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Louise loves Christmas as much as the next person, but walking into her apartment provides a much-needed escape from holiday spirit.
As she traversed through the mall today, set on picking up a sweater for her sister, she’d been forced to dodge shrieking children, frustrated parents, and kiosk employees dressed up like elves. If all of that weren’t enough, the Christmas music blaring incessantly in every store was enough to put her over the edge.
“Logaaaan?” She calls, dropping her shopping bag on the living room floor. “That was a nightmare. Have you seen the weird, sweaty Santa they have working at OMG Mall? I would not trust that guy around children.”
From the kitchen, Logan calls out a response Louise should’ve predicted.
“Yeah, one time Scotty paid me twenty bucks to take a picture in his lap. I think I was seventeen.”
Louise grins at the mental image this creates. Kneeling slightly, she scratches her excited puppy on his chin.
“Hi!” She says, her voice switching into the sugary sweet tone reserved only for dogs. “Hi! How’s my buddy?”
The fluffy, brown-haired mutt is almost as big as she is. Before she can give him even more love, Logan speaks again from the other room.
“Wait, Louise! Don't start kissing him hello yet.” He advises. “Come in here for a sec.”
Louise groans.
“What is it?” She asks, following the sound of Logan’s voice. “Can’t you tell I’m busy? I want to tell Hammerhead about this lame little poodle I saw. He’s gonna think it’s hilarious.”
When she arrives in the kitchen, Logan is wearing a smug look on his face.
“Hi.” He says, giving Louise a playful waggle of his eyebrows.
Knowing better than to trust him, she narrows her eyes and begins stepping cautiously in his direction.
“…what is it?” She asks, surveying their surroundings.
What dumb, stupid thing has he done specifically to get under her skin? Eyeing the top of the fridge, she looks for household items he may have stored out of her reach. He once hid the remote up there, laughing in unrestrained joy as Louise tore the living room apart searching for it.
“You always assume I’m up to something!” Logan says, feigning offense. “Not everyone lives for chaos, Louise.”
This total lie only confirms that he’s up to no good.
“Yeah, not everyone.” She agrees off-handedly, her focus still on the room. “But we do.”
She approaches him slowly, half-expecting something to jump out at her. When it doesn’t, she hooks two fingers around a belt loop on his jeans.
Logan softens. He probably doesn’t know he softens, but his mischievous smile turns into a fond one when Louise grabs hold of him.
“What’s your game, Logan?” She asks, voice hushed as she presses her nose against his. “What are you up to?”
She’s used this trick on men before, and it tends to work without fail. Something about her full lips and their sudden proximity to her target. But Logan only shrugs, grinning, and Louise realizes she’ll have to take another approach.
After letting silence settle over them, she goes in for the kill. Pressing her lips against his, she revels in the feeling of Logan’s body relaxing. His hand, once resting on the counter behind him, finds her hip and squeezes.
The smell of pine fills their apartment, a product of the live tree she made him drag into the living room, and it creates the unmistakable impression that Christmas is near. Logan sighs, letting his guard down, and Louise snakes a hand behind his back.
“A-ha!” She says, when she lands on something soft in her boyfriend’s grip.
With his free hand, he’s holding…something. It’s soft. Sure she’s discovered the key to his mischievous demeanor, Louise pulls hard and snatches it from his hand. Logan doesn’t fight very hard to fend her off.
Looking down at the item now in her own hand, Louise’s nose wrinkles in confusion. What she’s holding is red, and soft, and…oh my God. She’s going to kill him.
As the realization of what it is dawns on her, Logan cracks up at the look on her face. Louise curls her fist into a ball, pummeling Logan with a solid punch to the arm.
“You idiot!” She says, even more annoyed by his laughing.
“What?” Logan plays innocent. “It’s cute, Louise! It’s perfect for you!”
Taking it back from her, he holds it up so it’s displayed the way it would be on a store rack. Louise sticks her tongue out, completely disgusted by the Christmas themed nightgown before her.
“Oh, sick!” She says. “Do people actually wear this stuff?”
The dress is tight and sexy, with a low neckline and a big red bow in the middle. Louise has no doubt Logan would enjoy seeing her in something this sultry, but he also knows her well enough to understand that she would never.
“I saw it at the store and knew I had to buy it for you.” Logan says. “Aren’t you always saying you want to make all my Christmas wishes come true?”
Louise rolls her eyes.
“You’re lucky if you get coal this year. You really spent all that money just to mess with me?”
Tossing the item on the counter behind him, Logan doesn’t look bothered by the waste of $30.
“Trust me: it was worth it for the look on your face. Hilaaaarious. I thought you were gonna puke!”
“I still might. You’re such an idiot.”
Despite her annoyance, Louise doesn’t stop him when he puts his hands on either side of her waist. In fact, it actually feels kind of nice.
“I thought we could re-gift it.” Logan jokes. “To you sister, maybe. Does Jimmy Jr. have a Santa kink by any chance?”
“Ew. Logan, seriously. If you say anything else, I really am gonna puke. Now come see the ugly scarf I found for your mom.”
Without giving him a chance to argue, she grabs his hand tight and leads them both out of the kitchen.