Chapter Twenty-Four
Declan
I was having a unexpectedly great time at the party, though I shouldn’t have been surprised since Trent was here with me. He could make the most unbearable situations bearable just with his mere presence. The fact that he was also hanging out with—and talking to—me the entire time would make anything not only tolerable, but completely exciting. I led the way up the stairs to the second floor of the house where the bedrooms were. If Sammy was hiding, I was sure that was where he’d be.
“Hey, we need to take some pictures,” Trent said a moment before I felt him reach into my pocket. And a second later, I heard the snap and winding of a picture being taken.
I looked down the steps at him and said, “You just took a picture of my ass, didn’t you?”
Trent tried to make his eyes wide to look innocent, but he wasn’t fooling me at all, so I grabbed the camera from him and snapped a closeup of his face, then cracked up when he scowled at me. I wound the little disposable camera and took another picture of him crossing his arms and looking up at me. After a few seconds, he broke into a smile and shook his head as he said, “Okay, point taken. Keep going or I’ll go find a real camera and take embarrassing shots of you for the rest of the night.”
I wound the camera again and headed back up.
When I got to the top of the stairs with Trent right behind me, I rounded the corner and ran smack into Tristan.
“Fuck. Sorry, Declan,” he quickly shouted as he pushed past me to run down the stairs.
I looked at the retreating back of my red-headed friend. He looked completely disheveled with his hair sticking up and his shirt tucked in on only one side. “Are you okay?” I yelled after him.
He waved over his shoulder and gave a terse, “I’m fine,” then disappeared around the corner at the bottom of the staircase.
I didn’t really believe that, but he clearly didn’t want to talk to me or Trent, so we continued down the small hallway and pushed open a bedroom door the rest of the way. My eyes widened when I found a guy standing there, pulling his black pants up over his bare ass. I automatically lifted the camera and snapped a picture—I mean, who wouldn’t?
The sound must’ve alerted him to my presence because he froze when he spotted me and just stood there with wide eyes. I looked back the way I came at the sudden comprehension that Tristan likely came from this room, too… a room with a half-naked man in it.
After my brief pause of surprise, I said, “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know anyone was in here.” I turned to leave, but ran into Trent, who was also standing there with wide eyes.
“It’s okay. I was just leaving,” the guy—freaking Hunter—said quietly.
I looked him over for a second. He looked like he was about to have a panic attack at any moment. Trent and I shared a look before focusing on the guy again. Trent asked, “You okay?”
Hunter pulled on his collar and cringed. “I’m fine.” His voice was so soft, and he looked so nervous, that even from across the room I could see him breaking out into a sweat. He gave us each a hesitant nod before heading out the door. Hunter stopped and looked back at Trent and me. “Could you maybe not tell anyone about this?”
I shrugged. “About what?”
He shot me a tight smile and a nod, then escaped out the door.
Trent and I stood there looking after him for about a minute before Trent looked at me and exclaimed, “Holy shit!”
“I…” I shrugged, Trent had said it perfectly. “Holy shit.”
“I can’t believe, I mean, they weren’t… he wouldn’t even talk to him out there! Tristan was acting like he was the devil and an hour later he sleeps with him? I mean, come on. What the hell? Did you know about this?”
I shook my head. “No idea. I knew they knew each other from college or something, I think, but no. I don’t really know Hunter.”
“You took a picture of his ass.” Trent started chuckling. “Oh my god. I’d love to see Mrs. Ann’s face when she sees that.”
I winced. “I… didn’t think about that.”
He patted my shoulder, looking completely amused, but all he said was, “Let’s go check the next room.” Once we were in the hall, he added, “Maybe we’ll get lucky and see another nice ass.”
I laughed as we looked into an empty room. We checked one more before finally finding the birthday boy. He was in Caleb’s old bedroom, sitting on the floor with his back against the bed, looking out the window. I should’ve known he’d be in his dad’s old room.
“Hey, kiddo,” I said gently, trying not to startle him.
Sammy looked over his shoulder briefly before looking out the window again. “Hey.”
“What are you doing up here?” Trent and I made our way into the room, but we stayed on the other side of the bed to give him some space.
Sammy blew out a breath. “Hiding.”
I walked over and sat on the floor beside him. “Why are you hiding from your own birthday party?”
He started picking at the carpet, not looking at me. “Everyone keeps staring at me and trying to… hug me.” He shrugged. “I don’t like it.”
I didn’t really know what to say to that, but Trent walked over and sat on the other side of me as he said, “If you want, we can grab you some food or something and sneak it up here.”
Sammy finally looked up with a half-smile. “That’s okay. I’ll go back down in a little while.”
We sat in companionable silence for a couple of minutes and I studied Sammy. I didn’t see him as often as I used to, but he looked a little… sad or something, so I asked, “You nervous about starting high school?”
He shrugged. “It’ll be fine.” He got a little tense, so I figured that was a touchy subject.
“I saw some of your friends swimming before we came up,” Trent said, obviously trying to cheer the kid up a little.
Sammy glanced at us again before sighing. “Alright… I’ll go down.” He sounded like he was walking to his death.
I frowned. “Do you want to talk about anything?”
Sammy stood up. “Nah. Kids are just dumb. I’ll get over it.” He waved me off and walked out of the room, leaving the two of us sitting on the floor.
“I hope he’s not getting picked on or something,” Trent said.
“He better not be or I’ll have to kick some little shit’s ass,” I said.
Trent smiled at me, then leaned close, resting his cheek on my shoulder. My body buzzed from the contact as he whispered, “You’re a good guy, Declan.”
I had nothing to say to that, so I just turned and looked out the window, then put my hand on Trent’s thigh. He wrapped his arm around my biceps and kissed my shoulder before resting his cheek there again. Even through my shirt, his small kiss burned my skin. I closed my eyes at the feeling and took a deep breath. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to push him onto his back and climb over him. I wanted to strip him naked and taste his skin. I wanted to see what he looked like writhing underneath me. I wanted a chance at that little ass that’d been taunting me for months.
But…
But after what’d happened the last time we’d fooled around, I couldn’t take that chance. I couldn’t face his rejection again. I just… couldn’t. I didn’t even want to think about what it would feel like to lose him like that again. I didn’t want him to leave, didn’t want him to run away. Even if I only had him for a little while longer, I wanted to make it last as long as possible.
I was already broken, splintered. I’d been broken for a long time, fragmented into pieces a long time before I’d met him. Maybe that should mean that I didn’t have anything to lose, but the truth was that losing Trent for a second time would make me crumble, it would destroy me, tear me up, and shatter me so I wouldn’t have anything left. I’d never be the same, never be able to recover.
But even knowing that didn’t stop me from trying to pull him back into my life after he’d left the first time. He made me happy when he was around, and even though I knew he’d shatter me eventually, I didn’t want to give him up yet. Even if it was only for a little while, it would be worth the pain later. He was worth it.
So I’d sit here with him and take what I could. If all I got was friendship with the best person I’d ever met, I was fine with it. Mostly fine, anyway. I’d take what I could get.
“What’s wrong, Cupcake?” he whispered.
I looked down at him still on my shoulder and shook my head. I didn’t trust my voice in that moment. He was looking at me with concern, as if he truly cared about my feelings, truly cared about me. I almost wanted to believe that he really did.
His brow furrowed as he examined my face. He slowly reached up and cupped my cheek, and I couldn’t help but close my eyes and lean into his hand a little. It was like he held some magical pull over me that I couldn’t resist, I didn’t even want to. He rubbed my stubble with his thumb, and I felt him moving but kept my eyes closed. I couldn’t risk looking at him because I didn’t want to tell him what I was thinking, but neither did I want to lie to him.
Suddenly, his soft lips brushed my own and I startled in surprise, opening my eyes. His eyes were closed and he pulled me into him with his hand still on my cheek. As much as I knew it was a bad idea, I was powerless to stop myself from kissing him back. My hands sought him out, grabbing the front of his shirt and fisting it, pulling him closer to me. My tongue ran along his lip, and when he opened up on a moan, I dove in, groaning at the taste of him. He wrapped his arms around my neck and moved closer to me, but when he started to climb on my lap, I had enough sense to grab his hips and stop him.
He broke the kiss and whispered, “What?”
“We shouldn’t…” I trailed off, trying to think of an excuse. I didn’t want to risk him running again.
Trent stared at me and I swore it was like he could see into my soul or something. “It’s okay… we’re okay… right?”
I swallowed hard and nodded. “We don’t have clothes here to change into if we make a mess, and I don’t have any supplies.” I knew it was a lame excuse because, surely, we could figure something out if we really wanted to, but it was the only excuse I could come up with.
Trent’s face fell, but he tried to hide it. I knew him too well for that to work, though. The last thing I wanted was for him to be upset, so I cupped his face, running one thumb over his bottom lip before softly kissing him again. God, he tasted so good. I broke the kiss after a while and rested my forehead against his. Damn, he smelled good, too, just like he always did. I might have to find out what apple shampoo he used so I could buy some to keep at home. Then I could smell him anytime I wanted. Shit, I sound like a fucking stalker now.
I pecked his lips, but kept my eyes shut and my forehead on his while I continued to trace his bottom lip with my thumb. I couldn’t look at him or I’d lose my resolve because I really fucking wanted him. If I were being honest with myself, I’d admit that I’d wanted him since that very first night we’d hung out together. But if I let myself give in right now, I wouldn’t have him tomorrow, so I took deep, calming breaths to get my dick to calm the fuck down.
Trent started kissing me again, only this time it was slow, gentle, and sweet. He kissed me unhurriedly and I no longer tasted the desperation on his tongue. When his tongue brushed mine again, I fucking whimpered, even though I tried to hold it back. He reached up and brushed my cheeks with his fingertips, keeping our kiss slow… so fucking slow that it was hard to hold my feelings in.
We didn’t break the kiss until we had no choice so we could breathe. Trent rested his forehead against mine for a moment before wrapping his arms around my neck and tucking himself against me. I embraced him and buried my nose in his hair, squeezing him tight.
I had no idea how long we stayed that way, but when we finally broke apart, the sun was going down. Trent kissed me softly on the lips before standing up and pulling me to my feet. He dragged me out of the room and downstairs back to the party. He threaded our fingers together as we walked, but I stopped him at the food table. When I went to let go of his hand so he could make a plate, he held my hand firmly and said, “We’ll just share.”
I smiled at that and nodded, then we worked together to pile on food. He didn’t let go of my hand until he had to in order to reach into a cooler for beers and waters. We sat at the same table where our brothers were still seated, and I saw Kade lift a brow at me. I just ignored him. It wasn’t any of his business where we’d been.
Later on, Mrs. Ann’s hired firefighters set off the fireworks, and Trent and I stood together to watch them. He started shivering since the sun had gone down and the air was a little chilly, so I stepped behind him, wrapping him in my arms. He automatically leaned back against me and started running his fingertips along my forearms. I leaned down and rested my chin on his shoulder. I ended up watching his excited facial expressions more than the fireworks themselves. When he caught me looking at him, he smiled and kissed my cheek before watching the sky again.
When I dropped Trent and Evan off at their apartment, I really didn’t want Trent to go, but I was too chickenshit to ask him to stay with me. If he stayed the night again, I didn’t think I’d be able to control myself. And I wanted to keep him around.
To my utter surprise, though, right before Trent hopped out of my car he glanced at the full back seat, then looked at me before almost nodding to himself. Quick as a flash, he leaned forward and pecked my lips, then whispered, “Thank you, Cupcake,” and hopped out of the car.
I watched as he ran for his building’s door. I thought about running after him and walking him to his apartment, but it seemed a little ridiculous to do that when Evan was already with him. Plus, if he asked me to come in, I would in a heartbeat. I had to hold my resolve.
After he disappeared inside, I expected Kade and Lindsay to say something, but all my brother did was pat my shoulder as I pulled away from the curb and headed home. My brother was probably too busy with Lindsay to pay me much attention since the girl was staying the night—gross. I sorta wished Kade hadn’t asked my permission for that and had just done it without saying anything to me.
While lying in bed and wishing like hell I could just fall asleep and stop thinking about a certain blond haired, brown eyed guy with a cute nose ring, I received a text notification. When I checked my phone, I couldn’t help but smile.
Trent: I have a wedding tomorrow, so I’ll be gone all day, but wanna come over on Mon for dinner?
I wrote back right away.
Me: Absolutely.
I quickly sent another text.
Me: What are you going to cook?
Since sleep was hopeless, anyway, I pulled up a file on my phone. I needed to draw up some plans for the new campaign this week, so I figured I could get an idea of what I wanted to do. My phone dinged, so I checked it with a smile.
Trent: I’m making some chicken and mandolin and gravy.
What the…? Mandolin? I wondered what that was supposed to be. As I was typing back a response and chuckling to myself, another text came through.
Trent: Mandolin? No, not a fucking mandolin. I’m making mashed platypus.
I laughed out loud at that. Gross. Another text came through.
Trent: Fuck. NOT platypus. Potatoes. Mandolin potatoes.
Another bark of laughter fell from my lips.
Trent: Fuck it! I give up.
Trent: I’ll have food. That’s all you need to know.
I chuckled while I typed.
Me: I’ve never had platypus before, but it shouldn’t surprise me that you would pick something gross to make.
Trent: Very funny. I couldn’t eat a platypus. Those things are weird and cute… just my kinda thing.
I chuckled and fell asleep with a smile on my face.