43. First Date
FORTY-THREE
First Date
STEVE
Logan turned his head toward Steve in surprise. “What?”
“She’s with me tonight, Logan.”
“Huh?”
“Tara’s with me.”
“Yeah. I know.” He knitted his brow. “What’s your point?”
“I see the way you look at her.” Steve took another sip from his bottle of root beer. “Just wanted to make sure you knew.”
Understanding replaced the confusion on Logan’s features. “The way I look at her?” Leaning forward to rest his arms on the table, he dropped his chin and laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
After a few seconds, Logan directed his gaze right at Steve. “She’s not exactly my type.”
“What do you mean?”
Logan dropped his eyes to Steve’s chest, right where a couple of buttons were undone and a hint of his tattoos peeked out. “Does that ink cover your entire chest?” He licked his lips, and his smile turned hungry.
“Yeah. What? Why?” Steve was momentarily flustered but eventually caught on.
When he did, Logan released a hearty laugh. “You should know that you’re much more my type than Tara ever will be.”
Steve’s jaw went slack. “You’re…”
“Gay. Yes.” Logan cut him off matter-of-factly and leaned back in his seat. “And I have a thing for blonds. You’re more of a dark blond, but I could make that work.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.” Logan removed any humor from his expression. “So you can stop marking your territory when I’m around.”
“Logan, I’m sorry.” Steve sat straighter.
Logan waved him off. “Don’t be. You didn’t know. What you should know is that I’ve known Tara forever. She’s friends with my sister, who worked at her parents’ shop all through high school and college. Courtney and Tara graduated together.”
“I didn’t mean…”
“Yeah, you did,” Logan smirked and sipped from his glass. “I just wanted to stop you before you made too much of an ass out of yourself.”
Steve let out a slow exhale before turning on a sheepish grin. “Appreciate that. Thanks.”
“No problem. Look,” Logan turned serious again. “I fooled a lot of people growing up. Guess I still do,” he chuckled, “but you can count on me as a friend here, with both John and Tara.”
Steve nodded as they both took a drink, only glancing up when John and Tara broke out into fits of laughter.
“And with your brother, too.”
Steve’s eyes snapped back to Logan.
“I’ve seen him a couple of times, you know.”
Steve leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table. “You have?”
“Yeah. Sometimes, I take part in the informal group sessions.”
“You’re a counselor?”
Logan lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. “Meh. Kind of. But I can relate to what a lot of them are going through, so I go in from time to time to help. It lets them see that no matter how bad it is to be shunned for who you are, it’s possible to move on and lead a life that’s far more positive.” Logan stared into the distance for a moment before he continued. “And, for my part, it’s nice to just talk about things, especially when I’m having a bad day.”
“I worry about him,” Steve confessed.
“Of course you do. He’s your brother. You spent all that time looking for him, and you found him. But right now, he’s only barely out of a shitty situation. I don’t really know much about that aspect, but at least you know where he is. It’s still tough. For both of you.”
“Yeah. I suppose.” Steve acknowledged the truth in Logan’s words.
“Besides,” Logan continued, “it hasn’t been that long since he went in. What he’s going through isn’t easy. You know that. What’s important is that he’s getting the help he needs and is going in the right direction.”
“I’ve seen him once already.” Steve smiled.
“That’s great,” Logan said. He looked toward the viewing window where Tara stood, joking with John. With a sideways glance back to Steve, his grin turned mischievous. “So. About Tara…”
Steve arched his brow.
“When did that start up? How long have you two been seeing each other?”
“This is our first official date.”
“This is your…” Logan’s hand froze while bringing his drink to his mouth. “Oh, shit.”
Steve held up a hand. “We invited you. Besides,” he lifted his chin toward John, “it’s more important to celebrate his good news. He deserves an evening that is about him.”
They clinked their drinks in agreement.
“Something about her though…” Steve’s voice trailed off as Tara and John returned to the table.