“What are you doing?” Connor asked.
Logan shot to his feet. “What are you doing here?” he asked too sharply. “I thought you were watching the movie.”
Jaw tight, Connor said, “Seen it a million times. We decided to go swimming again. I came up to get changed.” He still wore his jeans, long-sleeved T-shirt, and sneakers. He asked again, his voice harder, “What are you doing?”
“Nothing!” they answered in unison, as if they were the kids and Connor the adult.
Fists clenching, his shirt sleeves too short, Connor marched toward them, glaring daggers at Logan. “You’re lying to him like you did to my mom, aren’t you? Aren’t you!” His face creased. “I should have known. I thought maybe I was wrong, but I’m not.”
Logan seemed stunned into silence. Seth said, “Connor, everything’s okay. I know this must be confusing, but—”
“He’s playing you!” Connor shouted. “Can’t you see that? He’s telling you everything you want to hear. He’s a liar. Don’t believe what he says. He doesn’t really like you!” He sneered at Logan. “You’re not even gay, but you’ll do anything to get what you want. You don’t really care about him. Or me. I bet you’ll take all Seth’s money.”
“I didn’t marry your mother for her money,” Logan said quietly. Seth prayed his restraint would continue.
“Yeah, the joke was on you because she didn’t have any,” Connor spat. “But you needed a place to live, so you made her think you loved her. It was all a lie, wasn’t it?”
“No!” Logan’s chest rose and fell with a sharp breath. “I really did love her, and she loved me. We got caught up in a stupid dream of helping each other, and we moved way too fast. We never should have got married. But I didn’t lie when I said our vows. It was way too good to be true, but I wanted to believe we could be happy.”
Logan looked to Seth, his eyes beseeching. “And maybe I’m being a dumb fuck all over again, but I really like you.”
Seth took his hand, squeezing Logan’s rough fingers. “I like you too.”
Red-faced, Connor gritted his teeth. “But I asked you this morning, and you told me it was all fake!”
“I didn’t know what to say,” Logan said. “It is supposed to be fake. That was the deal.”
“And now you’re suddenly gay?”
“No.” Logan rubbed his face with his free hand, the other clinging to Seth’s. “I honestly don’t know what I am. Apparently more bisexual than I thought. What I know for sure is that I like Seth more than I’ve liked anyone in a long, long time.”
Connor looked between them, his pimply face creased. He glared at Logan. “But you’ll ruin everything! Seth’s awesome, and you’ll fuck him over!”
Seth kept his voice even. “Okay, let’s sit down and take some deep breaths, and we can talk about this.”
“He’s using you! What’s there to talk about? Fuck this.” Connor shoved past them with surprising strength, wriggling behind Seth and out the door before they could stop him.
“Shit!” Logan was hot on his heels, and Seth followed, jogging down the carpeted hall past wooden doors.
Connor went for the stairs, and they chased him down and right outside through a fire exit, Seth grimacing as his leather shoes filled with freezing snow that came up to his shins.
“Connor, get back here!” Logan shouted. But Connor ignored him, running hard through the snow at the back of the hotel, weaving around snowmen and out onto the lake. Seth’s lungs burned in the freezing air, but he didn’t slow.
“Get back here! Get off that ice!” Logan yelled. “Now!”
“Fuck you!” Connor slid forward, his arms outstretched as if he was on skates instead of sneakers.
Seth tried for a gentler approach. “Connor, please! Just come back and we can talk.”
Connor ignored him, continuing away from the shore. Seth wasn’t even sure exactly where the land ended and the lake begun.
Logan bellowed, “I swear to God, if you don’t get back here now—”
Connor spun around. “What? What are you going to do? I hate you! I’m going to live with my dad in Florida.”
“Have you spoken with him?” Seth asked loudly after coming to a stop. None of them had jackets on, and it was too cold to be outside. Connor faced them from about thirty feet away.
After sputtering, Connor insisted, “He’s busy! He has a hard job!” In the moonlight, tears glittered on his cheeks even at a distance, a stifled sob making him gasp. “But he’s my dad, so he has to love me. He has to.”
Logan exhaled sharply in a white plume. In a calmer tone, he called, “Come inside and we’ll talk about this.”
He glanced behind, and Seth realized they’d garnered some attention, faces at windows and a few people in open doors, shivering and watching them.