Page 27 of Left In The Dark

“Yeah, can’t say the same for Jimmy’s ass,” Reese retorts. Keys are exchanged between him and Logan as they both take more hits at their friend.

“Hey now. I came out here to have a good time, and I played DD last month.”

The other two bark out a laugh, and Reese shoves Jimmy forward as Logan guides me outside. When we reach his car, I climb into the back and Logan gets in behind me, leaving a huge gap between us.

I don’t like it so I slide closer, and he makes a loud grunting sound, scooting away until he has nowhere to go. “You’re infuriating, you know that?”

“Mm,” is all I can say, as I lean my head on his shoulder, coming in and out of consciousness. He smells so good. Like leather and smoke. I bury my nose deeper into his jacket. Is that a hint of paint mixed with pine? I shut my eyes, and music plays as the car moves forward and onto the bumpy road.

“We’re here,” someone whispers in my ear, shaking me awake. “Come on. I need you to walk. I’m not going to carry your ass inside.”

I open my eyes wider, sitting up as the porch lights flash on. Panic sets in when a large figure steps out. My dad. Fuck.

“Who are you and what are you doing in my driveway at three a.m.?” he shouts, and Logan tugs at my arm some more until I’m stepping out onto the driveway.

“Sorry to wake you, sir, but I’m just dropping your son off at home.”

My dad moves closer to us and the low lights make it hard to make out his expression. I can hear the anger in his breathing, though. “Blake? What the hell are you doing coming home this late, and where’s your car?”

“It’s back where the party was. I can take him to get it tomorrow if he needs me to,” Logan offers.

“Well then, you can keep him at your place for the night so it makes it easier. He’s not coming into my house like that,” he sneers.

“But sir, this is where he lives, isn’t it?”

“Not tonight,” my old man says between clenched teeth, looking me clear in the eyes. “And if you keep this up, you won’t be welcome back here ever again. Now you two get the hell off my lawn. I’d hate for your poor mother to wake up and see what a disgrace her son is.”

Logan grips me tighter, huffing. “What the hell am I supposed to do with you now?”

I slump, staring at the ground as everything around me drifts further away and I can no longer hold my eyes open. The last thing I hear Logan say is, “You gotta be fucking kidding me.”

Seven

Logan

Moaning comes from the ground and I open my eyes, glaring at the ceiling. Last night didn’t go at all as planned. Not one fucking bit. Jimmy came over for dinner and we picked Reese up from his house, driving around until we got word of a party happening close by. None of the people we knew would be there were really any of Blake’s crowd, and I didn’t expect him to show up.

He stepped out of his car like he was expecting something of me, giving me that needy stare, and I turned his ass away, not giving in like he was probably thinking I would. I didn’t need to look behind me to know he was sulking either. It didn’t matter how I made him feel outside, or in the house when I once again gave what he wanted to everyone else but him. But this fucker found a way to pay me back for it tenfold, by passing out as I was getting him into my car after his shithead dad told us to leave.

I got him to my house and he puked twice, nearly missing the toilet, and after getting him cleaned up and into one of my shirts, I got him settled on a makeshift bed on the floor. As soon as I shut off the lights and closed my damn eyes, he cried and muttered a bunch of random shit I couldn’t understand before crashing back out. Fucker talks a lot in his sleep too. That whole perfect image he’s held up in front of me for years has vastly faded in such a short amount of time.

Loud rustling of the sheets has me peeking over the edge of my bed. Blake’s flipping out, eyes roaming around the room in a state of panic as he looks down at his bare legs.

“You’re awake,” I say, catching him off guard.

His eyes look like they’re about to spill out of his head when he looks up at me. Hair a mess and sleep lines on his cheek, he almost looks appealing. Almost.

“It wasn’t a dream. I’m really here. In your house.”

“Yeah. I’d think you’d recognize it from last time.”

He rubs at his face, dragging the blanket back up his body. “I . . . things look a little different down here, and I think I might still be drunk.”

I make a sound with my throat. “Yeah, you sure did put a lot away last night. Didn’t know you had it in ya.”

Swallowing hard, he blushes. “I normally don’t drink that much. Don’t know what got into me.”

He wasn’t getting enough attention before is all. “I see. You ready to go get your car or should we wait some more?”