Chapter Twenty-Nine
Trent
I couldn’t believe my brother did this to me again. How could he do this again when he knew how badly he hurt me last time? Why hadn’t he at least called or left a note or something. I just wanted to know that he was okay.
All night long, I kept trying to push my worry for Evan away. Declan helped a lot, but the worry was like a tingle in the back of my mind that just wouldn’t go away completely. It sucked. But Declan was amazing, and I was beyond grateful for him. The last time Evan did this I hadn’t had anyone to talk to about it, let alone help me.
Declan had to be the sweetest person I’d ever met. The whole time we were at dinner he kept holding my hand or touching me somehow. He even made sure to sit in the chair next to me at the square table rather than the chair across from me. Our knees stayed pressed together the entire time, and he made me laugh harder than I thought possible after what happened last night and this morning with my brother. By the time we finished eating dinner, I was feeling a million times better. I wanted to find Evan, but I knew that I couldn’t really do anything about it if he chose to stay away from me. I was hurting; I was sad and terrified for him. But Declan was making me feel like everything would be okay. He was holding me together when pieces of me wanted to crumble.
When we went out to Dec’s car, he walked to the passenger’s side and pushed me against the door, kissing me and gripping my hair. I made a weird sound of surprise before melting against him. He devoured my mouth, completely consuming me before pulling back and whispering against my lips, “I know you have to work tomorrow, but will you stay the night again?”
I took a few deep breaths since I was panting. “Yes. I’d love to.” I mean, seriously, was there really any question? Go back to my lonely apartment where I’d be sad and cold all by myself or stay with the sweetest, hottest guy I knew? Add in the fact that there was the possibility of sex, and it was a no brainer.
Declan pecked my lips, then opened my door for me so I could climb in. After shutting my door, he walked around to the other side, hopped into the driver’s seat and leaned over the console to kiss my lips before driving back to his apartment.
***
After waking up, I picked up my phone and was surprised and relieved to see two texts waiting for me.
Evan: I’m okay. Don’t look for me.
Evan: I’m sorry.
Tears pricked my eyes. I was so fucking relieved, but so fucking sad. These were goodbye texts. He was gone for good.
I showed Declan the texts, and I could tell that they eased his mind. He hugged me and told me it would be okay. He told me that we would keep looking for him. He let me lean on him while I processed the fact that I’d never see my little brother again. Then he helped me shower and fed me breakfast and took care of me all morning.
When I found myself saying goodbye to Declan, I couldn’t help but notice how sad he looked. “What’s wrong?”
“You’re leaving.”
“Yeah, but I’ll see you tomorrow.” My brow furrowed in confusion at the look on his face. “What is it?” He could tell me anything.
He looked at me for a long time before sighing and finally admitting, “I’m afraid that once you walk away, you won’t come back.”
That broke my heart a little. He was so insecure about relationship shit—no matter what kind of relationship it was, but especially when dealing with a romantic relationship. I cupped his cheek. “It’s okay. I swear I’ll be back. In fact, you’re going to have a hard time getting rid of me. I’ll text you when I get to my shoot, okay?”
He still looked unsure, but he nodded. “Okay.”
I kissed his lips, then headed out the door. I stopped at home to change before picking Jax up and driving to a wedding location that was only twenty minutes away. As soon as I parked the car, I pulled out my phone and typed out a text.
Me: Just parked. Since this place is close, I shouldn’t be out too late. Can I call you later?
“You ready to go in?” Jax asked.
“Yeah, I guess. Are you taking the bride or the groom right now?” I asked. The wedding party was already on location and getting ready in different rooms since the ceremony and reception were being held at the hall.
“I really don’t have a preference.”
I sighed in relief. “I’ll take the groom, then.” I didn’t feel like dealing with a stressed-out bride after such an emotionally charged weekend.
“Sounds good,” Jax said before getting out and walking to the trunk.
My phone beeped in my pocket, so I pulled it out to check.
Cupcake: Call anytime. Have a good day, Jalapeno.
Me: You too, Cupcake.
Without thinking, I sent a heart emoji. I cringed a little after I hit send, then shrugged because there was literally nothing I could do about it. It was there and there was no taking it back. Hopefully, it wouldn’t freak him out too badly. I tried not to think about it too much while I was working. Luckily, I loved my job, so it was easy to get lost in the work instead of freaking out about Declan or Evan or anything else. Of course, they were both in the back of my mind no matter what I did, and if I stood idle for too long, emotions would creep up on me. But keeping busy was helping settle my nerves. My nerves over that stupid heart emoji and my nerves over my missing brother.
When I got back home, I was half expecting to see Evan waiting for me there and was majorly disappointed when he wasn’t. After changing into some pajamas and heading into the kitchen in search of food, I dialed Declan’s number.
He picked up after the second ring. “Hey, how was work?”
I smiled at the sound of his voice. “Hey. It was fine. How was your day?”
“Boring. I didn’t really do anything today.”
“I thought you were going to clean.” I opened my refrigerator looking for something quick to eat.
“I did, but after that I had nothing to do. You were busy and Kade hasn’t been here all day.”
I closed the fridge and looked at my pantry with a frown. “Did he have to work today? I didn’t see him this morning to ask.”
“Yeah, and I guess he went over Lindsay’s after he got off.”
I closed the pantry. “Gotcha. Hey, um, can I call you back in a couple minutes? I need to order some food because I literally have nothing to eat and I’m starving.”
“You didn’t eat at work?”
“Nah. The father of the bride was kinda bitchy so I didn’t get a break.”
A few beats of silence passed before he said, “What if I bring you some dinner?”
“Huh? Right now?” I looked at the clock. It was after nine o’clock. “Don’t you have to work tomorrow?”
“Yeah, but I just thought… never mind, I don’t need to. I was just trying to be nice, and I’ve been bored by myself, but I know you’re tired. Sorry, it was stupid.”
“No! It wasn’t stupid,” I yelled, then winced at my own volume. “I was just surprised, that’s all. If you’re really up for it, I’d love to have you over. But don’t pick anything up, I’ll just order something.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to impose.”
“Declan, in case it wasn’t clear already, I love spending time with you. I want to spend more time with you, pretty much every second of every day, so yes, please come over.”
After a few seconds, he said, “Okay. But I have leftovers from my dinner, so I’ll just bring them. Don’t order anything.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, and hey, Dec?”
“Yeah?”
“Bring work clothes with you. Once you’re inside my apartment, I’m not letting you leave until I absolutely have to.”
He chuckled. “Okay. I’ll be there soon.”
I hung up the phone with a smile on my face.
Twenty minutes later, there was a knock at the door and when I opened it, Declan came toward me so quickly I barely had time to register his intention. His mouth hit mine and I moaned into him, automatically wrapping my arms around his neck. He put one hand on the small of my back and pressed me to him so our chests were pushed together as he completely devoured me. He kissed me so thoroughly I felt weak in the knees by the time he released my mouth.
He rested his forehead against mine and whispered, “Hi.”
I chuckled. “Hi. Thanks for coming over.”
He smiled and pecked my lips, then pulled away, holding up a big bag along with a suit bag—I guess that was the reason he’d only grabbed me with one hand—and he said, “Let me heat this up before you starve to death.”
I reached for the bag, but he pulled it out of reach as I argued, “Let me heat up the food.”
“I’ll do it,” he said and grabbed his suit bag. “But can you hang this somewhere? I don’t even want to attempt to find a spot in that disaster zone you call a bedroom.”
I snorted and flipped him off before grabbing it from him. “I’ll have you know that I straightened it up while I was waiting for you to get here.”
“So now there’s a path from the door to the bed?”
“Dick,” I said with a laugh.
“Are we going to have to squeeze onto one side of the bed together?”
“Would that really be so bad?” I asked loudly as he walked into the kitchen and I walked into my clean—thank you very much—bedroom. I hung his suit on the closet door so he’d be able to reach it easily in the morning, then walked back out to the kitchen. Declan was already making me a plate. I stood there watching him for a few minutes, fighting the urge to walk up to him and hug him from behind or kiss him or just touch him. But then I realized how stupid I was being because he came over here this late at night to bring me food and sleep in my bed. Clearly, he wasn’t opposed to me touching him.
So I walked over and wrapped my hands under his arms and around to his shoulders, then I went up on my toes to kiss the back of his neck. He leaned back into me a little but didn’t stop what he was doing until he put the plate in the microwave and started it. Then he turned around and grabbed my chin between his thumb and forefinger, tilting my face up so he could kiss me. I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned into him, letting him lead the gentle kiss. He kissed me until the microwave beeped, then he broke the kiss to get my food out.
“You wanna sit at the table or in the living room?” he asked.
“Living room. I don’t want you just staring at me while I eat. Plus, I can put my feet up on the couch.” On your lap went unsaid, although I was pretty sure he knew my plan.
He nodded and made his way to the living room with me right on his tail. He sat down in the middle of the couch, still holding my plate, so I sat beside him. After passing me the plate, he reached down and grabbed my shins, yanking my feet up so I would drape my legs over his thighs. He totally knew my plan. He turned on the television with the remote, then started rubbing my feet.
“Oh my god, food and a foot rub? You’re never leaving my house ever again.”
He chuckled. “You holding me hostage?”
“Yes, definitely.” I groaned, then took a bite of food. “Seriously, wanna move in?”
He snorted. “As soon as you finish eating, you have to give me a foot rub.”
I stuck out my bottom lip at him.
“I’m just kidding. I have other plans for you.”
“Yeah? And what would these other plans be?”
He smirked. “I want to lick every single inch of your skin and make you come down my throat while you fuck my face.”
I groaned.
He laughed and nodded at my plate. “Finish eating.”
I mock-saluted him with my fork, then dug back in while he continued to rub my feet. And when we went to bed that night, he made good on his promise.