Gabriella and Logan

"Better safe than sorry. I'm going to bed so don't worry about me," I told her before winking and going to my room.

"Goodnight coffee!" She yelled.

"Goodnight cream!" I yelled back.

We hadn't used those nicknames in years! It was an inside joke we used in high school when people always asked us about of friendship. We were raised together and even though she was 2 years older than me, we maintained our friendship through middle and high school. Every time someone asked her why she hung out with such a little girl, she always told them I was the coffee to her cream.

The door to my room swung open.

"Don't forget to write your dad back! It's been 5 days now and you know how he gets. I talked to him yesterday and he said he hasn't heard from you," Kristy said crossing her arms leaning against the door frame.

"I know," I cried. "I've been working so much and you know I don't get any cell service in this room! I'll write him tomorrow. I'm off for the first time ever!"

"Ok, goodnight!"

"Night ugly."

She closed the door with a click and I went to my bathroom to shower. Kristy had showered directly after work so I had at least an hour's worth of hot water. I was so happy!

-

*Logan*

"Dude! You gotta come get me out of here! All she wants to do is talk. Help me! You know the drill!"

I laughed hysterically at the text from Brian. Looks like his little plan to get her in bed was failing. Another text lit up my phone.

"Dude! She wants to watch Dirty Dancing! Get me out of here."

I got out the car and walked up the door. I knocked on the door 4 times with my story ready to go. This was a classic one. His mom is in the hospital and we have to leave now. I don't remember which of us came up with this one, but it was life saver.

I knocked on the door again and found myself getting annoyed. It was freezing out here and nobody had yet to open the door. I had been standing there for about 3 minutes. I knocked again a little harder and the door opened slowly revealing Kristy's confused face.

"Steak 'N Parm Shrimp?" she asked.

"Yea. That was me," I asked.

"Oh yea, you were with Brian. What's up?" she asked smiling. "Come in. Let me get Brian."

I walked in the apartment and closed the door behind me. It was instantly hot and I wanted to take off my jacket.

The door in front of me opened and Gabriella stepped out the room in a green mask and a very sexy pink short set. I wanted to take her down right then and there.

"Hello," I called startling her.

She jumped and put her hand to her heart and breathed deeply.

"Hi," she said in that sexy voice I had been replaying in my mind all day.

Brian and Kristy walked out the room to my left. Brian looked instantly relieved and I knew what I had to do.

"What's up Logan?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing! I was just wondering if I could use the bathroom. I've been sitting outside in the car holding it and I couldn't hold it anymore," I lied.

Sorry Brian.

-

"Gabriella*

I couldn't believe the luck I had. It was bad. It was all bad bad bad. If I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck. Why! ME! Why did I have to walk out at this time? Why me? Whyyyy meeeee! I would come out looking a mess to the cute one from the restaurant.

"What's up Logan?" Brian asked.

"Oh, nothing! I was just wondering if I could use the bathroom. I've been sitting outside in the car holding it and I couldn't hold it anymore," the guy, Logan, said.

"I'll take him," I offered.

"Thanks," he smiled.

"We'll let you guys get back to it," I told Kristy.

"Thanks!" she said leading Brian back into her room.

I showed him to the bathroom in my room and touched my face to make sure I wasn't blushing or red. I suddenly remembered I had on my green face mask. I could have passed out right then and there. I had to grab the top of the couch to keep myself steady.

When Logan walked out the bathroom, I excused myself promising to come back and ran to my room. Washing my face with the speed of lightening, I silently cursed myself for being so dumb. I thought about changing but that would be too obvious. Well here goes nothing. I let my hair down and walked out the room to see him sitting on the couch.

"Sorry about that," I apologized. "I'm Gabriella but you can call me Gabby."

He stood out and shook my hand firmly before introducing himself. "Logan. Pleasure to meet you."

I almost expected to feel sparks when our hands touched. Surely I couldn't be the only one feeling this type of chemistry.

"You too," I said sitting on the couch. He followed suit and sat on the further end of the same couch.

I turned to face him and tucked my legs under me. He was even more beautiful up close. His jawline was stronger than my Wi-Fi connection and those eyes made me swoon. They looked like emeralds had been implanted in his eyes.

"You have a nice place," he commented while running his hands through his hair. It was styled into a nice cut and I wanted to touch it.

"Thank you, it's a bit small but it works," I told him. "You're not from Montana are you?"

"No, we flew here to sign our new lease on our place. We're going to live about 10 minutes away from here and go to UoM," he shared. "We're from California."

"Oh ok. That sounds really cool. Do you like Montana so far?"

"I've been here a few times with family during the summer and it's always been enjoyable. What about you Gabriella? You enjoying Montana?"

The way he said my name sent chills down my spine. It was deep and rich.

"I do. I love the scenery. I'm in photography so it's excellent for me. Kristy and I are originally from California ourselves. We moved here about 2 years ago."

"You'll have to show me your work sometimes, I love to see people passionate about their crafts," he said checking his watch. "It's 1 am already. I'm not keeping you up am I?"

"Oh no. I'm so used to getting off at this time that my body is automatically buzzing with energy. Are you sleep?" I asked hoping he said no.

"Ha! I feel like I've drunken 5 cups of coffee with extra expresso!" he chuckled. "So, I hope your boyfriend doesn't mind you keeping me company."

Maybe I was imagining things because for a second it seemed like he was fishing for information. That didn't mean he was interested though. He was probably just curious to know. I was curious myself.

"Nope, no boyfriend so I think we are fine," I giggled. "Shouldn't you send your girlfriend a goodnight text? Or at least call. Girls do require attention buddy!"

Two could play that game.

"Gabriella, even if I had a girlfriend, which I do not, you would have my full attention for as long as you wanted it," he said.

I was thrown back by what he said. What did that even mean? I wanted to ask him if he was flirting with me or messing with me. I also wanted to straddle his lap and breathe him in.

"I mean, because it would be rude to have made you stop what you were doing to entertain me, than leave you so I could talk to someone else. I was raised better," he clarified.

Oh.

"I understand," I smiled.

We were both quiet for several seconds before he got up and sat next to me. He reached his hand out and touched my hair while looking in my eyes. His face moved closer to mine before a bump in Kristy's room made us jump. He jerked his hand away and moved back to the far end of the couch.

"Sorry, you had some green stuff in your hair," he said holding out his hand.

"OH! Yea that was my face mask. Thanks!" I said in a squeaky voice.

I could have sworn he was about to kiss me. The signs were there. I was not going crazy.

"So how did you get into photography?" he asked.

"Actually, it was my mom's fault. When I was younger, my mother was constantly taking pictures of me. I always asked her why she took so many of me. She always told me it was because I was her sun, her moon and her sky. One day, I was maybe 12, I told her to take a picture of the real sun, moon and sky because I was sick of being her canvas. Instead, she gave me her camera and told me too. At first I just snapped the pictures and was satisfied. But when I went back to look at them, I didn't like them. I tried again and again until I was happy with the outcome. When I showed my mom, she told me I was a natural. I didn't know it, but my obsession had been born. I loved taking pictures of everything. She got me my own camera and the rest is history," I explained fond of the memory.

"Wow that was a beautiful story. I can understand your love of your craft. Trust me. I thought I loved football more than anything I had ever done until I started writing. It's a hidden talent no one knows about but I love it," he admitted sheepishly.

"What do you write?"

"Stories, songs, notes, letters, poetry. Anything really. Lame right?"

"Not at all."

"It's like my escape from the world. If I ever feel like things are too stressful, I just go and write until my fingers hurt. I always feel better after."

"That's how I am with photography. It feels good to get lost in something and take a break from the world sometimes."

"You have the prettiest brown eyes I've ever seen Gabby. Hands down, no competition."

I blushed and thanked him. I wasn't used to this.

"So why don't you have a boyfriend? If you don't mind me asking. I mean, you're beautiful. You're funny. You seem intelligent. You really are a package deal. How could you be single?"

I was sure my face was red.

"Thank you for flattering me and making my head big," I laughed. "I'm single because I don't have time for relationships. I work a lot and not a lot of people can understand my busy schedule. I could ask you the same thing." I said biting my thumb nail. "You're handsome. Smart. Funny. Talented. Why are you not taken sir?"

"I'm waiting on the right one. I don't just want anybody. I want somebody that connects with me emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually. I can't find that in anybody so I'm flying solo," he confessed while looking into my eyes. "With that being said. I want to see you again Gabby."

"Ok. I would like that. I like hanging out with you."

"I want us to be good friends," he said. "I hope you want that too."

What I really wanted was to drag him to my hot ass room and screw his brains out. I also wanted to kiss him and cook for him and make sure he was happy in life. I would settle for friendship.

"Of course. You seem like a very interesting person and I would love to have a new friend. Kristy is in school a lot so I'm usually bored. It would be nice to have another friend to hang out with."

"Good. It's settled. We are now friends. My first girl friend and it only took me 24 years," he chuckled.

"Well I officially have 2 friends and I'm 21. I know 5 year olds with more friends than me."

Kristy and Brian walked out her room and she walked him out the door. We followed suit and I walked him to the door. We exchanged numbers and when I handed him his phone back, he held my hand for longer than necessary.

"Goodnight Gabriella," he smiled.

He dropped a kiss on my forehead and walked out. I would have walked him out had he not thrown my entire life off balance and made me dizzy with lust. Let's see if friends would be good enough.

-

*Logan*

I did it! I got her number!

"Dude what was that?" Brian asked.

We were already away from the house but we had been silent the first half of the trip.

"What was what?" I asked.

"You totally left me hanging!" he cried.

"Remember that time we were in 5th grade and I liked that girl Sarah?" I asked him. Of course he remembered. I was obsessed.

"Duhh. What does that have to do with anything?" he asked in annoyance.

"Remember how scared I was to ride my bike down that hill by the garden? You challenged me in front of Sarah that day to ride my bike down even though you knew I was scared. You knew I wouldn't back down. I did it that day, crying the whole way down. Sarah laughed at me and called me a crybaby. You made fun of me for a week straight. You remember that right?"

"Yea," he said in confusion.

"Tonight was payback for that," I laughed.

Brian busted out laughing. "You held a grudge for 14 years?"

I nodded.

Of course I hadn't held a grudge. But I couldn't tell him the real reason why it would have taken God himself to remove me from Gabby's presence. He wouldn't understand.

"That black chick was kind of hot," he said out of nowhere.

"Come on man. You can't call her the 'black chick'. She has a name," I scolded him. "It's Gabby."

"Whatever her name is, she's hot. Maybe I could try bagging her. Her roommate is a total bitch. She wouldn't even let me kiss her. I'm sure little Miss Gabby would be more fun. And did you see that ass in those shorts?" he laughed.

I had definitely checked her out in those tiny pink shorts. I wanted to rip them off her and ravish her. The way her ass fill out those shorts had me standing at attention when she walked to her room. Her butt jiggled the entire time she was walking and I wanted to palm it. Thank God she didn't bend over in front of me because it would have taken me to leave to not jump on her.

"I wonder what it would take to bag her," he said.

"Back off dude. She's not into guys," I lied. "And don't talk about her like that. She's a really cool chick and I won't let you disrespect her."

"Damn. The cute ones are always unavailable. Well I'm sure it'll be other chicks at school," he said while texting. "Everybody knows college is a pussy fest."

I'm sure that lie would come back to haunt me, but there was no way I was letting him anywhere near my future wife. He was like a vulture and I wasn't going to just sit back while he pursued the woman I had my eyes on. I had plans for her.