Chapter 2

Logan

This place hasn't changed one bit. A sense of familiarity engulfs me as I look around: the wooden walls, dark blue carpets, beige curtains. The creaky floors that Noah and I have spent hours chasing each other on, the big dark grey couch that I used to fall asleep on, and the connected kitchen counter that mom would ask me to get off of every second, it all brings back so many memories.

"I miss this place. And you, obviously. When was the last time I saw you man?"

He grins at me. "I don't know, two years ago, maybe? I remember that the last time I visited you guys in New York, you and your brother were too cool for me. You were throwing a party and wanted me to make sure Jade wasn't there."

I laugh at the memory. "I promised to give you my favorite comic book if you did so."

"I still have it."

"Good, I'm taking it back."

That earns me a light smack on my head. "I'm kidding, chill, man. I know learned the hard way not to mess with you and comic books," I say, remembering that one time I took one of his comic books and hoped he wouldn't notice.

Long story short, he did notice and kept me locked inside the garage with the lights off until I agreed to give it back to him. For your reference, I was about seven years old at that time and he was like, twenty-one or something.

Adam chuckles. "Are you referring to that one time you tried to steal one of my vintage comics?"

I nod. "I'm referring to that one time you locked me inside the garage for like, six hours, you crazy psycho."

"You were the cheekiest kid in the family. Someone needed to teach you a lesson or two," He grins at me and I shrug.

Maybe I was too cheeky for my own good. Anyway, lesson learned: don't mess with Adam and his comic books. Ever.

I take a second to study him. The guy is brilliant: successful neuropsychiatrist, a pioneer in the mental health medical field in the region, and he's not even thirty-two years old yet.

Mom has been begging him to live with us in New York City for years now, especially after my grandparents' death. After all, he's the only 'family' she has left. However, he's always found excuses, like his job here or that he can't sell the house cause it's in the middle of nowhere and no one is going to buy it- you know, some bullshit that Mom ends up believing.

Now I sort of understand him though. He must like the freedom that comes with being here, in this tiny house in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees and mountains. Not to mention the fact that he's living with his gorgeous, gorgeous girlfriend – which is odd because I always assumed that he was gay – but they were being extremely weird earlier. But I get it, maybe he doesn't want Mom to find out. She would certainly start planning their wedding.

Their relationship has always been complicated. I don't know why, but I think it has to do with my grandparents being super strict about his sexuality (in other words, they were homophobic as fuck but you know what they, do not speak ill of the dead). My mom never really stood up for him. Again, it's complicated and it looks like the guy isn't even gay so my theory is likely to be incorrect.

Maybe there's more to the story. But as I look at the family picture on the wall, they seem happy. Adam still had his braces. Mom was a redhead. My grandpa is laughing his heart out. My grandma is looking at Adam with adoration in her eyes.

Next to that picture is another one of him and a girl. She's holding some sort of trophy and he's grinning at her like she's a goddess or something. She's wearing mountain clothes, so they hide her figure. Is she a mountaineer? That's so cool. I watched this documentary about people who went to Everest once. Sure, I fell asleep midway, but I remember that the first half was cool. Like, they survived some shitty storms and one of them almost died.

She looks so much like his roommate, but it would be weird if he knew her when she was this young, no?

"That's Emily?" I ask.

He nods which makes me frown, clearly confused about how the fuck he knows his girlfriend when she was so young but before I can say anything else, he changes the subject. "So, what's the deal with you and Jade? What did you do this time? You must have really pissed her off."

"Why do you automatically assume that I did something? What if I decided that I want to come here to get to know my mother's heritage?" I internally cringe. Pigs are more likely to fly.

He raises his eyebrows. "Did you come here to get to know your mother's heritage?"

"Well, no, but it's still nice to have that as an option."

"If you were Noah, that would have been my top option. But you're the troublemaker."

I roll my eyes at his comment.

I love my brother to death. Although he's always been the star child, we never had any stupid rivalry going on. He's been through a lot, especially after she died. So, I do understand why everyone in my family has always... paid more attention to him, I guess. They were worried about him. They were scared for him. Even though he hates all the pity and attention, I get it. Hell, even I'm worried sick about him.

As for me, I sort of faded in his shadow, which is a double-edged sword. Like, sure, I can pretty much do whatever I want, but still... I hate knowing that I could go missing for a week and no one would notice or care... Except maybe for Mar. Unless it's Fashion week. Then she definitely wouldn't notice or care.

"Did you get arrested?"

"No."

"Jade walked in on you getting some?"

"I wish."

"Shit. That bad?"

"I really don't want to talk about it. It's too mortifying to recall." My mom getting roasted by my half-naked girlfriend – No, thank you.

He smirks. "Anyway, you do realize this craziness is not going to happen here."

"Obviously. There are no human beings around other than you and your roommate," The realization hits me as I say those words.

There are no human beings other than Adam and his housemate (who is his girlfriend so she's off limits, even though she's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen).

Fuck. I'm seriously not getting any for the next three months. Unless Mar flies to visit, but again, do I really want to bring Mar to a small town in the middle of nowhere that doesn't even have Chanel? Never mind, I'd rather not have sex for three months.

"Yes, about my roommate... She's a hard limit, Logan. You can't bother her, or fall in love with her, or whatever-"

I raise my hands innocently. "I know the bro code, man. You have my word."

Unfortunately for me, I happen to not be an asshole so I will not be trying to sleep with Emily.

With that being said, maybe I'll download tinder here. Do they even have tinder? Fuck, I sound like Mar.

"Good. Second, weed is illegal here. In other words, you could actually serve up to five years in jail if you get caught with weed. So, no smoking or drugs."

Shit. I mean, I'm not really into weed since it smells like actual shit and it's such a dumb drug. No offense, but I don't need a drug to be lazy. Trust me, I do that perfectly on my own. Coke, on the other hand...

"Logan! Understood?"

I sigh. "Yes, no drugs. Got it."

"Next on is cigarettes-"

"I don't do cigarettes," I answer almost immediately. He's surprised by my reaction and before he could ask. "They're fucking disgusting. I hate them." And they bring bad memories.

"Okay. That's a relief. I don't care if you drink as long as it's within reason. As far as I know, you're not a drunk so I'm not worried but still, please be responsible. And respectful. It's a small community where everyone knows each other. You don't want to be buying alcohol every single day-"

"I know, I know."

He's starting to piss me off with his tone. Ugh, I need a drink.

"One last thing, since you're going to be spending the summer, I suppose you could work at the center with Em."

I roll my eyes, moving to the kitchen bar to grab a beer. "I don't need pity work, Adam. I'll keep myself busy." I don't exactly know how. I'm still holding on to the slight possibility of Mom changing her mind.

"It's not pity work. The center offers free athletic training for underprivileged kids and some private classes as well. You play soccer, right?"

"So?"

"You could be the soccer coach!"

I sigh. "I don't like kids, Adam." Kids are noisy, self-absorbed, annoying little shits and don't even fight me on this.

"Fine, you can work in the office. Josh needs a secretary anyway."

"Is it paid?"

He raises his eyebrows. "Five hundred bucks a month work?"

I frown. "What is this? Modern-day slavery? Who the fuck gets –"

"You're not in the US. Okay? Many people get this wage here. Get over yourself. So, this is the way I see it: you can keep asking Jade for money while living here, or you can show Jade that you're actually growing up by taking responsibility, making your own money, and then maybe she'll agree to you going back before the end of the summer. I'll put in a few good words as well."

Right. When he puts it that way, working as a secretary for this Josh doesn't seem so bad. Right? Even though I have no idea who the fuck is Josh. I mean, how bad can it be?

I let out a long-exaggerated sigh. "Fine."

"Great, Em will show you around. You better get to bed since you have to wake up early tomorrow," He says before taking the beer from my hand.

Kill me now. Please.