Page 76 of All Roads Lead to You

“And what is it you get? Have I thought about being more serious with you? Yeah, I have, but I need to figure out what that means for us. Then there’s the issue of figuring out what I am, sexually speaking, and what to do about our family. It’s not something I’m ready to face yet.”

Logan unwound his taut muscles and sat up straighter. “So… you’ve thought about us… together?”

“Yeah.” I ran the back of my fingers across his cheek. “I really like this thing growing between us. It feels… real. I don’t know. I look back at Lauren and me, realizing she’d been right all along. We were only high school sweethearts. In just a week, you and I made a one-eighty in how we get along. There’s definitely more going on between us than sexual exploration. I’ve been developing this deep connection with you.”

Logan smiled. “I think so, too.”

I was still waiting for the panic to rear its ugly head, but there was nothing. Maybe it didn’t matter in the long run. I tried to wrap my head around why Logan had been so afraid to come out. It could’ve just been my ignorance. We’d been in a relatively safe bubble, and I hadn’t been exposed much to the reality of being with a man. Perhaps things would change down the road once our bubble popped.

But I also had to be careful with Logan. He had fears for a reason, and I didn’t want to make things worse for him or bring us back to where we were before the trip.

His asking all these questions pointed toward him definitely wanting something more serious. While I wanted to head in that direction since I preferred relationships over flings, we were still completely new to this. Anything could happen.

Chapter 23

Logan

Day 11

After the taxi dropped us off, Nick and I rushed across 4th Street in Austin, dodging traffic before we stopped in front of a bar to give the bouncer our fake IDs. The area was packed with university students, other locals, and tourists. Southern rock poured out of the doors when they opened, and glorious air conditioning, along with a cloud of cigarette smoke and weed, blasted us.

Once we paid the admission, we headed straight to the bar, where I ordered a couple of beers while I lit up a smoke.

“This band sounds awesome,” Nick yelled in my ear over the music. “Who’s playing again?”

“Stevie Ray Vaughn, I think.”

“Man, that guitar riff is fucking epic.”

I itched to grab Nick’s hand and lead him closer to the stage. Instead, I nodded my head and walked off with him following me as we shoved our way through the crowd.

I dropped my cigarette on the concrete floor and ground it out with the heel of my boots so I wouldn’t burn anyone. We were packed in there, and Nick pressed up against me from behind. His fingers sneaked underneath my T-shirt just to touch the skin on my back. I doubted anyone noticed. Everyone had their eyes on the stage.

Despite growing sweaty from being confined between hot bodies shoved around us, I burst into a wave of goosebumps, and shuddered.

I tapped my foot and bobbed my head to the rhythmic beat, but all I could focus on was Nick, and not just from his touch. I’d been torn the past couple of days, struggling to keep my fucking mouth shut about pressuring him. Our talk in the car yesterday did nothing to calm my growing nerves about what all this meant between us. It wasn’t easy going with the flow when you’ve loved someone for as long as I have, and you finally got them… sort of. I wanted him to make a promise that we’d last. I itched to tell him how I truly felt and that I never wanted to let him go, but I wouldn’t do that to him, so I stuck to our deal that we’d face this thing between us when we reached California.

“I’m going to grab us some shots and a couple of more beers,” Nick yelled, grabbing my shoulder and giving it a squeeze as a friend might.

“Okay.”

He grabbed our empty bottles and walked off.

I continued to bounce to the music when a guy and his friend danced and inched their way closer while glancing at me without trying to be obvious.

He was pretty short and lean, with the top of his curly dark brown head coming up to my shoulder. His blond friend wasn’t much taller, but he was more muscular.

“Hi there! Y'all likin’ the show?” he asked in a Texas drawl as the song wound down.

“Yeah, pretty good.”

“We love Stevie around here. He plays a lot in Austin. You go to the university here?”

I shook my head. “Just passing through until we reach California.”

He seemed disappointed until he beamed a smile at me, brushing away the long, curly bangs that had fallen in his face. “California, huh? That’s stellar. What school?”

“Berkeley for me. Stanford for my…” Friend? Boyfriend? Brother? “Friend.”

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