Murder in the Mountains

Chapter 2

"We haven't been introduced." The girl said smiling widely at me. "I'm Rogue Price. And the guy over there who looks like he broods for a living is my brother, Logan." I look back at Logan and see him glare at his sister.

"I.. um.. sorry for taking your seat." I muttered looking down at my hands. "I should really move." I go to stand before he said "Stop." I looked over at him and his eyes softened. "Stay there. My sister just needs to be reminded of her manners."

I looked back and forth between the two of them while they held a silent conversation. Rogue must have won the argument because a second later she was beaming at me. "Sorry for being so forward. We're still pretty new here and I haven't really been fitting in too easily."

My eyes soften and I nod. "It's okay. I'm not exactly fitting in these days either." I glance back down at my hands.

"Yeah I saw that. What's up with you and them?" I shook my head, not really wanting to answer. It was humiliating. But I figured she saved my ass with a spot on the bus, so I guess I had to give her something.

"That is my ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend." I said. Rogue sucked in a sharp breath and I noticed Logan in my periphery, slowly turn his head toward me. "I walked in on them a couple months back screwing in one of the science labs. I've been a social pariah ever since."

Rogue hooked her arm through mind and looked from me to Logan with a grin on her face. "Well now you have us."

***

It's been a few hours since we hit the road. Me and Rogue actually have a lot in common. We bonded over our love of books, specifically anything paranormal or syfy. We both love horror movies and hate the color pink. She was actually really awesome.

Logan didn't speak much. Only when Rogue dragged him into conversation. I did notice that even though he didn't speak much, he listened to everything me and his sister said.

About an hour later we pulled into a rest stop area so people could use the restroom or get some snacks.

I did my business and grabbed some chips from the vending machine before making my way back to the bus. When I climbed on and made my way down the aisle, I froze.

Logan was sitting in Rogue's spot. Logan caught me looking and patted the seat next to him. "Come, Rogue will be back any minute and I want you with me."

I scrambled to come up with a nice way to say no when a voice came from behind me. "Try all you want man. Those legs are never spreading. That things locked up tighter than Fort Knox. I spent 6 months trying to break that one."

I didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. Josh. Fucking asshole. My hands curl into fists and I could feel my eyes start to prickle with tears.

Before I could answer, Logan spoke up. "And you did the cliche asshole boyfriend move and slept with her best friend?" He said it like a question, but it was more of a statement. Josh looked taken aback by Logan's response but he didn't argue. "Whatever man. I was just warning to not to waste your time. Good luck." And he turned back around.

Logan patted the seat next to him again. "Sit." I don't really know what just happened or why Logan stood up for me but I could kiss him for it. Wait. What? No. Hug him in thanks. That's much better.

I took the seat next to Logan and his scent immediately washed over me. He smelled woodsy and clean. Like fresh air on an Autumn morning. His cologne was subtle but masculine. It was intoxicating.

"Are you smelling me?" I was pulled from my thoughts and blinked up at Logan only to realize I was not so subtly leaning towards him when I was sniffing him. Oh my God I could just die from embarrassment. I felt my face redden.

"No I.. uh no that's weird... I was just." Thinking of how utterly delicious you smell. Want to steal the shirt off your back and wear it myself. Nope none of that.

He leaned in and took a long deep inhale through his nose. His eyes were closed and his face was inches from mine. The look of shock, plastered across my face. He opened his eyes but didn't move back. "I like the way you smell too." He said with a wicked grin on his face.

I blushed again in embarrassment as we sat there staring at each other. I don't know how much time passed when a throat cleared. We jolted away from each other immediately breaking our trance. We looked up to see a smirking Rogue.

"Logan. Wanna tell me why you stole my seat. And my friend?" Her hand was on her hip but she didn't look upset. Good. I didn't wanna get off on the wrong foot with my new friend. She was really nice.

"Chill sis. You had Becca the first half of the trip. For the second half, she's mine." Rogue just shook her head, smile still on her face as she took Logan's old seat across the aisle.

I kept thinking about what Logan said. The tone of his voice when he said 'she's mine' had my stomach doing backflips.