Love Bird. by Emily. Z. (story read aloud TXT) 📕

Logan took a step forward to grab Jackson and he jumped back with a yelp that, in my opinion, didn't fit his look very well. He held up his hands as if in surrender, and said in a slightly scared voice,

"I-I promise you I do not stalk anyone! She's kidding!" he looked at me desperately, "Right?"

"Hmm," I thought for a moment, eyes rolling to the ceiling, "Am I kidding?" 

"Jane!" He begged, Logan stepped forward another step.

I laughed as I gripped Logan's bicep to stop him.

"Fine, fine. He doesn't stalk me. Let's go upstairs." 

I grabbed Logan's hand and dragged him to the elevators, leaving Jacky standing there with eyes wide. 

When the doors opened and I dragged him inside, he finally spoke.

"Who in the hell was that guy?"

"My stalker," I reply, pressing the button for the third floor. 

"Jane!" He groaned, and I grinned up at him.

"Fine. He's putting together this year's annual ball. He saw me in the hallway and apparently thinks I'm in love with him."

Logan furrowed his eyebrows, his blue eyes staring incredulously down at me. "And you let this happen?"

I shrugged. "I didn't encourage it, but the guys incorrigible, if you know what I mean."

His expression went flat, "You attract some annoying guys, you know."

I glared up at him. "Yeah, he's a close second with you."

He grinned, "Owch. It hurts."

The doors opened, and I rolled my eyes as I entered the hallway, walking down to my room. I slid the card and opened the door, leading him inside to the living area.

"How can you afford all this?" He asked, looking around.

"Dadio," I answered, as I walked over and pulled the curtains back.

The sun filtered in, and I could see down to the street. There wasn't much going on - cars coming and going, people lumbering across the street, shopping at the little strip mall. This place was quiet.

"Okay...," He trailed off, still confused.

"So, what brings you here?" I asked, turning around and lean against the window, warm from the direct sunlight.

He looked at me, and suddenly his expression faded into a serious gaze. His hand, which had been holding onto his elbow, fell  to his side, and he stood straight.

"I came here to ask you a question."

"Oh?" I asked, and tilted my head. "What would that be?"

He took a step closer, the light of the sun hitting his face, and for a moment I was taken aback. His hair looked to be glowing, a golden crown that made me curse his perfect existance - why couldn't I look half as good as this jackass? His eyes captured mine, so blue that I could almost see ocean waves lapping the shore. I missed Florida, suddenly.

"What would you do, if I fought for you?"

That bad feeling I had? Yeah...totally warranted.

When was it? Victor was supposed to be getting his clue about now. I was just planning to wait for his call when I got back to the hotel. But standing here in front of Logan, with eyes wide, probably looking like a deer caught in the headlights, that call would probably pass through one ear and out the other. 

I hadn't planned to have that talk with him just then. Far from it. I had planned to put off talking to him about it as long as possible until we both hated each other and the talk wasn't necessary anyway - but of course I forgot the minor detail that god hates my guts.Okay, maybe he didn't. Maybe he was just trying to put me in a situation so I had to face my problems like a damn woman, but really? Give me no time to prepare? Real smooth, God. Real smooth.So I stood with eyes open wide, stuttering on my words and trying to pull myself together enough to form a fully functional sentence. I was failing of course, and nothing but words like "you," and "I," and "what," were managing to escape...mostly in that order. Occasionally I'd switch it around a bit to something like, "I, what, you," just to shake things up.Logan hadn't wavered, eyes holding mine and mouth set in a thin line. His clenched fists told me he was ready for a firm rejection.And that's what I was going to do.I opened my mouth, taking in a deep breath, forcing my heart to calm down, and let it out slowly. I looked down at his shoes, and steadied myself."Y-you know I love Victor," I whispered, as my voice wouldn't raise any higher."Yes. But you love me too." He said, and I flinched, looking up at him.His eyes were confident this time, and he waited for me for refute him - he wanted it."That's-," My voice faltered, and my heart beat painfully. I was suddenly out of air. I closed my eyes and turned my face away in shame. I couldn't say it.He didn't speak, and I could almost feel the shock in his silence. The air was tense, and then I heard him move forward. I could almost feel the air around me constrict when he got too close. I felt pathetic as I tried to shrink back slightly, holding myself and refusing to look at him. I didn't open my eyes.I knew he reached out, but I still jumped when his fingers touched my face. He trailed them down to my neck, and gently lifted my chin. Reluctantly, I opened my eyes, and moved them up to his face. His usually bright blue irises were dark, and dangerous. They warned me that he was about to do something that I may or may not have liked - and I didn't have much of a choice, because after all, Logan always did what he wanted.He leaned down, and I barely had time to close my eyes before his lips pressed to mine. It wasn't like his previous kisses. This one was soft, sweet, and very slow. Damn him.

My hands let go of my own arms, and I was about to reach out to him, when the phone rang.

Logan paused, but didn't take his lips away from mine. But the shrill sound of that annoying, generic ringtone was like a cold, clean glass of water...thrown all over me.

I pushed away from him, parting our lips breaking his hand's contact. Without looking at him again, I pushed past him and headed for my phone, which sat on the corner of the bed. I picked it up and opened it without looking at the ID. There were only two people who had this number.

"H-hello," I winced at the roughness of my voice, and cleared my throat.

"Jane?" He said, and he sounded surprised.

I closed my eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, before replying, "What did you think of this last clue?"

He scoffed. "I can't believe you made me climb into a Chuck E. Cheese slide. Do you know how many people stared at me? I had to dodge kids and I think there was a puddle of pee at the top," The disgusted voice he used caused laughter to bubble up, and I regained my bearings.

I wasn't some weak little girl that couldn't woman up and tell someone outright what I chose. Even if it hurt them, it would hurt worse to lead them on. Logan didn't make me feel the way Victor made me feel. Not by a long shot. I loved him, but not...not like Victor.

"Well that's payback for trying to track me. Besides, Chuck E. Cheese has good pizza."

He let out a disgusted noise. "Uh-huh." 

"Eat a slice," I teased.

I glanced back to see what Logan was doing, just in time to get the phone snatched from my hand. There was a moment of confusion and slight insanity where I wondered if God was bored with our conversation and decided to end it himself, before I realized that Logan was behind me, and pressing the phone to his ear.

"Hello Victor," Logan murmured, ignoring my glare as he dodged my grab for the phone.

"Logan!" I hissed, angrily kicking at his shins. He dodged that as well.

"Yeah, this is Logan. Yeah we're having a real fun time here," He shot me a teasing grin. 

"Logan!" I said, this time loudly. "Give me the phone!"

But his face turned serious, which made me pause. He stared straight into my eyes as he said, loud and clear, "She's mine. I'm not going to lose this time. I'll make her realize how much better I am for her."

Just as I heard Victor's loud voice over the phone, he took it away from his ear, and then snapped it in half.

"Logan!" I shouted as he threw the mangled phone on the bed. He began to walk towards me, but I was angry. "How could you do that? You asshole! I should- hey!" 

He wrapped his arms around my waist, and dragged me forward, before leaning down and pressing his lips to mine once again. But I kept my mouth rigid and broke my lips from his. I lifted hand, and smacked him.

"Ow!" He let me go, holding onto his cheek.

"You-you...you asshole!" I repeated, raising my fist to hit him again.

He held up his hands in defense, "Hey now, is that any way to treat the man you love?" he teased, and I glared daggers at him. 

"Man I love?" I spat, "You just hung up on the man I love."

He let a small smile curve his smug lips. "You love me too, remember?"

I laughed, but it wasn't exactly amused, "I really think we need to have a talk, but right now I really feel like I'd kill you, so please, just leave for a while."

He lowered his hands, eyes capturing mine once again. "I won't give up, Jane."

"And I won't give in," I said in a slow and calculated voice.

He smiled, suddenly his old self again. "We'll see about that. I'll take my leave now."

I watched him turn and walk away, but he paused and then turned around. He took one step and leaned down, capturing my lips in a chaste kiss. But I kicked out and hit him in the shin with the tip of my shoe. 

He hopped backwards, swearing under his breath, and laughed. "Nice kick, Babe."

"Out!" I shoved him towards the entrance, and he stumbled slightly, before finally picking his way to the door and opening it, throwing me back a grin before finally shutting it behind him.

"Asshole!" I called, still seething.

The entire day I grumbled to myself, thinking I'd have to buy another disposable phone. The telivision droned on I stared at the mangled object at the end of my bed. I glared at it and hoped it caught on fire, as if it were a voodoo doll with a direct link to Logan that would singe his hair off and leave him bald and ugly...although I doubted Logan could ever be ugly...damn him.

That night I wondered what Victor was thinking. How was he taking the fact that Logan knew where I was? Did he hate me now? I groaned as I rolled around in bed, Victor's shirt clutched in my hands. Now that I knew my feelings clearly, it was easy to see how Victor felt every time he called me. I wanted