pleasant tang. Quite lamb-like after all. Not too bad.
He scooped another forkful and tried again. Tasty.
Logan dug in too, and before they knew it they’d demolished the entire marsupial.
“So?” Alexander asked.
“It seems to agree with me.”
“Look where trying got us, hmm?”
Logan grinned, though it quickly faded. “Wait a while, and maybe it won’t.”
Alexander frowned, and before he could ask what Logan meant, Logan’s phone rang.
“Nico,” Logan answered, looking over at him.
The counter cut into Alexander’s stomach as he leaned forward, trying to hear his brother. He thought he caught the words, “Is Alexander okay?”
Logan murmured, reassuring Nico that Alexander was fine.
Logan hummed, and Alexander’s heart bashed about in his chest as he imagined Nico explaining . . .
Alexander slammed his eyes shut as he remembered Clive shoving him into his school locker and locking him in. The tight confines, the thickening air, the way his pulse jerked when the fire alarm rang. He hadn’t known it was a drill. He’d thought it was a real fire. He’d thought he was stuck in his locker and would be burned to a crisp in there. No one heard his yells and he couldn’t find leverage to kick down the door. Panic had consumed him until he blacked out. When the teachers found him and he came to, he’d pissed his pants.
Alexander was sure Nico would leave that part out, but he’d want Logan to understand his trauma and be there for him tonight.
An angry sound thumped on the counter. Logan’s voice strained with anger. He hurried a “gotta go” and dropped his phone into his pocket. “Alexander?”
“He told you?”
A tremble shuddered through him and Logan whisked him to the couch. With firm but careful touches, he lay Alexander down and sat next to him, tucking Alexander against his broad chest. Alexander sagged into Logan’s warm hold. “I’m so sorry. Clive was an absolute asshole.”
“That goes undisputed.”
“Why would anyone do something like that?”
Alexander stared at Logan’s collar, at the rise and dip of his throat. “How did you get that scar?”
“Are you changing the topic?”
“Yes.”
Understanding filled Logan’s gaze. “Which scar?”
He probably couldn’t see it without a mirror. “The one on your collarbone.”
“Ugh, that. Don’t look at it.”
Alexander circled the tip of his finger around it. “It’s right there.”
“Maybe I need more clothes on.”
“It’s a tiny thing. Looks quite recent. How did you get it?”
Logan briefly shut his eyes. “I fell over a casket.”
“A casket?”
Logan’s Adam’s apple jutted. “Long story.”
“We have all night.”
“It’s not my proudest moment.”
Alexander pulled back enough to meet Logan’s shiny gaze. “I had a panic attack in your arms. I promise not to judge.”
Alexander reconsidered. “I’ll try hard not to judge.”
A soft chuckle escaped Logan, followed by a sigh. “Jane’s dad died five months ago. The shock of it hit Jane hard. She and her brother were the only family they had left. Every time she tried to organize the funeral, she crumpled into grief. I loved Jane’s dad, so I told Jane I’d take care of everything.”
“Did you forget something?”
Logan shook his head. “I’d talked to Jack about funerals. I don’t remember how the morbid topic came up, but I there was nothing morbid about the way we joked about it. Jack didn’t want a classic, somber affair. He wanted to go out the way he lived, with humor and a hell of a lot of alcohol.”
Alexander groaned. “Oh, my God, you turned up drunk.”
“Alexander,” Logan said gruffly. “This story is hard enough to recount.”
“I’m sorry. Did you show up intoxicated in his memory?”
“If only.” Logan pressed a kiss to Alexander’s forehead, his bottom lip brushing his eyebrow. “You know what? Maybe we just leave it at I fell over a casket.”
Alexander feathered his palm down Logan’s stomach. “How about tit for tat?”
“Hmm?”
Alexander let out a long breath. “Clive was the one who shoved me into a locker, but I’m sure many others wanted to. I talked constantly about art and fancied boys and wore this.” Alexander jiggled his wrist, fingers swishing over Logan’s T-shirt. “My grandfather’s watch.”
Logan’s jaw twitched. “That’s no reason at all. I hate bullies.”
“I might have also called Clive an ignorant prick. I bullied too, I suppose.”
“No, you told the truth.”
Alexander met Logan’s fuming gaze. “Will you tell the truth?”
Logan’s breath hitched. “You want the truth?”
Yes. No. Yes.
Alexander didn’t know. He meant what he said to Nico. He needed this game between them. Needed to stretch and surprise himself. Needed to stop always doing the sensible thing.
Just another week, and it’d all be over anyway.
May