Nicole Edwards - Entrusted

Logan was pretty sure he heard Luke sigh in relief, probably glad to hear Elijah didn’t have a problem with his relationship with Cole.

It had taken a lot to get Luke to come to terms with the fact that he loved Sierra and Cole. Not only did he have a problem with the ‘and’ part of that statement, he had a major issue with the fact that he was attracted to Cole. But, they’d finally come around and life had looked up for his brother. For that, Logan was grateful.

But in the same sense, Logan wasn’t looking for the same thing Luke had found. He could absolutely see himself becoming friends with Elijah. Hell, they already were. Not only did Logan look forward to seeing Elijah with Sam, he also looked forward to seeing Elijah period. Strange that.

There might not be a sexual connection between him and Elijah, but Logan had the overwhelming urge to shield Elijah. To help him through this. The man was clearly still hurting, keeping himself locked away and Logan could relate. He hadn’t lost Sam, and he prayed he never had to go through that, but Logan had lost his parents. He’d been young and the pain of their death still echoed inside of him.

That sort of loss would never go away.

But it did eventually get easier to breathe. And Logan knew that when Elijah was around Sam, he was breathing a little easier.

“Lay off, man,” Logan finally told Luke. “We’ve got it covered. But I promise, when we need relationship advice, you’ll be the first person we come to.”

That made Cole laugh uncontrollably which eased the tension. Luke turned his feigned wrath on his lover, and that got the two of them squabbling again.

Yep, overall, life was good.

Elijah was wandering the house the following morning, still exhausted from the night before. He’d slept in later than usual, but that hadn’t helped all that much even though, for the first time in a long time, Elijah hadn’t dreamed. About anything.

At least not that he could remember.

He and Logan had a good time at the game, even stopped off to have wings for dinner after they dropped Luke and Cole back at their house. By the time that was all said and done, Logan had dropped him off close to one in the morning.

It had been a long time since Elijah had been out with friends like that. Usually it was business associates, and with those relationships, he always ensured to keep them at a distance. Not to mention, most people he worked with tiptoed around the subjects they believed would send Elijah into an emotional tailspin.

Not Logan. He was up front, curious, and he didn’t have a problem asking the difficult questions. At one point, they’d even talked about Logan’s parents. Apparently, they died in a car accident – killed by a drunk driver when he and Luke were eight. To an eight year old, his life had been irrevocably damaged. According to Logan, his grandfather had stepped in and raised them.

The man had done a damn fine job as far as Elijah was concerned.

Elijah had seen a different side of Logan last night. It was clear to him that the man was making a point to get to know him and to share a bit of himself along the way. Something he doubted Logan did with everyone.

Now that he was awake, the empty house providing only deafening silence, Elijah suddenly missed the company. Even Luke and his prodding ways. Logan’s twin was a pain in the ass, but Elijah found he respected the guy. Cole had playfully informed him yesterday that Luke wasn’t trying to be an ass. He was just naturally an ass.

But Elijah held his own with Luke. He fully intended to see where this went with Logan and Sam and he wasn’t at all bothered by Logan’s brother being overbearing and overprotective.

Elijah was just making his way into the kitchen to make coffee when his cell phone rang. He retrieved the phone from the bar where he’d placed it when he’d fumbled through the house in the middle of the night. The screen lit up with Logan’s number and he answered.

“You can’t say you left something in my car last night. That won’t work since we went in yours.”

Logan laughed.

“What’s up?” Elijah asked as he continued toward the kitchen, phone to his ear. He needed coffee before he could handle any conversation, lengthy or otherwise.

“I have a favor to ask.”

Elijah wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that.

“I’ve got to head out of town. I just got an emergency call from Xavier, although you can bet your ass it isn’t as dire as the man made it sound. But, nonetheless, I’ve got to go take care of this for him. I was planning to take Sam to the art gallery tonight. There’s an exhibit she’s been wanting to see.”

“I’ll take her,” Elijah said, cutting Logan off. The man didn’t have to convince him. “I’d be honored to take her,” he clarified.

“I’d say thank you, but I don’t think it’s necessary,” Logan said, clearly catching on to Elijah’s intentions.

“No, it’s not. In fact, I think you’re doing me a favor.”

Logan was silent for a moment, except for the sound of movement on the other end. “Hey, I meant to tell you this yesterday… About the other night… You didn’t have to leave. I want you to know that.”

Yeah, he did, but he wasn’t about to tell Logan that. That night had been more than Elijah originally bargained for, but no less than what he expected after he met Samantha. Tonight, seeing Samantha again, he feared, would probably solidify what he was already suspecting. “I’ll remember that next time.”

“Look, Eli,” Logan began, “I don’t know what your experience is in these situations, but…”

“But what?” Elijah encouraged.

“Sam hasn’t been in a lot of these situations, but I can tell you that what happened that night… That was a first for us. And yes, for both of us. I’ve never wanted to share her. Not… like that.”

Elijah stopped working on the coffee and turned to lean against the counter. He was a little shaken by the direction Logan had taken the conversation. He was also grateful the man hadn’t opted to talk about it yesterday. Face to face. That would’ve been… awkward.

“The feeling’s mutual,” Elijah offered truthfully. “It was… intense.”

“Good word for it,” Logan agreed. “I don’t see this being something that is going to go slow. I don’t expect it to either. And about tonight, I’d really like for you and Sam to see where this goes. I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon sometime, so… Fuck.”

Elijah could hear the frustration in Logan’s tone. So, clearly this wasn’t easy for either of them.

“Take care of her for me. I think you already know that she deserves that and so much more.”

“So much more,” Elijah echoed. More than Elijah could probably give her. But surprisingly, he was willing to try. He hadn’t felt this way about anyone in four long, painful years and now that he remembered what it felt like, he wasn’t quite ready to let it go. “I’ll take care of her, Logan.”

“Thanks. Look, I’ve got to run. The gallery opens at six, I think. I haven’t said anything to Sam. I figured you’d want to have the honor of asking her.”

“Thanks,” Elijah said, at a loss for words.

The call ended and Elijah stood there, staring at the blank screen on his phone for the longest time.

Logan had just handed Samantha to him on a silver platter. What he chose to do with the offer could very well alter the course of their lives.

Elijah hit the button to bring the screen on his phone back to life.

Now, it was time to take the first step.

* * *

“Hey, baby,” Logan called to Sam half an hour later. He’d heard her cell phone ring, knew who it was on the other end so he had left her alone when she wandered back to their bedroom, phone to her ear. She had just hung up and was walking back toward the kitchen where he was sitting at the table, his laptop open in front of him.

“That was Elijah,” she explained. “He asked if he could take me to the art exhibit tonight. You work fast, don’t you?” she asked with a huge grin.

“What? I just called him to let him know I had to go out of town. It was up to him to do with that information as he saw fit. For him to call you was his decision, not mine.”

Sam walked up to him, and Logan leaned back in his chair.

As she did frequently, she straddled his lap, placing her hands on his shoulders. “Now is the time I feel like I’m supposed to ask you if you’re all right with this,” Sam said, placing her finger over his lips when he started to respond. “But I don’t think I have to ask that. I can tell. Something is… different. About this whole situation. I don’t know what it is, but I feel it.”

“I feel it too,” Logan told her.

“This isn’t just sex. Is it?”

“No,” he said straightforwardly.

It wasn’t for him. Then again, sex with Samantha had never been “just sex” for him. He’d known it from the moment he saw her that this woman owned him. Heart and soul.

And to top it off, she accepted his idiosyncrasies. She craved them as much as he did. And polyamory was unquestionably one of them that they both wanted. Although before Elijah, Logan would’ve said he was only interested in the sex part.

As his relationship with Sam continued to grow and strengthen, Logan realized that what they wanted was more. More than just sex as she’d put it.

“I’m going on a date with Elijah tonight,” she told him, although he already knew that.

“And?”

“And… What if he invites me back to his place?”

“Do you want to go back to his place?”

“Maybe… Probably. Does that seem like I’m cheating on you?”