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Logan takes a long sip of his beer and surveys the New Year’s Eve party. About forty people are in attendance; some wearing those party hats with the uncomfortable rubber band, some holding loud noise makers.
Logan walks over to the back of the room and observes the large table of food. Wallace and his two roommates really went all out for tonight. On top of ordering pizzas, they purchased every snack known to man. Grabbing a paper plate, Logan starts loading up on salt and vinegar chips, when he hears a grunt coming from the other end of the table.
“Ugh!”
Logan checks out the frustrated, petite blonde parked in front of the veggie tray. Her dark jeans, leather jacket, and high heeled boots stand out amongst most of the other women in attendance, who wear bright colours and festive clothing.
But Logan isn’t focused on that. He watches as she struggles to get the plastic off a tub of ranch dip.
“Do you need some help?”
The blonde turns to glare at him with her—wow, with her bright blue eyes.
“I’m no damsel in distress. So, thanks, but no, thanks.”
Raising his eyebrows, he mumbles, “No problem,” and grabs a couple brownies to add to his plate.
He is about to go find a spot on the couch, when he hears an exasperated sigh.
“Fine.”
He pivots back to look at his food table buddy, holding out the ranch container with an almost challenging look on her face.
He wordlessly takes the offending item and sees the issue. With no perforated edges, the thick plastic needs some extra help coming off. He notices bite marks from where she probably tried to get aggressive.
“I think it’s a sign,” she huffs out, while crossing her arms. “It’s a sign that I shouldn’t be going for the vegetables anyway.”
His lips curve upward. “The ‘veggie platter people’ really do make it tough, don’t they?”
“Right?” She looks at him incredulously. “They should be making it as easy as possible, because those chips over there sure don’t need any work before they go in my mouth.”
“Or maybe they just really want you to work for it. Like, the more buildup means the more enjoyment.”
“They really missed the mark with that, then.”
He walks over to the cake stand at the side of the table, grabbing the accompanying knife. He slices through the plastic and rips it off.
He smiles proudly, but Blondie just glowers. “Okay, well, if I saw that knife there before, I could have saved myself four minutes of pure torture.”
She takes the tub from him and sets it down in the middle of the platter. Opening it up, she spoons a heap onto her plate.
“I’m Logan, by the way,” he says, bending slightly so he can see her face.
She glances up at him briefly, then looks down to put the utensil back. After she carefully selects two carrots from the pile, she turns and gives him an appraising look. “Veronica.”
“Are you always this friendly when you meet new people, Veronica?”
“Only with the ones who save me from the ranch dip. Thanks, by the way.” Her face slowly cracks into a smile, and Logan feels like he just passed a test.
“So,” she starts, picking up her plate. “What brings you to Wallace’s humble abode?”
“Our Tuesday Sociology class. We bonded pretty quickly over the toupée Dr. Kinney tried out, and we now have weekly video game nights where I kick his ass.”
“Ohh!” Veronica’s eyes light up. “So you’re Wallace’s new friend. I thought he made you up.”
Logan’s brows furrow. At his confused look, Veronica continues. “He’s my best friend from high school. I think we haven’t met yet because he knows I can get really territorial.” She winks.
A moment of recognition hits Logan. “You’re the ‘V’ he always talks about.” He subtly rakes his eyes over her. He didn’t mention she was so hot.
Veronica sweeps an arm down her body. “One and the same!”
“Nice to put a face to a letter.” Logan smiles and reaches forward. “Well, I should probably enjoy the fruits of our labour.”
He grabs a few cucumbers and tomatoes, and places a small dollop of dip beside them. When he looks up, Veronica is looking at him like he has two heads.
“That’s all?”
“Yeah, I’m not really a fan of the broccoli or caul–”
“I meant, that’s all the dip you take?”
Logan looks at her helping and starts laughing. “Unlike you? Want some vegetables with your ranch?”
“Well, heaven forbid I should actually taste the carr—”
“Veronica!”
Veronica’s eyes widen imperceptibly, and Logan watches her whole body stiffen. She turns slowly towards a man who looks at her reverently. Logan thinks they have met before, maybe in the cafeteria at Hearst. Yes, Wallace introduced them in the caf. He has brown, shaggy hair and tugs at his Pink Floyd graphic tee.
“Piz, so nice to see you.”
Piz. Right.
“I was hoping to run into you tonight.” He finally notices Logan, and brushes his bangs away from his face. “Hey, Logan.” Logan gives him a finger wave.
“Listen, Veronica, there’s something I wanted to…” Piz trails off, and his eyes ping-pong back and forth between Logan and Veronica. “Oh, I’m sorry. Was I interrupting something?”
Logan opens his mouth to say he will give them some privacy, when Veronica’s arms snake around his waist. Logan pulls back out of surprise, but Veronica latches on tighter.
“Actually, Logan and I were just talking about how it’s our one-week anniversary.”
Logan isn’t sure whose face shows more shock, his or Piz’s, but Veronica tips her head up to look at him and firmly squeezes his side with her hand.
“Yes, our one-week anniversary. Best week of my entire life, Snookums.” He scrunches his nose in mock affection, and she scrunches hers back.
Piz takes a few seconds to regain his composure. “Oh, uhh.” He looks extremely uncomfortable, and opens his mouth a few times but nothing comes out. He finally mumbles, “I didn’t realize you guys were together.”
“Oh, yes. We’re perfect for each other. Logan and his—” Veronica looks at Logan, searching for something. “Tall...ness. His tallness. Goes perfectly with my… shortness.” She smiles brightly, as if what she said made complete sense.
Piz doesn’t seem to catch on to her blunder, still looking like a wounded animal. “Sorry, I’ll leave you to it, then,” he concedes, and scurries off.
Veronica lets go of Logan when she’s sure Piz is out of sight and takes a step away from him. She closes her eyes for a few moments and breathes low, “Thank you for saving me. Wallace warned me that he wanted to ask me out, and I’ve successfully dodged him for a couple weeks.”
Logan raises his eyebrows. “Why don’t you just tell him you aren’t interested?”
Veronica puts on an exaggerated puppy-dog face and bats her eyelashes. “I don’t want to break his poor, little heart.”
Logan gives her an unimpressed look and she sighs, rolling her eyes. “I just don’t want to make things awkward for Wallace. If I turn Piz down, he might sulk and whine to him about it. I figured, if I kept ignoring him, maybe he would lose interest—but he didn’t.”
Veronica bites her lip, and Logan playfully nudges her in the arm. “Well, no need to worry now. Your tall boyfriend should take care of that little problem for you. You’re very welcome.”
He bows, and her lips twitch as if she’s holding in a laugh. “Hey, don’t look at me like that—according to Wallace, his new friend doesn’t need more of an ego boost.”
“Moi?” He holds his hand to his chest. “I have the perfect amount of ego, if I do say so, myself.”
Eyes bright, she shakes her head at him. He leans closer and asks, “So, what else have you heard about Wallace’s new friend?”
At that moment, someone shouts Veronica’s name from the other side of the room. Brushing her long, brown, purple-streaked hair over her shoulder, the girl waves Veronica over.
“Well, Ego-boy, I’ll see you around tonight.” Looking him in the eye, she grabs a carrot from her plate, crunches down on it, and turns to walk towards her friend.
He tries not to stare at her ass when she walks away, but—he’s only human.
“Chop chop, Echolls!”
If someone told him two years ago that he would be ringing in the new year in some bungalow in Neptune, he would have laughed in their face, kept chugging tequila from the bottle and fanned himself with a wad of cash. But after getting out from under his father’s thumb, Logan Echolls made it a point to turn around his life in college, and he’s done a pretty fucking good job so far.
Which is why he only pours himself a single shot instead of a double shot.
He’s still a sophomore in college, after all.
Holding the overflowing glass up high, he spins and notices he is surrounded by more faces than before. What originated as grabbing a drink with a few buddies from his Sociology class has turned into half the attendees loudly cheersing in the middle of the kitchen—as is known to happen at house parties. He downs the liquor in one smooth motion, and bites into a wedge of lime.
Individual, boisterous conversations break out, and he crosses the room to grab a napkin from the other counter, when he senses a presence behind him.
“You took a shot without me? But I thought we’d become such good friends!”
Logan smiles to himself and turns around to face the spunky blonde. “Friends? If my memory serves me correctly, we’ve been madly, deeply in love for seven days.”
She shrugs, gleam in her eye. “Depends who you ask, I guess.”
He leans back, hands gripping the counter behind him. “So, I suppose you don’t go to Hearst?”
Veronica mimics his position beside him. “No, I do.”
“How come I’ve never seen you around before?”
“How could you if you didn’t know what you were looking for?”
“I guess you have a point.”
“That, and Wallace probably was running interference.”
“You’re pretty scary, huh?” he wonders, looking her up and down.
“So I’ve been told. It’s my New Year's resolution to be nicer.” She bats her eyelashes at him.
“Well, they say the way you spend New Year’s Eve is the way you’ll spend the whole year. With how you fooled poor Piz, I’m not quite sure your resolution is going to come to fruition.”
“Hmmm,” she crosses her arms and steps in front of him. “So, if we hang out tonight, does that mean I’ll be seeing more of you this year?”
He leans closer. “If you so choose.”
A small smile plays on her lips and she trains her baby blues on him. “I just might, Ego-boy.”
Logan feels a flip low in his belly. He opens his mouth to try and quip back, but his mind is blank. He’s flustered by this girl. He doesn’t get flustered by girls.
“Incoming,” Logan murmurs, keeping his eyes on hers. “Piz just came into the kitchen, but I don’t think he sees us yet.”
Veronica instantly wraps her arms around Logan’s neck, and he raises his eyebrows as she angles her face towards his.
“This should do the trick,” she breathes, licking her lips.
Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Piz staring at them. Logan’s heart pounds as he lightly grips Veronica’s waist to pull her closer.
“This guy doesn’t give up easily, does he?”
“Guess we’ll just have to be more convincing.” Veronica runs her fingers through his hair and grabs the back of his head, trailing feather light kisses on his cheek towards his ear. Logan holds his breath.
Veronica whispers, “God, I could really use a brownie right about now.”
Logan’s laughter comes out in a whoosh, and he leans his forehead on her shoulder, chuckling.
Logan can feel Veronica giggling, and he pulls back, meeting her with a smile. She brings her arms down and rests her hands on his chest as they stare into each other's eyes for a few moments.
“Is he gone?” Veronica asks, furrowing her brows.
Reality crashes into him. Right. They were pretending.
“Yeah, he’s gone.”
Veronica steps backward and tilts her head adorably. “Come on, let me buy you a drink for your troubles.”
Logan grins despite himself. “Aren’t we just leaching off of Wallace’s stash?”
“Buy, pour. To-may-toh, to-mah-toh.” She holds out her hand. He grabs it and he follows her, as she weaves him through the guests in the kitchen toward the liquor.
At this point, he thinks he would follow her anywhere.
“I don’t believe you,” Logan huffs out, laughing.
Veronica opens her mouth in a breathless smile. “I swear, you can ask her! He had no idea—”
“Well, looky here!”
Logan and Veronica turn from their position on the couch to see the evening’s host looking at them incredulously, arms wide and palms up.
“I seem to have met your secret friend, Wallace. You couldn’t keep him from me forever!” Veronica puts her hands under her chin and blinks rapidly. “I promise I’m being nice.”
Wallace wags his finger at Veronica. “You better not scare this one away, it’s refreshing to finally have a formidable video game opponent.”
“Really? Cause he says he kicks your—” Wallace shoves his hand on Veronica’s mouth, and she slaps it away. He shifts his gaze to Logan. “Don’t let her intimidate you. Under her tough shell, she has a gooey marshmallow centre.”
Logan smirks and looks at the woman in question. “I’m starting to see some cracks.”
Logan has seen a lot of cracks, actually. He and Veronica have been drinking and talking for the better part of an hour, and he’s entranced. He feels out of his element with her. She’s this gorgeous girl who can go from funny to sexy to mischievous in ten seconds flat, keeping him on his toes. Logan hasn’t been this drawn to anyone in a long time.
Wallace eyes him speculatively, but Logan tips his head back and finishes his beer. “Can I get you another?” he asks Veronica.
“I’ll come with.” This time, Logan holds out his hand for her, and she takes it, following him to the kitchen. Logan can feel Wallace’s gaze on their backs, but he couldn’t care less.
“And it’s just, like, why add the ‘s’? It’s just one new year!”
“Exactly. Happy New Year. I don't get—”
“Less than ten minutes until the ball drops!” someone yells from the main area.
Veronica sits on the counter in the kitchen, legs crossed, bowed over with her weight on her hand. Her upper body faces Logan, resting on his hip beside her. He can’t believe how quickly time passed tonight while talking to her.
“Hey, Bond.” The brunette with the purple streak approaches them with a coy smile.
“Q!” Veronica’s eyes light up. “Where have you been? I want you to meet someone. This is Logan. Logan, this is Mac.”
The girl –Mac– gives Logan a two-fingered salute, and he tips his beer toward her in greeting.
“Q?” Logan asks, eyes narrowed.
Veronica leans forward before Mac can respond, and loudly whispers, “You should see her computer skills in action.”
Mac rolls her eyes and gives an exaggerated sigh. “Jeez, a girl hacks into the hard-drive of one secret society to uncover classified information, and she can never live it down.”
Logan’s eyes widen and Veronica throws her head back with laughter. “I told you, this girl has insane talent.”
“No, you know who has insane talent?” Mac jerks her thumb towards Logan. “This guy, if he’s the one who’s been keeping you entertained all night.”
Veronica flushes, and Logan’s stomach does another flutter. He smirks and inches closer to her. “Don’t tell me—you’re hard to impress? Never would have guessed.” She tries to hide a smile and lightly shoves him away. He bites his lip to keep from grinning.
Mac looks back and forth between them, dimples deepening. “Anyways, Wallace was wondering if you knew what was up with Piz tonight? He left early, so he’s worried about him.”
Veronica shares a glance with Logan.
Mac sighs loudly. “What did you do, Veronica?”
Veronica sticks up her hands in a placating gesture. “Nothing! I didn’t do anything.” Mac eyes her. “Okay, so, maybe I made it quite obvious that I was unavailable.”
“But you are available.”
“Umm, yes. But he doesn’t think so.”
“Instead of just turning him down, nicely.”
“Yes. Remember, I was keeping Wallace in mind.”
“Even though this new turn of events will be just as awkward for him.”
“Umm, maybe.”
Mac and Veronica stare at each other for a few seconds. Mac crosses her arms, but breaks first. “You owe me one.”
Veronica clasps her hands together. “Thank youuu!”
Mac rolls her eyes and starts walking away. “Yeah, yeah.”
Logan looks at Veronica with furrowed brows. “What just happened, there?”
“She’ll cover for me with Wallace tonight. Piz will probably tell him tomorrow, but whatever. He’ll come around.” She tilts her head to the side and gives him a flirty smile. “I can be quite convincing.”
Logan purses his lips and shakes his head. “Why am I not surprised?”
At that moment, someone comes around with a tray of plastic champagne flutes. “Alright everyone, come grab some sparkling wine. The countdown is about to begin!”
Logan helps Veronica hop down from the counter. He can’t help but notice how her hands linger in his. He puts down his beer and they each grab a glass from the platter. They head towards the sitting room, finding a spot near the far right wall beside the TV. The host on this channel informs them there is two minutes until the ball drops.
“I’m glad that—”
“I wanted to—”
Speaking at the same time, they chuckle when they talk over each other. Logan motions to her. “What were you gonna say?”
“Oh. Well, I wanted to thank you for being my saviour tonight. Apparently this damsel was, unfortunately, in distress.” She rolls her eyes in a self-deprecating manner.
“Just call me Prince Charming.” He winks.
She laughs, shaking her head. Her smile slowly dissipates, and she continues. “But, anyways. Piz isn’t here anymore, so, I wanted to let you know that there’s no pressure to keep up the ruse.”
Logan stares at her but doesn’t say anything.
“Like, at midnight.”
Of course, you idiot. This whole thing was pretend—it was all for show.
Logan forces himself to nod. “Right, yeah, of course.”
A flash of something crosses her face, and she looks at him intently. “What did you want to say?”
Logan takes a deep breath. “Yeah—the same thing you said.”
Veronica gulps and looks away. Logan opens his mouth to say something, anything, when everyone starts counting down from thirty.
The next seconds are a test of Logan’s will, agonizing on whether to make a move or not. Piz is gone, which means she doesn’t want him to kiss her, right?
When the countdown gets to nine, eight, seven... She glances at him from the corner of her eye and bites her lip, looking back at the TV.
When the countdown gets to six, five, four… He takes a deep breath and rubs the back of his neck.
When the countdown gets to three, two, one… She turns to him and smiles softly. Through all the noise, he can still hear her breathe: “Happy New Year, Logan.”
She leans forward, and…
Kisses his cheek.
She pulls back, looking up at him hesitantly through her lashes. His heart races, and he knows he doesn’t want their night to end like this.
This time, he leans forward and—
“Bond!”
Veronica jumps back and pushes through a cluster of people to find her friend. “Happy New Year, Mac!”
They softly chuckle and give each other a timid hug. “You still okay to head home right away?” Mac asks Veronica. “I really want to beat the crazy traffic that always happens now.”
Veronica nods and says, “I’ll meet you at the door in a couple minutes.”
Mac gives her a thumbs up, waves to Logan, and moves away. Veronica stares at the spot where Mac disappeared before slowly turning towards Logan.
Logan finally finds his voice. “You sure you’ll be okay? She’s good to drive?”
“Oh, yeah. She’s our designated driver,” she promises. “Did you want a ride home?” She looks like she wants to be anywhere but here, and he can’t help but wonder how he fucked this up so badly.
“That’s okay, I’m Ubering—I’m just gonna hang out and grab another beer before I do.”
She gazes into Logan’s eyes and he takes a deep breath to—
“Anyways. Thanks for keeping me company tonight. I’ll see you around?”
Logan’s stomach drops. He lost his chance. “Yeah, of course. It was no problem. See you.”
She nods and steps forward to give him an awkward hug.
She doesn’t meet his eyes when she says, “Bye, Logan.” She turns, and he can see her putting her hand on her forehead as she walks away.
Logan watches her retreat, and then stands there like an idiot for a few minutes mulling over their conversation, wondering what happened.
He slowly walks to the kitchen to grab another beer.
She had said that the ruse was over, which meant he shouldn’t make a move at midnight… right? That Piz was gone and she didn’t want him to kiss her. That’s–– that’s what she meant.
Or was it?
She kissed him on the cheek. She obviously wasn’t interested—unless… unless she thought he wasn’t interested.
Logan’s hand freezes while reaching for the bottle opener.
He breaks into a run through Wallace’s bungalow and shoves open the front door. Please don’t be gone yet. Flying down the stairs, he almost crashes into someone when he turns left at the bottom.
Veronica.
“Hey, I just forgot my—”
Logan grabs her face with both hands and kisses her deeply. She makes a surprised sound, but soon melts into it, grabbing his sweater in her hands.
Logan pulls back and stares at her face, her eyes still closed.
“—purse. I forgot my purse.” She opens her eyes and laughs breathlessly. “You couldn’t have done that five minutes ago?”
“I thought… or, rather, I didn’t think—Yeah, let’s just leave it at that. I didn’t think. I was a dumbass.” His eyes flit to her lips again as she starts speaking.
“Well, then. Let’s pretend we can rewind.” She licks her lips and takes a shuddering breath. “Five, four, three—”
Logan’s already wasted enough time. He snakes his arms around her waist and pulls her to him, cutting her off. Her hands rake through his hair, grabbing his locks to push his face closer to hers. They stay locked in the embrace until Logan shivers involuntarily.
Veronica breaks the kiss and seems to notice his lack of coat. She starts rubbing his biceps. “Aren’t you freezing?”
He chuckles softly and leers at her. “Not when I have you to warm me up.”
She grins wide and rolls her eyes. She leans in to kiss him again, when they hear a honk from far down the street.
“That’s Mac, for sure.” She shakes her head. “She must not be able to see us, because I don’t think she would be honking if she knew what she was interrupting.”
He raises his brows and she scrunches her nose. “I may have mentioned something about the lack of kiss when we left.”
“Let me try to make up for it,” he whispers, softly brushing his lips against hers once more. They get lost in each other until they hear the horn again.
Veronica lets out a large sigh. “I should probably go get my purse.” She grabs his hand and hauls him up the steps and into the house. “Wait here,” she says.
He leans against the doorjamb, grateful for the cold, fresh air even without his jacket. He tries to fight the smile creeping onto his face but fails.
Veronica saunters towards Logan with a gleam in her eye. She walks by him, looks back and gives him a crook of her finger.
He follows her down to the sidewalk. She tilts her face up to his and parts her lips a breath away from his. “I’m really happy you were in distress,” Logan murmurs.
She laughs against his mouth, and Logan thinks it’s his new favourite sound. “I don’t make a habit of it, so I hope you enjoyed.”
Logan rubs his nose against hers and pecks her lips. His head buzzes and he has damned butterflies in his stomach, like he’s a little schoolgirl.
“So,” he starts. “Can I call you?”
Veronica looks nervous all of a sudden. “No, I can’t call you?” he asks.
“You took a chance and came after me,” she explains, fidgeting with her scarf.
Logan feels like he’s missing something. He smiles and says, “Yeah…”
“I want to take a chance, too.” Her blue eyes are bright and her face is flushed. She looks beautiful. …But Logan is still lost.
He gives her a confused look. She looks down for a moment, takes a deep breath and sets her jaw. “Wanna get out of here?”
Oh.
Oh.
“Hell, yes.”
Veronica’s face lights up, and Logan knows he’s a goner.
If the way Logan spends his New Year’s Eve is the way he’ll spend the whole year, this will be his best yet.