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

It’s of a red candy cane, and in big, bold writing, it says, It’s not going to lick itself.

“If you think mine is dirty, just wait until you see Nate’s,” I tell her just as Nate steps up to us with Remi wrapped under his arm, wearing a way more explicit sweater with a filthy elf.

Kaelyn reads Nate’s sweater out loud, “When I think of you, I touch my elf.” She snorts while Chase laughs alongside of her.

“Ah, damn, I wish I had seen that before I let Kaelyn pick ours,” Chase says in a tone that suggests he isn’t a big fan on the couple’s sweater.

Kaelyn glares at him. “What’s wrong with our sweater?” she demands.

He purposely looks down to her shoes, which have to be at least seven inches tall. “You had to wear your highest heels just so you could match my height,” Chase points out.

She cocks a brow, a smirk sliding along her face. “I didn’t hear you complaining the last time I wore these heels. In fact, you begged me not to take them off.”

The innuendo and the way she winks make me almost vomit.

“Nope. I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” I complain, twisting my face up.

Chase chuckles under his breath while Kaelyn pulls out her tongue. Then, she focuses her attention on Remi.

“Oh my God, are you supposed to be a fireplace?” Kaelyn asks with pure delight.

Remi steps back from Nate as she widens her arms, which are lined with tinsel, baubles, and small stockings. The chest of the sweater is a crackling fire. “It’s awesome, right?”

“So amazing. Where did you get it from?”

Nate pitches in, “This has been her pet project for the last week.”

“Well, Ally helped, too. We designed our outfits together,” Remi adds with a smile.

Kaelyn’s eyes roam around the kitchen. “Talking about Ally, where is she?” she asks, taking the words right out of my mouth.

“Oh, some of the bows came off her dress. She should be here soon.”

My eyes instinctively search for Ally, but instead, I come face-to-face with my brother Jace. Like the rest of us, he has made the ultimate effort with his Christmas sweater, which has red Solo cups glued on. What can I say? We love Christmas.

Shaking my empty glass, I say, “Where the hell did you go? I’ve been empty for five minutes.”

He just glares at me and points his head in the direction he just came from. “When I went to grab some more tequila from the basement, Beverley from across the road cornered me,” he states, lifting up a bottle.

Immediately, I start chuckling. Beverley is a sixty-year-old divorcée who’s had a soft spot for Jace ever since she got divorced five years ago. She isn’t even a MILF either; she has more stubble than Jace does…and also wears red lipstick as if she just made out with a red velvet cake.

Lifting my hand, I touch the spot where he has a red-stained lip print along his cheek. “I think she got you.”

He smacks my hand away, and it just makes me laugh harder.

“Who got him?” Blake asks with intrigue.

“Oh, just the love of his life, Beverley.”

Blake, Kaelyn, and Nate all roar out with laughter while everyone else looks on with confusion.

“Who’s Beverley?” Chase asks.

“She’s our neighbor who’s a little in love with Jace. The guys all used to help tend to her garden, but it was always Jace who got the bigger lemonade serving. It didn’t help that he once went shirtless one summer either.”

“Which one is she?” Remi asks with intrigue.

“She’s the woman wearing the Tis the Season to be Tipsy sweater, talking to Mom,” Kaelyn says, pointing in the direction of the patio doors.

Everyone looks over at the exact same time. A second later, our laughter draws her attention, and she waves her fingers at Jace, which just makes us all laugh even harder.

“Um, wow…” Chase coughs into his fist, trying to calm his laughter. “She’s a looker, huh? When’s the wedding?”

Jace throws him the bird. “I won’t hesitate to punch you again, dude.”

“Again?” Remi asks Nate.

He just shakes his head and says, “Long story.”

“Now, if you dickheads have stopped laughing at my expense, who wants a margarita?” Jace asks, making his way to the other side of the kitchen island that’s been made into a makeshift bar.

“Me, me!” Kaelyn and Remi both holler out while I lift my cup with a, “Hell yes.”

While we wait for Jace to mix up our drinks, I turn to my sister and Chase, realizing his eleven-month-old daughter, Sophia, isn’t with them.

“Where’s Sophia tonight?”

His eyes soften at the mention of her name. “She’s with her aunt tonight. Meaning we can have a much-needed night out.”

“AKA we can get as drunk as we want,” Kaelyn adds.

Chuckling, I nod my head to Jace, “Well, let’s hope Beverley doesn’t get to him again, or we’ll be waiting all night for our drinks.”

“I heard that, asswipe!” Jace shouts just before pressing his finger on the blender.

Kaelyn asks Remi about the wedding plans, but a wolf whistle from Remi has my head turning in the direction of the kitchen’s entrance, and it suddenly feels like someone has sucker-punched me in the stomach at the mere sight of Ally walking in. I barely register her parents behind her because she is all I can focus on.

She’s broken the rules on the ugly sweater, and instead, she’s wearing a black pinafore dress with multicolored Christmas bows on every inch of the skirt. She looks like the sexiest Christmas tree I have ever seen. My eyes keep traveling down her toned legs until I come to a stop at the hottest pair of killer heels. I trace my focus back to her face just as she approaches us, and of course, to keep with the appearance of our farce, she focuses her attention on anybody but me.

“Hot damn, you look smoking,” Remi tells her best friend as she pulls her in for a