23. The Third

Logan

Early September marked the start of their senior year, and the leaves donned hints of orange and yellow, signaling the arrival of autumn.

A woman stopped Logan at the gym of their building one afternoon. “You left your water bottle here on Sunday.” Her smooth, dark brown skin and long braids that flowed down her back reminded Logan of a bohemian goddess. The sight of her tall and lean frame was enhanced by the glimmer of a nose ring on her left nostril.

Logan smiled at her. “Thank you. I was looking for this.”

She looked away for a moment, seeming unsure of what to say, and then turned back to him. “I was going to give it to your friend, but the day I saw him I forgot it so—”

“Thank you, either way. Hydration is important to me,” he joked, eyes fixed on hers.

Her glance fell to the water bottle in his hands and then up to him. “I think I’ve seen you around campus,” she said. “You have Lipman, right? World History.”

“Yeah. You’re a junior?” he asked her.

“Grad school. I student-teach for him in the class right after yours. Tuesdays and Thursdays, right?”

“Wow. You’ve stalked me?” he said with flirtatious eyes. “Do you live here, or did you steal my water bottle in an attempt to talk to me?”

She rolled her eyes and pursed her lips together into a smirk. “You’re … not my type.”

“I bet you only date Black guys. Not into white boys?”

“Actually, I don’t see color. I’m into short, fat men, so …”

Logan laughed, feeling stupid for the racial comment. “Do you want to grab a coffee or something downstairs? I’m not hitting on you, I swear. Mostly looking for an in on Lipman’s answer sheets,” he said smoothly.

“The Corner Spot in forty-five minutes?”

The coffee shop wasn’t too crowded for a Thursday evening, a peaceful retreat from the bustling coffee shops near campus. The oversized chairs, soft yellow lighting, and indie music created a warm and comfortable atmosphere. Logan had seen her there before.

“Thanks for buying,” Logan said, placing his frothy mug at the table. “What pattern did you get?” He pointed at the design in her mug.

“A storm trooper, you?”

“Hedwig,” Logan said, sitting down. “At least, I think it’s Hedwig. It’s an owl anyway.”

She bit her bottom lip and smiled. “So, what’s your Pottermore House?”

Logan’s eyes grew large with fascination. “Only the best house, can you guess?”

“Hmm, I think only a Hufflepuff could make a statement like that,” she said, a permanent smile etched on her face, before she took a sip, eyes fixed on his.

“Of course. What are you, a Slytherin?” he jeered. Her mouth widened with an audible gasp. “Gryffindor?”

“No, Ravenclaw,” she said simply.

Logan scrunched his face in a disapproving manner. “Oh, yeah, the boring one. So, are you a history major or what?”

“Anthropology.”

“Anthropology? Wow. I didn’t know that was a thing people still did,” he said. What would you even do with that degree? is what he wanted to ask. But he was sure she got that question from her parents often enough. “Where are you from? I didn’t catch your name. I’m Logan.”

“Maxine. I’m from Indianapolis.” Maxine tucked a braid behind her ear and looked up at him expectantly.

“Evansville. I’ve never met a Maxine,” Logan said, unsure of what else to say. She didn’t seem to flirt with him the way many women did.

Maxine talked about her job as a part-time yoga instructor while also working at the front desk at an art gallery in the industrial district. She spoke about her family and how, ever since she started college, she had never felt freer. How she had recently returned from a two-month backpacking trip through Europe, and how some cities felt like walking through a literal ashtray. He mentioned how he had always wanted to go to Europe and how he once planned a road trip that never happened. Logan’s life wasn’t anything to brag about. He didn’t have any interesting hobbies, job prospects or any real cultural experiences.

Maxine placed her mug down and retucked the escaped braid behind her ear. “What’s your friend’s name? Or is he your roommate?”

Logan raised a brow. “Buff blond dude? That’s Hunter.” My boyfriend.

Nodding, she brought the mug to her lips with both hands, her voice curious as she asked, “What’s his deal?”

“Hunter? What do you mean?”

“Is he seeing anyone?”

“Oh,” Logan smirked, his heart dropping for only a moment. She’s perfect. “You’re digging him, huh?”

“No, I’m curious.” Maxine glanced at the clock above the glass door of the cafe. “Shit! I gotta go. I teach a yoga class in thirty minutes.”

“What floor are you on? Maybe we can all hang out.”

“I don’t live here. My friend lets me use her key fob for the gym,” she said as she zipped up her sweater. There was something attractive about her, besides her beautiful brown eyes, high cheekbones, full lips, and gorgeous smile.

“I won’t tell.” He smiled and whipped out his phone. “Let’s work out again sometime. Then, maybe coffee?”

Maxine punched her number in and flashed him a dazzling smile. “Thanks for the chat. I’ll see ya around, Logan.”

Hunter

“Who?” Hunter asked that evening over pizza at their place. They were on the couch, and the television was on, although they weren’t really watching. Hunter sat at the end and had his right leg extended over Logan’s lap who was in the middle, massaging the muscles around his shins.

“She goes to the gym downstairs—long braids,” Logan said.

Hunter winced in pain. “Fuck, yeah, that right there. The Black chick?”

“I’m not sure you’re allowed to say that.”

“What? Is she not Black? Anyway, I know who you’re talking about. Skinny girl, kinda hippy looking.” Hunter squinted his eyes as he recollected. “You had coffee with her? How did that happen?”

“She found my water bottle, so I asked her to coffee.”

“So?” Hunter sucked in a sharp breath as Logan’s fingers found his calf. “Why are you telling me about it?”

“I dunno. I mean, if I can’t fuck you—”

Hunter dropped his shoulders. “Here we go.” He was sick of this reoccurring discussion. Over the last ten months, Logan would casually bring up the idea of him fucking a woman. “So, you want to fuck her? If you want to fuck her, go for it,” Hunter said, almost too quickly.

“Why are you saying it like that? Being open helped my parent’s marriage.”

“Logan, it’s been a year of you bugging me about this. What is it that you want? I’m not letting you fuck me, so let’s just skip to the part where you fuck her.”

“I don’t even know if she likes me. I kinda get the feeling she’s into you. Maybe we could both—I dunno …” Logan’s voice trailed off.

Hunter shrugged his shoulders, a bit distracted. “I dunno. She’s a weird chick. The other day at the gym, she said something to me, and I didn’t hear her because my headphones were in, so then I said, ‘what’ and she says, ‘nevermind.’”

“Great story,” Logan replied, deadpan. “I thought maybe we could hang out with her.”

Hunter rolled his eyes. “I know what you mean by ‘hanging out.’”

“No, she’s actually pretty cool.”

Hunter tossed his head back against the armrest and sighed. “I was thinking of dropping the team.”

Logan froze in place, eyes widening. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. It’s not fun for me anymore. What’s the point? It’s not like I’m becoming a pro lacrosse player. I played for fun, and that’s not really there anymore.”

“You can’t leave me alone on that team with those assholes. Can you do one more season?” Logan begged him.

“I’ll think about it—but it’s not likely.”

“Would you at least come cheer me on? Wear a cute skirt.”

“Of course.” Hunter smiled. He hadn’t forgotten about Logan’s request, but didn’t want to make a big deal about it—hoping he’d lose interest or forget.

On his way to the student union for lunch later that week, Hunter spotted Logan and Maxine walking together. Caught up in laughter, she seemed to hang on to his every word. She wore her long braids in a head wrap that sat high above her head, and a few braids came down the sides of her ears. The skin on her cheeks, shoulders, and arms glowed a copper brown contrasting against the white of her tank top. She was more beautiful than he remembered. He stopped in place, watching them walk from the quad to the student union, Logan placing a hand around her shoulder as they walked in.

Hunter’s phone vibrated in his pocket.

“Uh, hey, Coach,” he said into the phone, preparing for the inevitable lecture for missing their first practice.

The scene before Hunter was hard to take in upon walking through the door of their apartment that evening.

“Mhh, this sauce is so good.” Logan muffled as he hovered over the hot stove, a wooden spoon in his mouth. He dipped the spoon back in for another taste.

“No, you’ll get your germs in there.” Maxine laughed, pushing him away with her hips. Logan nudged her back and poked her ribs a few times, making her laugh. “Hey, no tickling,” she said, on the brink of laughter.

He pulled her body toward his and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.

“Logan, stop,” she whined coyly as he slid his hands down her hips. The sound of a door closing shut startled them.

“Hey,” Logan greeted Hunter, who stared back at them blankly, as he removed his duffle bag from his shoulder.

“What’s up?” Maxine called out from the kitchen area.

“Hey, uh, this is Maxine.” Logan walked over to him. “She made dinner for us. And it’s the best ziti and vodka sauce I’ve ever tasted. It’s her great-grandmother’s recipe.”

“It’s from a jar!” Maxine laughed, moving around the kitchen comfortably. Hunter glared at Logan.

Logan raised his palms up. “What?”

“It’s nice to meet you, Maxine,” Hunter forced out. “I do have a lot of work to do. So, hope you two have a good night.”

“Stop, what are you doing?” Logan whispered. “Come join us. Don’t be like that.”

“Logan—”

Logan beamed from ear to ear. “I’m not going to stop.” A charm Hunter could never resist.

Dinner was painful for Hunter to get through, not because of Maxine’s presence but primarily because of Logan’s performative mode when other people came around.

“So, Hunter, what are you into?” Maxine asked him before taking a sip of the boxed wine she brought over.

“Uh, I’m not sure how to answer that,” Hunter said, as if it were the most ridiculous question in the world.

“Come on, man,” Logan nagged him, like a parent embarrassed by their rebellious adolescent.

Hunter raised his eyebrows. “What?”

“Should I go?” Maxine asked, putting her fork down. “I didn’t mean to bother th—”

“No, no,” Logan cut her off. “Of course not.”

“I—I’m sorry,” Hunter sighed, followed by a deep exhale. “I’ve had a long day.”

“Care to share?” she asked, with a hopeful grin.

Hunter hesitated a moment. He didn’t mean to take out his frustrations on Logan’s next victim. “It’s lacrosse, I—”

“We’ve both played on the same team since the sixth grade. Hunter’s quitting this season,” Logan interrupted him, filling her in.

“Are you having second thoughts?” she asked.

“Coach called me. He—he wants me to be co-captain this year.”

“Holy shit! That’s awesome, right?!” Maxine, enthused, then looked at Logan.

“Yeah? Co-captain? So, no Collins?”

“No, I guess he’s dropping out. Some family emergency.”

“We usually have a senior captain and a co-captain,” Logan explained to Maxine. “Reserved for only the best players.”

“I’m sure she doesn’t care, Lo,” Hunter mumbled.

“No, no, this is interesting. It’s real stuff. So, are you going to take it? What made you want to quit in the first place?” she asked, seeming genuinely curious.

He wished he could say that the only reason he ever played lacrosse was that his mother didn’t want to have to drive to different games when Chadley already played lacrosse despite Hunter wishing to play soccer. Then, when Logan’s family came up with the money to enroll him after he spent all summer begging them to let him play with Hunter, Hunter felt even more bound to it. Even with different schedules in high school, it was the one time they were guaranteed to see each other. Over the last couple of years, it had become increasingly more challenging to watch Logan bond with other teammates. The college players took the game far more seriously than he ever would.

“I—I don’t know.” Hunter shrugged, looking down at his plate. “Just not fun anymore, I guess.”

“Come on, it’s our last year playing together,” Logan encouraged him.

“I don’t know. I guess we’ll see,” Hunter said. “You know who I saw today? Jenna.”

Logan’s face grew serious. “Slut Jenna?”“Yeah.”

“Slut is such a nasty word,” Maxine interjected, with a look of disgust on her face. Hunter and Logan looked at each other and then down at their plates as if scolded by a teacher.

“But she kinda is …” Logan started but his voice trailed off.

“You’ve never had casual, emotionless sex?” she challenged him.“

I mean, yeah. I’ve had my slutty moments.”

Maxine laughed, shaking her head. “It’s a demeaning, archaic word. It puts women beneath men. It sends the message that only men should have power and freedom over their bodies.”

“It’s like the N-word for women,” Hunter explained to Logan.

Maxine’s eyes widened. “What? No, it’s not like the N-word.” She chuckled and shook her head again with a raised brow. “That’s some bubble you two live in.”

Logan glanced at Hunter with a worried look on his face and then at Maxine. “Sorry, Max. I hope we didn’t offend you.” Hunter nodded in agreement.

Maxine muffled a soft laugh. “Not at all. Just, try to be good—to women. And better informed.” Maxine seemed to contemplate something and then her face lit up. “So, Hunter, what is your Pottermore house?”

The expression on Hunter’s face went blank. “What?”

“He doesn’t—” Logan said, shaking his head. Maxine’s shoulders shrunk in, and she looked down at her plate.

Hunter rose to his feet shortly after. “Thanks for dinner, Maxine. I think I’ll get studying.”

“So soon? Logan was planning on us watching a movie.”

“Movie?” Hunter said. “No, no way. I have a lot of work to do. Plus, I’m going to give Chad a call. He’s been blowing up my phone all day. Have a fun night.”

Maxine waited for Hunter to leave the room, but he heard every word. “Is he always like this?”

“Brooding? Yeah, kind of,” Logan said, brushing it off. “He’s fine. Why don’t you find something on TV, and I’ll check on him.”

Hunter wasn’t sure if Logan would come after him or not. But then, seeing Logan’s bright smile light up his room put him at ease.

“What’s up with you? I mean, you’re acting super weird. Are you alright?”

Hunter smiled. “I’m sorry, Lo. I have a lot to do.”

“If you say so. Can I have a kiss? Please?” Logan walked toward Hunter and gave him a strong, deep kiss, firmly rolling his tongue against Hunter’s.

“What do you think of Max? She’s cool, right?”

“She’s okay. Are you fucking her tonight?”

“I don’t know, maybe? I honestly don’t think she’s into me. She keeps asking me about you. You should come out and—”

“No, no. Have fun.”

“Are you alright with all of this?”

“I have to be, right?” Hunter wasn’t as okay with it as his words conveyed, but it surprised him he was warming up to the idea. She won’t stick around. It’s not forever. They were forever.

“Don’t start that. You know I’d much rather fuck you,” Logan whispered. “And aren’t you itching to fuck a pussy for once? That was all you ever did for a while.”

“Look, I don’t want to fight about this. I’m fine with it. I’ll just miss you tonight,” Hunter said, leaning in for another kiss.

“Maybe this is good for us to have a night apart. We didn’t leave your bed for three days over the weekend, and my ass still hurts,” Logan said.

Hunter held him tightly at the waist and smiled. He wanted Logan to be happy. He already had him to himself, and he knew there were things he just couldn’t give him. “I love you.”

Logan took a deep breath and let it all out heavily. “You have no idea how much my heart melts when you say that. I love you, too.”

“Go, have fun. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Hunter slept until ten the next day and woke up to the sounds of pots and pans banging in the kitchen. He brushed his teeth and threw on shorts and a sleeveless shirt to hit the gym before heading to class.

“What are you doing, man?” he called out as he walked out of his room, rubbing his eyes. To his surprise, he found Maxine cleaning up the dishes from the previous night. He also noticed that the pile of dirty dishes in the sink over the weekend was gone.

“Hey. I was tidying up. Did I wake you?”

“What are you doing? … Don’t do that. You don’t have to clean up our stuff.”

“It’s no big deal.”

“Seriously, stop,” Hunter said, taking hold of the clean dishes in her hand.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“It’s slave labor,” he blurted.

“What? Because I’m Black?”

“What? No! I mean we can clean up after ourselves. You shouldn’t be cleaning up our shit.” He grabbed the stack of dishes from her hand and put them away. “Did you vacuum, too? Why are you doing that? And where is Logan?” Hunter sounded more than annoyed.

“I was kind of waiting for you to wake up so you can let me into the gym. I forgot the fob I borrowed from my girlfriend.”

Girlfriend? Is she a lesbian?He opened up the junk drawer and tossed her the gym key. “Here’s an extra one. Don’t lose it.”

“Thanks,” she said.

Hunter went to the front door and put on his sneakers. “Nice catch, by the way,” he said, opening the door. “Come on. Let’s go.”