Heat Wave(98)

“Thanks,” Daniel says, tipping his plastic hat at him before he looks to me, giving me a mild smirk. “Guess I won’t be planning to kiss you at midnight,” he says before he walks off to the bar.

Logan raises his brows. “If he kissed you, I would have punched him the bloody face.”

I smack his shoulder. “Oh come on, caveman. Besides, he and Nikki are apparently an item now. Or again. I can’t keep up with the dating antics around here.”

“It’s like bloody summer camp,” he comments with a sigh. But instead of looking put-off by it, he looks pleased. I know he takes a lot of pride in how close-knit everyone is here.

The two of us part ways for the rest of the evening while he does the rounds, making sure everyone is having a good time, and somehow Kate convinces me to dance. The Mai Tais help, as do the feather boas, shiny hats and tiaras, and noise makers, and soon nearly all of us are cutting loose on the dance floor, ready to bring in the New Year.

Then the slow music comes on as we near the countdown. “Purple Rain” starts to play and while I’m looking to the computer with amazement, I see Logan stepping away from the playlist and heading right for me.

“I would have played ‘Kashmir,’” he says, taking my hand in his. “But that’s a great song to fuck to, not to dance too. Will you have this dance with me?”

I blink at him as he pulls me close, wrapping his arms around me. What he just said is the kind of thing he normally says in private, not in the middle of a crowded dance floor.

“Oh relax,” he murmurs, his head against mine as he starts to lead me around the floor, swaying slowly back and forth. I can’t remember the last time I slow-danced with someone.

Actually I can. I think it was with my father at Logan and Juliet’s wedding.

I swallow hard at that thought, but for once it’s not the punch to the gut it used to be. Our days together have brought a peace about her that I hadn’t had before.

Soon other people start dancing alongside us. Johnny and Lucia, Charlie and Kate, Daniel and Nikki. Even Jin is dancing with an elderly lady and showing off some pretty impressive moves, making her laugh.

“I never wanted to be your weekend lover,” Logan sings into my ear, his voice deep, rich, washing over me like tropical rain. I hold him closer and rest my head on his chest, hearing his heart beat underneath. Strong, just as he is, and getting louder, faster, as we dance into the night, dance into a world that’s just our own.

And when the song is over, we don’t break apart. We keep dancing. We keep dancing as Charlie stands on one of the tables, shirtless, a party hat on his head and starts counting down loudly.

“Ten! Nine! Eight!” he shouts, pumping his fist.

“It was a hell of a year,” Logan says to me. There’s a gravity in his voice as his eyes search mine.

“It was.”

“Seven! Six! Five!”

“I could never have believed it would end like this,” he says.

“Neither.” My voice is small as he places his fingers on my jaw, a light, delicate touch.

“Four! Three! Two!”

“I love you,” he whispers. “So bloody much.”

“I love you, too.” My words are breathless.

“One! Happy fucking new year!” Charlie yells, stomping his feet on the table and throwing his hat into the crowd.

Everyone erupts into hollering and cheering and laughing, punctuated by a ton of loud noisemakers. Logan and I, we smile knowingly, feeling that love run deep, deeper than I could have ever thought possible. Soul to soul, what we share is fathomless.

And then he kisses me. Not the timid, shy kiss usually reserved for New Year’s Eve. But the kind of kiss that tells the world that I am his.

And he is mine. I kiss him back with just as much passion, my hands in his hair, at his back, one of his hands at my waist, the other cupping my face. Our mouths are lost to each other, warm and wet and bigger than my wildest dreams. This man is all I need.

I know we are getting carried away and I don’t care. Time doesn’t seem to matter at all, it has no place in our world where the beautiful moments seem to last forever.

So when we break apart, we’re slightly surprised to see the staff at Moonwater Inn all crowded together at the edge of the dance floor and staring at us with open mouths.

Well. Not Kate and Daniel. They’re actually smiling, looking relieved. But Johnny, Charlie, Lucia, Nikki, and Jin? Well you could shoot golf balls into their gaping maws. I’ve never seen a group of people look so shocked before.

To be honest, it’s a good feeling, to have it all out in the open like this. This is who we are, judge us if you’re going to judge us, but we love each other and that’s all that really matters.