“You comewaytoo fucking much,” he says.
I exhale, pushing my arm against my closed eyes for a moment. “It’s your fault.”
“Not complaining, Logan. You just practically drowned me?—”
“Oh, shut up,” I tell him, puffing out a laugh.
I already feel tired. I know I’m going to pass out on this couch again, and honestly, I don’t care. I’m lying back on the couch, falling deeper and deeper into a relaxed hypnosis, and a few minutes later I’m surprised when I look over and see Chase’s eyes closed, too.
Two people with way too much on their minds, exhausted enough to pass the fuck out fast.
Before I drift to sleep, I reach over and check my phone for one last time.
I blink at the screen and I hate everything I see.
There are messages from Emily with links to social media posts.
Emily
This is bad, but we can fix it. Let’s talk tomorrow.
The pictures are of me coming out of one of my lunch meetings onto a side street in New York. The photos themselves are innocuous, but the headline printed in bold text beneath them is the bad part:
Logan Stone Spotted Solo Again in NYC, Refuses to Comment About Charlie Maccan
I grip the phone too hard in my hand. For a moment, I’m confused.
Why would I have been expected to comment on my costar?
But then I remember a paparazzi guy had shouted at me, asking why Charlie and I haven’t gone to any events together sinceYard LineSeason 1 ended.
I didn’t answer him because I had to get in the car.
And now they’re spinning that into a complete fabrication online, as if I have some sort of problem with my costar. The only reason I haven’t seen him lately is because I’ve been busy, and in fact, Charlie and I are completely friendly every day in the group chat we share with the otherYard Linestars.
Emily
There are rumors spreading that you have “bad blood” with Charlie? Is that true?
Logan
Emily. Of course not.
Before I left for New York, Charlie and I filmed a ton of videos together that the fans all ate up. Since I’ve been here, no new ones have come out, which people think is “a bad sign” for our friendship.
It’s bullshit.
I power down my phone for the first time since I can remember. It was starting to give me tunnel vision looking at the screen, and everything feels like too much.
I want to be back in the surreal world, again.
I want to shut everything else out.
I quickly fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.
It’s hours and hours later when I wake up to sunlight pouring into the living room.
Chase is still naked, lying right beside me. His morning wood is pressed up against my thigh. I try to shift without waking him but he blinks in the light, looking up at me withverytired looking emerald eyes.
