Chapter 1 #2
“That’s great to hear, Ty, it has to be…challenging.” Her concern was evident in her voice. “And call me Colleen, please. I’m not a fan of the other Mrs. Larsen.” Her sideways glance at Matt earned a fake scowl. “Plus, it always confuses Logan’s friends.”
She took Matt’s name, of course, when they got married. But that meant my mom and I no longer shared a last name. I thought about taking Larsen as my last name as well, still might one day.
I decided to come to Ty’s rescue with my mom.
“Matt, I think we need to still work on the bedframe, don’t we? It’s not tightened up all the way yet.”
That steered them back to being consumed with getting me moved in.
And Ty gave me a small nod of thanks.
As Ty and I waited for Becca to arrive, I was distracted from my tasks at hand.
Instead of unpacking, my brain harped on how the introduction to my other roommates would go.
My female roommates. I’d be living with three girls.
Me and three girls. I had no real issues living with Becca; we almost lived together last year with how much time she and Ty spent together.
But meeting the other girls for the first time once I was already moved in would be tricky.
We were supposed to meet up over Christmas, for us to break the ice ahead of time, but it never worked out.
They lived too far away and we couldn’t meet up.
So, we’d be meeting for the first time here.
Now, that happened all the time in college. But not when you’re the opposite sex. Becca and Lanie assured me they were both good with me living here. I only hoped that didn’t change once we met.
“Becca’s here.” Ty hustled to the door, a wide smile on his face again.
My parents left over an hour ago, leaving me to finish setting up.
Matt realized it was best to get my mom out sooner than later; she was a bit nervous about me coming back to school this quickly.
She thought I should have stayed home the entire year and given therapy in the outpatient setting more time.
The doctors had assured her, and me, I was more than ready.
But to be honest, I was nervous as well.
I appreciated the safety net of seeing the therapists two days a week in person on a routine schedule.
Now I only had a video appointment with my main doctor each week.
Having my friends here with me made it seem doable.
Ty and Becca would be my support system for sure.
I hoped I could depend on Lanie and Xander as well, but there would always be some lingering awkwardness between us.
Because of me. And what I’d done.
My head swiveled to the door that was thrown open and the tornado known as Becca Reynolds flew in, right into the arms of Ty.
Her dark hair was longer than I remembered and had these red highlights in it now.
The two embraced with a short kiss, but she didn’t stay there long.
He reluctantly let her go as she pulled away, her eyes on mine from across the room.
Her boot-covered feet plodded along the carpet as she came to stand right before me.
Her smile grew wide as her emerald eyes sparkled.
“Logan Somers, in real life,” she said as she poked me hard in the gut. “I swear you’ve gotten even taller. Christ, did I always have to look up this high to see you?” Her curt laugh was loud for a tiny person. “And look at these? Jesus, dude, what did your mom feed you while you were home?”
She squeezed my bicep, which was significantly bigger since she saw me last. There wasn’t much to do at home when all your friends were away at school. My online classes were easy and didn’t occupy my thoughts enough. Didn’t keep me from thinking of the shit I didn’t want to think about.
So, I went to the gym. A lot.
It helped in a lot of ways. Plus my therapist agreed it was a good outlet for a lot of things.
Once Becca was done squeezing my arm, I held my hands out wide, hoping she’d give me the hug I really needed.
And she didn’t disappoint, falling into my arms, with a warm hug from a friend I’d missed terribly. She might get on my nerves at times, but there was no denying that Becca was one of the good ones. She was there for me last year when most others weren’t, and she had only just met me.
“Good to see you, Bec,” I said as she held on tight.
I pulled back, looking down at the spitfire in front of me.
Leaning in again, I got close to her ear.
“I’m glad you and Ty are good.” As I straightened, she smiled coyly at me.
“You look good, kid. What’s with the hair?
” I tugged on a strand as she pulled away from me.
At first, a shy smile, something very unlike Becca, took over her face as her eyes glanced at Ty.
“Oh this?” Her fingers were running through her long strands as she made her way back to Ty and he wrapped her in his arms. “Just an experiment. Trying to see if the guys like me more as a redhead.” She laughed out loud while he swung her around.
I knew she was full of shit. She was all his.
They had been through enough in the past few months to have proven it to each other.
But she was always ready with a comment or two to throw anyone off their game.
Ty snuggled into her hair, the two of them getting a bit too intimate in front of me for my liking.
“This guy likes it,” he said. “Right, Red?” He spun her in his arms as she looped her hands around his neck.
“You guys know I’m still here, right?”
As happy as I was that they were back together, I didn’t need them getting busy in front of me.
There was enough of dealing with that in the dorm last year.
However, seeing it also made me realize it was one thing I knew I was missing most in my life.
For whatever reason, I was desperate to have someone special.
Sometimes I thought that not having someone was the root of most of my problems. But my therapist continued to remind me I needed to focus on me before there could be an us.
Becca’s loud laugh echoed in the room. She peeled herself from her boyfriend and turned to me, a smile plastered on her face.
“It’s good to have you back, Logan.” Her demeanor shifted just a bit, and her tone grew serious as her eyes wandered to Ty’s. “I really am glad you made it back this semester.”
The unspoken conversation they were having in front of me as eyebrows and shoulders rose was a bit annoying.
I knew this was going to happen, yet I wasn’t expecting it on day one.
“Guys, I’m fine.” My eyes bounced back and forth between the two of them as they stood there, it seemed, waiting for me to say more. “What?” I whined. Turning my back on them, I returned my attention to the box I was unpacking in the kitchen.
“Nothing,” Ty responded. “You are fine, we know that.”
This was going to be more challenging than I anticipated if my two biggest supporters thought I was going to fail miserably. I’d just have to prove them wrong. And I had no problem doing that.
At least I didn’t think I did. Before coming back to school, my confidence was intact, strong even. But every minute I was here seemed to drain it a little at a time.
Sitting around waiting to meet the new roommates was definitely a trigger at the moment, so I needed a change of scenery.
And it was as if Ty read my mind.
“Leave that shit,” Ty said, pointing to rest of the plates in the box. “Let’s head to campus. You haven’t been here in months, let’s go see it.”
“I do miss the food, the pond, the mountains, all of it. Plus, I need to stop by the bookstore and do some other crap on campus.”
They both started getting their coats on before I’d even finished talking. We may not be living on the same floor together like last year, but it felt like old times as the three of us headed out to grab a meal on campus.
“What should we get to eat, guys?” Becca asked, almost giddy, as she made her way to the front door.
Ty and I were right behind her as we all ran for my truck, the three of us piling in the front to get out of the cold.
“I think that should be up to Logan since he’s been away the longest,” Ty answered as he blew his warm breath into his cold hands. “Whatcha in the mood for, man?”
Pulling on my beanie before putting the truck in gear, I made my way through the windy roads and small parking lots of our complex.
It was going to take some getting used to the crazy layout of this place.
We only lived about a mile from campus, but it was far enough that it made having your own car convenient.
“I will say that I’ve been dreaming of a ‘Fantastic Frank’ sandwich.”
“Well, I guess we know what we’re having for lunch,” Becca announced to no one in particular.
And just like that, I was back at school.