Who's Watching Whom?

Chapter 1

Who’s Watching Whom?

By J. Tomas

It was the first Saturday night of the summer, and the last place Logan Bradley wanted to be was stuck at home babysitting his little brother. Logan was a senior now, or would be when school started up again in September. He had a social life, damn it!

But his mother was adamant—she had a date with the ladies from her book club and didn’t want to hear his lip. “One evening, that’s all I ask,” she said as she stood in the foyer, fluffing her hair in the mirror beside the empty coat rack. “Is that too much, Logan? Can’t you at least give me that?”

“Mom.” Logan hated the whine in his voice, but it seemed whenever he spoke to her any more, it was there. “This is the first night of summer. Of freedom. I’m a senior now. Chad and I wanted to go out.“

From the dining room, Logan could hear the clatter of silverware on a plate as his brother Dylan finished his dinner. His mother sighed, exasperated. She gave Logan a warning look from the corner of her eye. “Don’t start with me tonight, Logan. You saw Chad this afternoon. You don’t have to spend every waking hour with him, you know.”

Crossing his arms over his chest, Logan leaned back against the wall and glared at himself in the mirror, his reflection half-hidden by his mother’s curly hair. “He’s my boyfriend, Mom.”

“And you have all summer to hang out,” she shot back. She shifted her gaze to meet his in the mirror, and a faint smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. When she spoke again, her voice was soft. “Give me tonight, please. Next year this time, you’ll be moving out and you know I can’t leave Dylan on his own yet.”

Logan rolled his eyes, embarrassed. “Mom.”

She turned and touched his cheek with one cool hand. When he pulled away, her hand dropped to his shoulder to give it a tender squeeze. “You’re so grown up. I’m going to miss this.”

“Mom, please. I haven’t left yet.” Logan shrugged her off.

Lately she’d been getting all sappy on him, going on and on about how old he was now, only one year left before graduation and then college…the thought of moving out on his own for the first time in his life terrified Logan, though he’d never admit it. He didn’t need her constant little reminders to scare him. This was his last free summer, he knew. Next year he’d be busy working for a little spending cash once he moved onto campus, whatever college he ended up attending, and there would be little or no time to spend with Chad.

Who might end up going to a different school than Logan, if they both didn’t get into State. Or might get a different roommate, if their housing request wasn’t honored. Or—

Stop. Logan shook his head and pushed away from the wall, as if he could push away from those troubling concerns as easily. He didn’t want to think about college, or summer jobs, or even graduation. He wanted a carefree evening spent cruising around the city with his boyfriend’s hand in his, the car stereo so loud the windows shook from the bass. He wanted a few hours parked in a deserted lot, the two of them getting frisky in the back seat of the new car Chad got as an early graduation present. They hadn’t christened it yet, and Chad kept promising to take Logan on a wild ride.

Instead he was stuck here, babysitting a ten year old kid who still liked to watch Pokémon cartoons before going to bed. Hadn’t Logan been old enough at that age to stay home by himself?

As his mother recited a list of things she wanted done by the time she got home, Logan only half listened. His mind was on his boyfriend—the gorgeous, perfect, sexy Chad Adams, the man of his dreams…