Chapter 1

It was the first Saturday night of the summer, and the last place Logan Bradley wanted to be was stuck at home babysitting his little brother. Logan was a senior now, or would be when school started up again in September. He had a sociallife, damn it!

But his mother was adamant—she had a date with the ladies from her book club and didn’t want to hear his lip. “One evening, that’s all I ask,” she said as she stood in the foyer, fluffing her hair in the mirror beside the empty coat rack. “Is that too much, Logan? Can’t you at least give me that?”

“Mom.” Logan hated the whine in his voice, but it seemed whenever he spoke to her any more, it was there. “This is the first night of summer. Of freedom. I’m a senior now.Chad and I wanted to go out.“

From the dining room, Logan could hear the clatter of silverware on a plate as his brother Dylan finished his dinner. His mother sighed, exasperated. She gave Logan a warning look from the corner of her eye. “Don’t start with me tonight, Logan. You saw Chad this afternoon. You don’t have to spend every waking hour with him, you know.”

Crossing his arms over his chest, Logan leaned back against the wall and glared at himself in the mirror, his reflection half-hidden by his mother’s curly hair. “He’s my boyfriend, Mom.”

“And you have all summer to hang out,” she shot back. She shifted her gaze to meet his in the mirror, and a faint smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. When she spoke again, her voice was soft. “Give me tonight, please. Next year this time, you’ll be moving out and you know I can’t leave Dylan on his own yet.”

Logan rolled his eyes, embarrassed. “Mom.”

She turned and touched his cheek with one cool hand. When he pulled away, her hand dropped to his shoulder to give it a tender squeeze. “You’re so grown up. I’m going to miss this.”

“Mom, please. I haven’t left yet.” Logan shrugged her off.

Lately she’d been getting all sappy on him, going on and on about how old he was now, only one year left before graduation and then college…the thought of moving out on his own for the first time in his life terrified Logan, though he’d never admit it. He didn’t need her constant little reminders to scare him. This was his last free summer, he knew. Next year he’d be busy working for a little spending cash once he moved onto campus, whatever college he ended up attending, and there would be little or no time to spend with Chad.

Who might end up going to a different school than Logan, if they both didn’t get into State. Or might get a different roommate, if their housing request wasn’t honored. Or—

Stop. Logan shook his head and pushed away from the wall, as if he could push away from those troubling concerns as easily. He didn’t want to think about college, or summer jobs, or even graduation. He wanted a carefree evening spent cruising around the city with his boyfriend’s hand in his, the car stereo so loud the windows shook from the bass. He wanted a few hours parked in a deserted lot, the two of them getting frisky in the back seat of the new car Chad got as an early graduation present. They hadn’t christened it yet, and Chad kept promising to take Logan on a wild ride.

Instead he was stuck here, babysitting a ten year old kid who still liked to watch Pokémoncartoons before going to bed. Hadn’t Logan been old enough at that age to stay home by himself?

As his mother recited a list of things she wanted done by the time she got home, Logan only half listened. His mind was on his boyfriend—the gorgeous, perfect, sexy Chad Adams, the man of his dreams…

* * * *

They’d been friends since ninth grade Pre-Algebra, but it wasn’t until the end of their sophomore year Chad finally came out. Logan still remembered the fear clouding his friend’s dark eyes as Chad held his elbow in a strong grip just outside the boy’s locker room at school. Both were on the wrestling team, and practice had just ended. “Logan, wait,” Chad had said. When Logan stopped, confused, his friend continued. “There’s something I…I really need to tell you.”

Logan thought maybe it was about the take-home exam in Geometry. Neither of them was any good in the subject, so they’d cheated off each other and probably both failed despite the effort. Chad had been leery of copying Logan’s answers, but it wasn’t like they were going to be math majors or even rocket scientists, right? “What is it?”

The discomfort flickering across Chad’s face hurt Logan’s heart. This wasn’t about Geometry, he knew. “Out there, on the mat? When I had you pinned down…”

Logan nodded in encouragement. Chad had been his partner during practice, and only once managed to trap Logan against the mat. “Yeah?”

Chad looked as if he was going to be sick. “I didn’t…I mean, I wasn’t trying…” He sighed and shook his head. “I was hard, okay? I know you felt it.”

With a laugh, Logan shrugged. “Man, it happens to everybody. I didn’t even notice.”

If it were possible, Chad’s gaze looked more tortured than before. “Logan, I—we’ve been friends a while now, right? So I think you should know. I’m gay.”

The news didn’t surprise Logan. He’d suspected it since they met, and wondered if part of their friendship wasn’t based on the fact that they both played for the same team. Logan had known he himself was into guys since the first time he ever kissed one at a sixth grade party playing Spin the Bottle. When his turn came and he spun the empty beer bottle Susie Kramer had dug out of her parents’ trash, the damn thing stopped at Bobby Ratcliffe. Without hesitation, Logan grabbed the surprised kid and planted a wet smack on his lips.

True, it wasn’t exactly electrifying, but Logan had wet dreams for a full year after that. Thank God Bobby’s father was transferred to Fort Dix before they reached high school or Logan might have wanted to pursue a real relationship with the guy.