The Mistake

“Things always look bigger to a kid.”


“I guess.” He shifts so that he can see my face. “Did you have a place like that in Hastings? Somewhere you escaped to when you were younger?”

“Sure. Do you know that park behind the farmer’s market? The one with the pretty gazebo?”

He nods.

“I used to go there all the time and read. Or to talk to people, if anyone was around.”

“The only people I’ve ever seen in that park are the old folks from the retirement home around the corner.”

I laugh. “Yeah, most of the ones I met were over sixty. They told the coolest stories about the ‘olden days.’” I chew on the inside of my cheek as a few not-so-cool stories come to mind. “Actually, sometimes the stories were incredibly sad. They talked a lot about their families never coming to visit.”

“That’s really depressing.”

“Yeah,” I murmur.

He lets out a ragged breath. “I’d be one of them.”

“You mean, not getting visits from your family? Aw, I don’t believe that.”

“No, I’d be the family member who doesn’t visit,” he answers in a strained voice. “Well, that’s not entirely true. I’d definitely visit my mom. But if my dad was in a home? I probably wouldn’t step foot in there.”

A wave of sadness washes over me. “You guys don’t get along?”

“Not really. He gets along better with a case of beer or a bottle of bourbon.”

That only makes me sadder. I can’t imagine not being close with my parents. As different as their personalities are, I have a strong bond with each of them.

Logan goes quiet again, and I don’t feel comfortable pushing for more details. If he wanted to tell me more, he would have done it.

Instead, I fill the awkward void by shifting the subject back to me. “I guess talking to those seniors was depressing sometimes, but I didn’t mind listening. I think that’s all they really wanted, anyway. For someone to listen.” I purse my lips. “It was around that time when I decided I wanted to be a therapist. I realized I had a talent for reading people. And listening to them without passing judgment.”

“Are you a psych major?”

“I will be. I didn’t declare a major this year because I couldn’t decide if I wanted to go the psychology route or the psychiatry one. But I decided I don’t want to go to med school. Plus, psychology opens up a lot of doors that psychiatry doesn’t. I could be a therapist, social worker, guidance counselor. That sounds so much more rewarding than prescribing pills.”

I lean my head on his shoulder as we gaze out at the small town that stretches beyond the tower. He’s right—Munsen’s not much to look at. So I focus on the pond instead, and picture Logan as a little kid. His skates flying across the ice, his blue eyes alight with wonder as he basks in the certainty that the pond is an ocean. That the world is big and bright and teeming with possibility.

His tone becomes thoughtful. “So you have a talent for reading people, huh? Can you read me?”

I smile. “I haven’t quite figured you out yet.”

His husky laughter warms my cheek. “I haven’t quite figured me out yet either.”





12




Grace


“Confidence,” Ramona declares.

I’m sporting a dubious look as I watch her roll a sheer black stocking up her thigh. I had just asked her what she thinks the biggest turn-on for guys is when it comes to sex, and rather than the crude response I’d been expecting, she caught me off-guard with her sincerity.

“Really?”

“Oh yeah.” She nods rapidly. “Men appreciate a woman who’s confident and secure with her sexuality. And a take-charge attitude doesn’t hurt, either. They like it when you make the first move.”

“I suck at making the first move,” I grumble.

She goes to her closet and rummages through the bottom of it, then emerges with a pair of black heels. “Look, you like him, right?”

“Of course.”

“And you want to have sex with him?”

This time I’m slower to answer. Do I want to have sex with him? Yes? I’m not against the idea, and it’s not like I’m still a virgin because I’m saving myself for the man I’m going to marry, or even the love of my life. I know sex is a monumental milestone for some girls, but personally, I don’t think losing my virginity is going to be the most important thing I do in my life.

I’m attracted to Logan, yes, and if we end up having sex tonight, great. If we don’t, that’s fine, too. After the way we connected at the water tower the other night, I’m more interested in dating him than getting naked.

Though getting naked, or at least partially naked, is definitely on the agenda for tonight.