More Than Him (25 page)

It was Lachlan, Lucy's brother. He was older now. Not the same four year old who helped me get Amanda to agree to a date back when she worked at the diner.

He turned around and looked at a bunch of boys standing a few yards behind him—the rest of Lucy's brothers. They all wore goofy grins.

My eyes went from the older boys to the kid in front of me. "What's up, little man?"

He looked from me, to Amanda, and back again. "Do you guys give each other blowfish jobs?"

Amanda snorted with laughter. "Oh, jeez."

"What?" I tried to hide my own amusement.

"Not blowfish," one of the older boys said. I'm pretty sure it was Little Logan. "BLOW JOB!" he yelled. Then all the boys started yelling, "Blow job! Blow job!"

Lachlan just shrugged, but stayed put.

"Blow job!" The other boys kept shouting.

"What the hell?" Lucy shrieked, walking towards them. "Why are you all yelling blow job?"

The boys fell into a fit of laughter.

Then Lachlan stepped in front of Amanda. "You're pretty," he told her, then wriggled his way to sit between us. He put his tiny hand in hers. She grinned from ear to ear. "And you," she said to him, "may just be the most handsome boy I've ever seen."

I rolled my eyes. "Gee, thanks."

Lucy and Cameron headed towards us, and we all stood up. Lachlan held onto Amanda's hand. Lucy introduced us to all her brothers. "I don't expect you to remember them all," she quipped.

Once we'd paid and entered through the gates, Cam pulled out his wallet and handed them all some money.

"I want to stay with pretty girl," Lachlan told them.

I had to laugh at his name for her. "Dude," I teased. "You're stealing
all
my game."

He growled at me with a sneer on his lips. I took a step back in shock, and Amanda laughed.

"Let him go with them," Little Logan insisted. "Then we can all go on the bigger rides, and we don't have to worry about him."

"We don't mind," Amanda spoke up. "We'll take him. You guys have fun."

***

"Okay, bud," I spoke quietly into Lachlan's ear. "I'll aim, you hold down the trigger, okay?" His eyes were huge. It matched his smile. He sat on my lap as they reset the little ducks with the targets on them back to the starting line. It was one of those water pistol aiming games.

Our winning celebration was a little over the top. It was all fine, until we were handed a panda soft toy, and the little girl next to us started crying. Lachlan pouted when he saw her, and then walked to her side. "Here you go," he said, handing it to her. "My uncle, Logan, will win more things for me, you can have this one." Then he hugged her.

"That was a good thing you did, bud," I told him.

He shrugged. "Now you have to win me more, otherwise I lied, and liars are bad."

***

Two hours later, we all met back up to eat. I laughed when Amanda told me to get her one of everything. My features straightened when I realized she was dead serious. "Are you sure?" I asked cautiously.

She pulled out the girl card. "Are you calling me fat?"

I walked away without a word. I wasn't stupid.

***

When I got back—after the third fucking trip—I noticed one of Lucy's brothers, Leo, fixated on a girl a few yards away.

"Leo!" I tried to get his attention. "What's up? You into her?"

This made the other boys look up and follow his gaze. "Oooh," one of them said. "Double D Debbie."

"Shut up," he spat through clenched teeth.

I ignored the funny nickname and asked, "Why don't you go talk to her?"

He shrugged. "She's with her boyfriend."

I looked back over at her. She was standing by herself, shifting on her feet and looking at the ground. I scanned the area around her. There was a group of guys a few feet away, chatting up a bunch of girls. "Where's her boyfriend?" I asked, not bothering to look away.

"The one at the front of the group, talking to the blonde."

I faced him again, my eyebrows drawn in. "You mean her boyfriend's letting her stand there alone while he tries to get on with another girl?"

He shrugged.

"What a dick."

Cam and Lucy laughed. My attention went to them. "What's funny?"

Cam spoke first, "That
dick
is classic high school Logan."

"Gross," Amanda muttered.

I couldn't say shit; they were right. I went back to Leo. "You know what you should do . . ."

"What?" He was all ears. "You should go over to her, tell her that her boyfriend's a dick, and that you'd treat her so much better. Because you would, right?"

"Oh no . . ." Lucy groaned.

Leo nodded.

"Then, without giving her a chance, hold her hand, and move in for the kiss. If she doesn't knee you in your junk—" I paused to let Amanda's laugh fill my ears. "If she doesn't push you away, and she kisses you back, bring her over here."

"Her boyfriend’s gonna kick your ass," one of the brothers said.

I shrugged. "If he tries, you got me and Cameron." I looked at Cam. "Right?"

He leaned forward and jerked his head in a nod. "Go for it, dude," he told Leo. "You'll never know if you don't try."

Leo looked over at her, then at us. He blew out a breath and stood. Running his hands over his shirt, he nodded. "Okay, I'm going in." He wiped his palms on his shorts. I knew that action. He was nervous. Hell, I was nervous for him.

We all watched as he made his way over to her.

"No way he's gonna do it," Little Logan said.

He stood in front of her and must've said something, because her eyes lifted to his. We could see his mouth moving, and then she smiled. He reached his hand out, gripped hers, took one step forward, and then leaned in for the kiss.

We all sucked in a breath, the anticipation of her reaction killing us. "Get it," I heard Cam say.

We waited.

And waited.

Then her arm came up and curled around his neck, bringing him closer.

We all cheered, and then laughed at how stupid we were.

We must've been loud, because it caused them to pull apart. He turned around and shook his head at us. His mouth started moving again. She nodded, her smile huge. They walked towards us, hand in hand, and then her boyfriend called out. He broke through his little group and followed them. By the time he reached them, they were already at our table. Cameron stood up and placed his fisted hands on the table. He glared at the kid. "Problem, you little punk?"

The kid halted. I stood up. He raised his hands. "No problem."

He walked away.

"Great," Little Logan said. "Now he's gonna beat the shit out of you when Cam's not around."

"No he won't," Cam said. He eyed me and jerked his head towards the kid who'd just left. "We'll take care of it."

Amanda

"Neanderthals," Lucy stated.

I laughed. "They mean well." I watched as Logan and Cam caught up with the kid. Logan placed his hand on his shoulder and spoke down to him. He could be intimidating when he wanted to.

He could also be ridiculously hot.

I turned back and looked at the spread of food in front of me. Hot dogs, funnel cakes, nuggets, burgers, fries, corn dogs, you name it, it was all on the table. "Okay, Lachlan. What do you think we should get into first?"

"All of it," he yelled, clapping enthusiastically.

"Okay, then."

He giggled as I started giving him portions of all the food Logan had bought. "He's right to have all this?" I asked Lucy. "He's not allergic to anything?"

She shook her head. "The kid ate dog poop when he was three. He's good to go." Leo's girl giggled next to him. He watched her with a small smile on his face, just like Logan did with me.

"Hey, bud," Logan said. He stood behind me with his hands on my shoulders, but he was talking to Lachlan. "You think maybe I can have my girl back? Maybe I can sit next to her for a bit?"

He shrugged. "Maybe later."

I contained my laugh while I continued making his plate for him. Logan muttered something under his breath, but took a seat on the other side of him. "You planning on stealing her?" He winked at me, his dimples on full show. I couldn't help but smile.

"Maybe," Lachlan shouted. "Probably not. I love her."

Logan choked on his soda.

"Actually," Lachlan started. He eyed the sky, contemplating. "Will you be my mommy? I don't have a mommy. You can be her, right?"

I sucked in a breath as his eyes locked with mine, the intensity in them so much more than his years should allow. He waited anxiously for my answer. I opened my mouth to speak, but the words caught in my throat.

Then Logan spoke, "Hey, buddy."

Lachlan turned to him.

I let out the breath.

"You know," Logan said, glancing at me quickly, "I don't have a mommy either. But it's cool, because my dad—he's pretty awesome. I bet your dad's awesome, too, right?"

Lachlan nodded enthusiastically.

"And you have a lot of awesome brothers and sisters, as well."

Lachlan's head turned as he looked around the table. "Yeah." Then he faced Logan again. "Do you have brothers and sisters?"

Logan smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Yes and no," he answered. His head bent down so he was speaking only to Lachlan. "I mean—your sister, Lucy, and our friends Mikayla and Heidi, they're kind of like sisters to me. And our friends Jake, and Dylan, and even Cameron—they're my brothers."

Lachlan nodded slowly. "Cameron's my brother, too," he announced. "He's my brother . . . in . . . lawn? No! Low? No!"

The corner of Logan's lips curled up.

"Um . . ." Lachlan looked up to one of the eldest boys. "What did you tell me he is? Brother in . . .?"

"Law," his older brother confirmed. "Brother-in-law."

Lucy smiled and Cam placed his arm around her shoulders, bringer her in to kiss her on the temple.

"Yeah. Brother-in-law." Lachlan turned back to Logan now. "So does that mean we're brothers?"

"Yeah, dude, we can be brothers. I'd like that."

"But you'd be a good brother, right?" Lachlan's tone was low, serious. "Not like them." He jerked his head in the direction of his brothers. "They all told me to eat dog poop."

Everyone laughed.

Logan raised his eyes to me.
I love you,
I mouthed. He smiled, but it was sad.

***

"C'mon, Lachy. Let's get you cleaned up," Lucy said. Everyone stood and started clearing the table.

"Okay!" he agreed. He stood on the seat and smacked his lips on my cheeks, leaving a wet stickiness when he pulled away. "Wait up, guys!" He jumped off and joined the rest of his family.

Then it was just Logan and me. I heard his deep chuckle from next to me. He picked up a napkin and wiped my cheek. "I can't take you anywhere," he joked quietly.

I turned my head slowly, kissing first his palm, and then his lips. "Are you okay?"

He shrugged and looked away.

"Do you think about them?"

"My mom or Megan?"

"Both."

His shoulders lifted again.

I sighed. "I love you." I didn't know what else to say.

He was distracted when he replied, "I love you, too."

I pulled out the vial pendant and held it in my hand. "You know, one day, baby, I'm going to take your nightmares and turn them into dreams."

He glanced at my hand holding the pendant, and then our eyes locked. "You already do, Amanda. Every damn day."

My lungs filled with his breath as he kissed me. It was slow, needy, and passionate. He was remembering me. Savoring the moment.

A tiny throat clearing interrupted us. We both turned to see Lachlan, his hands behind his back and a cheesy grin on his face.

"Buddy," Logan teased. "You keep killing my game, here."

We stood up, just as Lachlan wormed his way between us. He held each of our hands in his. "Ferris wheel," he squealed.

So that's what we did.

***

"I love living here," I told him. We were almost at the top; you could see the town and the city from where we were.

"Yeah?" he asked. "You plan on staying around?"

I shrugged. "It depends, I mean—eventually, I think so."

He waited a while before he asked, "Eventually?"

I glanced at him quickly, but then turned back to the view. "After we live wherever you go to med school, maybe travel for a bit, come back here, create a home . . ." I trailed off.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

***

Lachlan passed out within two minutes on the Ferris wheel. I texted Lucy and told her we'd meet her back in the parking lot. Logan carried him to the bed of his truck and laid him down gently, trying not to wake him. We sat on the edge, his arms wrapped tight around me. "I finally got you all to myself."

I laughed into his chest. "You're so needy."

His body bounced with his chuckle. "I know. I just miss the shit out of you. You're kind of my drug." It was quiet for a moment. "I think you need to tell Ethan, and I think you shou—"

"I'm telling him tonight," I cut in. "I decided this morning that the first chance I got, I had to. I hate lying to him. I hate sneaking around."

"Good," Logan said. "And then maybe after that, once he's okay with us, maybe—I mean, you don't have to—but maybe we could stop missing each other and you could just move in."

My head tilted back so I could look him in the eye. "Seriously?"

"Or not." He shook his head, his confidence waning.

"I'd have to wait until someone could take over my rent and room. I can't just leave right away."

A huge grin overcame him. "But that means 'yes', right?"

I bit my lip and nodded.

His hold on me got tighter. "Oh my God," he mumbled, a disbelieving laugh erupted from him. "How the fuck did I get so lucky?" He held my face in his hands, his grin still in place. He kissed me once, twice. Eleventy-three times. Then he pulled back, his gaze roaming all over my face. "You and me," he said. "We're going to make so many damn moments worth remembering."