9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Nick

God, when was Logan going to loosen the fuck up? He was always so agitated and stiff. Even driving, he was tense as hell. I thought the point of this trip was to explore the country and relax.

We only left early this morning, and I was already having fun. The scenery had been to die for. I enjoyed the good music and eating at that restaurant in Kingsport with their home-cooked meals had been pretty damn tasty.

We finally arrived at the stunning Long Hunter State Park, with its dense woods and a large lake. The sun sat high in the sky still, but soon, it would start going down over the horizon, ending over the water and rolling hills in the distance. I planned to take some pictures of the sunset.

The water felt so good on my sweltering skin. It was cool, just enough, but not so cold that I shivered. I rolled onto my back and floated, staring up at the hazy sky, the world muffled in my ears from being underwater.

When I didn't hear splashing from Logan coming in, I swam upright and waved at him again. "Come in! The water's fantastic!"

Fuck, he was such a dud, just standing there, staring. Did he seriously want to set up the tent already? Was he that impatient? It wouldn't be dark until nine. We still had plenty of time.

His shoulders sagged, and he strode my way before stopping at the edge where the water met the rocks and sand. He grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head, exposing the most defined abs I'd ever seen on a guy. All that football playing paid off, though he worked out five days a week at the school gym, too. Wyatt had also set us up some weights and a bench in the basement.

I submerged my body in the calm, cool water just up to my nose and watched him finally unfold his body. He looked like more of a man than I did, with more chest and facial hair than me.

Logan kicked off his hiking sandals and tugged down his jean shorts, leaving his navy-blue briefs on.

"Take off the underwear," I said when he stood shin-deep in the water.

"No."

"Trust me, it's no fun to walk around in wet underwear. This way, they'll stay dry."

Why the modesty? Wasn't he naked all the time in front of his teammates while at school? You couldn't afford to be modest in athletics.

Logan stood there, mulling it over before he walked out, peeled off his underwear, and dropped them on top of his clothes.

His body stiffened again as he walked back into the lake, clenching and unclenching his fists, as if itching to hide his junk. He only relaxed when the water went up to his neck. He quickly dunked under and came up, flipping his hair back and dripping water.

"See? The water feels awesome."

His face fucking lit up brighter than the sun after being hidden behind clouds for days when he finally smiled. It was such a rare sight. It wasn't a big smile, but it worked for him. "Yeah… feels good."

"Bitchin'. Now chill and have fun. We're on vacation."

He sighed and stared out over the water, his hazel-green eyes lighter and vibrant with the falling sun. "I'm trying."

"Try harder," I teased.

I dunked under, getting my hair wet, too. When I came up, I wiped the water from my face, catching Logan watching me with an unreadable expression. He stared at me a lot over the years, as if scrutinizing everything I did with judging eyes. It had been weird at first, but I got used to it, eventually.

"This is a nice place you picked. The backdrop with the wooded hills is gorgeous."

"I've been collecting camping and hiking magazines, along with state maps and tour guides, for years, saving images and information in my notebook."

I'd seen them when they came in the mail. "You really did your research. That's cool."

Logan gave me a quick, shy glance before looking away and dunking under the water again. I shook my head and chuckled. He was so damn weird.

After swimming for a bit longer, we got out, dried off, and put our clothes back on. Then we tackled the tent, getting it all set up.

"I'm going to find us some firewood," Logan said, walking off.

While he was gone, I pulled out the hot dogs from the cooler and the buns and potato chips out of the bag, along with some ketchup and mustard.

When he returned, I helped him set up the fire.

Before we ate, I opened up my camera case and pulled out my Pentax 35-mm . "Let's take some pictures now that the sun's going down."

"I'm hungry."

"It won't take but a minute. Mom would love some photos of us with the sunset and pretty scenery."

"Okay."

Wow, no fighting. I expected Logan to complain harder, but I kept my mouth shut as I walked toward the water and focused my camera on the stunning sunset that was turning the sky a vibrant pink. After a few shots, I had him stand by the water, and I took several shots of him and some close-ups because he actually had a really nice face.

"Fucking give Mom one picture with a smile."

He grimaced more than smiled.

"Like pulling teeth," I mumbled.

"That's enough. Let me take some of you."

I handed him my camera and did several poses, some good ones for Mom and some funny ones to pull nearly impossible laughter out of Logan. When he did, it was music to my ears, though he fought it hard.

We wrapped up the pictures and sat by the fire to cook our hot dogs on sticks and drink some much-needed cold beer we kept on ice.

By now, it turned completely dark out, and I was totally chill after my third beer. The stars sparkled with not a cloud in the sky, and the air whispered of crickets, water lapping, and the fire popping.

This was fucking nice.

I sat on the foldout lawn chair and stretched my legs, feeling completely relaxed.

Logan and I even talked a bit without digging into each other.

When he opened his pack of smokes, I held my hand out to him. "Can I have one?"

"Sure."

He pulled a cigarette from the pack and handed it to me, along with the lighter. I gave him the lighter back so he could smoke and leaned back in my chair, taking a drag.

"It's beautiful out here," I said to him. "Brilliant idea you had. I'm glad your dad let you go."

Logan tossed some bits of wood into the fire, sending sparks flying up into the air. "I'm glad I got to go, too. And…" He winced without looking at me. "Like, thanks for coming so I could do this."

Oh fuck, I wanted to tease him so much I itched, but I shut my yap for a change. "No problem."

Day 2

I was hot and sweaty, but I didn't want to move with the arm draped over me and Lauren snuggling into me. Smiling, I rolled over to face her and pulled her closer to me.

Since when did she have such a hard-rock body? My hand traveled across her back, feeling skin and muscles I didn't recognize. And where was her usual flowery smell? She smelled like sleep, Irish Spring , and a little bit of sweat.

As my sleeping mind cleared, it dawned on me that Lauren and I had broken up, so she couldn't possibly be here.

My eyes popped open to find Logan and me snuggling against each other.

What the fuck?

Suddenly, my dick started to take notice, and not from the half-dream of Lauren holding me because all I could focus on was Logan's body against mine and my hand still fucking pressed to his back.

Well, that was weird and unfortunate.

Don't have a cow. It's only morning wood. You just need to take a piss, and you'll be good to go.

Instead of wigging out, I smirked at his sleeping face, suddenly finding the humor in this strange scenario. Who knew this broody asshole was a snuggler? Regardless, he had to get off. I was sweating like hell and needed to piss, so I lifted his dense arm off me before his eyes opened and grew wide. He instantly scrambled away.

"Ah… uh… fuck," he muttered, running a hand through his wrecked hair, his lightly tanned, shirtless skin sprinkled with beads of sweat. "Sorry."

Logan rushed out of the tent, and I quickly followed behind. A warm breeze that was cooler than inside the tent washed over my heated skin. I watched him awkwardly rummage around our camp without purpose or direction.

"It's cool, Logan," I said to calm him down, though I was laughing hysterically on the inside.

"I didn't mean…"

"You're fine. It happens to the best of snugglers."

Okay, I had to tease a little.

He stopped what he was doing, which was nothing, and pinned me with a hard stare. "What?" he growled.

I raised my hands and smiled. "It's cool that you're a snuggler. I can respect that."

He scowled and stormed off, grousing, "I'm not a snuggler!"

"Whatever you say, Snuggle-Wuggles."

He gave me the bird and kept on walking. I held a hand to my stomach as I burst out laughing.

Eventually, Logan calmed down, and he returned to his usual brooding self as we cleaned ourselves and the camp up before heading into Nashville proper.

The first thing we did was tour inside the Grand Ole Opry, taking tons of pictures. I got a great shot of Logan standing in front of the old brick building with the sign behind him. It was even better because he'd smiled.

"I don't even like country music," he said as we walked around town. "But I don't know, the place is, like, iconic."

"It's pretty cool."

"Too bad we couldn't catch a show."

"That would've definitely been totally awesome. Like I wouldn't mind seeing Dolly Parton or Kenny Rogers."

"Yeah, Dolly's kind of amazing. Come on. There's a diner close by, and the sign says it has air conditioning. Let's eat and cool off."

We ran across the street, and when we stepped into the diner, cold air filled with the scent of coffee and bacon blasted us. Instead of waiting for a table at the busy restaurant, we sat at the counter, which had two seats available.

I ordered a burger and fries, while Logan ordered fried chicken and green beans with bacon.

"You know, we should visit Opryland , the amusement park, if you're into that sort of thing," Logan said, popping a bit of breaded chicken into his mouth with his fingers.

"I can do amusement parks. God, I haven't been on a roller coaster in forever. Mom never liked them."

"Okay, let's go there next. The place isn't huge, so it won't take all day. Then how about we leave the camp a day early and stay at a motel so we can hit a bar before we head to Memphis?"

I took a huge bite of my burger, topped with onions, pickles, tomatoes, and mustard. "Sounds like fun," I said with my mouth full. "Hey, maybe we can learn two-step dancing."

"Uh, isn't that a Texas thing?"

I shrugged. "I think it's just a country music thing."

"Maybe. I'm not good at dancing, though I've been out with Hunter to the clubs in downtown DC. Hunter's better at it than I am."

"Oh, I'm sure the girls don't care what sort of moves you've got as long as you move."

Logan frowned and finished his green beans. "I guess."

After lunch, it was just a short drive to the amusement park. It wasn't too busy since it was a Monday, but there was still a crowd of vacationers.

We walked around a bit before we stopped to get some ice cream, which we ate on a bench while we people-watched.

"There's something about southern girls," I said, pointing at a group of young ladies in cute shorts and miniskirts giggling and looking at us. "I think the blonde one likes you." She couldn't take her eyes off Logan, whispering to her friends.

"Yeah," he said.

"We should go talk to them and see if they want to go on the roller coaster with us. Man, I'd like to get Lauren off my brain, that's for sure. Hey, maybe they'd like to go to the bar with us. We could take them dancing."

"You go ahead."

I looked at Logan, trying to read his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses. What was up with him? He never seemed interested in dating at all. Sure, he dated a couple of times, but they didn't last long. The southern girls wanting our attention were hot. Maybe he liked a different type, like the nerdy girls with glasses.

"Well, it won't be fun if it's just me who's talking to them."

"Look, what's the point? We're not staying."

"Uh, the point is to have fun. I didn't say I wanted to marry one of them."

Logan tossed half of his ice cream into the garbage can and shoved his hands into the pockets of his tight denim shorts. "You coming, or are you going to hang out with them?"

I sighed and tossed my ice cream away, too. "I'm coming."

Did Logan even know how to have fun? One minute he looked like he was having a blast, and the next, he was like all scowly and growly again. Fuck, he was hard to figure out.

We headed straight to the roller coaster and waited in line for a good twenty minutes. By the time we got on the ride, the girls were long forgotten, and my stomach already twisted before we even began to move. Even Logan looked excited for a change, with a huge smile on his face. His moods were up and down, but damn, I really liked it when he smiled, like he was offering me a piece of himself he didn't share with others except for Hunter. I felt included in his little world, like maybe he didn't hate me so much anymore.

As soon as the ride inched away, we removed our sunglasses, so we didn't lose them.

"This is gonna be stellar!" Logan yelled out, making me laugh. Excitement looked good on him, too.

We both gripped the bar, our knuckles turning white in anticipation as we almost crested over the top. My heart hammered in my ears, and my breathing came in pants.

Logan and I looked at each other with huge smiles on our faces before we toppled over the edge of the world. Our hands flew up in the air, and we dropped so fast that my guts threatened to come up and out of my mouth.

"Oh, fuck!"

Logan and I screamed and laughed as the coaster tossed us about like rag dolls, climbing, dropping, and spinning so fast you couldn't keep track of what direction you were going to go in.

Before we knew it, the ride ended. We climbed out and wobbled on unsteady legs with slightly nauseous stomachs as we headed out.

"Want to go on another?" Logan asked, still out of breath.

I rested a hand on my stomach. "Oof, I'm not sure. That was fun and all, but my stomach is totally queasy. My burger isn't settling right."

Logan gently grabbed my elbow and led me over to a wooden bench. "Sit."

I sat down and glanced at him strangely, but he wasn't looking my way and sat next to me.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, for sure. You know, we ate just before we rode on the roller coaster."

Where did this empathy for my well-being come from? I shook it off. Logan was just weird and always all over the place emotionally.

"It's fucking hot," he said, pulling up his T-shirt to wipe his sweaty brow, exposing that six-pack. "Let's bounce and go swimming instead."

"That's an awesome plan."