I shut my laptop closed and placed it neatly on the nightstand before padding over to the bedroom door. As soon as I twisted the doorknob, the delicious smell of Indian food wafted through my nostrils. I opened the door and saw Adam in the kitchen setting down a bag of takeout on the counter. It looked like he’d just come in the front door, but I hadn’t heard anything from inside the room. Damn, these fancy walls were thick.
“Smells good,” I said, smiling at him.
“Of course, food always brings you out from the shadows,” Adam replied with a playful grin.
“Okay, that’s rude. I haven’t eaten anything since dinner last night!”
Adam shook his head. “I’m just messing with you. I picked up your favorites—I knew you’d probably be hungry.”
“Wow,” I replied, eyeing the aloo paratha and lamb biryani. “That was thoughtful. Thanks!” My mouth watered. Adam handed me a plate and I shoveled the glorious food onto it.
“Sleep okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, I didn’t mean to sleep that long. I’m probably going to be up all night again.”
“I have work tonight. I’ll head out in about an hour. Help yourself to whatever you want. The TV is set up with all the streaming apps, and there’s some beer in the fridge. I don’t have a lot of food, but”—he nodded toward the cartons of Indian food on the counter—“this should be enough until tomorrow. There’s also some ice cream in the freezer, I think.”
“Wow. You are anexcellenthost.” I smiled. “Thank you. For all of it.”
“Of course,” he said, eyeing me seriously. “I’m glad you came here.” He kept looking at me for a beat or two and then sighed. “It all works out perfectly anyway, since we head out to Breckenridge tomorrow.”
Oh yeah, I’d almost forgotten again. “What time are we leaving?”
“I’ll be home from work in the morning, and then I’ll need to sleep for a few hours. Logan and Rachel know to be here by about two, and we’ll head out soon after that.”
I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and my heart skipped a beat or two in my chest. “Logan? He’s coming? With . . . us?”
Adam looked confused. “Yeah, why?”
“Oh, I just haven’t seen him in awhile. He didn’t come last year . . . and . . . I guess I just didn’t know he was coming this year.”
“Well, last year he had to stay back because of work, but yeah, I talked to him a couple of days ago and he said he was coming. I told him to just hop in with us.” He shrugged.
My face was burning. It was as if I had just opened the door to hell and was greeted by its never-ending fiery depths, scorching off my skin in seconds. “That makes sense.”
Adam’s look of confusion only deepened. “Why do you look like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you just found out your grandmother turned into a zombie and ate your cat.”
“Uh . . . okay, wow. That’s oddly specific,” I muttered as I took a step backward, almost dropping my plate. “I’m okay, I think I’m still just a little tired? I’m going to put on a movie. Mind if I eat on the couch?” I turned around and walked away from him and toward the living room.
“You’re so weird,” was all he said before I heard him retreat into his bedroom. As I sat down on the couch, being careful not to spill any of the contents of my plate.
Shit.
I suddenly felt light-headed. I hadn’t seen Logan much in the last three years. Not since . . . Well, not since things got complicated. I should have known to expect him at my parents’ for Thanksgiving this week, but I’d done a decent job of not thinking about him unless absolutely necessary, which wasn’t often. Even hearing Adam speak his name just now sent my body reeling.
I groaned as I put a forkful of biryani in my mouth. While the flavor was incredible, I no longer felt hungry. My anxiety was in overdrive.
Well, I couldn’t just sit here and stress all night. I placed the plate of food on the coffee table and got up to head back into the kitchen. I opened the fridge and saw that it was mostly empty in its sparkling glory except for a case of beer and some random condiments. I grabbed a beer and went back to the couch, plopping myself down as I opened the can and took a big gulp.
Much better. I took a deep breath, holding it in as was habit for me in moments like this. I felt my heart rate slow back to a normal level. Honestly, I knew I was being a bit silly. It might be nice to see Logan again. Ithadbeen a long time, and a big part of me missed having him around.
Adam and Logan had been inseparable growing up after meeting each other in kindergarten, spending as much of their time together as possible—and almost always at our house. Which meant that I, too, spent a lot of time with Logan. He was practically like another older brother.
Except for when he wasn’t.
