8. The Swingers

Logan

The following morning, Logan awoke to the sight of Hunter peacefully snoozing beside him. Despite his morning arousal, he resisted temptation and decided to head home before his mother began a series of phone calls. His movements woke Hunter from what looked like a deep sleep. “I’m gonna head out, but I’ll be back later,” he said, spreading his hands over Hunter’s chest.

Hunter stretched his arms and yawned. “I’ll walk you out.” Hunter glanced at his vibrating phone. “Oh, shit. Chemistry grades posted.”

“Take a look,” Logan said, wide-eyed with excitement.

Hunter clicked through several prompts to log into his student portal. “Here it is. Hold on … Midterm grade eighty-nine.”

“Eighty-nine. That’s awesome. Nice, man. Let me see that.” Logan took the phone from his hand. “Wait, it’s not an eighty-nine. ‘Midterm grades are not final, students should calculate an additional three points to their final grade to account for the curve.’ Hunter, you got a ninety-two. That’s an A minus.”

“Wow, that’s nuts. I’ve never gotten an A in Science. It was actually not that bad. I mean, it was tough.”

Logan gave him a nudge. “Brainiac. You may need to help me with my courses.”

“Shut up, Mr. 4.0. Mr. Valedictorian.”

The pair went up the stairs to find both sets of parents sitting at the dining room table.

“Boys, why don’t you have a seat, we have something to discuss with you,” Hunter’s mother, Mrs. Richardson, said, pulling out a seat.

Hunter’s mouth went dry. Had someone gone downstairs and found them sleeping together? Was the trip canceled? They grabbed seats across from one another, avoiding eye contact.

Mrs. Richardson started. “We told the Parkers about what happened here last night, so it’s no secret.”

Fuck.Hunter dug his fingers into his palms, his pulse throbbing in his ears.

“Thomas and I have had issues for some time now, and we don’t think it’s a good idea for us to go on the trip with you.”

Mrs. Parker reached out and touched Mrs. Richardson’s hands. “I think you should reconsider, Joanna. You both need this trip to rekindle some of that fire.”

“We don’t think so. We contacted our therapist about starting an intensive couple’s retreat on Monday. You all go and enjoy the week, all expenses paid—we mean it.”

A sigh of relief huffed out of Hunter’s mouth.

“Boys, would you mind going upstairs while we speak to the Richardsons, please?” Mrs. Parker asked.

“What? Then why did you just ask us to sit down?” Logan protested, and Hunter snickered silently. His mother shot him a dull glare that made Logan crack a smile as he rose. “Fine. But we’re adults now, too.”

They both made their way up the floating stairs.

“Holy shit, that was terrifying. This is awesome. If my parents can’t go, that’s even better,” Hunter whispered to Logan.

“I’d feel bad if they can’t make it. I want to hear this,” Logan whispered back, leaning over the railing.

“We had our own rocky period in our marriage when the kids were young,” Mr. Parker started.

Mrs. Parker joined in. “We wondered what else was out there and, for whatever reason, all we did was fight. I even took the kids and stayed at my sister’s for two weeks at one point. They probably don’t remember.”

“You don’t understand, things are getting … ugly between us,” Mrs. Richardson said.

“The only thing that saved us was considering the possibility of an open marriage,” Mr. Parker added.

Mr. Richardson’s booming voice echoed up the stairs. “Open marriage? The two of you?”

“It helped. We gained our trust back, and it strengthened our relationship. We’d go to special events and meet like-minded people. We still do,” Mrs. Parker continued.

“Swingers? You’re both swingers?” Mr. Richardson asked loudly.

Logan and Hunter looked at each other with contorted faces at the top of the stairs. “Gross, I did not want to know that.” Logan winced and then gagged as if he’d throw up.

Hunter covered his chuckle with his hand over his mouth. “You look traumatized.”

“I can’t listen to any more of this,” Logan said, escaping to Hunter’s bedroom, Hunter following behind him. “And it sounded like they were trying to seduce your parents or something.”

Hunter stepped into his bathroom and then peed with the door wide open. “My dad needs to leave. He’s a prick. Always has been. He can’t change,” Hunter said, followed by a toilet flush.

Logan threw himself on Hunter’s bed dramatically. “This is why they have those oddball date nights where they book a hotel room once a month to ‘get away.’ They’ve been doing that since we were kids. Gross. Like gang-bangers? Orgies? And who else have they fucked? Other teachers? Parents? People I know? This town isn’t that big.”

“Hi, Logan.” Mrs. Richardson appeared at the doorway, frightening him. “I’m sorry you’ve been roped into this. You’re such a good friend to my son,” she said. “Your parents are waiting for you downstairs but come back tonight if you’d like.”

“Sure, thank you. Bye, man,” Logan said to Hunter, and headed home.

Hunter

Silence always felt comfortable to Hunter, although others felt the need to fill it. The plastic on the drawstring of his hoodie was much more interesting than whatever his parents were talking about. He rolled it between his fingers as he slouched as low as he could on the couch.

“We’re sorry you saw that last night. My behavior was unacceptable. You should never speak to a woman the way I did to your mother,” his father said, angling his body toward him on the couch.

Hunter stared at the floor. “I know that.”

“Hunter, we want our relationship to work—” his mother started.

“Don’t do it for me, do it for yourselves. You’re the ones who have to live together. Or get divorced, I don’t care. Chad doesn’t care. Whatever stops this craziness.”

“The Parkers convinced us that we should have a fresh start. They gave us a new perspective on things,” his father explained.

“I heard. You want to fuck other people,” Hunter sneered. “I say go for it.”

“Hunter! It’s not just that. We have to restart and take things back to the beginning. Rediscover why we fell in love. We love you so much,” his mother said, but he didn’t react.

A few silent seconds passed. “Great, thanks. Anything else?”

“We’re both sorry for what happened here last night, and we’d like you to forgive us,” his mother continued.

“I mean, sure. It’s fine.”

“You’re very mature,” his father added. “Sit up straight.” Hunter rolled his eyes and scoffed. “What? What’s with the attitude?”

“You’ve been in a bad mood for the last fifteen years, and now you’re suddenly paying me compliments? Not buying it. Mom might—”

“Hunter, I’m trying here. What do you want from me?” his father snapped, the vein in his temple making an appearance.

A scoff escaped Hunter’s lips as he shook his head in disbelief. “You see?” he said to his mother. His mother placed her hand on his father’s back to calm him down.

“You know, Joanna,” his father said, turning toward his mother, “he’s always been an ungrateful brat. Paying all that money to send him to college for him to bring home Cs and a trophy for a useless sport.”

“There he is. Welcome back, Dad.” Hunter got up from his seat and headed upstairs. “Fucking prick,” he muttered under his breath.

“What did you say?” his father yelled.

Mrs. Richardson yanked on her husband’s arm. “Stop it. Calm down.”

Logan

Later that evening, Logan sulked in silence at the dinner table, disturbed by the revelation of his parents’ sex life.

“They said they’re going to Aspen. I hope they can start to mend their relationship. Marriage is not easy,” Mrs. Parker said, as they ate. “Logan, what’s wrong?”

Logan pushed his food around on his plate. “Nothing.”

“Does it have anything to do with Andrea?” his mother asked.

“What? No.” Andrea was the furthest thing from his mind.

“When will we get to meet her?”

Never. “Uhm, I dunno if that will ever happen.”

“I liked Rebecca. Have you heard from her? I saw her mother at the grocery store. She says they’re planning something big for Passover. You should call her and see how she’s doing,” his mother suggested.

“Call her? No, Mom. I’m not calling Becca. That was high school.”

“Stacy, get off your phone,” Mr. Parker nagged his teenage daughter.

“Who are you texting?” Logan sneered.

Stacy’s eyes remained glued to her phone as she tapped the screen. “I’m texting fuck off and mind your business, I’m sure you know him.”

Their mother’s eyes widened. “Stacy!”

“Dad, I’m done. I have homework to finish up. Thanks for dinner, Mom,” Stacy said and darted up the stairs.

Logan scrolled through his friends’ stories. Andrea posted a picture of the two of them, the caption reading, Missing my bae already. Logan gave it a Like and wrote that he missed her, too. A post from Stacy of a well-structured picture of her ski equipment and luggage with #AspenBound. The following post was of Hunter recording himself lifting weights, shirtless, in his home gym. Logan sent him a heart-eyes emoji in response in a private message.

Logan hated staying home with nothing to do. Their small town, usually dead on Thursday nights, had little to offer. Tempted to invite Hunter over that evening, but not wanting to be the only one initiating contact. He didn’t want to become annoying, although, since their newfound relationship, he missed him every second they were apart.

“Hey, Becca … Yeah, long time … You want to hang out? Grab some ice cream?”

Hunter

That evening, Hunter loaded the SUV with his duffel and snowboard when noticing Logan’s bike on the front lawn. It wouldn’t fit in his car, so he rode it over.

As he got near the Parkers’, a car parked out front with two people sitting inside caught his eye. His stomach dropped to the ground as he watched Logan kissing someone in the passenger seat. He placed the bike near the side of the garage and started the walk home.

“Hey, Hunter,” a soft, feminine voice called out to him from the car a few minutes later, and he turned in response. The long, sandy-blonde hair was a dead giveaway.

Hunter had taken Becca to a spring formal sophomore year of high school after their friends insisted on how great they looked together. He took her virginity that night, and afterward, she became hard to shake off. Hunter was never one to have girlfriends or maintain relationships with women for very long. Becca dated Logan on and off for the rest of high school. However, Logan was never truly committed to their relationship.

“Hey, Becca,” he said as he walked home and she drove off. A couple of minutes later, Logan caught up to him on his bike.

“Hey, wait up,” Logan called out. “We went for ice cream.” Hunter quickened his pace, ignoring Logan. “Do you want to spend the night?”

Hunter didn’t bother to look in his direction. “Nah, it’s late and we have an early flight tomorrow.”

“Can we talk? Come on, please?” Logan begged, pedaling along beside him.

“I’m not upset. I’m fine. I just wanted to return the bike. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“We didn’t do anything. She just kissed me out of nowhere. I was—”

“Logan, stop! I don’t care, okay? We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Logan sighed and rode home without another word. Hunter turned, watching Logan disappear around the corner, and whipped out his phone to send a text message.

To Goddess: You busy?