Chapter 15
"That didn't take long now, did it?" Finn commented, approvingly, seconds after watching Logan climb out of an Uber and delaying it to kiss Rory goodbye through the window. Rory was off to work, as was he, but this morning his work included a business meeting at the client's office.
"What?" Logan replied, innocently, despite knowing too well what Finn had meant. Rory and he were back. Hot and heavy, and very public. They were hardly able to keep their hands off of each-other. It was hardly that after that first night together that intimate part of their relationship was quick to return to the way it had once been. Rory had slept over every single night the past week, only slipping back to her apartment to grab some fresh clothes or her notes. It wasn't just sex either, but also other kinds of intimacy, which was soothing Logan's worries about the physical part taking priority. But it was certainly the truth that they had no first or second gear, only full steam ahead.
"Oh, nothing. Nothing what-so-ever," Finn chimed, clearly feeling amused with himself, and tucked his hands into his pockets.
Logan didn't realize but he positively glowed, and that had not been lost on Finn and Colin. Logan smiled more, he was a lot more relaxed and easygoing. There was no denying the chance to engage in regular sex, exceptional sex, which didn't come with feelings of emptiness and guilt, every night and sometimes morning, had some role in that too. It was hard to forget only a short time ago, Rory hadn't been in his life at all. He was floating on cloud 9, even if he felt cautious about getting too caught up about the euphoria he was feeling.
Logan swiftly directed the conversation towards the upcoming meeting and was fairly easily able to shift from one mood to another. He wasn't going to admit it, but Logan even felt brighter at meetings. It was like he was again inspired, not just motivated to get this company off the ground. He cared less about each client, but more about enjoying what he did. And the first person he wanted to discuss the events of each day, each meeting, beyond his friends, was above all Rory. He was back in her life, discussing her stories and reading over her writing to give her his honest opinion, as was he in hers. Things seemed so much simpler now.
Logan's phone rang as he was just stepping out of the elevator with Finn after the meeting had finished, it's end result remaining to be heard at a later date.
"I'll just meet you back at the office," Logan said, realizing that besides taking the call, coming from his sister, he could probably use a snack of something before heading back himself, and didn't want to make Finn wait.
"Yeah?" Logan asked Honor, after Finn had gestured him 'bye', and crossed the street at a random place, not caring if he caused cab drivers to honk at him.
"Where the hell are you, Logan?" came a very serious tone from the other end.
"61st and 2nd?" Logan replied, but had a feeling that was not what his sister was asking for.
"You do realize that I left Chloe home with chickenpox? The poor girl was miserable!" Honor replied, and Logan did remember her sending him a picture of the poor little girl a couple of days ago. But what else was he to do from afar than to wish for a speedy recovery, especially knowing Honor had plenty of help around when she needed it.
"I'm sorry…," Logan began, but for a second didn't really understand why she was being so mad at him.
"Everyone else is here, Logan. You could've at least told someone you weren't coming!" Honor continued, angrily.
"Sorry, where's 'here' exactly? I honestly haven't got a clue. I was just in a meeting with Max Hastings," Logan said, hoping the name would mean something to Honor as well, him being an old acquaintance.
"The will reading? I send you like a thousand e-mails checking if you were coming. And I thought the lawyer called you in person," Honor replied, thankfully calming down a little.
"I never got any e-mails…," Logan replied, recalling suddenly then indeed that there had been a handful of missed calls from an unknown number he'd chosen to ignore. Between work and Rory, he really hadn't wanted to hear much about the outside world.
"Well.. either way… you're supposed to be here. Now we're going to have to reschedule this whole thing! People flew in from god knows where for this," Honor added.
"But why would I…?" Logan began to ask, not realizing for a minute why on Earth would he have to go to his father's will reading after he'd told him that he was out. He'd told his father he didn't want any of it.
"Why do you think…?" Honor replied, causing Logan to curse to himself. Mitchum just had to do it, didn't he? Even beyond his grave he was making his life difficult for him.
The news, even just the possibility of it with the uncertainty in the details, put Logan out of his appetite, and instead of making good use of his walk journey back to the office, he found himself sitting on a park bench trying to restore his heartbeat back to normal. He didn't want this. He didn't want any of this. And the least of all he didn't want his father's money to come between him and Rory again.
"Hey," Rory chimed, leaning over his shoulder to kiss him. Logan had been in the middle of a phone call, hence he'd only briefly acknowledged her arrival at his apartment. She had the spare key - there had been no weirdness over that either. It was just practical. Her staying over every night hadn't needed discussion, it was just the most natural thing that they'd both want to be around. They didn't need to go through the standard steps most couples did, even if this was several steps away from permanently moving in together again. But then again no-one was about to tease them for bringing the U-haul the second time around. Even if the guys had - they wouldn't have blinked twice because of it.
"Hey," Logan replied, hating that he had to fake some of his enthusiasm.
"How was your day?" Rory asked, joining him on the couch, around the coach. Rory had braided her hair in a slightly romantic, yet messy, hairdo, and began to undo it, to get comfortable.
"Fine," Logan exhaled, but hoped she wouldn't inquire further. Besides, having given the lawyer a call himself, he really didn't have all the details. He hoped this was just about his dad leaving with something minute, something he'd forgotten to exclude him from, but there were little hints in the lawyer's words which had made worry it wasn't. "You?" he asked quickly, hoping to divert her attention away from his worries.
"We just got this major story…," Rory began to explain, but the truth was Logan didn't really pay much attention and the gist was lost on him as he just nodded along. He hated himself for doing that.
"Are you tired?" Rory asked, after talking for a while, and ran her fingers through his hair.
"Yeah," Logan exhaled.
"Too tired?" Rory said, her lips already approaching his neck.
Logan let out a low, husky, chuckle as a response, loving how easily he was distracted by her touch. At least that still worked.
"Was that a 'yes'?" Rory teased, climbing across his lap to kiss him for real.
Logan felt pretty content like that, definitely far too content to object.
"Never too tired for this," Logan murmured.
"I thought so," Rory chimed.
A long foreplay of rubbing her hips against his, making him deliciously horny for her, Logan simply let her hands trace his muscles through his shirt and undress her. He was letting her have her way with him, but didn't leave her without his attention. The way she carried herself these days - with a lot more confidence, and the way she touched him, was something else entirely. And while Logan enjoyed this immensely, it did leave him wondering where and how exactly she'd learned all this. There was this new way she flicked her tongue against his most sensitive parts. She also had a special way about herself to get herself where she wanted to go, involving squeezing her inner muscles tightly around his member, making herself impossibly tight. From there on Logan only really needed to run his thumb through her mouth and touch her just right, and she would figuratively explode into rays of energy that radiated even into his own body. It was a glorious sight to see her own this moment and her own pleasure. She knew what she liked now, and what she needed - more than ever.
"You have no idea, how gorgeous you look like that…," Logan mumbled, basking in afterglow, now laying next to her on the couch, pressed against her tightly so she wouldn't fall off it.
"Like what?" Rory asked, innocently.
"When you take charge like that. And.. just when you orgasm," Logan whispered in a soothing tone.
"Well it's not like it's hard to feel great with you…," Rory complimented him.
Logan laughed, struggling to stop smiling.
"No, I'm serious. With most guys a girl can't take an orgasm for granted," Rory pointed out.
"I don't think I like the idea of you knowing what 'most guys' are like in bed," Logan commented.
"I'm just saying I missed you in bed. There were a lot of lonely nights when I thought of you…," Rory replied, snuggling under his chin.
Logan wished he could've said the same. But at the same time he'd tried his very best to block her out of his mind altogether. Men worked simpler than way, suppose - all it really took was someone sexy to get off. But he knew getting off, and getting a real intimate experience were two different things. But regardless of what he knew about himself, he considered Rory very brave for admitting something like that.
"I just wish I'd had the sense to find you sooner," Logan replied, kissing her temple like he'd once tended to do.
Logan simply hoped that everything they'd talked about before - about money not coming between them and their relationship being unconditional - was still valid now that his father was shaking his boat again. He knew he had rights, even the right to decline. But that was also something he knew he ought to discuss with Rory first. He just knew she would tell him to do whatever he wanted - but inside, there was a part of him that wanted to offer Rory everything he'd once treated her to. He just felt he couldn't trust her words to mean what she actually wanted. He wanted to see through her, and do whatever changed them the least.