Page 9 of All Roads Lead to You

“Maybe you should go to him and see how he’s doing. I bet he’s hurting right now.”

“No.”

“Man, I know you don’t like him despite wanting him, but at the end of the day, he’s family, whether you like it or not.”

Hunter was right, but I couldn’t bring myself to chase after Nick. I didn’t trust myself not to do something stupid like brush away his tears and tell him I’d never hurt him, even though I’d done just that countless times. Why should he trust me? Even worse, I might tell him I loved him.

“No,” I said again, not having any valid or rational reason for not helping Nick.

Hunter shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

I pulled out my smokes and lit one as I finished my beer. “Can I get you another?”

Hunter eyed the bottle in his hand. “Yeah.”

Taking a drag of my cigarette, I walked into the kitchen and grabbed two beers from a cooler, doing everything possible not to look out the kitchen bay window. I didn’t want to see Nick. If I did, he’d pull me into his orbit, and then I’d be forced to go out there.

I quickly returned and handed Hunter his beer.

“Man, I’m not in the mood for a party. I thought coming here would help push through some pain with Mom, but everything just seems so…”

“Inconsequential?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded and took another drag, blowing out a stream of smoke as ‘Blue Monday’ by New Order vibrated through the speakers, drawing everyone to the temporary dance floor.

“I felt the same way when my mom died. It was like what was the point of it all if you can just die so randomly? You never know when to expect it. And worrying about shit out of your control is stupid, yet we all do it, anyway.”

Hunter grunted in agreement, taking a sip of his beer. “And the only ones who suffer are those left behind.”

We clinked our bottles together. “Exactly.”

“Logan?”

I glanced down at April, who ran a hand over my chest. She looked at me with glassy green eyes and a stupid grin. Her dark brown hair was teased and big, and her makeup was smeared. She was clearly drunk.

“What’s up, April?”

April was the head cheerleader from high school who’d had a crush on me for about a year now. I’d been avoiding her like the plague, just waiting for school to be over so I didn’t have to pretend to like girls anymore.

“You look dope tonight, Logan…”

“And you look drunk.”

Hunter scoffed and shook his head. “Dude, you’re such a dick sometimes.”

Fuck, I was being a dick. I just didn’t want to be here, and I definitely didn’t want to get hit on. We really needed to blow out of here.

“Sorry, you look good, too, April.”

She snuggled in close to me and rested her head against my chest. Jesus. I rolled my eyes and eased her off me.

“I’m not looking to date, April.”

She feigned a pout. “You never date anyone.”

I ignored the sudden knot in my stomach. “High school’s over, and we’re all off to different colleges. What’s the point?”

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