“No way,” I said, a smile spreading over my face. “You want to go?”
“Let’s go kick their asses.”
Logan was still finding ways to surprise the hell out of me. And as I watched him march back into the party, giving Mike and Vance customary fist bumps along the way, my heart fucking soared.
He was fitting in. And even if he himself felt a little like an alien in my world, I loved every moment of having him in it.
11
Logan
“Okay. So you have your wallet,” I said, looking Brody right in the eyes.
“Yes,” he said, a hint of a smile on his face. His eyelids were a little droopy and dreamy, both from all of the alcohol and because it was late. I didn’t know how it was possible for someone to look sexy and exhausted all at once, but leave it to Brody to pull that off.
Admittedly, I was drunk, too. Every time Brody looked me in the eyes, I got a warm, fuzzy feeling, and it had permeated throughout the whole night.
“And you’ve got your phone?” I continued, going down the mental list I always ran for myself before I left anywhere.
Brody reached down, patting at his pockets. “Yes. Phone. Check.”
We were standing inside near the front door of the house. Over the last four hours, we’d entered full-blown party mode. I’d felt like a damn kid in a movie. For the first time in my life, I’d really been having the whole frat party experience. We played rounds of beer pong. We sauntered back out to the fire pit, where tons more people had congregated. We’d even danced, for a little while, in the living room that people had turned into something that felt like a makeshift club.
Brody had been by my side the whole time. And as the night wore on, we’d each had another drink. And then another. And then another. Somewhere around a couple of hours ago, I’d just stopped counting. The drinks we mixed weren’t too strong, but we sure had a lot of them.
Now we’d decided to walk home, but before we left, I had to make sure Brody had all of his stuff. It didn’t matter how drunk we were—I was going to take care of him, in whatever little way I could. We’d already tried to leave once, but he’d realized his pockets were completely empty and the air was so much colder than before, and we’d come back inside. Brody was now proudly wearing a big, warm poncho that one of his buddies had lent to him for the walk home, because he refused to take back the hoodie that he’d let me borrow.
Part of me felt bad about it, like I didn’t deserve to take his thick, warm hoodie when he had nothing else to wear.
But I loved wearing this thing. The hoodie smelled like Brody, and it fit me like a gigantic, warm hug. It also said Bryant on the back, in big, gold letters, and though I’d never admit it to anybody here—especially not Brody—having his name written on my back made me feel like I was somebody special.
“And last thing,” I said to him, reaching out and grabbing his shoulders in my hands. “Keys.”
“Keys!” he said, holding a finger in the air. “I definitely don’t have my keys.”
“I’ve got ‘em, Bryant,” Vance said, appearing at our side. The party was still going strong even though it was well past one in the morning, but Brody and I both just wanted to get home.
“God. Thank you, bro,” Brody said, reaching out for the long, green lanyard that held his jangling keys.
Vance snatched it back for a second. “You’ve got to promise me you’re not using these to get in your truck, okay? Just to get home?”
“Of course,” Brody said, his eyes big and pleading. “You know I’d never do that.”
“I know you wouldn’t,” Vance said with a nod. “That’s just my policy, though. I’ve got to make sure, every time.”
“And that’s why you’re a great friend,” Brody said. “Okay. Keys. Got ‘em.”
“Then I think we’re finally good to go, this time,” I said.
“Have fun, you two,” Vance said, giving me a wink. “Take care of him.”
I was glad it was dark in the house because otherwise, Vance would have seen just how flustered I was.
I liked being in a position to take care of Brody. I wanted to take care of him.
“We’ll get home safe,” I said, and the two of us went out the front door.
“God, that feels so good,” Brody said as we stepped out into the cold night air. “I am so ready to be home.”
We swayed our way onto the sidewalk and started the walk home. It really wasn’t very far, about a ten-minute walk, but I had a feeling it might take a while longer because our drunk asses were slow and stupid right now.