He cast around for a neutral topic, since staying silent only gave his imagination more room to run. "So, NorthCarolina."
"What?" Logan half-yelled.
Peter turned around, halfway up thestairs.
"Sorry." Logan scowled. "I can barely hear you. It's like a fucking club inhere."
Peter swallowed. He was a stair above Logan, which meant they were almost the same height for once, and those lovely green eyes wereright therein front of him. He couldn't help the way his eyes darted down to Logan's full lips for just a single second, and he prayed Logan didn'tnotice.
"Uh. North Carolina, I said. You like it down there?" Peter dug his fingers into the polished wood railing. He didn't really want to hear Logan wax rhapsodic about his lovely life, or the girls he was dating... didn't want to know how much happier he'd become since the night he'd broken Peter'sheart.
But Logan's reply, when it came, wasn't particularly enthusiastic. "It's okay," he said with a shrug. "As good a place to live as anywhere. Cheaper thanhere."
Peter rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it." Rent prices were a good, safetopic.
"You have your own place?" Loganasked.
Ah. Okay, maybe not so safe. "I do. I did. Or... I mean, I do." He cleared his throat.Pretend this is Drew and you're giving him a rundown. Facts. Competence."I own a condo - a studio in the Fenway. I used to share it with my boyfriend, but he moved out lastmonth."
Logan blinked. "Oh."
There was a whole world of possible interpretations to that single syllable, and Peter refused to let himself contemplate any of them. "I could have gotten a bigger place in the suburbs," he continued. "But then... I'd be in thesuburbs."
He gave Logan a half-smile, half-shrug. Logan's answering grin made his heart beatfaster.
"Hey. You're talking to a guy who lives in a suburban townhouse," Logan teased. "I bet your whole apartment fits in one of my master bedroom closets. Thesmallone."
Peter lifted one eyebrow. "Uh huh. And when you step out your frontdoor..."
"I get in my car and go wherever I need to go." Logan folded his arms over hischest.
"Like, PTA meetings?" Peter turned around and resumed walking. "OrCostco?"
"Like, craft beer joints," Logan said defensively. "And... well, yeah, Costco.Sometimes."
Peter tossed a grin over his shoulder. He'dlovedteasing Logan back in the day. The guy wasn't just hot as sin, he was smart and funny, too. "Killing the environment. Meanwhile, some of us walkeverywhere."
"I'd like to see you bring home a giant thing of paper goods homewalking."
"How many paper goods do youneed?"
"Well..." Logan hesitated, and Peter looked over his shoulderagain.
Damn. He'd wandered right into this. The part where Logan told him all about his girlfriend or fiancé, his ten kids and his goldenretriever.
"Actually, not that many, since I live alonenow."
"Oh." Peter was sure there were a wealth of interpretations forthatsyllable too, but he wasn't really sure where to go from there. When Peter had known him, Logan had been the kind of person who needed... someone. A girl, a friend, a team... something to be a part of, some way to define himself. Apparently, he'dgrown.
Duh. Peter had done everything but plastic surgery to makehimselfdifferent from the guyhehad been back then. He wasn't sure why the Logan in his mind had been frozen in time, complete with all his faults and frailties, or why it was so strange to think that Logan might have outgrownthat.
Oh, you know why. Because that Logan broke your heart, so just imagine whatthisLogan could do toyou.
"The upside to living alone," Logan remarked as they reached the landing. "Is that I get to eat the Costco-sized tub of ice cream all bymyself."
Peter turned to face him, narrowing his eyes. "Bullshit."
"Huh?"
