Chapter Twenty-Eight
Declan
I can’t believe I agreed to go on a date.
I knew that I’d agreed to be Trent’s “date” for Sammy’s birthday party, but this was different. Going as someone’s date to an event or whatever didn’t necessarily mean that you were dating. But going on a real date with the person you were fooling around with, well, I was pretty sure it was official that we were together. Like really together.
It made me feel a little panicky when I thought about it. But as we lay there, every time I’d get that nervous feeling, I’d look at Trent or close my eyes and breathe him in and I’d calm down. He always had a way of settling me. If I just thought about him and not about the idea of dating, I was fine. Because it was Trent, and I guess when it came down to it, that was all that mattered. So the longer we lay on the couch, the more I thought about it, the more comfortable I became with the idea.
Plus, if I was dating Trent, it meant that no one else was dating him—because that thought really made me panic. Or at least that was what I thought, that no one else would be dating him. Better to be sure.
“If we’re going to be dating or whatever… it’s just us, right? Like, you won’t be dating other people, too?”
Trent kissed my forehead and kept up that wonderful feeling of rubbing my skin. “No, I won’t be dating anyone else or sleeping with anyone else. I just want you.”
I wrapped my arms around him and held him tight as I buried my smile in his chest. “Good,” I muttered into his skin. “I just want you, too.” I heard him sigh as he hugged me back. “Shower with me?”
He hummed. “Okay.”
Even though we needed to get up to shower and get ready for the store and everything, I wasn’t really in a hurry, so I stayed where I was for a long time. I thought I even fell asleep at one point, but eventually, we needed to get up. I didn’t have any food in the house, and I was sick of ordering takeout after a long-ass, busy week.
So I got up and pulled him to his feet. He looked sleepy and his hair was sticking up everywhere, which made me smile. I kissed the corner of his mouth before pulling him into my bathroom. I had a shower that was big enough for us both. I was excited to shower with him, but a part of me knew that I’d only invited him in because I was still afraid that he’d change his mind and make a run for it. I was afraid that if he left my sight, he’d leave and never talk to me again. That was a scarier thought than trying to date him. I wanted him in my life, that much was clear after only a week without him where I’d been an absolute mess.
When he stepped into the shower, he grinned up at me and leaned in to kiss my chest as he reached for the soap. After he squirted some on his hands, instead of lathering himself up, he started soaping up my chest, shoulders, and arms. He even knelt down and did my legs, skipping over my cock—the little tease. When he stood back up, he twirled his finger in the air, so I listened and turned my back to him. He washed my back, massaging my muscles a little and making me groan. He washed my ass, then reached around so his chest was pressed to my back and his arms went around me before he lathered up my balls and cock. Instead of stopping and rinsing me off, he kept jerking my cock as I leaned into him until I finally spilled out over his hand and the wall. I groaned and slumped back against him farther, but he held me up. Once I was clean and rinsed, he shampooed my hair, rinsed it out, then placed me against the wall so he could step under the water.
I reached for the soap so I could wash him and he caught my wrist, shaking his hand. “That was about you. I’ll just wash real quick so we can go to the store. I know you’re as starving as I am.”
“But—”
He smiled and leaned over to peck my lips. “It’s fine, Cupcake. We’re going to run out of hot water soon, anyway.”
I nodded, then leaned in to kiss his lips again. I stayed against the wall and watched him wash, wishing it was my hands all over him instead of his.
After he was clean, he turned off the water and handed me a towel. We both dried off before he followed me to my bedroom.
“Maybe we can stop by my apartment to get some clothes?” he asked as we looked at my pants drawer.
“Yeah, that might be good.” I pulled out my smallest pair of sweatpants to pass to him. They’d still be big on him, but it was better than nothing. I knew he wouldn’t go out in public like that, though. He grabbed a t-shirt from my drawer, and I chuckled when he put it on because he was swimming in it. He flipped me off but couldn’t hide his smile.
He lifted the shirt collar to his nose and said, “Mmm, it smells like you. I might have to steal it.”
I smiled at that. “What’s with you and smelling things?” I asked, remembering him smelling my shirt the last time he borrowed clothes. Not that I had room to talk since I was a little obsessed with that apple smell of his. But I liked messing with him.
“I don’t smell things.” He shrugged. “I just like to smell you.”
I made a weird nose in the back of my throat, then concentrated on dressing myself in a t-shirt and jeans. After we brushed our teeth—I gave him an extra toothbrush I had under the sink—I said, “Okay, let’s head to your place first, then to the store. Do you want me to drive now so your car’s still here?”
“Sure.”
On the drive to his apartment, Trent reached over and grabbed my hand. I took a deep breath at the emotions that little gesture brought up. We’d held hands a million times before, but this time it felt different. Or maybe I was just seeing it for what it really was, seeing that he wanted to be with me for the time being. I didn’t really know how to handle everything I was feeling, and I sure as hell didn’t know how to handle this whole dating thing, so I figured I’d have to follow Trent’s lead.
“You okay, Cupcake?” Trent’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.
I glanced at him. “Yeah, I’m okay… just thinking.”
“About what?”
I didn’t really know where to start. “About… everything.”
After a few seconds, Trent kissed the back of my hand and said, “You can talk to me. You know that, right?”
“I know.” I decided to change the subject. “What do you want to do for lunch?”
“You mean breakfast since we haven’t eaten yet today?”
I glanced at him again and couldn’t help but grin. “You’re going to want breakfast and lunch right in a row, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely.”
I snorted. “I seriously don’t understand how you’re so small.”
“I’m not small.”
“I don’t mean, like, short. I mean that you’re thin.” When I glanced at him, his nose was wrinkled. “Jalapeno, you’re the sexiest person I’ve ever seen.” I didn’t even have to lie because he really, truly was the sexiest person alive.
He huffed out a laugh. “Dude, you don’t need to make shit like that up for me.”
“I’m not… I’m… Trent, you have to know how gorgeous you are.”
He fell quiet for a few minutes before whispering, “Thank you.”
When I looked at him, I was surprised that he looked a little sad. “What’s the matter?” He shook his head, so I squeezed his hand. “Come on, tell me.”
He sighed. “It’s just…” He blew out a breath. “No one’s ever said anything like that to me before.”
My eyes widened and I looked at him in shock. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
He shrugged and went to let go of my hand, but I wouldn’t let him. I had to refocus on the road, but I brought his hand up to my mouth to place a kiss there, and I told him with as much sincerity as I could, “You are absolutely gorgeous, Trent. And not just on the outside, though you are a sexy Little Jalapeno. But you’re also a good person, which makes you even sexier.”
Trent didn’t say anything for a little while, but he did tighten his hold on my hand. When I parked the car in front of his building, he turned in his seat to face me, grabbed my face and pulled me in to kiss him deeply. He moaned into my mouth and I ate up the sound. I fisted his shirt in my hands and pulled him closer, holding on while he devoured my mouth. When he pulled away, he whispered, “Thank you, Declan.” Then he let go of me and jumped out of the car.
He’d left so abruptly that I sat in shock for a few seconds before getting out of the car and following him inside.
Once we were standing outside of his door, he turned to face me. “Um, I’m not really sure what to do about Evan, but if he starts… saying shit again, can we just leave? I don’t really want to get into another fight.”
I stepped closer and put my hand on his back. As hard as it would be for me to walk away if Evan was being cruel to Trent, I agreed, “Of course.” I kissed his temple.
He took a deep breath before unlocking his door and stepping inside. He stopped and froze only a few feet into the apartment and called out, “Evan?”
I looked around Trent trying to see what was going on and frowned when I didn’t see anything. But Trent turned to me with tears in his eyes and whispered, “I think he’s gone.”
I looked around again and asked, “Why?”
Trent pointed over to the couch. “His stuff’s gone.”
I could tell that he was getting really worked up, so I put my hands on his shoulders. “Okay, well, let’s check the whole apartment first, okay? And we can call him, right?”
Trent nodded. “Yeah.”
We both walked around the small apartment, but it was clear that Evan wasn’t there and neither was any of his stuff. Trent called him, but it went straight to voicemail. Trent left him two voicemails before sending him a text, too. Then he looked at me and said, “I scared him off again.”
I pulled him into a hug. “It’s not your fault, babe. It’s not your fault. It wasn’t your fault before and it’s not your fault now.”
He embraced me back and stood there with me, taking deep breaths for a few minutes. Then he pulled himself together and let go of me. “Can we… maybe check a few places I know he’s stayed at?”
“Yes, of course. But let me feed you first, okay?”
His mouth quirked up on one side. “Okay.”
“You have eggs?” I asked, already walking into his kitchen.
“Huh? Oh, you wanna cook?”
“Yeah, I’ll make us some breakfast, and we can pick up something for lunch while we’re out.”
“I can make something since we’re at my place.”
I waved him off. “I’ve cooked here a million times before.” I grabbed eggs and found a package of bacon, so I pulled that out, too. “Okay, bacon and eggs. I’ll make toast, too. Why don’t you change and do what you need to do?”
“Okay.” He walked toward his bedroom. A few minutes later, he came back and everything was on the stove, cooking. Trent came up beside me and ran his hand through my hair. “Thank you, Cupcake.”
I smiled at that. “You’re welcome, Little Jalapeno.”
He smiled in amusement, then stole a piece of bacon off the plate.
***
We drove from one place to another with Trent calling Evan’s cell a million times and leaving a million messages and texts. We even started calling our friends to see if they’d seen him or heard from him, but no one had.
“He made a run for it again,” Trent said with a sigh of defeat after we’d been searching for a couple of hours.
I sighed too. “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about. We got into a fight, and apparently, he’s not adult enough to be able to handle it. He’s the one who should be sorry. He’s the one that’s making me worry, he’s the one that left… again. He’s the one that said I wasn’t his brother, then took off like a little chickenshit.”
Trent was clearly at the pissed off stage, and I had to say that it was better than the devastatingly sad and grieving stage he’d been in earlier. I suggested, “Maybe we can file a missing persons report or something.”
“I don’t think they’ll let us since he ran away, but I dunno.”
“Okay, well, maybe we can keep searching. Or we can take a break and drive past the places again tomorrow. He’ll show up.”
“He disappeared for three years last time, Dec. I doubt he’ll show up. He’s good at staying hidden when he doesn’t want to be found.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, I know you’re just trying to help.”
I reached over and squeezed his thigh. “It’s okay. I know he’s just being a jerk and you’re worried.”
He sighed and covered my hand with his, so I turned my hand over and we threaded our fingers together.
A little while later, he said, “You still want to go on our date?”
“Do you?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“We can wait. We can just stay in tonight and watch a movie or something.”
He squeezed my hand. “I’d like to go out to dinner with you, if that’s alright?”
“You sure?”
He sighed. “Yeah. I think it’ll be better to focus on something good in my life rather than where Evan is.”
I smiled a little at the idea that he thought I was something good in his life. “That sounds good. You want to go to Giovanni’s?”
He snorted. “Did you just try to think of the most romantic restaurant you know?”
I grinned. “Maybe.”
He laughed a little and the sound filled me with warmth. “Giovanni’s sounds great, Cupcake.”