"Bullshit do you eat the Costco-sized ice-cream...." He looked up and down Logan's lean body. "Or any sized ice cream on a regularbasis."
Logan's olive cheeks turned a little pinker, and he laughed nervously. "I also work out. A lot." He met Peter's eyes. "Another side effect of livingalone."
Peter wasn't sure how to respond to that, but he was saved from having to reply at all when a high-pitched, protracted moan came from his parents' bedroom on the other end of thehall.
He made a face - some cross between disgust and panic - and Logan burst intolaughter.
"It's not funny!" Peter elbowed him, trying to control his owngrin.
"It kind ofis."
"I mean this, tonight, maybe. But..." He shook his head. "Jared got fired from his job at the mall for being too flirtatious. Shelly - that's his ex-fiancé - dumped him because she found him in bed with her sister Heather. And then Heathersued himfor posting a sex tape of her online without her permission. He's determined to be the same person he was in high school. I don't getit."
Logan pursed his lips and darted a look at Peter. "Some people have fond memories of high school, Iguess."
"Yeah, I guess. You and Jared, maybe." He brushed an imaginary fleck of lint off his sleeve. "Some of us were pretty pleased to getout."
"Not all of my memories are fond," Logan said seriously. "I did some stuff I regret alot."
Peter closed his eyes. Like that one summer a few years back, when they'd hooked up?Figured.
"Well, the good news is that we can move on, right? Grow up?" Not that Jared everhad.
"Sometimes." Logan hesitated. "Sometimes people don't know how. Maybe that's where your brotheris."
"It's not rocketscience--"
"No, but it requireswantingto let go of it." Logan stepped closer. "Some people don't wanna letgo."
"Why?" Peter looked up at Logan, at those impossibly green eyes. "Why wouldn't you want to move on to bigger andbetter?"
"Because maybe you think there's nothing bigger and better waiting for you?" He hesitated again, glancing down at the ground. "You knew there were things out there for you." He smiled. "I remember the way we used to talk, a few years ago. You had a color-coded five-point plan for the future. You hadsticky noteswith ideas for the future. All the things you were going to do, all the places you wanted to visit. High school was holding you back. But... it wasn't like that forJared."
Peter frowned. He hadn't really considered it that waybefore.
"Your brother was a football star. Popular with guys and girls alike. He wasn't into academics, but that didn't matter because he thought he was going to play college ball, right? But then, he didn't get picked. And I think maybe he started to wonder... if his best chance at happiness was behindhim."
"But that's not true," Peter said slowly. "There's always another chance. It sucks, sometimes, when things fall through,but..."
Logan shook his head. "But it doesn't work that way for everything. Sometimes we only get one shot, and we blow it. Sometimes we see something we really, really want and we're not good enough - not prepared enough, not brave enough - to take it. Jared's never going to be a star football player again, andI..."
Logan put his hand on Peter's waist lightly - so, so lightly - but Peter could feel every cell of his body light up under the faintpressure.
So stupid. Soreckless.
Logan was right. There were some chances thatcouldn'tcome around again. Or things that broke you thoroughly enough the first time that you didn't want to risk themagain.
Eitherway.
"Peter, I wanted to say..." Logan began, but Peter steppedback.
"Are you going to get him, or am I?" he interrupted, holding his coat in front of him like a shield. As if on cue, the moaning grewlouder.
"You wantmeto gethim?"
Peter rolled his eyes. "Yeah, why not? You'd probably enjoy the view more than I would." Especially given that his brother was the only guy inthere.
"You'd be surprised," Logan said sourly. He looked at the door at the end of the hall, which was most of the way open, then back at Peter. He drew his spine up straight. "Fine. I'll get him. But then you oweme."
