3. Logan

THREE

My memoriesof New Year's Eve are more than a little hazy. I remember the kiwi martinis—they were so yummy. I remember dancing with Everest after Sawyer abandoned us to go home with his boyfriend. I remember the ridiculous accusations Everest and Sawyer leveled at Jay and I remember defending him.

I don't remember agreeing to stalk him. Actually, I distinctly remember saying I wasn't going to stalk Jay.

So why the hell am I sitting in the passenger seat of a car that Sawyer borrowed from one of his friends? I honestly have no idea, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to regret it.

I left Jay in bed this morning, all warm and sleepy. I'd woken up tangled together with him, pinned under his comforting weight. I would still be there, if it wasn't for Sawyer and Everest, rather than parked half a block away from my building, waiting for the stalking to commence.

"We're going to be here forever," I say. "He said he was sleeping in, then going home in the afternoon."

And I could've slept in with him. But no, instead I had to slip an AirTag into his bag before concocting some ridiculous excuse about going to work. When in reality, Sawyer, Everest, and I had all requested the day off.

"This'll be worth it." Everest pats me on the shoulder from his spot in the backseat, head poking forward between me and Sawyer. "You'll see."

"Don't you want to know where he lives?" Sawyer asks.

"I know where he lives. In New Jersey." I pout and slouch down in my seat, arms folded across my chest.

"Jersey's a big state, bro," Everest comments unhelpfully.

"Duh. I mean close to New York. Like Newark or Hoboken or something."

"Well, we'll find out exactly where today," Sawyer says.

"Yeah, and figure out if he's a serial killer."

"He's not a serial killer!" I don't know why Everest is so attached to that idea. "He's not a rent boy either. Or a spy. And he doesn't have a secret family."

My protests fall on deaf ears, and I don't know why I don't just get out of the damn car. It's not like my friends have a gun to my head. I can unlock the door, go back to my apartment, and slip back into bed with Jay.

Except I don't. And I don't want to think too much about why.

I trust Jay. I have no reason to doubt any of the things he's told me. I'm only here to humor my friends, to appease them so they'll stop razzing me all the time.

A silver Hyundai Elantra rolls past us and slows to a stop in front of my building. There's an Uber sticker on the rear windshield.

"Oh! Here we go!" Everest taps Sawyer's shoulder. "Turn on the engine."

Sawyer grabs the key and starts the car.

"Quick! Your phone!" Everest reaches between the seats, trying to grab my phone from my lap, but I wrench it out of his reach. "It's not even noon yet. You don't know if that Uber is for?—"

My words die on my lips as Jay marches out of the front door and climbs into the Uber. His long strides are confident and sure. He's got a furrow in his brow and his phone pressed to his ear.

"Ooo, he looks like he's on a mission!" Everest exclaims as Sawyer pulls out of our parking spot behind the Uber.

I slide farther down my seat, hoping that Jay doesn't turn around to look behind the car.

"Hurry up! The AirTag!"

I reluctantly pull the app up on my phone and sure enough, it shows Jay's bag moving down the street perfectly in sync with the Uber. It turns right at the end of my street and Sawyer lets an oncoming car through the intersection before making the turn himself.

"Don't fall too far behind!" Everest shouts. "You don't want to lose him!"

"Jesus, I can hear you. Calm the fuck down," Sawyer says. "And we won't lose him. Hello, that's what the AirTag's for."

We follow Jay's Uber through the streets of Brooklyn, heading west. It's fifteen minutes of weaving in and out of traffic while Everest and Sawyer shout at each other before Sawyer leans forward to peer through the windshield.

"I thought you said he lives in New Jersey," Sawyer says.

"He does," I answer.

"So why are we going into Manhattan?" Sawyer points past the driving wheel and I look up just in time to see the big green sign that says we're headed to Midtown.

My stomach churns with acid. I don't like this. I don't like betraying Jay's trust and following him around like some jilted lover. I don't like the possibility that he might not have told me the truth.

"Maybe he got called into work?" I suggest.

"On a Sunday?" Everest shoots back.

"Some people work on Sundays! We do!"

"But he's a business analyst," Sawyer says, much more gently than Everest. "Office workers don't usually go into the office on Sundays."

"I'm still putting my bet on serial killer."

"I vote for secret family."

"Shut up. Ugh. I hate you both." I clamp my mouth shut and take long deep breaths through my nose, trying not to throw up.

"Are you sure we're not too far behind?" Everest peers over my shoulder. "What does the AirTag say?"

"It says he's going that way." I point forward.

"Are you sure?"

I stick the phone in Everest's face. "That's what it says!"

"Jesus, chill, bro. I was just asking."

I grit my teeth and bite back a snarky response. I only have myself to blame for this—I could've stayed in bed.

The bridge we're on spits us out somewhere in Manhattan and all of a sudden, the AirTag stops moving.

"Wait, it's stopped!" I shout. My heart feels like I've just finished a spin class.

"What? Where?" Sawyer slams on the breaks and we all jolt forward. Behind us, cars start honking. "Shit! Fuck!" He hits the gas again and we're all thrown back into our seats.

Then I spot the Uber pulled over by the curb and Jay's climbing out of the backseat.

"Stop the car!" Everest shouts. "He's on foot now! We'll hop out and catch up with you later!" He punches me in the shoulder, and before Sawyer can bring the car to a complete stop, he's popped open the back door.

I scramble for the door handle, only to remember I still have my seatbelt on. "Fuck. Fuck." Seatbelt first, then the door, and Everest catches me as I launch myself out the door.

"Come on. Let's go." Everest takes off down the sidewalk and I hurry to keep up. "Check the AirTag."

I'm not the most coordinated person in the world, so tracking the dot on my phone screen while trying to speed walk down a busy sidewalk really isn't my forté.

"I keep losing him. Hurry!"

"I'm hurrying!"

My toe hooks onto a crack in the sidewalk and I nearly face-plant into the pavement. I manage to stay upright, but my phone does go flying out of my hand. "Shit!"

"Crap!" Everest scrambles after it, picking it up and dusting off the screen.

My heart sinks. "Is it cracked?"

Everest hands it back to me. "Just on the corner, but I think it's only the screen protector."

I sigh in relief. I already don't want to be stalking my boyfriend. It would be so much worse if I broke my phone while I was at it. Maybe this is a sign. Maybe the universe is punishing me for going along with Sawyer and Everest's wild scheme rather than trusting Jay.

"Fuck, he's gone."

I look up from my phone, and sure enough, Jay is nowhere in sight. Everest looks dejected, and I hold my breath, hoping he's forgotten about the AirTag.

No such luck. Everest turns to me and taps my phone. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

I could refuse. I could put my phone in my pocket, turn around, and walk away. But I don't. Against my better judgment, I pull up the app again.

Everest leans in to see the screen, then his head snaps up, eyes alert like he's on the hunt. "He went that way."

He loops his arm through mine, leaving me with no choice but to run with him or get dragged along.

At the intersection, we pause, scanning the sidewalk. There's a flash of navy at the corner of my eye and I turn to find it. I don't know why it caught my attention or how I know for certain that it's Jay. But I do, and I'm right.

"Over there!" In the minute it took for me to almost fall flat on my face, then retrieve my phone, then consult the app again, Jay's turned the corner and crossed the street. He's now on the opposite sidewalk.

"Nice!" Everest takes off again, with me in tow.

A touch of elation rushes through me at having found Jay again, almost like I'm on a treasure hunt and I've solved an important clue. The excitement clashes with my dread over betraying Jay's trust this way. It's a close thing, but the excitement wins out. It's hard to argue with adrenaline.

After a few blocks of tailing Jay, he suddenly swerves toward the green stairs of the subway and descends down into the station.

"Where the hell is he going?" Everest asks. "Why is he taking the subway after getting out of an Uber?"

"I don't know." Dread creeps up, closing the gap with excitement. I drag my feet, trying to slow Everest down. "Maybe we should stop."

Everest rolls his eyes. "Logan! We've come so far! We can't stop now!" He shuffles me toward the stairs, then practically pushes me down them.

It's a small station and there's really only one direction Jay could've gone in. So with Everest prodding me, I dig out my Metro card and swipe through the turnstile. But when we get to the crowded platform, he's disappeared into the crowd.

"What's your phone say?"

When I open the app, it's switched views. Now there's a giant arrow swiveling back and forth like a compass. It's pointing forward and slightly to the left.

"He's up there. Come on." Everest grabs my arm and elbows his way through the crowd.

The arrow turns as we inch farther down the platform and I tug Everest to a stop. "Wait, he's right here." I nod toward my left but keep my head turned away in case Jay looks in our direction. I don't even want to contemplate what would happen if Jay catches us now.

A train pulls into the station, and when the doors open, a flood of people pour onto the platform. Someone pushes past me and I get separated from Everest. On my phone, the arrow swivels erratically, and I'm sure we've lost him this time. Is he getting on the train? Is he leaving the station?

Then I catch sight of a dark head of hair that stands a few inches above the rest. It's stepping through the doors of the train.

"Everest!" I shout over the rumble of the train's engines. "He's on the train."

I barrel my way through the crowd, Everest right behind me. The door catches the hem of his coat and he yanks at it to get it all the way through. The train lurches forward and Everest stumbles into me.

"Holy shit." Everest's eyes are sparkling and his cheeks are bunched into a giant grin. "This is so much fun!"

I shoot a glare at him. The uneasy mix of excitement and dread in my stomach is decidedly not fun.

"You know how they have those escape rooms? They should turn this into one of those. Like a stalking game or a spy game. Follow a dude through the city. You can't lose him, but you can't get caught either."

That actually sounds pretty cool, damn him. Except it's my boyfriend we're following through the streets of New York. My boyfriend who took an Uber, then walked ten blocks, and is now on the subway, all going in different directions. Who the hell travels like this?

I have a sinking feeling I won't like the answer.

"Do you see him?" I ask Everest. I don't dare turn around and risk Jay spotting me.

"I think so," Everest says in a whisper. "Dark hair. Scruff. Navy wool coat and dark gray scarf?"

"Yeah, that's him."

Jay's only on the train for two stops before he's off again and we scramble to follow.

"Dude, who the fuck have you been sleeping with this whole time?" Everest chuckles as we track Jay through the station. "He's definitely not some boring business analyst. He is shady as hell."

I don't want to agree with Everest, but it's kind of hard not to. Normal people don't take three different modes of transportation only to end up a couple blocks away from where they originally started. He has to be hiding something—there's no other explanation.

We jog up the steps and I'm about to pull my phone out again when Everest grabs me and hauls me into the alcove of a closed storefront. "He's up there."

I follow Everest's gaze to find Jay stopped ahead of us. He's talking to a woman. Tall and willowy with long blond hair. She looks like a model and carries herself with the confidence of one.

Jay holds out his hand and she drops something small and shiny into his palm. He slips it on his finger—his ring finger.

"Oh. Shit," Everest mutters.

My heart stops and I grab Everest's arm in a death grip. No, that can't be what it looks like. It can't.

The woman hands him a paper coffee cup, then walks around the front of a black SUV. Jay takes a sip of the coffee, the golden band on his finger glinting in the sunlight, then climbs into the passenger seat.

My stomach hurts. Dread has pummeled excitement into an unrecognizable pulp, and it's all about to come up. I'm going to be sick. I sink down onto the concrete step, hanging my head between my knees.

Everest crouches down next to me, rubbing my back. "Dude, I'm sure there's an explanation. A good one, I mean. Not one of the ones we were… making up."

I try to breathe through the nausea. It doesn't matter if Jay has an explanation, even if it is a good one. He still lied to me. He's not a business analyst, whatever the fuck that is. A business analyst doesn't do what he just did—sneak his way around the city, then meet up with a beautiful woman and put on a fucking wedding ring.

God, I want to turn back the clock. Just rewind the past few hours and restart the day. Everything was perfect this morning. I woke up in a warm bed with my gorgeous, kind, funny boyfriend. If I hadn't gotten out of bed and pretended to go to work, I could still be there now with Jay. We could've fucked all day, ordered takeout, napped, then fucked some more.

I was in love with him. We were going to move in together. We were going to be happy.

And now everything is ruined.