Yuku free message boards

Tender Is The Night

The women are drawn to him and don't try to pretend otherwise.

Other men would feel nervous to be surrounded by all these women. Not Logan.

Other women would be cautious with a man like Logan, who is a stranger after all. Not these women.

His introduction to each of the women has already given Logan many signs and clues. He'd listened to their banter as he ate a thick steak and a huge plate of fries. He's shared drinks with most of them by now. They're all feeling a bit looser, a bit friendlier, a bit more themselves without the artifices that women use instinctively as barriers for men to climb over, swim around or smash through. He's observed far more about them by now than they give him credit for.

After God knows how long living feral up in the Canadian Rockies, this feels like flying First Class.

Logan met Ann first. It was outside. She jumped in his arms and planted a kiss on him that he returned tit-for-tat. If he'd been any more eager, he'd have never let her wiggle away from him. She tried to convince him that he looked just like another man, a friend she said. What he knows of Ann is that she's flip, adventurous, harboring something dark inside, unafraid of the unknown. And sad, but far too proud to do anything but pretend she's not.


He met Clarity next. She was tending bar. She's got a sexy French accent. She served him a beer, keeps giving him shy smiles, has a tendency for double entendres that he doubts she realizes for what they are until they're out of her cute lips. He's bought her drinks, too, along with the others. Each one brings Clarity's reserve down a bit more. Right now, she's at the point where she's not having any problem flashing him a bit of cleavage and a smidgeon of thigh. What he knows of her so far is that she's in love with a man the others all like (an important detail), that she's a peacemaker, that she's level-headed. She's the one who's friends with everyone. There's no hidden agenda he's been able to discern.

Franki, meanwhile, is the wild card. She's provocative, experienced, and flirtatious. She's also playing him. She's made it clear it's the drink making her act out. She may find him attractive, but she's far too into a man named Bud who is a cop and over whom she worries tonight. Logan has learned that Franki has a criminal heart and finds room inside it not just for Bud the cop but also for Spooky the dog. What else he knows about her is that she knows he reads her. There's always recognition amongst those who take repeated trips to the other side of the law.




When Logan first met Kathy, she was stammering through an offer to give him a massage. He'd given her a wise smile and was wondering when the last time was he'd had a red-haired girl in his bed. Then she'd retreated with another stammering offer of a place to stay that night … of course, he'd be spending it on the couch in the house she shared with her boyfriend. Naughty of her to get his hopes up. But Logan can forgive a woman when she's pretty.


There were two women who'd given him the eye but never gave him any doubt they'd been interested in anything more than the communal rounds of drinks he'd bought. Angel was deep inside an apparently confusing mash of "will she/won't she" with a man named Jack. What Logan knew about Angel is that she wanted to give herself permission to be in love but she wasn't ever going to be that easy. Whoever this poor Jack was, Logan wished him courage.


Then there was Sophie, who sized him up and down then down again. She kept a smile playing around her lips but when he'd look her full on, she'd narrow her eyes and straighten her back. This was a woman who knew how things went between men and women. Logan could read in her eyes that she had found the man who other men had no chance comparing to. Happens sometimes, Logan thinks, and it's always disconcerting. Had any woman ever felt that way about him? If so, he doesn't remember it.



Lily had come in before most of the others and was already drinking Jaegermeister shots with Franki at the bar when Logan came in. She'd held herself off to the side of the bar, eyeing everyone up, Logan definitely included. When he'd looked in her eyes, he thought he could almost hear the hunger inside her rumble around like it'd been a long time since satisfaction. She was unafraid, self-conscious, unsure. What Logan knew about Lily was that she was not the flirtatious kind; that she was attracted to him but wouldn't make the first move and that she had some ridiculous hang-up about her breasts. Why do women think things like that?



Logan shakes his head as he glances at Lily. She's looking right at him. He gives her a grin. She rolls her eyes.

He turns to the woman who's seated next to him at the bar. Ann's ability to flirt comes and goes. Right now, it's in full force and Logan figures why not see where it will lead? After all, he already knew she could kiss with abandon. And of all the women there, she seems the least attached, declaring more than once that the man she holds in her heart is dead. What else would she abandon if he pressed?

She's challenged him to a drinking contest. Her choice of poison: boilermakers. Rough and ready. No way could she know that Logan processes alcohol so fast it's a sin. He's discovered that he rarely gets a buzz-on these days, at least not one that lasts. There are far too many nights he'd give anything to get stone-cold drunk.

[Ann]: Logan, first one to the bottom wins, eh?

[Logan]: You're on. *They both toss a shot down in one.*

[Ann]: WHEW!

[Logan]: What's the prize?

[Ann]: I don't think we said but it doesn't matter now 'cuz you lost. Let me think what I want …

[Logan]: No, no. Double or nothing.

[Ann]: Logan, the second one's already on the bar. You ready yet? You think you're man enough to take me?

[Logan]: Yep.

[Ann]: One. Two. Three. GO! Whoaaaaaa. Woot!

[Logan]: *downs it in two*

[Ann]: You're losing, man

[Logan]: *Shot glass hits him in the nose*

[Clarity]: Hey you two, don't spill anything, I'm the one who's cleaning here

[Franki]: Just remember, getting snockered is unladylike. *Her dog Spooky chooses that moment to poke her fluffy white head out from the doggie carrier purse. She sniffs at Logan twice then sits up to accept a scratch behind the ears*

[Logan]: I'll keep an eye on her, Franki. She'll get to bed safe.

[Ann]: Okay, Logan, head's up. Here's the third one before us. You think you can take this one?
[Logan]: I'm in.

[Ann]: Who's saying 'go'? You or me? I think it's your turn.

[Logan]: One.

[Ann]: Okay ...

[Logan]: Two.

[Ann]: *drinks it down* GO!

[Logan]: *looks at Ann in shock, laughs and chugs his drink*

[Clarity]: You cheated!

[Ann]: Ohhh. You're slowing down, Logan. Well, of course I cheated. It's the only way I'll ever win against him

[Logan]: *wiping his lips with an admiring grin* Only unfair fight is the one you lose, Clarity.

[Logan]: Next one's on me, Ann. If you're game.

[Ann]: Okie dokie. *She leans in against him* Hey. I think the room's dipping.

[Logan]: *Arm around Ann* Don't worry, I gotcha.

[Ann]: Okay, next drink while I can see still straight.

[Logan]: Another round, Clarity. *slaps money on the bar*

[Ann]: I'm focusing here but I see two shot glasses in front of me. Maybe I'll just drink them both.

[Logan]: Drinking to forget never worked for me, Ann.

[Ann]: That's a buzz killer. Hits a bit too close for comfort, Logan.

[Logan]: You know what helps me to forget? *whispers in Ann's ear*

[Ann]: I'm easy but not that easy
.
[Logan]: You ready to drink, Ann?

[Ann]: No, maybe I better concede to the better man while I can still walk home, Logan. But, I do have to say, you are a charming if far too insightful drinking companion.

[Logan]: *grins*

[Ann]: *grins back* I like a man who knows his limits, Logan. You do realize I'm beyond yours?

[Logan]: *chuckling* So that's a no, then.

[Ann]: Yes, but it's delivered with the nicest of smiles, eh?

[Logan]: Take a rain check. I'm good for it.

[Ann]: *shakes her head* You're just a nice guy after all, Logan, eh?

[Logan]: Nice isn't something I get called too often. You're just drinking is all - your thinking's cloudy.

[Ann]: Logan, give me a break. Sober or drunk, you're the sort of man no woman wouldn't notice. And in a good way. In a kind of jaw dropping, tongue lagging, sweaty sort of way. That's really a lot more pleasant than it sounds.

[Logan]: I've always preferred a kiss to a slap in the face, Ann.

[Ann]: *drops her eyes, chuckles* Hey, that was a case of mistaken identity. I didn't enjoy it … much.

[Logan]: *looks around the bar noticing how the crowd has thinned since he came in. Only ones left are Franki, Clarity, Angel and Lily. But they're all on the other side of the pub right now. He leans toward Ann* People dropping like flies in here tonight.

[Ann]: *looks around the bar before looking in Logan's eyes* Looks like it's me...

[Logan]: …and you. I can handle that. If you can.

[Ann]: Could get dangerous.

[Logan]: Nothing wrong with a little forgetting, Ann.

[Ann]: I have way too much to forget.

[Logan]: And I have too much to remember.

[Ann]: Then maybe we shouldn't drown in forgetting.

[Clarity]: *stopping by to refill drinks* Um... I'm still here. But I can go and attend other customers if you'd rather me to.

[Ann]: No, no. You stay here.

[Logan]: You need to protect Ann, kid. Animal like me? She'll probably get into trouble.

[Clarity]: I'm waiting for John anyway, he shouldn't be long. Besides, I don't think Ann needs me to protect her.

[Ann]: Yes, I do.

[Clarity]: You sure?

[Logan]: *eyes never leaving Ann* Yes, she does.

[Ann]: I think Logan'd be way too much for me to handle.

[Logan]: I can be easy.

[Ann]: Promise?

[Logan]: Sure.

[Ann]: The thing is, Logan, you make me nervous.

[Logan]: Why?

[Ann]: Because you make me think only of the here and now.

[Logan]: Is there really anything else?

[Ann]: Well, there is the morning. And what people would say.

[Logan]: They'd say you had a good time.

[Ann]: That goes without saying. But I'm not exactly a woman of the best reputation, Logan. You may not want your name mixed up with mine. People think I'm a bit too easy. Not that I'm saying they're right or wrong --but I don't always feel like I have to have a reason.

[Logan]: You're worried about my reputation? *amused brow climbs high* I don't think you're easy. I think you're probably pretty hard on yourself.

[Ann]: You're the second man recently who's made me stop thinking and just do. And I was left in the morning feeling awful disloyal. And that didn't feel so good

[Logan]: Disloyal to who? This Ben guy?

[Ann]: Yeah. You got it in one. I miss him and I don't act like I do.

[Logan]: Has he earned your loyalty?

[Ann]: I think he did, yeah.

Logan looks at Ann for a long moment. With no memories, he has no one to be loyal to. No strings, no entanglements, nothing to get in the way. He's free and clear. Lucky him. But seeing the emotion in Ann's eyes, the depth of the emotion she feels for this Ben guy, for a moment he isn't sure which one of them is the lucky one.

[Logan]: You're a lot nicer than me.

[Ann]: Don't be so quick to judge. You seem awful nice to me. And you feel pretty good, too.

[Logan]: Thanks, but... You don't get it, you couldn't. I just keep it light and easy. Enjoy the here and now.

[Ann]: Okay. Light. Easy. Here and now.

Here and now. It's basic. Primal. Like the roar inside of him that won't go away no matter how much he drinks or how hard he tries. Ann seems like a genuinely nice person. The kind who would help a stranger and she's said as much. She's helped many of the town's new residents find jobs, places to live. Like a sexy welcome wagon.

Trouble seems to find Logan. On the island where the beautiful woman from his dream lay dead at his feet. In the mountains where the soldiers found him and he made them suffer for it. He has nothing to offer Ann or any other good woman beyond the here and now. Otherwise they might suffer, too.


[Logan]: I don't want anybody to get hurt.

[Ann]: So what's next? I know, let's dance. You, me, and everyone else left … Franki, Angel, Clarity, even Lily. All of us. Put something fun on the jukebox and just dance.

[Logan]: Dance? I'm better at drinking. You ladies dance. I'll watch. *licking his lips*

Section 2