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“I’m not going.”
“Of course you are.”
“No, I’m not,” Veronica finished loading the dishwasher and slammed it shut so it would latch. She didn’t understand why she was the only one of her four roommates who could load and turn it on. They all ate, didn’t they?
“Veronica, it’s our ten-year high school reunion.”
“Precisely my point!” She pounded the knob to get the dishwasher to start and walked towards her closet of a bedroom so she could hear him better.
“And it’s Christmas!” Logan added enthusiastically.
“No Neptune Christmas this year,” Veronica reminded him. “I’m saving my money for books and Dad needs new brakes on his car.”
“Why doesn’t he just drive your car?”
“Transmission is shot,” Veronica plopped on her tiny bed and shut her eyes. One of her roommates, probably Azalea, was entertaining and the smell of the candles was giving her a headache.
“Come on, Ronnie, you have to come! Don’t you wanna show off to everyone that treated you like shit how you’re a big deal at Columbia Law?”
“I couldn’t care less what the scumsuckers we went to high school with think about me,” she snapped. “And don’t call me Ronnie.”
Logan stopped digging through his pantry in shock. “I’ve been calling you Ronnie since we were five.”
“And ever since you learned to say Veronica, Ronnie has been strictly forbidden.”
“What about Lilly‘s Christmas party?” Logan baited her. “She’s having it at Celeste’s this year.”
“Why, where’s the mother from hell going to be?”
He frowned at the expiration date on a bag of pretzels. “She’s already in Florence with husband number three.”
“Did I meet this one? He hit on you at Lilly’s birthday, right?”
“That was husband number two. I saw him at Target with Casey Gant, by the way,” Logan crunched his sourdough pretzel loudly. “Kinda gave me the creeps.”
“Since when do you go to Target?
“It’s a requirement when you buy a house. Property taxes, HOAs, Target and Bed Bath and Beyond. It’s a package deal
“Next time you’re in a Target, I want a picture with the Bullseye statue.”
“Pics or it didn’t happen? Really Mars?” Logan surveyed the contents of his fridge and decided on takeout for lunch.
“It’s what all the kids are doing,” she responded. Sniffing the air, Veronica groaned. “Dammit.”
“What?”
“Azalea’s smoking pot. Again.”
“I thought you guys gave her an ultimatum.”
“We did, three against one. But her one is worth more than our three because she’s the super’s daughter so she won.”
“And you’re planning to stay there through the holidays? What’s the fun in that?”
“Are you trying to sell me on our reunion being fun? Or is the fun I’d be missing out on travelling at the busiest time of the year?”
Logan opened his menu drawer and surveyed his options. “I'm trying to convince you to come home for the holidays! Trees, carolling, movies, cookies!”
“Logan—“
“Georgetown Cupcakes has the peppermint and white chocolate peppermint cupcakes again this year,” he knew he was baiting her again but he didn’t care. Logan missed Veronica terribly and the thought of spending the holidays without her was completely horrifying.
Veronica made a face. The pot smell was really giving her a headache. She was going to have to take a walk when she got off the phone. “Logan, I really want to, but I just can’t afford it.”
“I have a gazillion frequent flyer miles. I can send you a ticket for free.”
“No, I don’t feel right about that.”
“I haven’t even bought your Christmas present yet!”
“You’ve always been a last minute shopper,” Veronica teased. “But no, I can’t take all your miles.”
“What am I gonna do with them, go to Hawaii?”
“You were just in Hawaii!”
“Yes, but that was for work.”
“And what? Frequent flyer miles are only for pleasure?”
“There’s at least ten jokes I could make right now, but I’ll pass and email you a ticket instead,” Logan opened his laptop.
“Logan….” Veronica hesitated. She really did want to go home. Seeing her dad and Logan both over the holidays would make her happy. And getting away from Azalea and the pot would be fabulous.
“You’ve got mail,” Logan told her a few minutes later.
“Thank you, Logan,” Veronica said gratefully.
They hung up and Logan quickly ordered a sandwich and salad with an app. He grabbed his wallet and keys and left to pick up his food. On his way out the door, he glanced at a photo on the wall of he and Veronica at their college graduation. Logan could’ve gone anywhere but he’d picked Hearst because Veronica had gotten a scholarship there. He wanted to be wherever she was. That hadn’t changed.
They were in high school when Logan realized he had a thing for Veronica. They were seniors when he realized that thing might be love. They were at Hearst when he decided he was going to tell her.
Sophomore year.
Then junior.
Then senior.
Only he never had the guts, and if he gave off any clues as to how he really felt about his BFF, Veronica was completely oblivious.
He’d waited in high school, patiently, quietly, while she dated Duncan, then Troy, then Duncan again. Logan had not kept his mouth shut when Veronica started dating that pervy sheriff’s deputy Leo, which resulted in the biggest fight they’d ever had. It took three weeks for Veronica to come to her senses and dump the idiot, and when she showed up on Logan’s doorstep, he let her in without saying a word. He hadn’t commented on one of her boyfriends since, even though the losers she’d dated in college had left a lot to be desired. I mean Piz? Really? What the fuck kind of name is Piz?!
But Logan was tired of waiting. He was tired of hearing about the boring guys Veronica met in law school. He was tired of flighty girls only interested in his money.
He was going to tell her on Christmas, when the lights were off and the tree was twinkling and Keith had snuck off to bed. But for him to tell her how he felt, she had to actually be in Neptune.
Twenty-nine hundred dollar plane ticket? Done!
Traditional gag gift? Done!
Planning out what he was going to say to her? That one needed a little more work. But Logan knew he’d figure it out.
Eventually.
By Christmas Eve at the very latest.
“Squeeeeeeeee!” That was Lilly’s reaction when she found out Veronica would be home for her party.
“Geez, Lills.”
“I have this fabulous dress you can wear,” Veronica could hear the ice clinking in Lilly’s glass and knew she was tipsy. “And Miguel has an older brother. Fernando! He’s divorced, but he’s still hot, and……”
Veronica let Lilly carry on while she packed. She had an exam the next morning and then her flight was at two. She’d decided not to tell her dad and just surprise him instead. Logan would be picking her up at the airport, and she planned to take him to dinner at Mama Leone’s as a thank you for the plane ticket.
She was honestly thrilled to be going home. She missed her dad and Logan and Wallace and even Lilly. They weren’t as close as they’d been in high school but Veronica still considered Lilly a good friend.
“I appreciate it but I don’t need to borrow a dress,” Veronica told Lilly when she could get a word in edgewise.
“Are you sure?” Lilly asked. “Do you have any fancy dresses?”
“Of course.”
“Ones that you wouldn’t wear to a funeral or a law school mixer?”
Veronica frowned at her closet. She did in fact have two dresses. Black and navy, tasteful and boring.
“Nothing that has to be taped to me,” Veronica relented.
“Hello?” Logan glanced at the time on his phone. It was nearly three am.
“I need an Uber,” Dick slurred.
“So call an Uber.”
“App keeps crashing,”
“What makes you think it won’t crash on my phone?” Logan asked, yawning.
“That’s why I called you.”
Logan swore under his breath. “Where are you?”
“Sunnydale.”
“Please tell me you’re joking.”
Dick blinked a few times. “I think that’s what it says? Let me send a photo.”
Logan waited for the text and shook his head when it arrived. Dick Casablancas, multimillionaire, was at the Sundown Motel, a dive outside of town that was even seedier than the Camelot.
“I’ll be there in twenty,” Logan texted him back.
Logan handed Dick a large coffee when he got in the car.
“Dude,” he plopped into the seat and took a sip. “My head feels like a rock hammer.”
“Jackhammer,” Logan muttered, sipping his own coffee. He wasn’t betting on getting back to sleep before dawn. “Your place, or are you crashing at the Grand?
“My place. Wait, what day is it? They’re fumigating on Tuesday.”
“It’s Friday.”
“My place. Wait, was it last Tuesday, or this Tuesday, or?”
“How long were you supposed to be out of your place?” Logan’s stomach growled. He should’ve gotten a bagel.
“Twenty-four hours.”
“You’re fine either way,” Logan headed in the direction of his best friend’s house.
Dick drank his coffee in silence for a few minutes then sighed. “I can’t believe she’s married.”
“So that explains why you were outside a seedy motel at three am,” Logan snickered. “Did the husband catch you?”
“No, he knew I was there.”
Logan wasn’t caffeinated enough for DickSpeak. “I’m confused.”
He sighed again and sat up a little. “Lana’s an escort. A great one.”
“Great escorts don’t work out of the Sundown. I’m not even sure mediocre escorts work out of the Sundown.”
“Trust me, she’s worth every penny. I always buy out the night, ya know? We have fun, get drunk, maybe smoke a bowl and get it on,” Dick shook his hand back and forth since he was too drunk to shake his head. “Turns out Lana’s pimp is her husband, and he didn’t like me being a returning customer. I grabbed the booze I brought on my way out, but I couldn’t find my car. So I drank, passed out, here I am.”
Logan took a minute to process. “You liked this girl enough to pay for a whole night with her? More than once?”
“She’s good at giving head,” Dick said before passing out.
Logan cringed. Not the lasting mental picture he wanted at almost four am.
Once Dick was settled on his living room couch with a bottle of water, an ice pack for the bruised knuckles Logan hadn’t noticed before and a barf bucket, Logan settled in one of the recliners they usually used for video games. He could’ve gone home, but he was honestly beat so he put his feet up, pulled a blanket over his legs and passed out.
Logan slept until the sound of Dick puking woke him. He went to the kitchen to make coffee and was surprised to see Dick follow him.
“Did you mention Ronnie last night?” Dick asked, rubbing his eyes.
“She’s coming home for like three weeks. I got her a ticket.”
“Whoa,” Dick sat on a barstool and waited to get his equilibrium. “She let you buy her a ticket?”
“She thinks I used my air miles.”
Dick would’ve whistled had he not felt so shitty, so he could only manage a smirk. “Can you wait until the reunion to tell her so I can watch?”
“She says she’s not going.”
“Bullshit,” Dick put his head on the table. “Remind me not to drink like this ever again.”
Logan laughed, because Dick would likely be drunk again that very night. “I’ll get right on that.”
“Dude, you should bring her,” Dick slowly put his head up again. “Madison would freak.”
“Why do I care what Madison does? She’s your ex.”
“She dated me to get to you.”
“Yeah, everyone wanted to date the son of the movie star who murdered his wife,” Logan muttered.
“I was your friend before that,” Dick reminded him. That much was true, they’d been friends almost as long as Logan had known Veronica. Since elementary school.
“Here,” he handed Dick a steaming cup of coffee. “I’m gonna head out.”
“Thanks for last night,” Dick said gratefully.
“You’re welcome.”
“Think about the reunion!” Dick called to his back.