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“Define turn.”

I roll my lips and debate on how much to say. Part of me would feel like a traitor if I told Logan’s story but on the flip side, everyone else already knows. Won't be long until someone lets it slip one of these days. Still, though… some things aren't my business to tell.

Fuck it.

“So Logan is adopted.”

Xed’s silent for a beat. “No shit?”

I nod like he can see me as I line up another shot. “Yep. And his parents are actually Devon’s. They're adopted brothers.”

For Logan’s sake, I leave out the part about them fucking. And also the part where I almost made them do it again last night in front of me. Damn church boy and his conscience.

“Wow,” Xed breathes. “When did all this come out?”

“Not sure how long Dev has known, but he told Logan last year in Vegas. The morning after we… you know.”

“Got drunk and tied the knot? Guess that explains why he left so suddenly. He's not handling it well, I take it?”

Is bending over for the guy you thought was your uncle handling it well?

Who am I to say?

“He's… handling it,” I answer vaguely, unsure of how else to answer the question. “All that aside, Devon's been his usual asshole self.”

“No surprise there.”

“Nope, and I uh… kinda beat the shit out of him with a dirt bike helmet.”

There's a sharp intake of breath in my ears. “You did what?”

Huffing a nervous laugh, I blurt out the entire story before I change my mind. “He was being a dick, so I knocked him in the head once or twice. Okay, three times but it’s fine! He’s fine. Just an itty bitty concussion, four stitches, and some missing back teeth. No biggie.”

Xed chokes on his own spit. “Salem.”

“What?” I glance around at the crowd like they’re judging me, too. “I said he's fine. He deserved it, Xed. He was talking shit and I had a helmet. It was kismet.”

“Tell that to the judge when he presses charges!”

“He won’t,” I snort, wrapping up filming as Taylor and Christian finish their final stunt. “Devon’s too proud to admit I laid him out. Plus, I might have broken his taillights, too, so the bike crash story we told the hospital tracks.”

My friend lets out a disbelieving laugh. “God, I miss everyone.”

Closing my eyes, I let those words settle into me. Xed and I had grown close over the two years we lived together and admittedly, living alone kind of sucks. I spend more time at Taylor and Christian's place than I do my own.

“We miss you too,” I say softly, wishing he were here. “But Arizona is good, right? You and Matty are good?”

“We're great. Better than we were. Healing takes time, you know?”

My eyes flick up to Taylor, watching him shake out his dark, purple tinted hair as he removes his helmet with a carefree grin. “Yeah. I know.”

I can still remember how Tay used to be in high school, stuck under his shitty dad's thumb. He'd been so full of anger and hatred. Even though it's been years, and he and Huck have moved on from their past, I still catch those moments of darkness in his eyes. The lingering regret and shame that never seem to disappear.

He jogs back toward Christian, helmet swinging at his side. For a second, when he catches me staring, his smile softens—just briefly. But in that blink of a moment, I see it.

Not the badass stunt bike rider or the snarky loudmouth.

Just the boy who used to organize sleepovers for us at Christian's because we didn't want to go home. Neither did Xed.