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

“Let’s raise our glasses to Remi and Nate,” she says while lifting her glass. “And to finding love in the most unexpected places and being able to spend forever with the person you love the most.”

“To Remi and Nate,” everyone, including myself, says in unison, raising our glasses to the happy couple before throwing back the rest of the champagne.

The second everyone sits back down, I turn to look at my brother. “Do you need your best man and maid of honor for the next ten minutes?”

He shakes his head, laughing. “No, we can manage without you for a while. You can even make it half an hour if you have some making up to do.”

He winks, and immediately, I’m on my feet and heading straight for the woman who just obliterated my heart with her perfect fucking speech. I bet she’s glad she got in there second with hers, as she wiped the floor with mine completely.

Standing behind her, I pull out my hand in front of her and bend down to whisper in her ear, “Come with me.”

Pivoting her neck to face me, she accepts my hand as she pushes out of her chair and gets to her feet before I guide her to the nearest exit. I drag her along with me until I find a deserted corridor. I waste no time in pushing her beautiful body up against the wall, drawing her into my arms, and slamming my lips to hers. All the air escapes her lips as I take her breath away. Making the kiss only brief, I tear my mouth from hers and stare down at her with a mixture of adoration and confusion.

“What the hell was that?” I all but demand.

“What the hell was what?” She pretends to act dumb.

“That speech. For weeks before we broke up, we said we weren’t going to tell anybody about us until after the wedding—you know, so we didn’t take the shine off Nate and Remi—but you announced your undying love for me in your toast. I mean, talk about stealing their spotlight, baby.”

Her eyes soften at the term of endearment, her lips curling up in a smirk. “I didn’t steal anyone’s spotlight, baby.” She mocks the word baby, and the fire in my heart ignites at hearing her snarky attitude. I’ve missed it so much. “Remi and Nate gave me the all-clear to do it. Honestly, Nate wanted you to stop moping over me.”

I shake my head in denial. “I wasn’t moping over you.”

She tilts her head to the side with a yeah, right expression on her face before smoothing out her features. “I hate that I hurt you. I hate that it took us breaking up to make it clear to me what I wanted. That night, you were right; I was subconsciously trying to sabotage us, and I guess I used your past as an excuse because of my messed up psyche. You’d done nothing but prove yourself to me over and over, and I shoved it in your face. I’m so sorry for that.”

“What you said in your speech, was that for real?”

She brings her hand up to my face and settles her warm palm over my cheek. “I wouldn’t have put my heart on the line if it was anything but real. I love you. I want to be with you, for forever, if you’ll let me.”

“I love you, too, but how can I be sure you trust me? Just…I’ve done everything to prove to you I am worthy of a woman like you, but you’ve always thrown it back in my face. Yes, I’m not an angel, I’ve got a shady past with other women, and I’m definitely not perfect. I’m going to screw up a lot, if I’m being honest, but if you can’t trust me, then what kind of future will we have?”

“I do trust you. Apart from my dad and Nate, you are the only man I trust. You saved my life, and you made me see my worth when I was dating Freddie.”

My eyes light up at the nickname I christened him with, and I grin a childlike smile. “Hey, you called him Freddie.”

She giggles. “It was either call him Freddie or something much more explicit.”

“Cunt would have done nicely.”

She throws her head back with a deep, lung-filled laugh. “He really was a cunt, huh?”

I nod with a sneer. “Yep…but enough about him. What were you saying about trusting me?”

“I was saying…you’re the only guy I have ever been with who I wholeheartedly trust. I know I’ve doubted you in the past, but I was wrong to ever think that. You see me for who I really am. You’re always able to see through my bullshit. You always put me first. You’re attentive, loving, and you turn me on so much that it’s a surprise we’ve lasted this long, talking, without us stripping our clothes off. I’m so obsessed with you that even when we first met, I fantasized about you way too much, and when I saw you again, I’d pretend to loathe you because I hated that I was attracted to you so much. And then, when you showed me you were so much more than just some hunky police officer, I knew I was a goner. To make matters worse, you saved my life. I mean, how the hell’s a girl supposed to resist that? Remi couldn’t…and neither could I. There is just something about the Jensen brothers that puts women into a trance.”

Smirking, I say, “Yeah, and we’ve always known it. It’s been our trouble since puberty.”

Her eyes twinkle at that. “I think, when God was giving out the amazing genes, he blessed the Jensen family really good.”

“He was pretty generous with your family gene pool when it came to you, if I say so myself.”

“You know, flattery will get you everywhere,” she replies with a sensual tone to her voice. She