Alpha Logan

TWENTY TWO: eyes

Bella:

My mother used to dance freely in the kitchen when she was in a good mood. It was a rare occurrence, but it cheered us all up. She'd turn on goofy music and dance to make my siblings and me laugh. It'd usually be early in the morning, while we all were just waking up. The sound of laughter and cheer in my house was very rare when I was younger, so this was a ray of light in such a dark time of my life.

It's one of those memories I hold onto with everything in me. It was a memory I didn't know I'd miss until it was gone, and buried with her. I would give up everything in me to just have a moment of peace like that again.

I could hear her voice in the back of my head calling, "Don't go on this date. Don't fall in love. Don't dream about that kiss."

She had a way of drilling the enviable fear into me. It wasn't in a mean or vengeful way either, she just wanted to protect me. She strived to write all her wrongs through me, and maybe it was something that made her feel better.

Yet ever since those words punctured my ears, it was like a dark cloud looming over me. Her words traveled in every direction of my life and rooted home in me. It hurt harder once she passed, the small passages streaming through every ounce of my body.

That's why while Logan asked me on a date tonight, a thousand voices told me no. I was swallowed by the sound of my mother begging me to say no, yet the only thing that came out of my mouth was yes.

A million times yes.

I knew at that moment, I was screwed. I was in deep, agonizing trouble. I was falling too hard and too fast for a man who consumed all my thoughts.

This is the first date I'll ever go on in my twenty-three years of living, and I couldn't feel more anxious.

When I patiently awaited his arrival at my apartment door I anxiously held my breath. I wanted so badly for this date to mean a million different things, and one of them was to prove my mom wrong.

I was dressed in a silky black mini dress and heeled booties that I burrowed from Madison. I couldn't stop the nerves from coursing through my body. I don't know what it was about this man that could make me question everything I've ever known.

The sound of a knock at my apartment jolted me out of my thoughts and I sprang from the couch. If I thought I was in trouble before, it didn't amount to the danger that stared me in the face once I swung that door open. Logan was dressed in a tailored blue suit with a white button-down, the smell of his cologne lingered lightly in the air.

"Hi." I barely squeaked out once I gathered my thoughts.

"Hi Bella, you look absolutely beautiful." His dark hazel eyes trailed slowly down my dress.

Deep trouble.

Dancing with the devil.

A thousand angelic prayers couldn't save me at this point.

I could feel a deep blush creep slowly to my cheeks. "Thank you."

The silence consumed the air as we stood there momentarily, "Ready to go?"

All I could muster up was a small nod as he slipped my hand into mine. I called out a quick goodbye to my cat, and we made our way to Logan's Porsche. All sleek black, with the interior matching. I swear every time I saw Logan, he was driving a different car.

The cold brittle air tugged at my skin as we made our way into the car. The drive was comforting silence. The radio played lowly as Logan smoothly drove.

"Have you ever been to Bistro 58?" Logan softly asked me.

I shook my head, "No, to be honest, I haven't tried a lot of different places since moving here. Madison and I usually just order from Pizza Town and call it a night." I paused, before continuing on my consistent rambling. "It's pretty good, we really like the cheesy bread from there, and oh their cinnamon buns are the best! Like melt in your mouth-." I rushed out before stopping myself.

The soft brushing of his rough hand placed on my thigh had me melting into a pool. Logan's light fingertips danced gently at the hem of my dress, caressing the skin of my thighs.

"I've never been, we'll have to try it out," Logan commented. Those fingers of his felt like burning fire. The subtle touch set my skin ablaze, smoke and all.

"Especially the cinnamon buns, I could eat those every day." I breathed out, trying to focus. "What's your favorite food?"

"Does coffee count?"

"No, that's a beverage." I gushed while tugging at his fingers.

"Hmmm..." Logan thought for a second. "Maybe cinnamon buns." His warm smile lit up on his face while teasing me.

"Okay, I'll believe you once you start having one for every meal." I laughed as I poked back at him.

We teased each other back and forth before we arrived at our destination at the restaurant. I couldn't get over how expensive it looked once we walked into it. I'm sure couldn't even afford an appetizer here.

The lights were dimmed to give a dark sultry look. The chandlers that dazzled from the ceiling overtook my vision as we walked toward our table. The conversation of others filled the low ringing of my ears from anxiety.

Logan sat straight across from me, his dark eyes felt like they were eating me alive. I couldn't help but notice how small everything looked in comparison to him, me included.

The waitress hastily tended to us and Logan ordered a foreign wine I'd never heard of.

"What kind of dinners do you like? They have an excellent salmon here." Logan informed me and adjusted the sleeve of his suit jacket.

I scrunched up my nose in disgust, "I am not a fan of fish."

Logan flashed a small smile at me, "Any type of fish?"

I quickly nodded my head, "I just never had the urge to have it." I shrugged and nervously tucked my hair behind my ear.

"You're from the ocean state of Rhode Island, and you don't like fish?" His head tilted slightly at the question in a teasing manner.

"Try growing up in a household of nine and being the only one not liking fish. Scrunching for dinner on fish night was hard enough."

"How many siblings did you have?" Logan asked me and took a small sip of the cold ice water on the table.

"I had six, and unfortunately I was the oldest."

"I'm the oldest too." Logan added, "There's just three of us though."

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat to calm my nerves. "I didn't know you had any siblings, are you guys close?"

Logan merely shrugged his shoulders. "Yes and no, they come to me when they need something, but it isn't the other way around."

"That's the perk of being the oldest," I told him. "What are their names?"

"Dylan and Kendall." Logan's deep voice grumbled, "Kendall is my little sister, really headstrong, and will definitely tell you whatever is on her mind. Dylan is the middle child and he lives in Oregon right now. People always say that Dylan and I could be twins, but I've never seen it."

I chewed at my lip heavily, "Well now you'll have to show me."

Logan gave a deep chuckle and dug into his pocket for his phone. The waiter came back to present the wine to us and began to pour some for Logan to taste, then finished filling both of our glasses.

Once Logan handed his phone over to me with a picture of his younger sibling, my heart plumped down to my stomach.

My eyes latched steady on the eerily similar version of Logan, but that wasn't the only thing that made me question my sanity.

My shaky hands held tightly onto the phone, the piercing green eyes only reminded me of one thing,

That wolf in the woods.

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