Walking home in the rain was a horrible, long, wet idea.

But Logan was so relieved to be away from Cassie that he didn’t even notice the weather. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket a half dozen times, but didn’t bother to take it out to see who it was. There was no way he was ruining his phone in the rain just so Cassie could give him some half-assed excuse for her lies.

He’d heard them all too many times from his dad.

Of course, tonight would be the night he finally told someone about that pain. He’d never even talked to Hideki about it. About growing up knowing that the man who was supposed to love you and be there for you was full of crap. Logan had learned how to see through the lies of others his entire life. All the fake happy smiles of people at school and at the restaurant were so clearly hiding something; he’d assumed everyone in that world of privilege was like that.

He thought he’d finally found someone who was real, despite the fake life she lived. It had taken a while to break down her joking and bossy defenses, but behind it she was glorious. She was funny and sweet and sexy and actually liked him, Logan Hanes, the poor kid without a father.

But all of that was a lie. He balled his fists into his jacket pockets, hunching against the biting rain. He should have known better. This is what he got for being stupid enough to trust someone like her. Walking home alone in the rain with his shoulder twinging because of an injury she’d fussed over while conveniently omitting the fact that she’d actually caused it nearly two months ago.

He would have felt sick if the burning rage would settle down.

Instead, he leaned into the rage, letting it warm him through the last mile of the dark and wet walk.

When he finally got home, it was much later than he realized. His aunt and uncle were waiting for him in the kitchen, their faces lined with worry.

“Logan!” cried his Aunt Caroline, shooting out of her chair when she heard the squelch of his shoes in the entryway. “What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he mumbled, unzipping his soaking jacket. He let it drop at his feet, but picked it up when he heard his aunt’s annoyed huff.

“I’ll get you a towel,” she said as she turned back toward the half bath right off the entryway. “Then you better call your mom.”

Logan’s burning rage was doused in an instant. Caroline grabbed the wet jacket out of his hand. He reached for the offered towel and rubbed it through his hair.

“Into the bathroom, everything off,” she said. “Now.” Her concerned tone from earlier had been replaced with an annoyance that was eerily like his mom’s.

Logan obeyed silently, stripping to his boxers and wrapping the towel around his waist. He handed off his clothes to his aunt, who was now giving him the stink eye.

Like this night could possibly get any worse.

“Call your mom,” she repeated sternly as she rummaged in his wet clothes to pull out his phone. He took it with a small smile, his eyebrows raised.

“I’m really sorry for not calling. I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

“Hmm,” was all she said as she looked him up and down, her eyebrows drawn together. As she made her way to the laundry room off the kitchen she called over her shoulder, “I’ll make you some hot chocolate so you don’t catch pneumonia.”

His heart lifted a little. She couldn’t be that mad at him if she was offering hot beverages.

At least Hideki was out and he’d only have his mom’s questions to deal with. He made his way to the office and put on dry clothes before sitting down on the futon with his phone in hand.

Fifteen missed calls. He sighed and scrolled through them but his heart dropped when he realized they were all from his mom. Worry about what was happening overrode the aching pang that Cassie hadn’t even tried to call him.

His mom answered on the first ring.

“What the hell, Logan!” She sounded furious. Worse than that time Hideki had convinced him to ride their bikes off a ramp into the lake when they were thirteen.

“I’m sorry?” he tried. What could she possibly have to be this mad about? Walking home in the rain hardly seemed to warrant this kind of anger.

“Cassie Hart? Really?”

A rock had suddenly taken the place of his stomach.

“Look it’s not—”

“I called Caroline when you didn’t pick up tonight.” He cringed as the heat in her voice singed even from through the phone. He had never heard her this angry. “She said you’ve been sneaking off for weeks. Weeks! Logan, I know you’re an adult now, and can make your own choices but I thought with everything going on you’d understand why it just isn’t possible for you two to—”

“It’s over, Mom!” he cried, his words catching in his throat. He wasn’t going to cry, not about Cassie and not in front of his mom. “She’s not who I thought she was. So don’t waste your breath. I should have listened to you.”

There was a weighty silence on the other end. He could hear her breathing, slightly out of breath. She’d been preparing for a fight, and now, faced with his anger and hurt, he knew she’d want to protect him. Soothe him.

“Are you okay, sweetie?” Her voice was quiet, and it pained him all that much more to hear the concern in it.

“Not really,” he said, deciding honesty was the best policy in this case. What good would it do to deny it? He was so pissed off and hurt, he wanted someone to take on a little of that with him. And his mom already hated the Harts.

“What happened?”

Logan hesitated. This was harder. Should he tell her about the accident? Would it change anything in terms of the lawsuit his mom was dealing with? He hadn’t been hit, and as angry as he was at Cassie for lying, he did think she was telling the truth about being sober that night. There was nothing for his mom to gain in her case by adding on more deceitful behavior from the Harts.

“She’s just…siding with her dad on the lawsuit,” he said finally. It was still technically the truth, he decided. Just not all of it.

“Oh, Logan, I wish I could say that I’m surprised.”

His anger flared at the insult, before he remembered he hated Cassie right now. He hated everything about her.

Though that also wasn’t all of the truth.

“I am sorry that you’re hurting,” his mom said. She did sound sorry. And tired. Guilt shot through Logan again at knowing his mom had lost sleep yet again over him. “Do you want to come home early?”

“No, I still have three more weeks at the restaurant. I’ve been making crazy good tips at the bar.”

There was silence again, and he wanted to say more. But how to explain what had happened? The hurt and anger were so raw; he just needed to be alone with the feelings for a while.

Besides, he had to start getting used to being alone without his mom there to help him.

“Okay, just let me know,” she said softly. “Good night, sweetie.”

“Night, Mom.”

He tossed the phone down and fell back into the futon. His heart felt raw, his body ached everywhere, and there was so much swirling around in his head that he didn’t think he’d be able to sleep for hours.

He turned over, settled in for a sleepless night, and passed out immediately.