Logan (Chosen Champions #1) - Macy Blake Page 0,42

won’t let them pressure you into cooking for everyone. I’ll only pressure you into cooking for me. I think that’s a fair compromise.”

Bailey laughed and leaned against him. “You scared me there for a second.”

“Sorry.” Logan ran his hand down Bailey’s back and then pushed him gently toward the empty seat at his left. “Sit down. Someone else can do cleanup.”

“This is some sort of bizarre mating ritual, isn’t it?” Joey asked. “Super sexy mystery man meets the soup of his dreams. He hunts down the deliciously attractive home chef who prepared it and proceeds to charm the pants off him, guaranteeing himself access to said dreamy soup for the rest of his days.”

“That’s one way of describing it,” Aleron said. His sheepish grin let Logan know he’d received Logan’s warning message loud and clear.

Of course, it wouldn’t surprise Logan in the least if Aleron also got an actual warning message in his ear from the oracle. In fact, he didn’t quite understand why the oracle hadn’t protested the amount of time the humans had spent with them over the past week.

“Stop thinking so hard,” the oracle said in his ear. “And to answer your question, it’s because I know what it’s like to feel powerless. As long as we keep our secret safe, I don’t mind humans around. We have a duty to keep our other selves hidden, though.”

It was another clue to the identity of their mysterious benefactor. Logan didn’t have many. He let the sounds of chatting and laughter wash over him as he enjoyed the chicken noodle soup. And if he made plans to steal the extra Bailey had left and hide it at his place, well, no one needed to know.

Now, though, he needed to figure out how to tell Bailey he’d ordered a security system installed in his apartment without talking to him about it first. His wolf paced inside him, not used to him having so many doubts. If Bailey were his, he wouldn’t be worried about rejection.

But Bailey wasn’t his.

His phone dinged with a text from Scout, letting him know he’d not tracked anything at the scene. Instead of giving Logan a sense of relief, the news had him bristling even worse than before. His wolf demanded he take action.

Something about the entire situation felt off, and he couldn’t figure out what it was. His wolf agreed. He didn’t want to let Bailey out of his sight, but he honestly wasn’t sure if it was because of the threat or the intensity of his feelings for him.

Either way, he’d need to have the conversation soon, because he’d also received a text from the security company saying they planned on stopping by for an estimate that afternoon.

14

Bailey

The last thing Bailey expected to see when he arrived home after dropping off his friends was Logan’s giant SUV sitting in front of his house. He couldn’t help his smile, though, because after that kiss in the break room, Bailey had wanted some quality alone time with Logan.

Of course, his smile dimmed when he caught sight of the guilty expression on Logan’s face. Bailey grabbed his backpack and the now empty cooler bags out of the backseat of his car and waited for Logan to cross the yard to reach him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Bailey poked Logan in the chest. “Lie.”

Logan grunted and took the bags out of his hands. “Nothing’s wrong, exactly. I did something.”

Bailey walked toward the back door, then stopped. “What’d you do?”

“Ordered a security system for your apartment without talking to you about it first.”

“And why did you do that? I thought Dasan and Scout didn’t find anything.”

“They didn’t. That doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea for you to have a security system.”

Being the kind of person who tended to do things for his friends first, then realize he might possibly have overstepped later, Bailey processed Logan’s actions through that filter. Logan’s hangdog expression made a lot more sense now.

“You know you shouldn’t have done that, right? Even though it was super nice and I’m going to happily accept it as long as you’re paying for it because it’s not in my budget.”

“I do know. And I’ll happily pay.”

Bailey huffed and unlocked the door. “Also, you’re dealing with my landlord if anything gets messed up. The guy’s a jackass as it is. I don’t need him giving me any more grief.”

Logan made another one of his growly sounds. “What’d he do?”

Bailey laughed as he made his way up the stairs. He’d never met a