Forever Logan by Elena Matthews (animal farm read .txt) 📕

out of the corner of my eye, I spot a cop buddy of mine getting into his car across the street. Making sure the road is clear, I jog over to him.

“Sup, Logan,” he greets.

“Hey, man. Did you just finish your shift?”

“Sure did.”

“Would you mind giving me a ride to a friend’s house? She’s upset, and I need to make sure she’s okay.”

He nods. “Yeah, no problem. Jump in.”

I get inside and buckle up as I tell him her address. Most of my friends would be scoping for information, basically being nosy fuckers, but the great thing about Mike is, he’s a man of very few words, and he doesn’t ask any questions. He simply drives and occasionally taps his fingers against the steering wheel to the beat of music coming from his stereo.

As we pull up in front of the house, I breathe a sigh of relief when I see her car parked in her parents’ driveway.

“Thanks for the ride, dude.”

“Anytime,” is all he says with a nod of his head.

I climb out of his car and make my way up the path, hearing Mike’s car pull away in the distance. Stepping up to the porch, I ring the bell. A few moments later, the door swings open, and Ally’s dad greets me.

“Oh, hi, Logan.”

“Hey, Mr. Bennett.”

“Please, call me Dave. I take it, you’re here for Ally,” he says almost knowingly.

“Yeah, I need to make sure she’s okay.”

He nods, widening the door. “Come on in.”

“Did she tell you what happened?” I ask him as he closes the door behind me.

He shakes his head. “No, but I could tell she was upset. What’s going on?”

“I’m sure Ally would prefer to tell you, but let’s just say, Eddie is out of the picture.”

He nods with understanding. “Ahh, I see. I’d say, good riddance, but I don’t like seeing my daughter so upset.”

She was angrier than upset, but I don’t say that.

I follow him into what appears to be the kitchen. I smile when I see Ally’s mom sitting at the counter reading through a recipe book.

“Hi, Logan. It’s so nice to see you again.”

“Hi, Mrs. Bennett. It’s great to see you, too.”

She points in the direction of the patio doors. “Ally’s outside in the guest cabin.”

My brows pull up with intrigue. “You have a guest cabin?”

In the same way Ally does, she rolls her eyes, pointing at Dave now. “It was a pet project of Dave’s. Needless to say, we’ve had no guests stay in there in the two years it’s been there. We just use it as a hideaway when we want to murder each other.” She giggles.

“Am I okay to head out there?” I ask, just being polite.

“Only if you promise to put a smile back on that pretty face of hers.”

“I’ll try my damn hardest, ma’am.”

I walk through the patio doors and step outside into the breezy November evening. The backyard is relatively big, and my eyes widen with surprise as I take in the log cabin at the end of the garden with integrated spotlights coming from the porch. It’s like something you would see in the middle of the forest. It’s definitely not the summer house I was expecting. It’s nice, too, with rich oak wood and a black steel roof. As I step up to the porch, I notice a wooden rocking chair and a firepit. Though there is no fire burning right now.

I gently rap my knuckles against the door.

“Hey, Mom. I’m fine, really. I just want to be alone right now,” Ally hollers from inside.

“It’s Logan actually,” I tell her.

She doesn’t answer, but I hear the pad of her feet move inside, and a second later, the door swings open.

“What are you doing here?” she asks, keeping her eyes downcast, looking a little sheepish.

“Seeing if you’re okay. You rushed away from the bar so quickly.”

“Yeah…well, I wasn’t exactly going to stick around a second longer. I’d already made a fool of myself.”

“How did you make a fool of yourself? I thought you were kick-ass in there,” I tell her, not bothering to hide my pride. “And that slap? Damn, even I felt it.”

She nibbles on her bottom lip. “That isn’t what I feel embarrassed about. I…shouldn’t have kissed you like that. I’m sorry.”

The part of my brain, the side responsible for the sarcasm and humor, wants to make a joke out of the fact that she just apologized to me. Never in the months I’ve known her has she apologized for anything. However, seeing the regret in her eyes, I know that humor isn’t what she needs right now. Instead, I go with honesty.

“You definitely caught me by surprise, and if you’d given me a heads-up, I would have kissed you way better than that, but you have nothing to be sorry or embarrassed about.”

“What, even though I only kissed you to spite Eddie?”

I shrug my shoulders, pushing my hands into the front pockets of my jeans. “I’ve never liked that asshole anyway, so I have to admit, it was nice to stick it to him like that.”

“So, you’re not mad?”

“Only for not kissing you the way you deserved.”

Her cheeks brighten at that, and her flush glows so sweet against the dim light of the porch and the moonlight.

“I have beer. Do you want to come inside?”

“You had me at beer.” I wink.

She lets out a subdued laugh as she steps aside and I walk over the threshold.

She closes the door behind me, and I watch as she wanders over to a small state-of-the-art kitchen. I have to hold in my groan as she bends over to retrieve a beer from a mini fridge. Hot damn, her ass is like a tight peach. How that dickhead cheated on her, I have no idea. She’s so perfect that it literally makes my heart hurt. But now that he’s out of the picture, I have a better chance of her finally getting to know the real me. I mean, not this minute.