Grand Romance: An MM Gay Romance Page 3

  “So, what are you doing this weekend?”

  “Just reading, most likely. I’m not really the sort of person who goes out.”

  Alex blinked a few times, looking unsure. Crap. Logan tried to smile, but he worried it came out more as a grimace. “Why, what are you up to?”

  “I was thinking of hiking one of the easier trails that I haven’t done in a while. I usually do the harder trails and let the other guys lead the beginner stuff. But I wanted to walk it again. I thought you might want to come with me, since you said you hadn’t done any of the trails before.” Alex gave him a smile that Logan desperately hoped he was right in calling flirtatious. “Which is just not right, seeing as you work here.”

  “You don’t have to take me if you don’t want to,” Logan blurted out.

  Alex raised an eyebrow. “And you don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

  “No, I do—I would like to.” God dammit, his palms were sweating. This was what he got for not actually trying a new relationship since high school. “If you really would like me to go with you, I’d love to.”

  “So it’s a date then.”

  “A—a date, date?” Logan asked. He needed clarification, or he was going to lose his goddamn mind before the weekend arrived.

  Alex’s jaw tensed like he was valiantly struggling to hide an amused smile. “Yeah, like a date, date. Like a ‘you’re cute, and I’m going to try getting to know you better’ date.”

  “I’m sorry I was rude,” Logan added, before his courage could fail him. “I was—I’m not good with people, really, and I didn’t… I didn’t expect you.”

  “You didn’t expect me?”

  Logan gestured at Alex. Alex looked down at himself, then back at Logan, still appearing confused.

  “I didn’t expect… being attracted to someone.”

  Alex grinned at him. “Well you know what they say, it’s always when you’re not looking for it that something comes to you.”

  “In that case, I need to talk to the people in charge, because that’s a weird way to run the universe.”

  Alex gave a bemused laugh. “So you do have a sense of humor. I’d wondered.”

  “I’m told it’s an odd one.” Or a boring one, if you asked Tim.

  Alex tilted his head, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked speculatively at Logan. “I think I like it.”

  Logan quickly looked away so that Alex hopefully wouldn’t see him blushing. “Ah, good, that’s—that’s good.”

  “Would you like to meet here, then?” Alex asked. “Say, seven a.m.?”

  “That works.” Logan tried to keep himself from saying anything stupid and messing this up in the last couple minutes.

  “Great, I’ll see you then.” Alex gave him one last smile and then left the bookstore.

  Logan let out his breath in a slow, careful exhale.

  He had a date with Alex. Somehow.

  Now he just had to worry about not fucking it up.

  6

  Logan was already there when Alex arrived at seven that weekend for the hike. He’d thought a lot about which trail to take Logan on—he didn’t want one that was too physically strenuous, or they wouldn’t have any energy for talking. There was something nice about that when it was someone that you had known for a long time. Just being together in silence without it being awkward, that was rare.

  But since they were still just getting to know each other somewhat, he figured something easier that allowed for conversation would be best. He’d picked one of the family trails, one of the ones that they used for people with young kids. Nothing annoyed a parent faster than a kid not being able to keep up or begging to be carried, adding to the parents’ exhaustion.

  Since he wanted to get to know Logan with this, to see if maybe Logan’s awkwardness could be overcome enough to make something out of this, a hike where they could easily talk seemed best.

  It was the first time that Alex had seen Logan in anything other than a button up shirt and a tie, and Alex was surprised by how attractive he looked. Not that he hadn’t been attracted to Logan before. But now Logan was wearing a soft gray t shirt and shorts—not exactly hiking gear but suitable. And while he wasn’t tan, Alex could see that Logan must go to the gym or something. The muscles Alex had only suspected were there under the shirts were now clearly visible, tight and corded. His hair was softer and floppier looking that usual, probably because he hadn’t bothered to style it. And there was a pleasantly sleepy look about him, like he’d just rolled out of bed.

  Alex felt his breath stutter in his chest a bit. He’d gotten used to how Logan looked in his work attire, and he was struck all over again by the fact that he really was pretty damn good looking.

  “You ready?” he asked, walking up.

  Logan’s head shot up and his cheeks went pink. Now that he was apparently letting himself show how he felt about Alex—or perhaps Alex was better at picking up on the signs—it seemed so obvious that Logan liked him. Alex felt like an idiot for not realizing it sooner.

  “As I’ll ever be,” Logan replied.

  “You got sunblock? Can’t have your pretty face burning.”

  Logan’s blush deepened, and he coughed. “I—yes, I have sunblock. And water.”

  “Great.” Alex gestured. “Let’s head out then.”

  Logan seemed unsure about how to start the conversation, glancing over at Alex as he led them down away from the visitors’ center to the trail.

  Alex figured he should probably be the one to get conversation rolling then. “So what brought you all the way out here?”

  “What makes you ask?”

  Alex shrugged. “This is the sort of place that people don’t come to by accident. With a big city, you probably grew up there or moved from a small town for more opportunities. But you’re not a guide, so I figure you didn’t come here for the canyon itself.” He didn’t add that usually it meant the person was trying to run away from something—he didn’t want to sound creepy.

  “It’s going to sound like a sob story,” Logan admitted, following Alex down to the start of the trail.

  “Everybody’s got a sob story,” Alex pointed out. “I could go on about my parents’ divorce, if you want.”

  Logan laughed, in a startled kind of way, and then quickly sobered up. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have laughed.”

  “Yeah, you should have. It was a joke.”

  Logan visibly relaxed. “I’m not always good at recognizing them.”

  “You wouldn’t believe how many of my jokes as a trail guide fall flat, so don’t worry about it.”

  “I can’t imagine anything you’d say falling flat,” Logan said, sounding incredibly annoyed by it.

  Alex grinned. “You know, I think I’ve figured you out.”

  “Oh?” Logan’s eyes widened, startled.

  “Most people, when they like someone, you know they flirt and all that right? But not you.” Alex could feel his grin growing. “You get annoyed. It annoys you that you find someone attractive.”

  “You were distracting!” Logan protested. “And I had no idea what to say or how to act around you—”

  “That’s adorable,” Alex found himself saying, and he realized in that moment that it was true. He really did find it adorable. How hilarious was it that Logan was so attracted to him he found it distracting and inconvenient? It was flattering, in an odd, dorky way.

  Logan blushed and looked pointedly out at the rising sun, away from Alex.

  “I’m not mocking you,” Alex promised. “I really mean that.”

  “Sorry,” Logan murmured. “I’m just not… the last relationship I was in—the only relationship I was ever in, shows you how much of a nerd I am—towards the end he mocked me a lot.”

  “Sounds like a real asshole.”

  Logan shrugged a little as they moved farther down the path. The path sloped downward, so that the craggy hill of the canyon rose up on their left, shielding them from view of the cabins and visitors’ center. The canyon stretched out on their right, and with the combination it was easy to think that they were the only two people in the world.

  “He was, but it took me a long time to see it. He wasn’t always that way. He used to be really sweet.”

  “Nobody starts out an asshole.” Alex had seen his parents be awful to each other because they were both unhappy in the marriage without knowing how to express it or fix it. People were awful to other people when they were miserable.

  “Yeah.” Logan shrugged again. “Anyway, we were together since high school. The relationship got progressively worse, but I didn’t know how to walk away. I didn’t want to walk away, which was probably stupid but y’know. And then I learned he’d been cheating on me for apparently forever, so I moved out here for an extreme change of pace.”

  “That’s… wow. That sucks.”

  “It did. But being out here is nice. I like the coworkers; I like that I can be alone if I want; I like the lack of tall buildings.”

  Alex smiled. “It’s pretty gorgeous out here, yeah.” The sun was showing off the golds, reds, and oranges of the canyon’s rocks, as well as the purple, blue. and green that cropped up from the plants and water. The canyon was a lot more colorful than people gave it credit for.

  “What brought you out here?” Logan said, clearly desperate to change the subject.

  “I came here with my parents and brother as a kid and fell in love with the place,” Alex replied. “I’ve always loved nature, and this place is so great. I just decided I’d work here someday. It’s not an exceptional life or anything, but it works for me.”

  “I don’t think everyone needs to live an exceptional life,” Logan replied. “A mediocre life is fine, as long as it makes you happy. That’s what’s impo
rtant.”

  Alex nodded. “Not always easy with an overachieving brother, I gotta admit.”

  “What does he do?”

  “Ben’s a history and archeology professor. He leads digs sometimes, that’s how he met his husband.” Because of course, Ben went to a gorgeous Greek island for a summer and met a gorgeous Greek guy who was happy to go back to New York with him.

  “I was an only kid,” Logan replied. “My parents died when I was young, and I was sort of invisible in high school. I was so flattered that someone as… outgoing, witty, like Tim would want to date me.”

  “The outgoing, witty ones are the ones you need to look out for.”

  “You’re outgoing and witty.”

  “Case in point.” Alex winked.

  “Is this you warning me that you’re going to break my heart, sneak out in the morning without a note?”

  Alex couldn’t quite tell if Logan was joking or serious or some combination. “I used to be like that. I would only pick up tourists, since I knew they’d be leaving. It was fun, they knew right away it wouldn’t last, nobody was hurt, just good times. But now that Ben—my brother—now that I see how happy he is, married and all that, it made me want to find something more permanent.”

  “I wasn’t looking for anything when I came here,” Logan said. “Nothing romantic, I mean. And then you walked in…”

  “I thought you hated me.”

  “I didn’t. I mean, I kind of did, just because I was… I didn’t know what to do with you. You even seemed willing to flirt with me?”

  “Yeah, I was definitely flirting with you. I thought you were cute.”

  Logan looked like he was choking on his own spit. “You thought I was cute?”

  “Yeah man.” Alex reached out and touched Logan’s glasses. “You have that adorable librarian thing going on.”

  “Nobody actually has an adorable librarian fantasy.”

  “Everyone does, they just don’t want to admit it.”

  Logan chuckled, looking down at the ground. “Well, you came in looking like Indiana Jones or something. so we’re both clichés then.”

  “I did not.”

  “You so did, with the khakis and everything.”

  Alex snorted, feeling his own face starting to heat up. Not that he hadn’t ever been complimented before, but Logan was so damn earnest about it. He was so serious and almost cranky in the way that he said it, like Alex was still inconveniencing him a bit by daring to be so attractive.

  “Well, at least now we’re on the same page. I think you’re cute, and you think I’m cute.” Alex tilted his head at Logan. “So, now where does that leave us?”

  “I was hoping you could tell me,” Logan replied, in that half-serious half-joking tone again.

  Alex pretended to think as they continued to walk along the trail. “I think that leaves us with going on a date to get to know each other better and possibly lunch afterwards. Maybe, if I’m very good, you’ll let me kiss you when we get to the end of the trail? It’s got a waterfall at the end and everything.”

  “And they say trail guides can’t be romantic,” Logan replied.

  “Who said that?”

  “Nobody, I just made it up.”

  Alex laughed, if only because it was so unexpected. Logan looked pleased with himself that he’d managed to make Alex laugh so much.

  “I could give you a dozen roses, if you’d like,” Alex teased.

  “I’m more of a make me coffee in the morning kind of guy.”

  “Duly noted. And I’m sorry, by the way, if I seemed… standoffish myself. I wasn’t sure about you, and I assumed the worst.”

  “I didn’t help,” Logan replied.

  “You did try, though. Recommending that book to me and all. I haven’t had time to read it yet, but I will.”

  “I hope it helps.” Logan sounded earnest again. Alex was finding he really liked when Logan sounded like that. Like he wasn’t worrying about how he sounded or looked to the other person - just being one hundred percent honest in how he felt. “I was being rude, and I thought maybe if I did something nice for you it would help to smooth the way. Make amends.”

  “You just glared at me a little bit, it wasn’t like you spilled soup in my lap.”

  “…I suppose.”

  Alex glanced at him. “You’re the kind of guy who’s really hard on himself, aren’t you?”

  Logan shrugged. “I try not to be, at least not too much.”

  “Well, don’t be. I’ve heard good things about you. And I like what I’ve seen so far.”

  Logan laughed self-deprecatingly. “Oh, come on. You know that we’re not exactly equals here. I’ve had one relationship my entire life and I’ve heard stories about you.”

  “So? I’ve never had a serious relationship. When it comes to actually being with someone long-term, you have me beat. I bet we’re probably equal in the sex department. Sure, yours was just with one person, but who cares about that? It’s still doing it.”

  Logan laughed again, blushing. “That’s a fair point.”

  “Here.” Alex grabbed him and tugged him in. “If you’re really so worried about that, give me a little taste. I’ll let you know what I think, hmm?”

  Logan was blushing still, but he let Alex settle his hands at his waist as he looped his own arms around Alex’s shoulders. “Don’t let me stop you from that plan.”

  Alex leaned in, brushing their lips together, feeling how Logan shuddered a little in response. He tilted his head and kissed Logan softly, slowly, working their lips together until the kiss began to deepen. Logan kissed with his whole body, arching and pressing himself against Alex, his hands running through Alex’s hair, knees buckling a little as Alex swiped his tongue along Logan’s lower lip.

  He loved it—how eager and enthusiastic Logan was, how responsive. Alex pulled away, panting a bit. “I’d say you’re pretty damn good at that. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

  Logan looked dazed, his eyes big and wide, lips wet and pink. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

  Alex tugged on Logan’s shirt, turning him to press him against the rock wall of the canyon. “I don’t see any reason for us to stop, then, do you?”

  Logan’s smile was warm and wide, and Alex leaned in to see how it felt against his mouth. He didn’t think he’d stop kissing Logan for ages. Not when Logan was so sweet and responsive.

  He could feel himself getting hard—and more than that, he could feel Logan as well, pressing against him through their pants, a delicious friction to rub against. Alex rolled his hips and Logan groaned, spreading his legs a little. Alex pressed in, shifting his grip from Logan’s hips to wrapping an arm around Logan’s waist instead.

  Logan moaned a little into his mouth, his hands sliding up underneath Alex’s shirt, clawing a little as they rolled their hips together. “Mmm, perfect,” Alex whispered, pulling away from Logan’s mouth to kiss down his neck. It was like all the things he hadn’t let himself think about Logan because of Logan’s attitude were rushing in. He couldn’t stop thinking about how gorgeous Logan was, how much he wanted to get his mouth and hands all over him.

  Alex reached between them, daring to undo Logan’s pants and slide his hand in. They couldn’t do much, not out here in the canyon, but he could…

  He pulled back, dropping to his knees. Logan groaned. “Holy shit,” he blurted out. “Alex you really don’t—”

  “Have to, I know.” Alex winked at him. “Consider it making up for lost time.”

  Logan looked like he was having a heart attack as Alex pulled out Logan’s hard cock, stroking it slowly. He licked it all over, getting it slick since they didn’t have lube, enjoying the desperate noises Logan was making.

  “How long since someone did this to you, huh?” Alex asked. He doubted the cheating ex had done this all that often towards the end of their relationship.

  “A—a while,” Logan stuttered as Alex tongued the slit at the head, swirling his tongue around.

  “Mmm guess we’re going to have to remedy that,” Alex mused and then sucked him down.

  He’d always enjoyed doing this, loved the feeling of power it gave him. But he especially wanted to do this for Logan. The guy hadn’t said much about it but being cheated on, by the one person he’d ever been with, someone he’d been with since goddamn high school—that had to suck on so many levels. That had to hit hard, had to be a blow to one’s self esteem.