Logan scrunched his black eyebrows at the sight of Alex suddenly hiding from him. They had been fine just a moment ago. What could have happened?
Gently, he began to pull Alex’s blue blankets.
“No!” He heard her complain. Alex tugged on the covers and rolled over to pin some of it under her back.
Of course, this only made Logan pull harder, “Come on, let me see that pretty face.”
“There is no pretty face under here!”
Logan rolled his eyes but kept his tone light, “Yes, there is. Let me look for it.”
“No! Let go!”
Then, one of Alex’s feet slipped off from under the covers. Logan grabbed her exposed ankle.
“Why are you being so difficult?” he asked. Alex kicked his hands away but his grip stayed firm, making Alex swore quietly.
It seemed that the harder Logan pushed, the more Alex resisted. Did she have something to hide from him? Was she ‘indecent’ again?
“Because I can ” Alex responded. Logan bit the side of his cheek. Alex used her other foot to kick his stomach and it made contact—Logan took the chance to catch her second ankle.
“Well, that’s no excuse” He told her, keeping both of her ankles in place. He could feel her trying to break them free but she hardly succeeded.
Alex pulled down the blankets from her face, needing her eyes to see where her feet would land. She didn’t want to accidentally hit Logan in the eye and turn him blind.
“Yes, it is.” Alex moved her legs like she was riding a bike. Logan instantly lost his grip on her ankles. Alex tried to pull her legs back but Logan sat on them before she could—and he weighed a ton.
“Get off me!” She snapped at him.
Logan pressed his lips together, doing absolutely nothing against Alex while she struggled. She really wanted to get away from him… but why? He didn’t want her to go.
What could possibly be wrong?
Logan wiggled his butt on her legs, “Not when I have you right where I want you to be.”
“That is just gross, Logan” Alex switched to a different tactic and started to push him off with her hands instead.
“You know you love it.”
“You know I don’t.”
Alex managed to pound on his shoulder with the underside of her wrist, making him wince.
“Ha-ha!” She cheered in triumphant. The smile on her face took Logan’s breath away.
He aimed for her wrists but Alex squealed and hid herself under the blankets again. The swat fight led to nowhere and unless Logan freed her legs, she was stuck under him.
They found themselves back on square one.
“Come on, let go already” Logan pleaded gently, letting out a frustrated groan. How could he look after her if she didn’t even want him around?
“No! You can’t make me” Alex clutched the sheet firmly around herself. She wasn’t even sure what she hoped to accomplish with this behavior. If someone said she overreacted about yesterday’s events, she didn’t care. She felt safe out of Logan’s eyesight.
“What’s wrong? You have a pimple you’re shy about?” He asked her, hoping to get some answers. He had one arm on each side of Alex and his face hovered over where he thought hers would be.
“… No” Alex could sense the impending defeat. In her moment of desperate panic, she forgot how nosy Logan could be. He wouldn’t let it go until she told him the truth.
“Then, what?”
“I told you. It’s nothing” Alex stopped thrashing around and sighed, her breath made her blanket ripple in waves. Logan’s tone of voice sounded almost like a whimper. She couldn’t tell if it was acting or if it was genuine. Either way, her heart squeezed when she heard it.
Logan sighed as well but to himself. He remembered that Alex could be very stubborn and began to second-guess his current actions. He didn’t want to overstep any line. He’d only lose her that way.
“Is this about yesterday?” he said out of the blue. He hoped it wasn’t. He had fun during their time in that laundry room. It would really hurt him to know if it turned out to be one-sided.
When Alex didn’t answer him, he knew he hit the jackpot, “So it is about yesterday.”
“No, it’s not” Alex denied. A pitiful attempt at that. She didn’t even know why she still tried to hide it from Logan.
“Right, right. You do know you’re a terrible liar, right?” Logan stared at the sheet as if he could see right through it. Would Alex be okay if he pulled it off? Or would that be overstepping his boundaries?
“Are you kidding?” Alex scoffed, refusing to let the blush on her cheeks get the best of her, “I’ve kept my gender under wraps for three years!”
Logan shrugged, “Whatever, I bet your nose is twitching.”
“My nose doesn’t twitch!” Alex screamed, pulling the blanket off to glare at him.
“Ah-ha! I got you now” Logan beamed and lunged, hugging her immediately. Her body temperature warmed him up but not enough to burn, thank goodness.
Alex began to push him off. He felt like a frickin’ elephant against her chicken arms.
“You’re not getting away from me this time” Logan laughed in her ear and pulled her up, moving his butt onto the bed and finally freeing her legs, “You can run but you can’t hide.”
“Yes, I can” Alex wrestled to get away. She tried to wiggle herself out. She also tried to pull off his arms but he clearly overpowered her.
Logan shook his head, stifling his nose on top of her head, “Nope, you’re stuck with me.”
He could smell the faint floral scent of her shampoo.
Alex slumped in defeat. Her head pounded as if someone tied a rope around it and pulled on the knot to tighten it extensively. Her body also felt heavier than it did when she first woke up.
Logan would eventually release her. He had to. She might as well rest a bit and save her strength, “Why can’t you just let it go?”
“I already did.”
Once Logan was sure she wasn’t going to do anything, he adjusted his arms and leaned back his head to look in her eyes, “You’re the one who hasn’t.”
Alex snorted, “Well, what did you expect? No one has even seen me in my underwear since I had boobs. Let alone a boy!”
Saying it out loud while staring directly at Logan’s eyes did not help to ease Alex’s embarrassment.
She hid her face at the crook of his neck, still feeling humiliated. Others may have gotten over it by now but Alex? No, Alex would probably avoid the other party for a week.
She had always done her best to keep her wits in almost any situation. Other than catching her in a dress, the soaked shirt became the second time Logan caught her off guard. She hadn’t had a close embarrassing incident since the year she dropped out of middle school.
The feeling seemed almost foreign.
“There’s nothing to be ashamed about, Juliet” Logan rubbed her back in comfort. Alex sniffled on his neck.
Upon hearing this, Logan said, “I have to admit I did enjoy the view.”
Alex slapped his chest, still hiding her face.
“Okay, I deserved that” he chuckled. At least, she didn’t feel too down not to hit him.
Logan cleared his throat. Alex obviously took the incident seriously. It wouldn’t be polite if he didn’t acknowledge that and didn’t empathize with her. Jokes aside, what mattered now was to hear her out.
He kept rubbing her back and spoke in a low voice, “Alex, you’re beautiful. Don’t let anyone make you think otherwise.”
“It’s not that. It’s just…” Alex sighed for the nth time since the bra thing happened, “…it was so embarrassing!”
She raised her voice by the end of the sentence.Then, she concealed her face in her hands and, if it was possible, buried her-covered-face further onto Logan’s neck.
“Ssshh” Logan soothed. The brush of his breath on the tips of her ears gave Alex goosebumps, “No need to be embarrassed, Juliet.”
Both of them fell silent. Alex focused more on calming down and getting herself together. Logan, on the other hand, simply rubbed her back and waited for her to compose herself.
Once Alex felt better, she pulled her hands off her face and tried to lighten up the situation, “I thought I was noodles?”
“Sexy noodles. Don’t forget the sexy part. In fact” Logan joked, “Add some extra sexy.”
“Logan?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t push it.”
“Yes, ma’am” he replied with a chuckle. Alex had to smile at that. Maybe he wasn’t that much of a pushover after all.
She felt his lips brush her temple before saying, “But to answer your question—in case, you’re wondering— you were Juliet first before you became sexy noodles. I know it was the other way around when we performed it but I could only see you in one way… .”
Logan didn’t continue what he meant to say. The sudden silence made Alex realize the position she was in.
She was actually sitting on Logan’s lap. She was in his arms. Her head cradled on his shoulder while he hummed in her ear.
Warning bells rang and red flags appeared inside her head.
In haste, she scrambled out of Logan’s hold. He didn’t let her go at first and only did out of confusion.
Alex sat on the edge of the bed, far away from him as possible with her body shaking in fear. That was too close. She wasn’t supposed to become comfortable around him…
… it would only lead her to more trouble.
She mentally smacked herself in the head. How could she let down her guard so easily? Gods, she should know better than that!
Logan stared at her back, noticing how stiff she sat. She had her arms wrapped around her and her legs squeezed together. If he didn’t know any better, he would think Alex wanted to turn into a statue.
He cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck, “So… did you drink your medicine yet?”
Logan figured it was best to change the topic.
Alex scowled, confused, “No, I haven’t. I didn’t even ate anything yet.”
Logan’s eyes went wide in alarm.
“Alex—how could—” he ruffled his hair, making them stick up in every direction possible, “What am I gonna do with you?”
