Trying to loosen up her mood he assures, “You’re good. Nothing is hanging out, but I can keep my hands there if you want, just in case.” He holds up his hands in question.
She giggles momentarily and the sound is the most exquisite noise he’s ever heard. Like the melodic song of an angel. She must have noticed his entrapment by her laugh because she quickly hardens her expression and sinks back into herself.
“Hmm…,” she says, glancing in the direction of Austin and Nikki. “Do you think they’ll come up for air anytime soon?”
Turning his head into their direction, Logan has to bite back a laugh. If he doesn’t break them apart from their interlude, they may very well need a bedroom.
“Hey guys, want to get some lunch first or ride a few rides?”
“Lunch,” Austin replies as he pulls back from Nikki, but continues to eat her up with his eyes. “I’m hungry,” he follows up with a growl.
Hoping that they’ll follow - instead of making every effort to get themselves kicked out of the fair - Logan takes Avery’s hand, tightening his hold, knowing that at any second she’ll try to pull away, and makes his way over to the food booth.
Everyone orders a turkey leg, Logan, and Austin both laughing when they see the looks of surprise on Avery and Nikki’s faces as they realize that the turkey legs are as big as their heads.
Logan may have snapped a picture or two with his phone at their flabbergasted expressions.
After finishing their lunch, during which Austin and Logan took the liberty of finishing the rest of the girls’, they direct themselves to the games in hopes of letting the food settle before moving onto the rides.
Avery manages to kick their asses. He doesn’t know how anyone can be so skilled at every game she touches, but when he asks her about it she simply shrugs her shoulders and hands him a giant teddy bear that she’s won.
Holding onto the ridiculously large teddy bear, which in turn keeps him from holding Avery’s hand, Logan follows alongside her as they head toward the rides. He notices out of the corner of his eye that Avery continues to glance back toward the picnic tables, eyeing the little girl they passed when they walked in.
They proceed to get in line for the Ferris wheel, but Logan can tell that Avery is distracted. She keeps biting her lip and wringing her hands, her eyes darting around the queue line. Suddenly she jerks, and before he has a chance to react, she yanks the bear from his grasp, jumps over the queue chains and makes a mad dash away from the ride.
“Avery! Wait up! Where are you going!?!” Logan shouts as he tries to escape the throngs of people in the line, his large frame not nearly as agile as Avery.
Continuing to run after her, people politely move out of his way as Logan mutters a few expletives.
He finally finds Avery crouched in front of the table where the little girl continues to sit, her parents now flanking her sides. Logan stays back and watches their interaction. The little girl beams up at Avery, hanging onto her every word. She must be telling her a story. And then Avery gives the girl her bear, which is at least twice the child’s size, and she illuminates.
Avery turns around and walks away, stealing a single glance behind her and sending another wave before heading out of the picnic area.
Astounded, Logan is so moved by her sweet gesture that he can’t stop himself from grabbing her arm as she walks by and dragging her behind the gaming booths. She doesn’t even have the chance to question his intentions before he has her pressed up against the wooden planks, his hands cupping her face, kissing her mercilessly.
Something in him snapped and he could no longer control his need for her.
Her hands gently rest on his waist, searing the skin beneath his shirt. Logan removes one of his hands from her face and reaches down to stroke the skin on the outside of her thigh, just below her skirt. A low moan breezes past her lips and he takes that as a cue that she wants more; he should have known better. As he skates his fingertips across to her inner thigh, inching up her skirt as he goes, her hands quickly move to his chest and forcibly push him back. He has to actually catch himself from stumbling.
“Please, stop,” she urges. “I can’t,” she sighs, her breaths coming in fast little gasps. “I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”
The look of utter despair in her eyes is enough to bring any man down to his knees and Logan is no exception.
Hands up in an act of surrender, Logan closes the distance between the two of them.
“I’m sorry, Avery. Something came over me and I lost control. It won’t happen again, I swear,” he pleads as a vice grip tightens around the pieces of his heart.
He knew that he had overstepped the boundary she placed, but he feels so drawn to her, like a magnetic pull that has him questioning everything he ever thought of women.
She continues to look down at her feet, twisting her leg back and forth on the tip of her boot. Using his index finger, Logan tilts her head up by her chin and bites back a curse when he sees the tears swimming in her eyes. He quickly pulls her into a hug, wrapping her tightly in his grasp, as he whispers how sorry he is over and over again.
When he feels like she has calmed down, Logan pulls her back from where she rested against him and smiles.
“Why don’t we go have some fun, ok? We still need to get a few rides under our belts.”
She replies softly, lacking any assurance of excitement, “Ok.”
He refrains from grasping her hand when they return to the line for the Ferris wheel, instead opting to tuck his hands deep inside the front pockets of his jeans.