Page 40 of Forecheck
Knowing I wasn’t getting out of this without offering something to my brother, I mimicked his stance. “If I tell you, you have to promise not to freak out.” Logan nodded. “And you can’t tell Mom or Dad or Jess. I’m not ready yet.”
“Fine,” he conceded.
“I was on the phone with Brent Jean.”
His face slackened in shock. “Please tell me there’s some normal guy wandering around Wayne State with the same name as the pro hockey player.”
“Wish I could.”
“You’re dating Brent Jean,” he said incredulously. “Like…theBrent Jean.”
I sighed. “If we’re going to have this conversation, can you at least let me get another beer first?”
Logan nodded, following me into the kitchen. Fortified with alcohol, we sat side by side at the counter, and I told him the entire story. When I finished, Logan regarded me for several long moments, squinting and pursing his lips.
When he finally spoke, it wasn’t at all what I expected.
“Are you happy?”
“Wait…what?”
“Are. You. Happy?” he asked again, emphasizing every word.
“Yes,” I answered without hesitation. “But it’s still pretty new.”
“As long as you’re happy, I don’t care.” He clapped his hands together as if that settled the matter. “But if he makes you shed even one tear, I will rip him to shreds.
“Good luck with that,” I laughed. “But I’m surprised by how well you’re taking this. Just do me a favor and don’t tell anyone else. It’s too early, and I’m not ready.”
Logan mimed locking his mouth shut with a key. “My lips are sealed.”
My lips are sealedwas a crock of shit, and Logan cracked the next evening at Christmas dinner.
“I love having you all home like this,” Mom said when we’d settled at the table. Her gaze strayed to me. “Are you sure you’re happy in Detroit? You don’t want to come home?”
“I don’t know what I want yet,” I answered as honestly as I could. “I’ve still got a semester to figure it out.”
“Actually, you should start applying for jobs as soon as you get back to the city,” Logan said. “Make sure you send me your resume and stuff. I’ll put in a good word at the firm.”
Leave it to my brother to throw a wrench in all my plans to be vague about what came after I finished law school. “I…don’t think I’m going to move home after school.”
“I thought that was the plan,” Logan said, brows drawing together in confusion.
“It was at one point,” I said, shrugging. “Plans change.”
“This isn’t about Brent, is it?”
“Who’s Brent?” Jessica asked, Mom echoing the sentiment.
“I hate you,” I told my brother, pointing my fork menacingly at him. “But no, this isn’t about Brent.”
Not entirely anyway.
Logan sat forward, food forgotten as he opened his mouth to launch into what I was sure was a well-rehearsed speech he’d been preparing since the night before, but I held up my hand to stop him.
“Don’t even start with me,” I said. “It’s too soon to be making decisions about my future with him in mind. I know that. I’m looking at this logically. I’m about to graduate in the top five of my class. I’ll have my pick of firms across the country, not just in Michigan. I’m only trying to keep my options open for as long as possible.”
Logan sank back, placated for the moment. “You’ve always been smarter than me, kid. I just don’t want you to throw something you’ve been working so hard to achieve away for some guy.”
