I continued to pace nervously outside of the Italian restaurant known as Vincenzo's while I waited for Logan. He wasn't late. I was early.

While I was getting ready in my hotel room earlier, I told myself over and over again that this wasn't a date. It was just two friends catching up over dinner and drinks. That's it. Logan and I were just friends. 

Yeah, right. What was the definition of denial, again?

Logan and I both might not be able to admit it out loud to each other, but this definitely seemed like a date. Not only did I pick a low-lit restaurant with candles on the table and a dress code, but I spent one hour trying to decide on what to fucking wear.

I decided on black dress pants with my pinstripe dress shirt. I had the sleeves rolled halfway up my forearms. I was wearing dress shoes. For fuck's sake, I even styled my hair. I could make all the fucking excuses I wanted to, but there was no denying it anymore. Not to myself, at least. It was a date. At the very least, I wanted it to be a date. How fucked up was I? I had a girlfriend and Logan had a fucking fiancée.

I lit a cigarette and inhaled deep.

"I thought you quit."

I turned to the right and my mouth dropped when I saw Logan walking towards me. My eyes rolled over his outfit and forming words seemed impossible. He was wearing a pair of black dress pants like me, but he also had on a dark blue dress shirt and that fucking leather jacket.

"Guess old habits die hard," I quipped. Yeah, like sneaking around with your male lover.

A corner of his mouth lifted in a smile when he came to a stop in front of me. There was something different in his eyes tonight. Something exciting and hopeful. It gave me the courage to say what I was really thinking.

"You look fucking good."

Logan chuckled and glanced down at his outfit. "Thanks."

Was he...blushing?

He cleared his throat and met my stare. "You clean up nicely yourself."

I threw out my cigarette and gestured to the entrance of the restaurant. "Shall we?"

Logan glanced to the entrance and breathed a heavy sigh. "Yeah, we should get inside."

I let out a low whistle once we got inside the restaurant. I knew it was on the fancy side when I looked at the pictures online, but I had no idea it was this fancy. Everyone was dressed in noticeably expensive clothes and jewelry. Even though I craved to take Logan to the nearest sports bar and get a burger and a beer, I wasn't going anywhere. I wanted to be here with Logan. The truth was, we've never been to a place like this. We've never done anything like this before.

This was definitely crossing into new territory. It terrified me. But at the same time, it felt...right. At least tonight it did.

The host brought us to our table which, to my surprise, turned out to be an alcove. It had a high back that kept others from seeing us.  Clearly one of the perks of this being a high class place.

One other little quirk was the way the alcoves were designed. Logan and I had no choice but to sit next to each other. Once we sat down, our thighs brushed against each other and it sent a chill down my spine.

Logan's eyes roamed over the restaurant. "This is very..."

When Logan didn't elaborate, I asked, "Schmaltzy?"

We both laughed at that before Logan opened his menu. "Yeah, I guess."

While he looked over the starters, I glanced over the drink options. "So, what kind of drinking night is it going to be?" I teased.

"Wine," Logan answered and shot me a look. "I promised you an explanation about what happened; but after last night, I don't want any hard liquor."

I sucked my teeth. "Wine it is."

When the waitress came to take our order, I asked for the best red wine they had. Logan tried to protest considering this place was pricey, but I wouldn't have it.

"I asked you to come here," I argued. "I'm paying for tonight."

Logan was quiet for a moment and I lifted my water to take a sip. "So, is this like...a date?"

I choked on my water and started coughing into my hand. "What? A da—No. Of—of course not."

Logan snickered as I grabbed my napkin and wiped the water from my face. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good." I wasn't good at all. 

The waitress brought our wine and I downed the first glass. I really wished that they allowed people to smoke in here. I was dying for a cigarette. I was already nervous as hell about tonight, but Logan dropping the D word only magnified it.

"He bought us a house."

I frowned and turned to face him. "What?"

Logan glanced at me briefly before stroking the stem of his wine glass. "My father. When he wanted to talk at the party, it was to talk about me...and her."

I think we all knew the 'her' Logan was talking about. I had nothing against his fiancee. It just sucked that he was the one person I was pining for. The one person who knew me. The real me. 

"So, what did he say?"

Logan leaned back against the alcove and inhaled a deep breath. It took him a few minutes before he started to explain. "He kept saying how happy and proud he was about us getting married. He said he bought us a house." Logan turned to meet my stare. "He bought us a fucking house, Grant."

I didn't say anything. I knew there was more and I didn't want to interrupt him. I didn't need to find him passed out in the backseat of his car to know that it was weighing on him heavily.

He drank some of his wine before he continued. "I didn't even know what to say to him. I stood there with my mouth open like an idiot." Logan shook his head. "That's not even the worst of it."

Oh, God. What else was there? My mind went crazy with different scenarios. None of them were good. Most of them ended with me never even seeing Logan again. Never kissing him again. Never touch—

"He started talking about us having kids."

I sucked in a sharp breath.

"Yeah," he said with a short laugh, "tell me about it." His shoulders rose and fell as he took a few more deep breaths. "I freaked out. I went to Jack's Bar and drank until I didn't think about that shit. You know the rest."

"I'm sorry, Logan." I knew the apology was unnecessary, but I didn't know what else to say to him. I didn't know what to do to help. "Do you love her?" I asked quietly.

I knew I had no right to ask that question. It wasn't my fucking business. But I needed to know. I never realized how badly I needed to know until the question left my lips.

"No," he answered in a low voice. "I mean, I care about her. I've known her forever. But I'm not...I'm not in love with her."

I toyed with the corner of my napkin. "Then why don't you call it off?"

Logan turned to look at me. "You know why."

Ah, yes. His father's business. Logan told me multiple times over the years that his dream was to follow in his dad's footsteps. He wanted to go into the family business. But I also knew that his dad's business was extremely 'family oriented'. All the bosses were married with kids. They had strong family values.

"It makes sense now," I finally said.

"What does?"

I met his stare. "The reason you texted me that night. The reason you wanted me to stay here." I shrugged my shoulder. "It's fine, Logan. I'm glad you reached out to me. I was just worried about the reason."

Logan scoffed. "I'm surprised you replied to me."

"I always do," I answered immediately.

It was the truth. No matter how we left things whenever we fought, we were always there for each other.

"Want to smoke before the food gets here?" he asked.

"God, yes," I breathed and we slid out of the alcove.

We walked towards the front of the restaurant and let the host know that we were just stepping outside for a minute. Once we walked through the doors, we noticed a line of people waiting to get into the restaurant, so we walked down the sidewalk a little.

I lit my cigarette first then offered Logan my lighter.

"Make sure you give it back to me," I teased. "It's the only one I have on me."

Logan smirked, lit his cigarette, and handed me the Bic. "What are you talking about? You're the lighter thief." He flicked the end of his cigarette. "How many times did I leave then have to turn around and come back to your apartment to get my lighter?"

I couldn't hold back my smile. I glanced away shyly and shrugged. "I did that on purpose because I wanted to see more of you."

The expression on Logan's face told me he was very surprised by what I said.

He cocked his head to the side a little. "Is that true?"

"Yeah. You didn't know that?"

I thought my attraction and actions were obvious back then. Although, it was before our first kiss when we were still 'just friends'.

Logan shook his head and chuckled. "No, I didn't." He looked back up at me. "I kept leaving my hat at your place as an excuse to see you more, too."

I burst out laughing. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah." His smile was wide. "I guess we both just wanted to see each other."

After I sobered, my eyes met his. "Agreed."

Logan put his cigarette out and took a few steps towards me. My heart started pounding when he ran his fingers up the middle of my shirt until he cupped the back of my neck.

The kiss surprised me. Besides our first kiss which happened in a dark nightclub, we have never just kissed out in the open like this. In plainview where people could see us. Even though the usual panic set in, I couldn't stop myself from kissing him back.

Logan pulled away and nodded in the direction of the restaurant. "We should get back inside. Our food will probably be out soon."

By the time we got back to our table, our food was served. While Logan dived into his lobster ravioli, I enjoyed my steak and potatoes.

This half of the evening was a lot more light and fun compared to when we first got here. The outside world didn't seem to exist as we talked about sports, movies, and Logan being behind on The Walking Dead. 

"It's inexcusable. No one should be two seasons behind on the walking dead." 

Logan chuckled. "What? It got kind of...boring."

My eyes went wide. "Bor—I can't believe you just said that. Just for that, you're paying for dinner next time." 

We stopped walking when we got to Logan's car. 

"Next time, huh?" Logan asked in a quiet voice. 

I held his stare. Getting lost in his dark brown eyes was always a weakness of mine. I knew what question he was asking, and this time I didn't panic. I reached up and cupped his cheek. Logan had parked behind the restaurant so we were away from prying eyes. 

"Yes," I answered finally, "next time. I definitely think this warrants a second date."

A corner of Logan's mouth lifted. "I thought this wasn't a—"

I pulled his lips to mine. Logan parted his lips to me immediately and my tongue slipped inside his warm, inviting mouth. I could still taste the sweetness of the wine mixed with the earthy male that was Logan. I tilted my head to the side, deepening the kiss before pulling back far enough to look deep into his eyes. 

"Logan," I breathed, "I spent over an hour getting ready for this dinner tonight."

He chuckled but waited for me to continue. 

"It was definitely a date."