Page 30 of The Player Next Door

“Shoot.”

Clare folded her legs under her. “How did you know my last name? In your apartment, you called me Clare Thompson, but I don’t think I ever told you my last name.”

It seemed like Logan was carefully considering his words. “Mailboxes. Yours isn’t too far from mine.”

It was plausible, but still surprising. He turned to look at her. “Okay, so once and for all, explain Quest for Sulzuris to me. You’ve explained the basics of what it’s about, but how do you play?”

Night had fully fallen and the solar-powered lanterns scattered around the rooftop deck kindled to life by the time she finished explaining. To her surprise, Logan had listened.

And asked questions. And seemed interested.

They had next to nothing in common, but as the night wore on, Clare found herself still talking to him. And talking.

And talking.

She listened to him explain why he loved sports so much, and how he’d decided that business was a better major for him than art. He patiently explained the stock market to her twice—something she’d always been afraid to ask Aunt Peggy about—before she nodded, pretending that it made sense and wasn’t just a figment of the world’s collective financial imagination.

Clare had stopped by his place earlier with this idea to prove to herself they really were just friends, but she was quickly realizing that was stupid. She had thought this would clarify where they stood, but instead she was just sinking deeper into confusion. It didn’t help that she couldn’t seem to stop flirting with him, like there was a disconnect between her brain and her mouth.

The rest of the residents had long since abandoned the roof and the moon was tracking across the sky when a comfortable silence fell between them. The wine was long gone, as were the rolls, and only a few bites of cheese remained. Clare genuinely liked spending time with Logan, and she got the sense he wasn’t like this with many people. To be perfectly honest, that felt good.

Clare rolled onto her side to get more comfortable, resting her cheek on her pressed-together hands. “You mentioned that your dad is retired, but not anything about your mom,” she observed. Her voice was rough from overuse, threatening to crack on her second-to-last syllable.

Logan rolled over to face her. “That’s because she died when I was three,” he said softly.

“Oh,” she said, equally quiet. “I’m sorry I asked like that.”

“There’s no way you’d have known. I don’t really remember her much. It was a freak thing, an aneurysm in her sleep. Dad has lots of pictures though, and he talks about her sometimes. Less now, but a lot when I was little. Made me feel like I knew her.”

Clare’s heart softened and ached. She could picture him, a little boy with big blue eyes and dimpled elbows, sitting on his dad’s lap listening to stories about his mother. “I’m really sorry you went through that,” she said. “Even if you don’t remember it, it must have been traumatic.”

“Yeah.” He didn’t say anything else and she didn’t press.

“What about you? I told you my foundational trauma. Your turn. What’s a thing that made you who you are?”

“You’re really into even-stevens, aren’t you?” Clare said with a jaw-cracking yawn. “Mine’s not nearly on the same level as yours.”

“Try me.”

She thought for a bit. “Okay, I’ve got one. But I feel bad comparing it to yours.”

“It’s not about comparison,” Logan argued. “It’s about me learning who you really are.”

Clare had never thought Logan would want to knowwho she really was, but it wasn’t like she had the willpower to refuse. “When I was fourteen, the hottest guy in school asked me to Homecoming, saying he wanted to meet me there. Or so I thought. I got a note in my locker from him, and I just assumed it was real. Even though we’d never spoken outside of the time he asked for my help during geometry. But I was stupid, and naive, and thought I’d really made an impression on him. So, I got dolled up and went.”

Logan sucked in a breath. “I think I know where this is going.”

“You probably don’t. It was a prank, yeah, but not by Ryan. He had nothing to do with it. Even danced with me when he found out about it, but it was out of pity, so it was pretty awkward all around.”

“Who was it?”

Clare turned to her back, her cheeks heating at the memory even if the sting of it was mostly gone. “Some guys I played Sulzuriswith and thought were my friends. Turns out, they were assholes who wanted to teach me a lesson.”

“What the fuck were you supposed to learn from that?”

“Unclear. Part of it was that one of them had asked me to Homecoming, but I just didn’t think of him like that, so I said no. But for the rest of them, I think it was halfgirls shouldn’t be comfortable in gaming spacesand halfdon’t forget nerd girls are below nerd guys in the social hierarchy. Mostly just your garden-variety misogyny.”

“Jesus, I’m sorry.”