The dog sighed with contentment and buried his face in the pillows. Logan, on the other hand, was still finding himself restlessly unable to sit still. Like a fish who’d just been released into a larger pond, he physically couldn’t stop moving. You stop, you drown.
He paced for a while around the house, doing random household tasks. Lighting a fire, growing instantly alarmed by the size of the fire, putting the fire back out. He made himself a cup of hot chocolate and tried reading by the fire. He even went out to the yard with a flashlight to try a little late-night gardening. Nothing worked. Something was missing.
Or someone.
He hardly remembered putting on his shoes and jacket. Hardly remembered the walk across town. Hardly even knew where he was going, before he looked up from the sidewalk and found himself staring at Lacy’s front door.
It was here that he paused.
Unsure what to do next. Unsure whether it was okay that he’d even come. He was about to chicken out and leave, when he saw a light snap on in the living room. Through the gauzy curtains, he could just barely make out her silhouette. Just barely, but after only a few days, he’d still know that silhouette anywhere.
She was pacing, just like he was. Unable to stop moving. Unable to sit still. Every now and then, she’d glance down at her phone—like she was considering making a call. But every single time, she set it back down with a little sigh.
A sudden smile lit Logan’s eyes as he jogged briskly up the front steps and rang the bell. A second later, the door pulled open—flooding the porch with light.
“Dylan?” Lacy’s eyes widened in surprise as she stared out at him. “What are—”
“I wanted to see you,” he interrupted, his eyes glowing in the light of the moon. “Can I come in?”
She fell suddenly silent, looking him up and down. Her hand tightened nervously upon the doorframe, but in the end, she had as little say about it as Logan did himself. They were playing with forces bigger than themselves. Forces they couldn’t possibly comprehend.
In the end, she didn’t say anything.
She simply opened the door with a little smile, and let Logan come inside.
Chapter 26
There was only one light on in the house. A little lamp perched upon a table next to an old rocking chair. Lacy turned it off as Logan walked inside—blanketing them in darkness. A bright smile lit his face, but she couldn’t see. Their hands found each other, but that was all.
“I kept debating whether I should call,” she murmured. “Pacing around like a teenage idiot with my phone—”
“At least you didn’t walk over in the middle of the night.” Logan chuckled softly. “Who’s the teenage idiot now?”
Streams of moonlight poured in from the window. Catching little details. Illuminating little moments that otherwise might have been lost.
Logan stroked his fingers down the side of her cheek. Marveling again at that velvety smoothness. Catching his breath when she turned her face to kiss the inside of his palm. The air between them jumped up about a thousand degrees, as he pulled her gently closer.
They took their time, silently disrobing each other. Standing in the middle of the living room. Quiet as a whisper. A shiver ran across Logan’s shoulders, as she pulled off his shirt and trailed her fingers down his bare chest. A shiver that was instantly echoed by Lacy as he reached behind her neck and pulled loose the bow holding up her dress.
It fell to the floor between them. Landing quietly upon the floor.
She reached for him again, but at this point, Logan suddenly stopped. He remembered her three questions from before. He knew exactly how frightened she was of getting hurt.
“I don’t want you to think...” He trailed off, hands shaking as they tilted up her face up to his. “I’m not doing this because—”
“I know why you’re doing it,” she interrupted softly, pressing a finger over his lips. “And I know why I’m doing it too.”
Just like that, the most cautious people in the world threw caution right out the window...
Logan attacked her—unable to stay away for even another second. As her fingers scrambled frantically against the buckle on his belt, he lifted her off her feet and carried her down the hall—aiming for what he hoped was a bedroom. It wasn’t the easiest journey (Lacy was as messy as Dylan), and there were many close calls followed by bursts of muffled laughter as they tripped and stumbled across the hard wood floor. It wasn’t until they’d almost reached the room at the end, that Lacy detached herself from his lips long enough to look around.
“Where are we going?”
Logan made his way slowly down her neck, speaking between kisses.
“To find a bed.”
She giggled and pulled back.