Fic: Jett Stetson's One Hundred Percent Foolproof Heartbreak Cure (Patent Pending) [2/5]
Title: Jett Stetson's One Hundred Percent Foolproof Heartbreak Cure (Patent Pending)
Fandom: Big Time Rush
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Logan knows that a relationship with an irresponsible (and closeted) narcissist like Dak Zevon is a bad idea. So why can't he walk away?
Notes: Thanks to queenitsy for the beta!
Chapter One
Dak’s day might have started out good, but it seemed determined not to stay there. The press junket went on for a good hour after his smile started to feel strained and the questions went from inane to unspeakably stupid. Then he and Jett were turned loose, only to be hurried over to the set of Tinseltown Talk, TV’s premiere gossiptainment show, to film an interview.
Chloe LeChloe met them there. She played Jett’s love interest in the film, a spunky-yet-innocent girl from the French village that Dak's and Jett’s characters’ squadron saved. This was her first Hollywood film after a few years of Very Important black-and-white French films about longing where everyone smoked a lot, and already Hollywood was buzzing over her. Dak personally knew several screenwriters who were inserting spunky French protagonists into their chick flicks and romcoms. The fact that Chloe was American by birth and had lived in Iowa until she was 14 didn’t seem to make much difference to them.
Jett, true to form, had promptly started dating her. Which was why, after a few desultory questions about the movie and basic training, Tinseltown Talk host Brett Badgers completely tuned out Dak in favor of interviewing the lovebirds.
“So, Jett and Chloe, I hear sparks flew between you two on the set?” he asked, as if Jett and Chloe weren’t sitting practically in each other’s laps on the interviewee couch, holding hands. Dak perched uncomfortably on Jett’s other side and tried not to look at his watch.
Chloe blushed on cue, a skill that was only useful for girls. “Oh, mai oui,” she admitted. “Jett was, how you say, trés charmant. Eet was like I was not acting at all when I looked into hees eyes.” She gazed up at Jett.
Dak tried not to snort. Funny how Chloe didn’t seem to have an accent when there were no cameras or reporters around.
Badgers turned to Jett. “Jett, you’ve dated every single one of your costars in the past. Is this different for you?”
“I sure hope so, Brett,” Jett said with marvelous vulnerability. “I’ve had a lot of heartbreak in the past, but this time I think my little snugglebunny here might just be the one.” He squeezed Chloe’s shoulders.
It went on like that for the rest of the interview. Dak managed to answer a couple of questions, but for the most part he sat there and resented his costars. After all, he was first-billed - shouldn’t he be the focus of the interview?
It wasn’t that he begrudged Jett his happiness. Because that was the thing - this wasn’t a dramatic bout of fake dating, which was what Jett’s romances with his costars usually were. Jett and Chloe really were an item, and Jett really did seem crazy about her. Dak didn’t expect it to last any more than any of Jett’s previous relationships had lasted, but beneath all the cooing and the exaggerated French accenting and the snugglebunnying, there was genuine romance. Jett really could put his arm around the girl he loved and tell the world, “This is the person who makes me happy. This is who I belong to.”
Not that Dak wanted to do that or anything. He didn’t even like girls!
Still, he sulked.
After the interview wrapped, he washed his face, waved goodbye to Jett and Chloe, and got into the back of his car. Laura was waiting for him with a protein smoothie, which he accepted gratefully. He’d only managed to snatch a few bites of lunch during makeup for the interview, and he was starving.
“Where to, boss?” his driver Carl asked.
“Home,” Dak said. He looked at Laura. “Home, right? Please say home.”
She shook her head. “Sorry. We’ve got radio interviews until three and then an appearance at the Veterans’ Center.”
So no real break. Dak took a sip of his smoothie and sighed. “Do we at least have time to grab a pizza? I’m in the mood for pizza.”
“You can’t have pizza, you have a shirtless photoshoot tomorrow,” Laura said. “Wait until after the premiere. Which is actually what I need to talk to you about.”
“Post-premiere pizza?” Dak asked. “I’m thinking mushrooms and spinach, but we can get something else if you want.”
“Focus,” she said. “We need to decide who you’re taking to the premiere before I fly back east for Thanksgiving. Jett will be with Chloe and they’ll get a lot of attention, so you’ll need someone good if you want to turn any heads.”
Dak really didn’t want to deal with this right now, especially since he had no Thanksgiving plans to speak of besides a late night appearance the night before. “Just get me the biggest rising starlet under thirty.”
“That’s Chloe, Camille, or that eight-year-old who plays the lead in Princess Buttercup Saves the Ponies,” Laura said, ticking them off on her fingers.
“Is she seeing anyone?”
“Dak.” Laura was clearly not in a joking mood. “This is serious.”
Dak dropped his head back against the seat and shut his eyes. “Is it really? It’s not like I’m actually going to be dating my date. Just pick out a supermodel who’s four inches shorter than me like you always do.”
“Not this time, kid,” Laura said. “It’s gotta be someone good.”
Something in her voice made Dak open his eyes and look at her. “Why? What’s the big deal about this premiere?”
She met his gaze steadily. “There’s a blind item.”
“Oh, for the love of - ”
“What former teen heartthrob would rather be cozying up to his male costars than the vampy models he’s seen with?” Laura read off her phone.
Dak rolled his eyes. “That could be Jett.”
“Which isn’t actually any other better for you, since you’re his male costar.”
“Or it could be plenty of other guys!”
“Vampy, Dak,” Laura said. “They’re targeting you.”
He shook his head. “I’m discreet. You know I am. There’s always gonna be gay rumors about me, just because I can sing and dance and twelve-year-old girls think I’m dreamy.”
“I know. But it doesn’t help that you haven’t had a serious relationship for a while,” she said.
Dak blinked in confusion. He hadn’t had a serious relationship in years, not since he’d landed his Varsity Vampire role and broken up with his then-boyfriend before any photos could surface. The steadiest thing he’d had since Trevor had slammed his way out the door had been Logan, and even then the steady thing wasn’t the relationship but Logan himself. But why would sex on the regular with an ex-boybander help him fight gay rumors?
Then he realized what Laura meant. “Oh, no. I’m not playing that game again.”
“Look, just call Jo and see if she wants to go out on a fake date with you,” she said. “I hear she just booked a sitcom. She probably wants the buzz.”
“No way. Jo’s way too wholesome. Fake dating her felt so sleazy the last time,” Dak protested. “Plus, her dad scares me.”
“Okay, how about Lucy Stone?” Laura asked.
“She scares me.”
“Camille?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Um, I don’t know if you heard, but she’s kind of seeing someone. I sort of did a matchmaking thing there, it was a big deal...”
“You don’t have to really fake date her,” Laura said. “Just, you know, be seen getting coffee with her, plant a few photos of her looking distressed and James looking angry in the tabloids. Make it look like there might be something going on. They’re your friends! I’m sure they’d be happy to do you a favor.”
“Friends don’t ask friends to pretend to be having an affair with you!” Dak said. “James and Camille are good together. I’m not messing with that, real or fake.” He swirled the straw around in his smoothie, breaking up a frozen chunk. “Besides, Logan would kill me.”
“Who?”
“The guy I’m seeing. Sort of seeing. It’s complicated.” Dak looked out the window. “Anyway, he’s James’s best friend. And he doesn’t like all this...pageantry.”
“Well, that’s too bad for him, because pageantry is kind of your job,” Laura snapped. “And you have to let me do mine, which is keeping you from looking bad.”
“Oh, so now being gay is bad?” Dak demanded.
“In Hollywood, yeah!” Laura replied. “It’s not enough to go out there and say your lines and smile pretty for the camera. You know that. You’ve got to play the game, kid, and part of that game means giving the world a red-blooded, heterosexual heartthrob for their action flicks. I’m sure this Logan of yours is a real prize, but if he’s keeping you from making the image you want, you should seriously consider whether those morning quickies are worth not getting your footprints on Hollywood Boulevard.”
But that was the whole point of what he had with Logan - to be able to fool around with someone great without losing his shot at mainstream stardom. If he had to sneak around and hide his sexuality and still couldn’t transition out of one-note teen heartthrob status, he might as well go ahead and throw his career away by dating Logan publicly. If Logan would even have him.
Dak wasn’t willing to make that compromise, though, not yet. He’d beaten the odds once by becoming famous; he could do it again by having it all.
“Just get me a model to walk the red carpet with,” he said.
“Dak...”
“Not this time, okay?” he said. “We can talk up my work with veterans or all the stunts I did, fight the gay rumors that way. And I’ll figure out some big romantic drama for the tabloids. Just...not now.”
Laura opened her mouth to say something, paused, then closed it. “Fine,” she said. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Dak leaned against the door and watched the tinted windows go by in the opposite direction. He’d been able to make audiences believe he was a basketball-playing vampire, a rookie cop, and a friend to giant transforming robots. Surely he could make them believe he was one hundred percent straight without having an actual fake girlfriend on his arm.
He hoped.
*
Logan was so buried in schoolwork that when the phone rang he yelped and dropped his textbook on the floor. Heart racing, he grabbed for his phone. “Hello?”
“Come over.”
Logan sighed. “Dak, I can’t. I didn’t do any work last night or this morning, and now I’m totally behind.”
“Who cares? Come over.”
“I care!” Logan said, bristling. “You know how important this semester is for my med school applications, and…”
“Okay, okay, fine. Bring your stuff over here, then. You can study here.”
“Yeah, and how’s that gonna work out?” Logan asked, picking up his textbook and finding his place again. “I bring the textbook to bed with me? I don’t think I’m going to retain a lot about neurobiology that way.”
“We don’t have to screw around,” Dak said. “Or we can do it later. Whatever. Just…come over.”
Logan paused. He’d never gone to Dak’s without ending up in bed with him almost immediately. Sure, they did other things - eat takeout, watch TV, bicker - but never until after a roll in the hay. Was Dak seriously inviting him over for something other than a booty call?
He really shouldn’t go. Even if Dak kept his hands off, studying anywhere but Logan’s ergonomic setup resulted in a 7.9% loss of fact retention. Logan knew; he’d tracked it. But Dak sounded…well, a bit forlorn.
“Come on,” Dak said when Logan didn’t answer. “We can order from that grody barbecue place you like. We can even watch hockey. I think. Is it hockey season?”
Logan fought a smile. “Yeah, it’s hockey season.”
“Well, there you go. Come on. Please?”
For the life of him, Logan couldn’t remember Dak ever saying “please” before.
“...Okay, fine,” he said. “Just let me pack up my stuff.” He started packing up his desk, glancing at his To Do list to see what he needed to bring with him. His gaze fell upon #6: Cancel with Chris. “Oh, and I have to call and cancel this thing on Friday.”
“What thing?”
“Just a date.” Logan searched the desk for his calculator, didn’t spot it, and bent to check under the desk. There was silence on the other end of the line. “Hello?”
“You have a date on Friday?” Dak asked.
“Yeah, this guy in my neurobiology class. I kind of said yes by accident.” There was the calculator, behind the leg of his desk chair. Logan stuffed it in his bag.
“How do you say yes by accident?”
“Well, I didn’t realize he’d been asking me out until he’d already…look, does it matter?” Logan asked. “I’m canceling it anyway.”
“Fine. Do you need directions here?” Dak asked. “I would want you to accidentally end up at some other guy’s house.”
Logan frowned. “What’s with the attitude?”
“I don’t have an attitude.”
“Well, you’re acting all weird and jealous.”
Dak laughed. “Trust me. I’m not jealous.”
That stung. “You know, because you’re the one who’s always gallivanting around town with supermodels, and I never say anything about it,” Logan pointed out.
“Like hell you don’t!” Dak retorted. “You give me crap about fake dating all the time!”
“Well, yes, okay, I do actually do that,” Logan admitted. “But that’s because it’s fake, not because it’s dating. At least mine was an actual accidental date.”
Dak groaned. “Oh, don’t start this again. Not today. You have no idea what I - look, I’m not coming out just to appease your delicate sensibilities, Logan, so stop asking.”
“It has nothing to do with me!” Logan said. “I don’t need you to dedicate your Teen Choice Awards to me or whatever. I just don’t believe in living a lie.”
“Well, good for you that you’re not,” Dak said. “I’m an actor, though. Living a lie is what I do.”
“Yeah, well, even Camille can tell the difference between acting and real life,” Logan muttered.
“Oh, I’m sorry I’m not your high school beard…”
“You leave her out of this!”
“You brought her up!”
“And you’re making me want to go on that date,” Logan said, glaring at his To Do list.
“Fine.”
Logan blinked. “What?”
“Go,” Dak said. “It’s not like we’re actually dating, right? Go on a date. Enjoy. Have fun with your little doctor friend.”
“Pre-med undergrad.”
“Whatever.”
Logan frowned. “Fine. I will. And I’m sure we’ll have a very nice time.”
“Good, I’m glad.”
“I know you’re glad.”
“I know you know I’m glad.”
“I know you know I know you - ” Logan stopped himself. “I’m hanging up now.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
“Fi - ” Logan stopped himself again and hung up, then chucked the phone at the bed. He took a breath and tried to calm himself.
So what if Dak was being a jerk? That wasn’t Logan’s problem - it wasn’t like he was Dak’s boyfriend or anything, as Dak had made patently clear. Not that he even wanted to be - he had enough trouble dealing with Dak’s issues as things were.
No. He was going to go on a date with Chris on Friday, and he was going to have a good time. And more importantly, he wouldn’t have to head to the restaurant after midnight via the backroads so that no one saw them together, or talk about Chris in code to his friends in case paparazzi were lurking. He could have a nice, normal evening - and maybe even a nice, normal relationship.
“So there, Dak Zevon,” he said, and turned back to his books.
But try as he might, he didn’t get a lick of studying done for the rest of the night.
Chapter Three
Fandom: Big Time Rush
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Logan knows that a relationship with an irresponsible (and closeted) narcissist like Dak Zevon is a bad idea. So why can't he walk away?
Notes: Thanks to queenitsy for the beta!
Chapter One
Dak’s day might have started out good, but it seemed determined not to stay there. The press junket went on for a good hour after his smile started to feel strained and the questions went from inane to unspeakably stupid. Then he and Jett were turned loose, only to be hurried over to the set of Tinseltown Talk, TV’s premiere gossiptainment show, to film an interview.
Chloe LeChloe met them there. She played Jett’s love interest in the film, a spunky-yet-innocent girl from the French village that Dak's and Jett’s characters’ squadron saved. This was her first Hollywood film after a few years of Very Important black-and-white French films about longing where everyone smoked a lot, and already Hollywood was buzzing over her. Dak personally knew several screenwriters who were inserting spunky French protagonists into their chick flicks and romcoms. The fact that Chloe was American by birth and had lived in Iowa until she was 14 didn’t seem to make much difference to them.
Jett, true to form, had promptly started dating her. Which was why, after a few desultory questions about the movie and basic training, Tinseltown Talk host Brett Badgers completely tuned out Dak in favor of interviewing the lovebirds.
“So, Jett and Chloe, I hear sparks flew between you two on the set?” he asked, as if Jett and Chloe weren’t sitting practically in each other’s laps on the interviewee couch, holding hands. Dak perched uncomfortably on Jett’s other side and tried not to look at his watch.
Chloe blushed on cue, a skill that was only useful for girls. “Oh, mai oui,” she admitted. “Jett was, how you say, trés charmant. Eet was like I was not acting at all when I looked into hees eyes.” She gazed up at Jett.
Dak tried not to snort. Funny how Chloe didn’t seem to have an accent when there were no cameras or reporters around.
Badgers turned to Jett. “Jett, you’ve dated every single one of your costars in the past. Is this different for you?”
“I sure hope so, Brett,” Jett said with marvelous vulnerability. “I’ve had a lot of heartbreak in the past, but this time I think my little snugglebunny here might just be the one.” He squeezed Chloe’s shoulders.
It went on like that for the rest of the interview. Dak managed to answer a couple of questions, but for the most part he sat there and resented his costars. After all, he was first-billed - shouldn’t he be the focus of the interview?
It wasn’t that he begrudged Jett his happiness. Because that was the thing - this wasn’t a dramatic bout of fake dating, which was what Jett’s romances with his costars usually were. Jett and Chloe really were an item, and Jett really did seem crazy about her. Dak didn’t expect it to last any more than any of Jett’s previous relationships had lasted, but beneath all the cooing and the exaggerated French accenting and the snugglebunnying, there was genuine romance. Jett really could put his arm around the girl he loved and tell the world, “This is the person who makes me happy. This is who I belong to.”
Not that Dak wanted to do that or anything. He didn’t even like girls!
Still, he sulked.
After the interview wrapped, he washed his face, waved goodbye to Jett and Chloe, and got into the back of his car. Laura was waiting for him with a protein smoothie, which he accepted gratefully. He’d only managed to snatch a few bites of lunch during makeup for the interview, and he was starving.
“Where to, boss?” his driver Carl asked.
“Home,” Dak said. He looked at Laura. “Home, right? Please say home.”
She shook her head. “Sorry. We’ve got radio interviews until three and then an appearance at the Veterans’ Center.”
So no real break. Dak took a sip of his smoothie and sighed. “Do we at least have time to grab a pizza? I’m in the mood for pizza.”
“You can’t have pizza, you have a shirtless photoshoot tomorrow,” Laura said. “Wait until after the premiere. Which is actually what I need to talk to you about.”
“Post-premiere pizza?” Dak asked. “I’m thinking mushrooms and spinach, but we can get something else if you want.”
“Focus,” she said. “We need to decide who you’re taking to the premiere before I fly back east for Thanksgiving. Jett will be with Chloe and they’ll get a lot of attention, so you’ll need someone good if you want to turn any heads.”
Dak really didn’t want to deal with this right now, especially since he had no Thanksgiving plans to speak of besides a late night appearance the night before. “Just get me the biggest rising starlet under thirty.”
“That’s Chloe, Camille, or that eight-year-old who plays the lead in Princess Buttercup Saves the Ponies,” Laura said, ticking them off on her fingers.
“Is she seeing anyone?”
“Dak.” Laura was clearly not in a joking mood. “This is serious.”
Dak dropped his head back against the seat and shut his eyes. “Is it really? It’s not like I’m actually going to be dating my date. Just pick out a supermodel who’s four inches shorter than me like you always do.”
“Not this time, kid,” Laura said. “It’s gotta be someone good.”
Something in her voice made Dak open his eyes and look at her. “Why? What’s the big deal about this premiere?”
She met his gaze steadily. “There’s a blind item.”
“Oh, for the love of - ”
“What former teen heartthrob would rather be cozying up to his male costars than the vampy models he’s seen with?” Laura read off her phone.
Dak rolled his eyes. “That could be Jett.”
“Which isn’t actually any other better for you, since you’re his male costar.”
“Or it could be plenty of other guys!”
“Vampy, Dak,” Laura said. “They’re targeting you.”
He shook his head. “I’m discreet. You know I am. There’s always gonna be gay rumors about me, just because I can sing and dance and twelve-year-old girls think I’m dreamy.”
“I know. But it doesn’t help that you haven’t had a serious relationship for a while,” she said.
Dak blinked in confusion. He hadn’t had a serious relationship in years, not since he’d landed his Varsity Vampire role and broken up with his then-boyfriend before any photos could surface. The steadiest thing he’d had since Trevor had slammed his way out the door had been Logan, and even then the steady thing wasn’t the relationship but Logan himself. But why would sex on the regular with an ex-boybander help him fight gay rumors?
Then he realized what Laura meant. “Oh, no. I’m not playing that game again.”
“Look, just call Jo and see if she wants to go out on a fake date with you,” she said. “I hear she just booked a sitcom. She probably wants the buzz.”
“No way. Jo’s way too wholesome. Fake dating her felt so sleazy the last time,” Dak protested. “Plus, her dad scares me.”
“Okay, how about Lucy Stone?” Laura asked.
“She scares me.”
“Camille?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Um, I don’t know if you heard, but she’s kind of seeing someone. I sort of did a matchmaking thing there, it was a big deal...”
“You don’t have to really fake date her,” Laura said. “Just, you know, be seen getting coffee with her, plant a few photos of her looking distressed and James looking angry in the tabloids. Make it look like there might be something going on. They’re your friends! I’m sure they’d be happy to do you a favor.”
“Friends don’t ask friends to pretend to be having an affair with you!” Dak said. “James and Camille are good together. I’m not messing with that, real or fake.” He swirled the straw around in his smoothie, breaking up a frozen chunk. “Besides, Logan would kill me.”
“Who?”
“The guy I’m seeing. Sort of seeing. It’s complicated.” Dak looked out the window. “Anyway, he’s James’s best friend. And he doesn’t like all this...pageantry.”
“Well, that’s too bad for him, because pageantry is kind of your job,” Laura snapped. “And you have to let me do mine, which is keeping you from looking bad.”
“Oh, so now being gay is bad?” Dak demanded.
“In Hollywood, yeah!” Laura replied. “It’s not enough to go out there and say your lines and smile pretty for the camera. You know that. You’ve got to play the game, kid, and part of that game means giving the world a red-blooded, heterosexual heartthrob for their action flicks. I’m sure this Logan of yours is a real prize, but if he’s keeping you from making the image you want, you should seriously consider whether those morning quickies are worth not getting your footprints on Hollywood Boulevard.”
But that was the whole point of what he had with Logan - to be able to fool around with someone great without losing his shot at mainstream stardom. If he had to sneak around and hide his sexuality and still couldn’t transition out of one-note teen heartthrob status, he might as well go ahead and throw his career away by dating Logan publicly. If Logan would even have him.
Dak wasn’t willing to make that compromise, though, not yet. He’d beaten the odds once by becoming famous; he could do it again by having it all.
“Just get me a model to walk the red carpet with,” he said.
“Dak...”
“Not this time, okay?” he said. “We can talk up my work with veterans or all the stunts I did, fight the gay rumors that way. And I’ll figure out some big romantic drama for the tabloids. Just...not now.”
Laura opened her mouth to say something, paused, then closed it. “Fine,” she said. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Dak leaned against the door and watched the tinted windows go by in the opposite direction. He’d been able to make audiences believe he was a basketball-playing vampire, a rookie cop, and a friend to giant transforming robots. Surely he could make them believe he was one hundred percent straight without having an actual fake girlfriend on his arm.
He hoped.
*
Logan was so buried in schoolwork that when the phone rang he yelped and dropped his textbook on the floor. Heart racing, he grabbed for his phone. “Hello?”
“Come over.”
Logan sighed. “Dak, I can’t. I didn’t do any work last night or this morning, and now I’m totally behind.”
“Who cares? Come over.”
“I care!” Logan said, bristling. “You know how important this semester is for my med school applications, and…”
“Okay, okay, fine. Bring your stuff over here, then. You can study here.”
“Yeah, and how’s that gonna work out?” Logan asked, picking up his textbook and finding his place again. “I bring the textbook to bed with me? I don’t think I’m going to retain a lot about neurobiology that way.”
“We don’t have to screw around,” Dak said. “Or we can do it later. Whatever. Just…come over.”
Logan paused. He’d never gone to Dak’s without ending up in bed with him almost immediately. Sure, they did other things - eat takeout, watch TV, bicker - but never until after a roll in the hay. Was Dak seriously inviting him over for something other than a booty call?
He really shouldn’t go. Even if Dak kept his hands off, studying anywhere but Logan’s ergonomic setup resulted in a 7.9% loss of fact retention. Logan knew; he’d tracked it. But Dak sounded…well, a bit forlorn.
“Come on,” Dak said when Logan didn’t answer. “We can order from that grody barbecue place you like. We can even watch hockey. I think. Is it hockey season?”
Logan fought a smile. “Yeah, it’s hockey season.”
“Well, there you go. Come on. Please?”
For the life of him, Logan couldn’t remember Dak ever saying “please” before.
“...Okay, fine,” he said. “Just let me pack up my stuff.” He started packing up his desk, glancing at his To Do list to see what he needed to bring with him. His gaze fell upon #6: Cancel with Chris. “Oh, and I have to call and cancel this thing on Friday.”
“What thing?”
“Just a date.” Logan searched the desk for his calculator, didn’t spot it, and bent to check under the desk. There was silence on the other end of the line. “Hello?”
“You have a date on Friday?” Dak asked.
“Yeah, this guy in my neurobiology class. I kind of said yes by accident.” There was the calculator, behind the leg of his desk chair. Logan stuffed it in his bag.
“How do you say yes by accident?”
“Well, I didn’t realize he’d been asking me out until he’d already…look, does it matter?” Logan asked. “I’m canceling it anyway.”
“Fine. Do you need directions here?” Dak asked. “I would want you to accidentally end up at some other guy’s house.”
Logan frowned. “What’s with the attitude?”
“I don’t have an attitude.”
“Well, you’re acting all weird and jealous.”
Dak laughed. “Trust me. I’m not jealous.”
That stung. “You know, because you’re the one who’s always gallivanting around town with supermodels, and I never say anything about it,” Logan pointed out.
“Like hell you don’t!” Dak retorted. “You give me crap about fake dating all the time!”
“Well, yes, okay, I do actually do that,” Logan admitted. “But that’s because it’s fake, not because it’s dating. At least mine was an actual accidental date.”
Dak groaned. “Oh, don’t start this again. Not today. You have no idea what I - look, I’m not coming out just to appease your delicate sensibilities, Logan, so stop asking.”
“It has nothing to do with me!” Logan said. “I don’t need you to dedicate your Teen Choice Awards to me or whatever. I just don’t believe in living a lie.”
“Well, good for you that you’re not,” Dak said. “I’m an actor, though. Living a lie is what I do.”
“Yeah, well, even Camille can tell the difference between acting and real life,” Logan muttered.
“Oh, I’m sorry I’m not your high school beard…”
“You leave her out of this!”
“You brought her up!”
“And you’re making me want to go on that date,” Logan said, glaring at his To Do list.
“Fine.”
Logan blinked. “What?”
“Go,” Dak said. “It’s not like we’re actually dating, right? Go on a date. Enjoy. Have fun with your little doctor friend.”
“Pre-med undergrad.”
“Whatever.”
Logan frowned. “Fine. I will. And I’m sure we’ll have a very nice time.”
“Good, I’m glad.”
“I know you’re glad.”
“I know you know I’m glad.”
“I know you know I know you - ” Logan stopped himself. “I’m hanging up now.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
“Fi - ” Logan stopped himself again and hung up, then chucked the phone at the bed. He took a breath and tried to calm himself.
So what if Dak was being a jerk? That wasn’t Logan’s problem - it wasn’t like he was Dak’s boyfriend or anything, as Dak had made patently clear. Not that he even wanted to be - he had enough trouble dealing with Dak’s issues as things were.
No. He was going to go on a date with Chris on Friday, and he was going to have a good time. And more importantly, he wouldn’t have to head to the restaurant after midnight via the backroads so that no one saw them together, or talk about Chris in code to his friends in case paparazzi were lurking. He could have a nice, normal evening - and maybe even a nice, normal relationship.
“So there, Dak Zevon,” he said, and turned back to his books.
But try as he might, he didn’t get a lick of studying done for the rest of the night.
Chapter Three