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

In the same manner Ally does, she rolls her eyes.

“Ally is right. You are an asshole,” she says with lightness to her voice. Then, she turns and walks in the direction Ally just headed in.

“How am I the asshole when her date bailed on her and I’m the one who wants to see her home safely?” I ask, cutting through all the bullshit.

Nate shrugs his shoulders as he raises his glass of beer to his lips. “Oh, he’s an asshole, too. But instead of seeing her home safely, there’s nothing stopping you from making sure she gets into the Uber okay and, you know, threatening the driver within an inch of his life if anything happens to her.”

I chuckle as I slide out of my seat.

“And this is why you’re my twin. Love you, dude,” I say, holding my fist out.

He bumps his fist with mine, smiling. “Love you, too. Now, get out there before she ditches you.”

And with that, I make my way out of the bar and wait for her on the street.

A few minutes later, Ally steps through the exit just as an Uber pulls up. She hurries to the car but halts as she spots me. “I thought you left.”

“Well, you thought wrong. I wanted to make sure you got in the Uber okay.”

My cock stiffens against my jeans as she rolls her eyes. Jesus, fuck, she’s hot.

“You’re incorrigible, you know that?”

I shrug my shoulders with a smug grin.

“And I don’t mean that in a good way,” she snaps. “Also, I meant what I said earlier. I can take care of myself. I don’t need a protector.”

I take a few steps toward her. “I know you don’t, but can you just humor me for thirty seconds? The sooner I see you to the car, the sooner you can be on your merry way and get home.”

She eyes me for a moment before relenting with an exaggerated sigh. “Fine, whatever.” She then mumbles something under her breath that sounds a little like, “And the quicker I can get away from you.”

“I heard that,” I tell her as I approach the car and open the door for her.

“Good,” she says as she stands in front of me, defiantly staring up at me.

We spend the next few seconds just watching one another—me with humor, her with annoyance. She’s the first to break eye contact as she slides into the backseat.

I wish I could delay this moment for a little while longer because even though we annoy the living crap out of each other, I just love being in her presence. In fact, I love just about everything about her. Instead, I take Remi’s earlier advice and stop getting under her skin. At least for tonight anyway.

“Good night, Ally.”

I don’t give her the opportunity to respond; I simply close the door behind her. I don’t walk away though. I step up to the driver’s side and gently rap my knuckles against the window. The guy rolls his window down, and before he can say anything, I’m already flashing him my police badge. He pales at the sight of it, and I swear, I see sweat forming on his forehead.

“Can I trust that you’ll see her home safely?”

I hear Ally mutter, “Oh my God,” in the backseat.

The driver nods profusely. “Y-yes, a-absolutely,” he stutters. “She’s in safe hands with me.”

“Good. It’s just so hard to trust people nowadays.” I produce my phone out of my pocket and slide it to the camera. “You won’t mind if I take a quick snapshot of your ID? You know, so I know whose body to bury if she goes missing between here and her house.”

The smile I’m wearing tells him I’m joking, but the glare I shoot his way tells him I’m deadly fucking serious. He gulps heavily and quickly nods again.

I poke my head through the window and reach my hand inside enough to take a picture of his ID in the center of the console. Then, I pull away and put both my phone and my badge back in the front pocket of my shirt.

“Thank you. Have a good night,” I say, stepping away from the car.

I’m laughing to myself when I hear Ally apologize for me, and as the car drives away, I don’t miss the death stare that she throws in my direction. A few seconds later, my phone buzzes with an incoming text message. Another laugh leaves my throat when I see it’s from Ally.

Ally: You’re such an asshole.

Me: But at least your body won’t be found at the bottom of Lake Ray Hubbard.

Ally: I hate you.

Me: Text me when you get home.

Ally: No.

Me: Just do it.

Ally: No.

Me: You know I won’t hesitate to jump in a cab and head to yours to check.

When she doesn’t text me back straightaway, I begin to make my way down the street in the direction of my house. Five minutes later, my phone buzzes with another text message.

Ally: Asshole, I’m home.

This time, I decide to be the one to play hard to get and don’t text her back, but the smile that almost splits my face into two stays there until I fall asleep in my bed that evening.

“Now, is that a nice way to speak to a cop?” I say in my politest voice as I pin an asshole up against a wall while my partner, Joe, frisks him.

“Fuck you,” the dude spits out and tries to escape the firm hold I have against him.

I force him harder against the rugged brick, causing him to screech out in pain as the wall scrapes against his cheek. Joe checks the guy’s back pockets, and he purses his lips together as he produces a bag filled with white powder.

“Bingo,” Joe says, twirling the baggie between his fingertips.

Keeping the guy pressed up against the wall, I lean into him a little closer. “Well, well, well…it seems we bumped into you at the right time.”

It wasn’t