Summary: To help Carla deal with her anxiety and take her mind off things, Logan reveals one of his secret skills.
Logan wraps a towel around his waist as he gets out of the shower. Taking a towel and grooming cream, he dries off his hair and begins to style it. He didn’t use to care about the way he looks before, leaving to his trusty barber all the trouble to make him look good. But since Carla came into his life, they began to take care of each other any way they could. And on her end, it often included home beauty treatments.
He can’t complain about it. He hasn’t had anyone willing to genuinely look after him in a long time and it’s quite pleasant to be spoiled by a girl he truly cares about. However, he often feels like he isn’t doing a good job keeping his part of the deal. The closer he gets to her, the more danger he puts her through. He contemplates the idea of calling her father and taking her to him for a second, but he’s afraid she’s going get pissed and never wish to see him again. And he couldn’t handle it.
Putting everything back in the cabinet, he leaves the bathroom and goes back to his room to get dressed. As he reaches for the doorknob, he listens to her still studying.
“Blandishment: flattery intended to persuade. Congruity: the quality of agreeing. Debauch… Okay, I know this one… it’s– Oh my god, what is it?”
He sighs at her clear tone of frustration with herself. He knows Carla is a dedicated girl studying for her exams but this is getting out of hand. She is so focused on her studies she doesn’t notice when he walks in, goes behind the room divider, puts on a clean shirt and sweatpants and heads towards her.
“Hey, beautiful,” he smiles leaning on the desk where Carla is studying.
“Hi,” she beams at him, a little surprised. “When did you get in here?”
“Like half an hour ago. I came in, grabbed a few things, took a shower, got in again, changed clothes…” he smiles.
“You… you we… we-re–” she stutters as her cheeks go pink.
“It’s okay, I had a towel and I wasn’t trying to flash you. Not entirely…”
Carla looks down to hide her blushing face. Logan chortles. “I’m joking, Carla. But I did walk in here a few times and your eyes were glued to the books. Do you have any big tests this week?”
“No, just an SAT practice test,” she smiles timidly.
Her smile is as enchanting as always but she’s clearly tired. When he left that morning, she made breakfast for the entire crew as a way to thanking them for letting her ditch work to stay alone studying. Now that he’s back, the only thing different in the room is the pile of books that got bigger.
“Did you took some time out to rest to do something else?”
“Of course I did. I read.”
“Books don’t count as pillows, Carla. You need to rest.”
“I did,” she fights back a yawn but fails. “I need to study more to get a better result on the test tomorrow.”
“What was your previous score?”
“1300.”
“Whoa… That’s high. Is it really that hard to get into Langston University?”
“It’s one of the best universities in the South and I want to be the best.”
“I get it, but you need to cut some slack sometimes, take a break. When was the last time you left the room?”
She looks down at her hands.
“You never left the room, did you?”
Carla shakes her head. “I can’t stop. I know I should have a break, but sometimes it feels like the more I read, the more I think I don’t know anything, so I have to keep studying. It’s insane, isn’t it?”
“No, it’s not.” Logan cups her face and kisses her forehead. He knows how driven she is and loves that about her, so he can’t bring himself to criticize her behavior. “But you still need a time out. And I think I can help you with that and give a boost to your studies.”
Carla raised an eyebrow. “Okay, I’m intrigued.”
“Good. Close your books and meet me downstairs,” he says, giving her a quick kiss walking out if the room.
Carla isn’t sure if whatever he’s planning is going to work. Most of the time when she’s around him, she gets too distracted thinking about kissing him and when they kiss, she loses all her will power. Still, she thinks it’s really sweet that he tries to help her in his own way. She arranges the books and her notebooks on the desk, places discarded drafts in the trash can and heads downstairs.
The gentle yet stimulating beat of an R&B song plays in the background as she descends the stairs. Most of the lights are off except for the one in the kitchen making it clear for her that know no one else but the two of them were there. When she arrives at the kitchen doorway, her face lightens up at the sight of Logan mixing something in a large bowl and several ingredients spread across the counter and the table. She can’t help but smile at the mess.
“Need any help there?”
“Hey,” he turns to her with a captivating grin. “What took you so long?”
“I was cleaning up the mess I made in your room. Having things organized is kind of important to get things done, you know,” she smirks.
“I’m sensing a little bit of judgment there and I’ll choose to ignore it if you don’t mind,” he jokes at her as he spreads flour on the table and places the dough on it.
“Are you making pizza?” Her eyes widen.
“One of the few things I can cook. But don’t tell anyone or I’ll be stuck in this kitchen forever.”
“Heh… Your secret is safe with me.”
“Now that you know my hidden skill, can you pick up the toppings?”
“Sure,” Carla walks to the refrigerator and opens it. “What do you need?”
“Whatever you have in there.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.” She grabs a few tomatoes, sauce, onions, salami and mozzarella cheese and takes to the kitchen counter while she takes a knife to slice them.
Logan puts the dough back in the bowl and covers it to let it rise, washes his hands then turns to look at Carla’s handiwork. “The troublemaker is playing safe with the pizza toppings. Interesting…” he smirks.
“I’d normally add candy, bacon, and bananas, but Toby ate the last box of milk duds.”
He chuckles and wraps his arms around her from behind, kissing the crook of her neck. “Thank goodness.”
Carla tries to concentrate on slicing the tomatoes while his fingers slip under her blouse, running up and down her waist, tracing a ghost touch, then reach for her lower arms and rest on her hands, helping her cut everything faster.
“You’re really good at this,” she says, a little taken aback.
“Thank you. I was a lot better though.”
“How do you so much about cooking?”
“I used to help my grandmother in the kitchen. She taught me how to make pizza dough, bread, pasta… When she got sick, she taught me how to make chicken soup. She loved that soup,” he says wistfully as they finish slicing everything.
“Loved?”
“She passed away a few years ago.”
“I’m so sorry, Logan…” she frowns.
“It’s okay. She wasn’t even my real grandmother. She was just a nice old lady who let me crash in the attic of her house sometimes,” he shrugs.
She turns to him and cups his face. “But she meant something to you and that’s what counts. It’s okay if you miss her.”
“Yeah, I guess it is,” he lowered his head, avoiding eye contact.
Carla runs her thumbs along his cheekbones and slowly he relaxes under her touch. He leans in until their lips meet. Her mouth is sweet and warm, tasting like the coffee she took all day to keep awake while she studied. Her fingers massage the nape of his neck, digits caressing his scalp. A groan escapes his throat and he turns her around, pushing her against the wooden table, knocking over a few things and spilling some of the tomato sauce. They pull away laughing.
“Can you live with a little less sauce in the pizza?”
“Yeah, I think I’ll survive.”
Logan captures her lips again in a long heated kiss before he picks up the dough and they prepare the pizza together and clean the kitchen.
“Logan?”
“Yeah?” He says distracted as he finishes cleaning the table.
“Thank you for taking my mind off things. I needed this.”
“My intention was to get some food into your system before you pass out trying to learn any new complicated words you’re probably never going to use, but that works too,” he winks.
“Well, you’ll be happy to know that I’m really hungry right now. It smells so good…” she inhales the comforting aroma of the dough mixed with the tomato sauce, melting cheese, salami, and oregano.
“Wait until you taste it,” Logan’s seductive low voice rings in her ear as he pulls her by the waistband of her jeans and envelopes into a warm embrace. Their lips meet again in long and slow kisses until it’s time to take the pizza out of the oven and they enjoy the rest of the night together eating pizza and talking.
