Page 40 of Bound in Blood (Vampires of Boston #1)

Mateo slung an arm around Logan’s shoulders. “Where to first, tesoro?”

Logan scanned the booths, all the food and games and rides to choose from.

Food should be last, obviously, because his dates can’t enjoy it.

The Ferris wheel was a bit romantic to do first, so…

“Games. Obviously. I want to pay way too much to win a stuffed animal I could have found at the dollar store.”

Mateo’s grin turned sharp. “A competition, then?”

“What does the winner get?” Logan raised an eyebrow.

Mateo’s smile was practically dripping with mischief, golden eyes glinting under the flashing carnival lights. “Marco and I will compete. Winner gets a prize of their choosing. And eternal ‘I’m the better brother’ bragging rights.”

“Wait, I wanted to play games too. What if I win?” Logan pouted.

“ Tesoro, this isn’t a Disney movie. You’re not competing for your own hand, or whatever that little ginger girl says.” Mateo cracked his knuckles. “Let your mates impress you with our game-winning prowess.”

Logan squinted at him. “That girl wiped the floor with her competitors in the movie. I think you’re afraid I’ll do the same to you.”

Mateo gasped, clutching his chest. “How dare you?!”

Marco, calm as ever, simply smirked, patting Logan’s head. “You’re in, caro. See if you can keep up.”

They weaved through the various games, looking for the perfect one to kick off their little competition, Logan soaking in every detail he possibly can.

It was overwhelming in the best possible way.

He didn’t even realize how tightly he was clutching both his mates’ hands until Mateo did a full, abrupt stop at a booth.

“This one’s perfect!” He tugged Logan (and, because Logan was also holding Marco’s hand, Marco) a bit closer.

The game attendant barely glanced up from his phone as the three of them approached, looking bored out of his mind. “Three rings, five bucks. Land one, win a prize,” he explained, doing the most half-hearted gesture Logan had ever seen toward the prizes above him.

Logan snorted. “Mateo, this is like… the most rigged game here.”

Mateo shrugged. “We each pick a game, yes? I pick this one.”

Logan eyed him suspiciously, but there was no getting out of it now. Since he was the only one who thought to grab cash (thank you, tip money from the bar), he paid the bored-looking teenager fifteen dollars, handing each twin three rings.

“All right, big shot,” Logan teased. “Let’s see if you’re worthy of my attention.”

Mateo cracked his knuckles, stretching out his neck like he was about to ride into battle. “Stand back.” He winked at Logan before aiming and firing the first ring toward the bottles. It flew through the air, bouncing off a bottle with a loud clink!

Mateo’s eye twitched.

Logan smiled, biting his lip to suppress his laughter. “Wow. My hero.”

Mateo scoffed, rolling his shoulders. “A warning shot, obviously.” He threw his second ring.

Miss.

Marco exhaled on a laugh. Mateo was visibly scowling, rolling up the sleeves of his jacket like it would help anything. “This one is it. I feel it in my soul. ”

Logan nudged Marco. “I tried to tell him it was rigged.” Marco nodded his agreement.

Mateo squared his shoulders, taking a full thirty seconds to focus his aim before he threw his final ring, and…

Miss.

Logan cackled, leaning into Marco for support. Marco acted calm, but amusement radiated through the bond between them. Mateo, now absolutely fuming, shoulder checked his brother roughly as he stepped back.

“Fine, let’s see if you can do better,” he grumbled.

Marco stepped forward silently, landing a ring perfectly on the first try.

Mateo gaped. “How?!”

Marco smirked and handed a stuffed rabbit to Logan, kissing his temple as Logan graciously accepted his prize. “Would you like to choose next, caro? ”

Logan nodded, clutching the stuffed rabbit in a way that might have felt embarrassingly childish if Logan hadn’t been having the time of his life. He was still grinning as he looked over at Mateo, who was scowling like he’d been personally betrayed.

“Have you ever played the balloon popping game?” Logan asked, looking between them. At their confused glances, he figured that the answer was no. “It’s easy. They give you darts, and you try to pop balloons. The more balloons you pop, the better the prize you get.”

What Logan didn’t say was that this game was typically meant for small children, and it would be incredibly hard for anyone not to land a dart. As funny as it was to watch Mateo get frustrated over Marco beating him so thoroughly, Logan wanted to make sure he got one win tonight.

Mateo narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “You’re sure this game isn’t rigged?”

Rigged to help you win. Logan thought, but out loud he said, “Mm-mm. Total game of skill. Scout’s honor.”

Mateo eyed him like he didn’t trust a single word, but he didn’t argue. Marco just smirked. Logan was fairly sure he’d caught on, but Marco didn’t say a word.

They made their way over to the booth, where an older woman with bright red lipstick and a pink plastic cowboy hat gave them a once-over. Her eyes lingered on Logan’s hands, still laced with both Marco’s and Mateo’s in a quite obviously romantic way.

Her mouth tightened, thin lips damn near disappearing, but Logan just grinned at her sweetly.

He could practically hear her thoughts. Not only was he gay, but gay and fucking two men?

He watched in real time as her face went from disgusted to resigned when she realized they were there to actually play the game at her booth.

Hey, money from sinners spends the same as money from the righteous, right?

“Three sets?” she asked, in a similar tone a cashier might have if you approached the counter with condoms, lube, and a cucumber.

“Yes, ma’am.” Logan beamed, all southern charm, laying his accent on thick, “We like a little competition.” She rolled her eyes as she accepted his money, but Logan felt a little zap of ‘turned on’ through the bond, even though neither of his mates said anything.

Logan really hoped it was from the assertiveness and not the accent. He hated the accent.

The woman handed them five darts each, showing each tier of prize for popping balloons.

One to two gets you a small prize, like a sticky hand or a piece of candy, three or four gets a regular stuffed animal, but if you can pop all five, then you get the cool stuff.

Logan, personally, had his eye on a stuffed dog with heart patches around its eyes.

Logan stepped up to the line, taking his place first to show Mateo exactly how the game works, since he seemed a bit suspicious.

He purposefully missed the first two, turning around and shrugging, then hit the last three, making sure the last one looked a bit like a fluke.

Truthfully, Logan was great at this game.

But he would gladly accept a smaller prize if Mateo got to look good.

The woman gestured to his pick of prizes, and he settled on a small duck plush before turning to Marco. “Your turn,” he said, trying to give him a let-Mateo-win look as he took a step back.

Marco nodded, but clearly didn’t understand the assignment Logan had tasked him with, because he popped all five balloons, one after the other, almost imperceptibly fast. The woman, now clearly a bit impressed, let out a low whistle before gesturing to the prizes Marco can pick from.

He looked over at Logan, who pointed to the stuffed dog.

Marco handed Logan the stuffed dog with a small smile, and Logan held it to his chest like it was the best thing he’d ever been given. Between it and the rabbit, it might be. Not because of the prize itself, but because of who gave it to him, and what it represented.

Mateo watched the whole thing with arms crossed, but said nothing as he stepped up to take his turn. He rolled his shoulders, narrowing his eyes at the balloons left over like they had personally wronged him. He threw his first dart.

POP!

His second?

POP!

Mateo glanced over at Logan with an exaggerated ‘ You’re watching this, right?’ expression. He threw the third dart.

POP!

Logan bit his lip to keep from smirking. Mateo threw the fourth dart.

POP!

Mateo grinned, rolling his wrists. “One more.”

Logan, still clutching his other prizes, offered a lazy shrug. “No pressure, Teo.”

Mateo throws…

POP!

He threw up his arms like he just scored the winning goal in the World Cup.

“Let’s go!” Mateo grabbed Logan like he weighed nothing and twirled him dramatically in the air. “The champion has returned!”

Logan laughed so hard he nearly dropped his other prizes.

The booth lady just sighed at them, gesturing to the prizes Mateo could pick from.

Of course, he went for the biggest stuffed animal they had.

It might almost have been as tall as Logan.

The lady handed it to Mateo, who turned and dramatically offered it to Logan.

“For you.”

Logan almost toppled over at the sheer size of it. Mateo just winked at him. It was dramatic and over the top for sure, but Logan couldn’t help but blush, turning his face into the stuffed animal so Mateo wouldn’t see it and brag more.

“Ready for the Ferris wheel?” Marco asked, tilting his head toward the ride.

“Don’t you want to pick a game?” Logan asked, looking up at him.

Marco just shook his head. “You’ve got no more room in your arms, and we need to think of the poor driver on the way home.” He started toward the Ferris wheel.

Logan swallowed hard, heart picking up speed.

The Ferris Wheel.

He’d always wanted to ride to the top, have a soft romantic moment with a boy, looking out over the city. They probably couldn’t quite see Boston from here, but this was more than good enough.

Logan tightened his grip on his stuffed animals as they got closer to the Ferris wheel, nerves and excitement twisting together in his chest. It wasn’t a big deal. He knew it wasn’t a big deal. But it was so perfect and human and something he’d dreamed of since he had his first kiss at age eleven.

Mateo nudged him playfully with his elbow. “Nervous?”

Logan scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Why would I be nervous?” he asked, but his voice squeaked a little.

Mateo grinned. “You know, this is kinda like our first proper date.”

Marco tilted his head slightly. “He’s right, but I’m not sure I like that he’s right.”

Logan felt his face heat instantly. “Me neither.”

They reached the front of the line pretty quickly, and the attendant barely blinked as he let them into a cart that looked like it might have been blue at one point thirty years ago.

Logan settled between the twins, setting his stuffed animals on the empty side across from them as the wheel started to lift them higher.

Logan glanced out over the carnival, watching all the people below, the sea of neon blurring as they got closer to the top.

God, it was beautiful.

Marco shifted closer, his scent familiar and grounding. “Is it everything you were hoping for?”

Logan nodded, unable to stop the soft smile tugging at his lips. “Yeah. It’s almost perfect.”

Mateo hummed, sliding an arm around Logan’s shoulders. “How do we make it perfect, tesoro?”

Logan opened his mouth to answer ‘ you already know’ but before he could, Mateo leaned in, catching his lips in a slow, lingering kiss.

It was… soft. Gentle in a way Logan isn’t used to from Mateo.

No teasing or playfulness or intent to lead somewhere more.

Just a warmth and tenderness that made Logan’s chest ache.

Marco leaned in after him, pressing a kiss to Logan’s jaw as he gently pulled him away from his brother, then kissed the corner of Logan’s mouth before settling on his lips.

It’s softer than Mateo’s, reverent, like he’s savoring every second. Marco kissed him slow and unhurried, like they had all the time in the world. And they did, Logan thought, technically.

When they finally pulled back, Logan felt a bit dazed, his heart racing. He looked between them, feeling the moment so intensely, he might’ve died right there if he didn’t say what was on his mind.

“I love you,” he said to both of them. No fear, no hesitation.

The words hung in the air between them, and Logan silently wondered if he’d ever felt three words as much as he’d felt those just now.

Mateo grinned, but there was something softer in his eyes.

Marco’s expression was one of deep, unwavering fondness.

Neither of them said anything for just a beat too long, and for a moment, Logan wondered if he’d spoken too soon.

No, actually. Fuck that. He said it, and he meant it. “You heard me. I love you.” He glared at them both, challenging. “Do I need to say it a different way?” Fuck, how did you say it in Italian? “ Ti amo? J’taime? Ich liebe dich ? I’m running out of languages, feel free to?—”

“ Tesoro. ” Mateo laughed, delighted. “We love you, too.”

Marco cupped Logan’s face, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to his forehead. “We’ve loved you since like… twelve hours after we met you.”

“But what’s twelve hours amongst immortals?” Mateo grinned, kissing Logan’s cheek.

And Logan had never felt more loved in his life.

* ? My heart