The Christmas Deal

Seth swallowed so hard Logan could hear it. “Okay.”

Slowly, Logan ran a gloved hand down Seth’s straight back, keeping their faces close as if they were nuzzling. Seth’s jacket was one of those pea coats, and Logan stroked his nice, round ass and slipped up under the hem of his coat, gripping the firm flesh.

He whispered in Seth’s ear, “Imagine I’m saying something really dirty.”

Seth made a sharp little sound that had to be a laugh. He reached around Logan, grabbing his shoulders before stroking one hand over Logan’s head. He teased the back of Logan’s neck and ran his blunt fingernails over the short scrub of Logan’s hair at the base of his skull, sending sparks through Logan and getting his dick interested again.

With guys it was always fast and rough—this was different. Logan figured it was definitely boyfriend-like. He had to hold up his end of the deal, so he’d do what it took.

Besides, he liked Seth, and that ex was a fucking idiot for dumping him for the thick-neck who probably also had a tiny dick thanks to steroids. Seth deserved a hell of a lot better from where Logan was standing, and it was satisfying showing Brandon that Seth didn’t miss him one little bit.

Then he wondered if Seth did miss him. “Do you wish he hadn’t left you?” he asked before he could tell himself to mind his own damn business.

Seth was toying with the ends of Logan’s hair, sending nice little shivers through Logan. He stopped, resting his bare hand on the back of Logan’s neck, warm and heavy.

“You know what? No.” A smile lifted his mouth, his lips wide. He laughed like he couldn’t believe it. “Seeing him now made me realize how much I don’t miss him. Not that we didn’t have good times over the years. We did—a lot of good times.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

Laughing, Seth said, “We did. But it seems so long ago. Seeing him now, it was the strangest thing. I’ve looked him up on Facebook and found pictures, but it’s been over a year since I saw him in person. And he’s so familiar to me—aside from that ridiculous beard. I knew him so well. So…intimately. I think I recognized his body before his face. But now he’s someone different. I wouldn’t want him back. I don’t.”

“Good. He’s a shit-brick.” Logan realized his hand was still resting on Seth’s ass, but he didn’t move it, just pressed firmly.

Seth was breathy as he asked, “Think they’re still watching?”

“Maybe. Let’s go a bit longer to make sure.” If they were going to do a job, they should do it right. He massaged Seth’s ass and nipped at his jaw, scraping with his teeth and grinning at Seth’s gasp.

“Okay, I’m going to look,” Seth murmured, his breath hot across Logan’s mouth. A moment later, he sighed and eased away. Logan dropped his hand, and Seth did the same.

“All clear,” Seth said. He squinted at the store window. “You know, that chair really is great. Let’s see how many they have.”

Logan shoved his hands in his pockets, suddenly not sure what to do with them. “Sure.”

As Seth opened the door, a bell tingled. He glanced back at Logan. “Thanks for all that, by the way.” He laughed, his cheeks going red. “You were very convincing.”

“Sure,” Logan repeated, feeling his own face go hot. “Anytime.”

Chapter Eight

“Imagine I’m saying something really dirty.”

Although Seth’s imagination when it came to sex was admittedly lacking, that hot gust of a whisper echoed through his head endlessly the next day, accompanied by wisps of thrilling, forbidden words. Like suck and even fuck. Or co—

“I haven’t seen Logan smile so much in a long time.”

Seth jumped so violently at Jenna’s words that his knees rattled the keyboard tray. She laughed and said, “Sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt your deep thoughts.”

He spun in his chair. “My thoughts aren’t deep!” He winced at how strange he was being. “I mean—yeah. Um, I was miles away.” Thinking dirty thoughts that are probably pathetically tame by most people’s standards. “What did you say?”

“Oh, that Logan was smiling for once on the weekend.” She kept her voice low, rolling closer on her chair.

Seth’s heart skipped, thinking of Logan’s grin when he’d called Seth “pookie.” “Oh, well… That’s nice.”

“I mean, obviously his problems aren’t magically fixed, but he’s been so beat down. It’s a relief to know he’ll have a few weeks with you. I think you’ll be a good influence. You handle Connor really well.”

“Has that relationship always been so…fraught?”

She crossed her legs, her foot swinging as she made a face, the low pump hanging off her foot. “Oh yeah. From day one, it was snippy comments and butting heads. Connor was deeply suspicious of Logan, and I can’t say I blame him considering how quickly Logan and Veronica got married. I mean, Logan was still in the hospital. He hadn’t even met Connor. I can imagine that was a shock for a kid.”