Logan (Chosen Champions #1) - Macy Blake Page 0,39
hard in front of their friends while he unpacked the bread and soup from the coolers.
By the time he made it downstairs, the others had already partnered up. Logan had Heather in a headlock, and she escaped it quickly. He didn’t even look up when Bailey approached, which actually made Bailey happier than it should have. Logan’s full focus was on Heather’s training, and it somehow made him even sexier to Bailey’s weirdly wired brain.
“You’re drooling,” Scout whispered.
Bailey absolutely did not squeak in terror. “Must you people terrify me?”
“Pretty sure Logan wasn’t terrifying you. I mean, from the state of your lips, I’m guessing you weren’t terrified at all. Nope. Not terrified.”
“Would you stop staying terrified!”
His shout might have been louder than he intended. Everyone stopped their practice and stared at him. Logan, the ass, smirked.
“I hate you all. I’m taking my delicious homemade chicken noodle soup and my loaf of crusty bread that I made this morning before any of you cretins were even out of bed and going home.”
“No, you’re not,” Ashley said.
“I might!”
Will snorted.
Scout grabbed Bailey from behind. It startled the hell out of him, and his instincts kicked in. He stepped forward, turned, and shoved. It happened so fast, he ended up standing several paces away from Scout, stunned and shaking.
“Nice!” Ashley shouted. “Holy shit, Bails. I didn’t know you could move that fast.”
He hadn’t either.
Bailey glanced at Logan, curious to see his reaction, and the pleased gleam in his eyes promised Bailey he’d know exactly how happy Logan was with him later.
13
Logan
Logan couldn’t take his eyes off Bailey the entire morning. When he was working with the others, they had his focus. But the moment they completed a movement, he checked on Bailey.
The scent of Bailey’s fear still lingered in the air, and it had the wolf in him restless. It hadn’t helped that Dasan had called for backup at Bailey’s house. Something had caught the martial eagle’s attention, but he hadn’t identified what was off. Scout had gone to scent the scene.
It made Logan incredibly uneasy to think that someone had actually been looking at Bailey that morning. If the amount of fear he’d smelled indicated anything, it was that Bailey’s inner sense of preservation had known he was being watched.
When they broke for lunch, Bailey and Will went upstairs to get everything ready. Logan took the opportunity to slip in one of the earbuds that connected him to the oracle.
Over the past few months, Logan had come to depend on the wisdom of the anonymous person at the other end of the connection. If, as an alpha, he had a second-in-command at his side, like so many packs did, he’d want it to be someone like the oracle. Steady and analytical where Logan was instinct and emotion. Experienced in things Logan was not, like technology.
All the equipment they needed came from the oracle, as did the warehouse itself, with all its setup. Logan simply had to speak his needs and the oracle made things happen. It was more than the seemingly endless supply of cash the oracle had access to, though.
They could have made do with much less. But Logan had never had someone in his life to talk things through with like he’d found with the oracle. The fact that he—if he was even a he at all; the electronically-altered voice kept even that much hidden—had become a true sounding board for Logan had given him the confidence to try this experiment at all.
“You there?”
“I am. What do you need?”
“To organize my thoughts,” Logan replied. To the others, he said, “I’ll be up in a few minutes. You better save me some soup!”
Aleron laughed and pushed ahead of Gideon on the stairs. “Sure we will, Logan.”
Logan glared but had no doubt Bailey would make sure he had some soup of his own. He went through the door at the back of the warehouse and up another flight of stairs to his apartment. There wasn’t much to it, but he didn’t need much—a bed, a small kitchen, a bathroom, and a couch.
He wondered what Bailey would think of it but already knew the answer. He’d find it lacking. Logan hadn’t put anything into the space because he’d considered it temporary. Bailey’s college apartment had more personality than Logan’s living space.
“Did you see the text from Dasan?” Logan asked.
“Yes. It looks like your friend wasn’t seeing things after all.”