems no one noticed but him. "This wouldn't have happened if I'd been as drunk as Kevin and Finn. I wouldn't have noticed either. But I did and now what am I going to do? Nothing. I'm going to do nothing. I am staying out of this. They're both adults. And hey…I could be wrong. It could be nothing. I need a drink."

"Let's go to the bar, Finn," said Colin. "I'm not nearly drunk enough. I need more alcohol."

Finn turned to him looking confused. "I'm sorry, mate, have we met?"

Logan made his way through the pub grateful for the alcohol induced buzz he was feeling. Had he been more sober, he would have felt a tiny bit guilty about letting Kevin believe he was following Rory to keep an eye on her. When really what he wanted to do was have his hands, not to mention his mouth, on every inch of her body. Finally making his way to the back exit, he ran a hand trough his hair and took a deep breath before pushing the door open. Rory was leaning against the wall and looking right at him, as if she knew it would be him, as if she was expecting him.

"Hi," she said smiling at him.

Logan walked up to her and braced the hand holding her jacket against the wall behind her. She looked up at him and wrapped her arms around his waist pulling him closer to her. There faces were now only inches apart. "Hi'" he said back not breaking eye contact.

Rory continued to look up at him. She could feel the warmth of his body though his clothes. As if they had a mind of her own, her hands untucked his shirt and made contact with the skin on his back. She let her hands explore his smooth, toned back, all the while not looking away from his eyes. She could hear his breathing get heavier and see his eyes darken with lust. "What are we doing?" she asked him.

The question surprised him. What were they doing? "I don't know," he answered truthfully. "But I know I don't want to stop. Whatever this is." His free hand gripped her wrist before moving up her arm. He felt her shiver as his hand traveled past her shoulder, touching her neck, then cupping her face. "Do you want to stop?"

"And let you win," she said with a devilish smirk, "never. Game on remember?"

He grinned and began moving his thumb back and forth across her cheek. "You're so different from how I remember you," he whispered.

It was getting harder and harder to concentrate. A combination of his proximity, the smell of his cologne, that fact that his hand was touching her face, and the three pink cocktails she'd inhaled in the past hour, were making it very difficult to think clearly. "A lot can happen in four years," she said absentmindedly.

"Still though."

"Are you disappointed?" she asked her brow furrowing slightly. "In me? In how I turned out?"

"No," she replied shaking his head. "Not at all. You're…amazing. I always thought you were amazing, Ace. Smart, funny, sweetest girl in the world. But now…I don't know. You just seem a lot more comfortable in your skin," he stated as he continued to stroke that skin. His free hand moved from the wall and despite the fact that he was still holding her jacket, he used that hand to grip her hip and pulled her even closer to him. "That's what's so different about you. You're a lot more…confident. And trust me, Ace, confidence is very sexy."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," he assured her.

"More confident huh? Is that…all that's different about me?" she asked with a pout, her intent clear.

"No," he answered with a chuckle. Her coquettishness was such a turn on. "That's definitely not the only thing different about you. Believe me, Ace. My life would be far less complicated right now if you weren't so beautiful."

Smiling up at him, she asked, "You think I'm beautiful?"

Using the hand on her face, Logan tilted her head up slightly and whispered inches from her lips, "I thought I made that clear earlier, Ace."

Rory nervously bit her lip, a move that shifted Logan's gaze from her eyes to her mouth. "Kiss me," she thought. "Please kiss me. Please, please, please kiss me now."

There were so many reasons why he shouldn't close the gap between their lips, but at that very moment Logan could not remember, nor did he care to remember, any of those reasons. All he could think about was the beautiful, smart, funny girl in his arms. Watching her eyes intently, Logan let his lips lightly brush against hers. It was barely a kiss but it sent a shock through his system. And based on the look on Rory's face, she felt it too. She surprised him by making the next move. Pushing herself up on her toes, she pulled him in for a soft gentle kiss, the kiss she had fantasized about since she was 12 years old. She didn't picture it happening in an alley behind a pub, but it was with Logan. And it was perfect.

Logan's heart pounded in his chest. Who would have thought that one kiss could have that kind of effect on him. Pulling her body flush against his, Logan began kissing her with more passion than he ever felt before…for any girl. He was shocked at the intensity he was feeling. When he felt her tongue lick his lips he nearly lost control. Maneuvering her so her back was against the wall, he dropped her jacket, as his hands began roaming her body.

Bracing herself against the wall, Rory deepened the kiss. His tongue was massaging hers and despite the intensity of the kiss, it was surprisingly gentle and slow. Logan was taking his time. He wanted this kiss to be perfect.

After several minutes of sheer bliss, Logan pulled back, more due to lack of oxygen than actually wanting to end the kiss. He pressed his forehead against hers and the two tried to gain control of their breathing. "Wow, Ace. That was…that was…"

"Perfect?" she offered her eyes still shut.

"Yeah…it was perfect," he whispered, kissing tip of her nose.

"You wanna try it again?" she asked coyly, finally opening her eyes.

"Absolutely," he replied as he crashed his lips against hers. This kiss had all the intensity of the previous one, but was far less gentle. Her hands were still on his back, under his shirt, gripping his bare skin. His hands were everywhere. He wanted to touch every inch of her. The moaned she emitted when his tongue met hers instantly made Logan hard. It was the sexiest sound he'd ever heard.

Minutes passed, but neither one noticed. Rory couldn't believe how her body was reacting to him. Sure it was Logan, and she knew kissing Logan would be amazing, but she didn't expect this. She pushed herself against him, wanting to be as close to his body as humanly possible. She could feel him getting harder and rather than pulling away like she knew she should have (they were in an alley after all) she began moving rhythmically against his crotch. He groaned as she moved against him. His hands slid down to grab her ass, squeezing it gently as he rubbed against her, making sure she felt every inch of him. Rory moaned into his mouth and her hands curled, leaving tiny scratch marks on his back.

"Oh my God, Ace. You are trying to kill me," he whispered huskily against her mouth as he started kissing her again. One of his hands began moving upward making its way under her top, caressing the skin of her back. Just then the gentle sounds of their kisses and moans were broken by the piercing ring of Logan's cell phone.

"Shit," he muttered pulling back from an equally frustrated Rory. Sighing, he pulled his phone out from his pocket. After looking at the caller ID, he flipped it open and in as relaxed a voice as he could muster said, "Hello?"

"Logan." It was Kevin. "Did you find Rory?"

Rory still had her arms wrapped around his waist and was now placing small open mouth kisses on his neck. Resisting the urge to moan as he felt her tongue against his rapidly beating pulse, he answered, "Yeah, Kev, I found her. We're outside…getting some air." "OK, technically I'm not lying. We are outside…and there's air out here. So what if I was making out with your sister. So what if she's sucking on my neck right now. I'm not doing anything wrong. Oh God I'm a horrible person."

"Come back inside. Stacey wants to get going and I want to say bye to Rory before I leave."

"Uh…sure, Kevin. We'll be right there," he said hanging up the phone. As soon as he did, her lips were on his and the two were engaged in another passionate kiss. His brain was telling him to stop, but his body wasn't cooperating. After a few more minutes, he reluctantly tore himself away. "I'm sorry, but we have to stop." She kisses him. "You're brother's getting ready to leave." He kisses her. "He wants to talk to you before he goes. And I promised to…" They kiss each other. "…bring you back inside."

Breathing heavily she agreed, "Ok. Just one more kiss?"

"Absolutely," he replied pulling her in for one more knee weakening kiss. Logan painfully pulled away after a few seconds and gritted his teeth. "Um…ok. We should probably go back inside now."

Rory started straightening her clothes and ran a hand through her hair. "Do I look ok?"

Her hair was in complete disarray, her cheeks were flushed and her lips were swollen. Logan had never seen anyone look so sexy. "You look incredible," he answered running a hand through her hair. "You look like you've just spent the last half hour in a dark alley making out with some hot guy."

"I'm sorry did you just call yourself a 'hot guy'?" she asked immediately lightening the mood.

Logan chuckled and began straightening his own clothes. He tucked his shirt back in and ran a hand through his already tousled hair. "What would you call me?" he asked with a smirk.

God she missed that smirk. "Hot? Maybe. Conceited? Definitely." Laughing at the look on his face, she picked her jacket up off the ground, and pulled her lip gloss out of the pocket.

"Conceited? Come on, Ace. That's not nice."

"But it's true," she replied dryly. "You're way too cocky, Logan?

Pulling her close he whispered, "Just a couple of minutes ago you were enjoying that cockiness, Ace…every inch of it."

Blushing furiously, Rory playfully pushed him away, but not before giving him a sexy smile of her own. After re-applying her lip gloss and putting her jacket on, she definitely looked more presentable. "Better?"

She was glowing. "You look gorgeous, Ace," he told her tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Thank you," she said smiling before bracing her hands on his chest and placing a soft kiss on his lips. "That was the last one I promise."

"Please don't make that promise," he begged. There was no way this was over. He had to kiss her again…and soon.

She smiled brightly, understanding his meaning. "That was the last one for right now," she corrected.

"Much better," he said with a smirk. With his hand on the small of her back, Logan opened the door and led her back to the table and her waiting brother.

"Finally," said Kevin getting out of his seat. "I called you ten minutes ago. What the hell took so long?"

Logan suddenly came crashing back to reality. Rory may be amazingly smart, funny and beautiful, not to mention painfully sexy, but she was still Kevin's sister…his best friend's little sister. He suddenly started to feel guilty…about his feelings for her…and about what he was just doing to her. If there was an official best friend rule book, Logan was sure going after your best friend's little sister would be a 'Don't.'

"I was feeling a little nauseous," she lied. "But the fresh air helped. Logan thought we should stay outside until the dizziness went away."

"Oh," he said looking concerned, thinking it was the alcohol she had consumed. "Are you ok? I told you not to drink too much."

"I'm fine, Kevin. It's just been a really long day. I'm tired and it's pretty stuffy in here. I should probably head home soon. I'm fine. I swear." She smiled trying to reassure him. "I'm a horrible person. He's really worried about me and I'm lying to him. Well what should I tell him? 'Sorry we took so long but Logan and I were too busy making out to notice the time.' Yeah that would go over well. I may be lying, but I'm doing it for his own good. It's better that he doesn't know about…whatever this thing with Logan is."

"Ok. I'm gonna take Stacey home. I wanted to say bye before I left. You're not driving are you?"

"No license."

"Right, I forgot."

"Dad hired a car for the night."

"Good. I'll call you tomorrow." He kissed the top of her head and hugged her briefly. "Logan, thanks for taking care of her. I know it's probably not how you wanted to spend your night, but I appreciate it. I owe you one, buddy." Logan felt like dirt.

"Uh…no problem. Glad I could help."

"But Rory's probably gonna be heading home soon and I'm spending the night at Stacey's so the dorm's yours for the night. Enjoy," said Kevin with a smirk. Kevin fully expected Logan to end the night with one of the blonds from earlier. After all, he was Logan Huntzberger, and Logan never left a party alone.

"Uh…thanks. You too." He watched Kevin go off with Stacey. "I'm scum. I just lied to my best friend. I've never lied to Kevin before. What's worse is the fact that given the opportunity, I know I'd do the exact same thing. What kind of a friend am I? How could I do this? Why am I doing this?" he asked himself.

His eyes met Rory's and then she smiled at him. "Oh yeah. That's why." Logan knew he shouldn't have let things go this far. He knew he probably shouldn't let things go any further.

"Do you want a ride back to your dorm?" she asked nervously biting her lip.

"Absolutely."

"Let's go," she said smiling.

He followed her out to the waiting limo, grabbing her hand the moment they were away from prying eyes. As soon as the car door closed, Logan gave the driver directions to his dorm, but told the man in no uncertain terms to take a long scenic route. He then pulled Rory toward him and kissed her deeply. Rory responded by straddling his lap and kissing him back with incredible intensity.

"Oh yeah," thought Logan as he pushed Rory's jacket off her shoulders. "I'm going straight to hell."