Chapter 18 — Reed

Reed’s hand flew to his mouth and his eyes widened in horror. "Oh my God, Logan. You scared the living daylights out of me! What are you doing here?"

Reed watched as Logan’s face softened in the dim light of the parking lot. “I rode out here.” He nodded to the direction where his bike was parked. Reed recognized his father’s motorcycle immediately.

“Please, Reed. Can we go inside? We need to talk."

Reed considered his question. A million thoughts sprang to his mind and as much as he wanted to dig his heels in and tell Logan to go away, he was thrilled to see him. He really missed him, despite the fact that Logan didn't want him.

Slowly he dropped his hand from his mouth and looked down at his feet. His eyes stung with tears. The entire day of being on his own and the fact that he felt so vulnerable out here, suddenly became overwhelming. He merely nodded his head and turned around, jamming the key into the lock. Once inside, Reed kicked off his shoes and crawled up onto his bed, crossing his legs. He watched as Logan ran a hand through his hair and pulled out his phone.

“I’m just gonna make a call to Kellen real quick.”

Reed gave him a tight smile. He felt guilty at the trouble he must have caused back home and the extra hassle for Kellen by keeping him away from his day job.

He hadn't considered all the implications of running away this morning, when he decided he needed his space, but he realized now that his actions had a ripple effect on his loved ones behind. Now, Reed felt even worse—selfish, stupid and more than anything, sorry for his hasty actions.

He stared straight ahead, all of his emotions swirling around underneath as he overheard the brief conversation with Kellen. Logan looked at Reed and nodded, agreeing to whatever Kellen was saying on the other end. Shortly after, he hung up the call. Reed didn’t say anything as he watched Logan kick off his shoes, mirroring Reed as he sank into the chair, running a hand over his face. “Kellen says he’ll speak with you tomorrow. He just needs to cool down tonight.”

“Sure.”

Reed looked at Logan, noticing the dark circles under his eyes. He hadn't shaved this morning so he had a good bit of stubble going on, but despite that, with his piercing blue eyes and messy hair, he looked like a sexy movie star. But more importantly, Reed thought he looked pained, as if he’d really been hurt by Reed’s actions. He forced the thoughts away, convincing himself that he was reading too much into Logan’s expression. It was no good thinking about him like that when he didn't feel the same way in return.

“I owe you an apology, Reed. I know you ran away because of me."

Reed widened his eyes. He was fully expecting Logan to unleash on him. “What?”

Logan sat forward in his chair and turned his body to face Reed. "I'm sorry, Reed. I hate that it was because of me that you ran away. I've been thinking all day, and if you really don't feel comfortable with me, I'd rather you have another bodyguard. I can't bear the thought of anything happening to you, if you were to ever do something crazy like this again while your stalker’s out there. We've all been worried sick about you all day."

Reed swallowed hard. He wasn't expecting an apology from Logan, and now it seemed that he didn't want to be his bodyguard either.

When did things get so messy between us?

"I see." Reed bit his lip and blinked his eyes rapidly to stop the tears that threatened to fall. "I'm sorry for running away and causing you and everyone back home so much trouble. I wasn't thinking straight. I just needed to get back to my own space and I was really missing the City, as you know. But if you don't want to be my bodyguard anymore, I understand."

It was on the tip of Reed’s tongue to ask him if he meant anything to Logan—if the other night and what they experienced together was even a little bit special to him.

Suddenly, he felt defeated. It was no use. His shoulders dropped. "Maybe I deserve to be caught by the stalker. I've made a real mess of everything."

Logan snapped his head to him. "Why the hell would you say something like that?” He abruptly stood up and began to pace the room. “I care about you so much, goddammit. I can't bear the thought of anything bad ever happening to you.”

Reed felt anger rising through him. He was fed up with the mixed signals he was getting. "What do you mean, you care about me? You just told me that you don't want to be my bodyguard anymore."

Logan stopped pacing. "I only said that because I don't want you to feel uncomfortable around me. I get that you're trying to get away from me and I want to make things right, but I know it's too late for me.”

Reed was confused. What was Logan trying to tell him? "Do you always talk in riddles, Logan Price?" He folded his arms and stood up from the bed, facing Logan. "I don't know what you're thinking half the time, you don't tell me how you feel, and yet you seem upset at the thought of me hiring another bodyguard." Reed threw his arms into the air. “I don't know what you want from me, Logan.”

Logan exhaled loudly. “You. I want you, Reed.”

Reed’s jaw hung open. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I don't understand… what are you saying, Logan? I think you made it pretty clear last night that you weren't interested.”

Logan came closer to him, taking Reed’s hands in his. His deep blue eyes stared into his and Reed could see nothing reflected back at him but pure honesty and something else that was there—desire.

“You're gonna have to bear with me, Reed. I'm new to all this. I’ve never had a real relationship before and my feelings are a mess.”

Reed looked at him sympathetically. “I understand. It's hard coming to terms with your feelings when you're not sure about your sexuality.”

Logan dipped his chin, relief washing over his face. “It isn’t that I’ve not considered it before…” He smiled. “In fact, some of my close friends from the Navy realized it even before I did. Sure, I’ve been with women along the way, but I’ve never felt anything for them, I swear. Not like the connection I feel when we're together—the chemistry that we share.” He took a deep breath, running his hand through his hair. “And I guess I've been trying to deny it or avoid it—anything to keep from coming to terms with my feelings.” He looked at Reed with big, pleading eyes. “Please forgive me for how I've treated you? I never meant to hurt you.”

Reed beamed at him, his eyes misting over again with tears. "It's fine, I understand. This is kind of a surreal situation for both of us being thrown together like this.” He poked at Logan’s bicep. “I’m not sure we would have even crossed paths under normal circumstances, but I’m so glad we did.” He squeezed Logan’s hand. “I care about you too and I’ve never felt this way either.” Reed blinked, and looked away, suddenly feeling shy. “I guess I was also feeling a little overwhelmed and scared with my emotions all over the place.”

"I also can’t take my eyes off the ball, Reed. I told you about what happened in Syria—no matter what anyone says, I hold myself entirely responsible. And I’ll never make that mistake again.” He paused for a moment, blinking and Reed could see his eyes were watery as well. “That's why I was trying to put my feelings on hold about our relationship until I knew that the stalker was caught and safely behind bars.” Logan roughly brushed his eye with the back of his hand and Reed’s heart melted at the show of emotion. “I can’t bear the thought of anything bad happening to you. Ever.”

Before Reed could even respond, Logan placed his hand around Reed’s neck and drew his mouth to his. Reed closed his eyes as Logan's lips pressed upon his, the kiss sweeter than anything he'd ever experienced before. Reed moaned and wrapped his arms around Logan's neck, tilting his head up and taking everything that Logan was giving. The kiss felt different this time—instead of the lust that they’d experienced before, it felt like they were communicating without any words needed. Reed could feel the heat rolling over their bodies, their arousal straining against their jeans, Reed’s almost painfully.

Without breaking the kiss, Logan walked Reed backwards until his knees hit the edge of the bed. They broke apart for a moment, each searching the other's eyes, unsure of what their next step would be. Reed wanted him like he’d never wanted anyone before but he wouldn’t push him into anything Logan wasn't ready for just yet.

"I want to feel you, Reed," Logan groaned. His eyes were wide and dark with lust, ready to go to the next level. "But I don't know what to do next." He tugged on the hem of Reed’s t-shirt, dragging it up over his head and tossing it onto the bed. Reed closed his eyes, his heart pounding so hard, he was sure Logan could hear it. “God, you’re perfect.” Logan ran his large hands over Reed’s chest, with a slight tremble.

"Just relax. We won't do anything you're not comfortable with." Reed leaned in and kissed him on the lips, once again pushing against him and realizing that Logan was pushing back just as much, showing him how much he wanted this. Reed reached for the hem of Logan’s t-shirt, but before he could tug, Logan stepped back and impatiently pull it over his head, throwing it onto the bed to join the other.

“I need to touch you.” Logan reached down and fumbled with Reed’s belt and fly and Reed stopped to watch him. Logan slid his hand down the front of Reed’s boxers, to find his cock wedged in sideways, rock hard.

“God,” Logan ground out. “You feel incredible, soft as velvet.” He moaned again, this time softer as he wrapped his hand around Reed’s cock.

Reed was aroused like never before, craving skin-on-skin contact. He fumbled with Logan’s pants, lowering the fly until they both had their pants halfway down their legs.

Logan pulled away and quick as lightning, he stepped out of his pants and boxers, Reed doing the same. Finally, they were gloriously naked. They crawled into bed together, taking it one step at a time, facing each other until they were belly to belly. Reed took their cocks in his hand, watching Logan’s eyes widen and feeling powerful, the sensation of touching their cocks together causing electrical jolts up and down his spine. Forming a tight ring around them, Reed began to jack them together, slow and steady at first, getting used to each other. Logan closed his eyes, groaning loudly and thrusting into Reed’s hands, a small bead of pre-cum leaking from his slit.

Reed couldn’t believe this was happening. Twelve hours ago, he was crushed and felt unworthy. He thought his feeling were one-sided, yet as he looked at Logan now while covering his chest in kisses, he was the happiest man on earth. Logan ran his hands all over him, as if he couldn’t get enough. Reed knew it never felt so right with anyone else before, his feelings and heart inextricably linked and intensifying along with the physical pleasure.

He picked up the pace, the heat pooling inside him, as hot as a furnace and ready to explode. He felt his orgasm building, rising to a crescendo, until finally his balls tightened against him. Shuddering with the intensity of his orgasm rushing through him, pure pleasure whited out his vision. Logan was moaning and panting at the sight of Reed coming all over them and came a few seconds after, shooting his cum all over Reed’s hand and belly.

Reaching for Reed, Logan pulled him closer, rubbing sticky cum all over each other, and lightly kissing his mouth. He smelled of a combination of sex, his usual woodsy scent and something else that was just Logan—masculine and sexy.

They laid there, smiling at each other, their eyes conveying everything that their mouths weren’t yet ready to say. Logan reached down and pulled the covers over them, settling in for the night, wrapped up in each other’s arms.

Reed felt more content than he’d ever been before.