Page 41 of Paint Eater
“Sorry, man.” He slapped Rex’s knee playfully. “I hear Sandy’s around, though. She was asking about you last time.”
Rex perked up. “Sweet,” he said.
Logan boggled at the easy way he accepted that he couldn’t take Jay home that night. How the fuck could Rex not feel crushed at the concept of it? Of missing out on Jay’s smile, his voice and touch, the press of him underneath him, or above?
It hit Logan then—Rex had fucked Jay or been fucked by him. Touched him, at least. Tasted him. A sudden rush of heat went through him. Lust or envy or anger, Logan didn’t know how to extricate one thread from another as they wound around him.
Rex might not value what he had, but Logan would make no such mistake. Even if he had to give Jay up eventually.
Tonight, though, Jay was his.
It was only a couple of hours later, the party still raging around them, when Jay tilted his head close to Logan’s. “You wanna get out of here?”
“Sure.” Logan must have sounded surprised, because Jay shrugged.
“I wanna hang out with you.”
Another arrow piercing his back. It was clinically insane, the way Jay simply said those things, as if it didn’t hurt to be so vulnerable.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
LOGAN
Jay’s apartment was quiet and dark as they closed the front door behind them.
“Mom’s out tonight,” Jay said as he kicked his shoes off.
“All night?”
“Yeah. She has a date. Didn’t tell me with who, but I’m pretty sure it’s with Sunja.”
Logan had to think for a moment before the name clicked. “Your boss?”
“Yeah. It’s fucked up but, like, awesome. My mom hasn’t dated inages. And Sunja is super cool, and I already think of her as family, so…” He shrugged.
“Won’t it be weird if they break up, though?” Logan asked as they crossed to Jay’s room.
“Man.” Jay laughed. “I mean, I dunno. Not really thinking about them breaking up, they’ve only just started dating. And, I mean, it’ll be whatever. Do you want something to drink, by the way?”
“No, thanks.”
Jay motioned for Logan to take the bed, and Logan sat and scooted back until he could lean against the wall, watching Jay rummage through his desk.
Jay finally made a noise of triumph, facing Logan and waving a blunt around with a cheeky smile. “You smoke?”
Logan shrugged. “Not really?”
“Not really as in you have but you don’t anymore, or…?”
“Not really as in, no, never.”
“Oh. You…wanna try? No pressure, obviously.”
Logan looked at the blunt, and then at Jay, lit up by the glow of the lamps they had clicked on. His eyes were dark, glinting, the smile on his face inviting. Logan took a deep breath. “Yeah. Sure.”
Jay’s smile grew. “Sweet.”
He grabbed a hydro flask, a lighter, and an ashtray, before clambering onto the bed and settling next to Logan.
