Trent
Five Months Later
Levi and Andy adopted two dogs this past week, and they were so adorable. They’d brought Mr. Glitter Face and Mrs. Sparkle Pants—clearly Levi had named them—to the studio all week and now I officially wanted a dog. Levi and Andy had asked me to switch weddings with Levi so he could stay home with the doggies. So I worked a Saturday wedding with Andy, and we were finally packing up for the night. Luckily, it’d been an earlier wedding so it wasn’t crazy-late. I was so relieved because I just wanted to go home. Or not home, but to Declan’s. He was waiting for me.
“How’s your boyfriend treating you?” Andy asked me as we finished packing up our equipment.
“He’s good, Andy. I told you that he treats me well. You need to stop worrying,” I said, following behind Andy to the SUV, each of us carrying a bunch of bags so we’d only need to make the one trip. He’d been driving me crazy lately with his constant worrying. It was sweet that he cared, but I was getting sick of defending Declan every time Andy was around.
He sighed. “I can’t help it.”
“Look, I get it. But… you know it’s not the same. He may have been shitty to your husband when they were together, but he’s good to me. I’m happy.”
He smiled at me and for once, I didn’t think it was fake, like maybe he finally fucking believed me. “Good. I’m happy for you, Trent.”
“Thanks, sugar.” I smirked and stepped closer to him so I could pat his cheek patronizingly—because he totally deserved it—then I snickered and put the last bag in the car. He rolled his eyes good-naturedly at me.
Andy shook his head before walking around to the driver’s seat and saying, “I’ll drop you off at home.”
“I’m not going home,” I said with a smile, thinking about seeing Declan.
“Fine. I’ll drop you off at his house, then.”
“Thanks, Andy.” I hopped into the car.
While he drove me to Declan’s house, I wanted to change the subject, so I absentmindedly fixed my running eyeliner in the visor mirror and asked, “So I heard that your cousin got married when you guys all took that vacation to Vegas. How the hell did that happen?” Levi and his brothers, Andy and his cousins, and a few friends all went to Vegas for vacation a couple weeks ago. Declan and I had been invited, but we’d bowed out because we felt like we’d be intruding since it was mostly family. Plus, we hadn’t even vacationed together yet, so when we did, we wanted it to be just the two of us. Although, we’d probably end up taking Kade, too. Not that I cared because I loved that kid. But apparently, we’d missed a shit-ton of excitement in Vegas, including a wedding. A wedding between Hunter and Tristan. They went from secret hookups at birthday parties to getting married. So crazy.
“I’m not allowed to talk about that.”
I shot Andy a weird look. “What’s that supposed to mean? I already saw all their photos on, like, every single fucking social media outlet possible.”
“I’m not supposed to talk about it.”
I blinked at him but noticed that he looked kinda pissed. “Says who? Hunter? He’s not letting you talk about his fucking surprise wedding? I didn’t even know that he and Tristan were dating.” I watched as Andy’s jaw ticked and my eyes widened. “Holy fucking shit! They didn’t plan it, did they?”
“I’m not at liberty to say.”
I smacked Andy’s shoulder and laughed. “Oh my god, you are so annoying. Where’s your husband when I need him? Or better yet, I’ll go straight to the source and ask Tristan.”
Andy sighed. “Look, I don’t really know what’s going on between the two of them, but I know that Hunter’s a private person and he’s been really… upset about the whole thing being posted everywhere. He and Tristan have... I don’t know, but something happened between them a couple years ago. Neither one of them will talk to me about it. And they both asked me to stay out of it and to respect their privacy. So honestly, I don’t know if they meant to get married or if it was some kind of weird… accident.”
I blew out a long breath. “Well, okay then. That’s… I mean, every time I’ve seen them together, it’s been weird, to say the least.”
“Yeah.” After a few minutes, he asked, “You really are happy with Declan, aren’t you?”
Instead of saying something snarky to him since he’d asked me the same question about a million times over the months, I just nodded. “I really am.”
He glanced at me with a small smile. “I know I’m driving you crazy.”
I laughed. “I’m not going to correct you there.”
He snorted. “It’s just… he really hurt Levi, so I’m worried about you.”
I sighed. “I know, but I’m not Levi. And Dec’s not the same as he was a year and a half ago. He’s the sweetest person I’ve ever dated and I… I really care about him.”
Andy glanced at me before nodding and pulling into Dec’s apartment’s parking lot. Before I jumped out of the car, he said, “Why don’t you guys come over for dinner? Levi was talking about hosting a dinner party for our friends—to celebrate the dogs or something—next Saturday, and I’d like it if you guys came. I think we’re gonna try to do it next weekend.”
I eyed him. “You seriously want my boyfriend in the same room as you for an extended period of time?”
He blew out a breath. “Yes.”
I eyed him for a moment, then laughed a little. “Levi told you to invite us, didn’t he?”
Andy rolled his eyes but couldn’t hide his smile. “Okay, you got me. But I seriously would like it if you guys came. I want to get to know him.”
I nodded. “Okay, I’ll talk to him about it. I’m assuming you’re having Jax, Alex, or Miranda work the weddings that day?”
He nodded. “I think they’re flipping for it. Whoever isn’t working is invited over.”
“Cool. Alright, I’ll see you later, Andy. Give your new puppies kisses for me.”
He smirked a little. “Will do. See ya, Trent.”
I got out, shut the door and waved, although, he didn’t drive away until I made it inside the building. He’d always done that, which I’d always found as a sweet gesture. He was a good guy, if a little neurotic about certain things. But he was still a good friend when he wanted to be.
As I made my way up to Dec’s apartment, I sent my daily text to Evan. I’d been calling him several days a week and sending daily texts. He hadn’t even texted back since those two initial texts months ago. But I didn’t want to give up on him. I wanted him to know that I loved him, even when he was acting like this.
I reached Dec’s place and knocked on the door. He opened it a minute later and immediately pulled me into a kiss before he even said hello. I smiled against his lips and let him pull me into the apartment. He shut the door behind me and pushed my jacket off as I toed off my shoes without parting our lips. Then he gripped my hair and angled my head so he could deepen the kiss.
Before we could get any further, I heard Kade say loudly, “Oh, come on! Why can’t you wait till you get into your room?”
Declan broke the kiss and without looking away from me, he yelled back to his brother, “We were only saying hello. Don’t look, if you don’t like it.”
“Dickhead,” Kade said as he walked into the kitchen. “Hey, Trent.”
I smiled a little since I was still in Dec’s face. “Hey, Kade.”
“We were waiting for you to eat. I’m starving, so let’s eat,” he yelled from the kitchen.
I laughed and Dec said, “Your food obsession is rubbing off on him.”
I laughed again and pecked Dec’s lips, then grabbed his hand and pulled him into the kitchen where Kade was already piling food on his plate. Monster ran over to me and started rubbing against my legs, so I picked the cat up to pet him and give him some kisses. He usually greeted me at the door, but I guess Dec had been in the way.
“You are the only one he does that for,” Dec said, leaning over to scratch Monster’s head.
“Does what?”
“Runs to you as soon as you come in.”
“Maybe because I’m not here all the time.” I shrugged because I’d thought Monster was just super friendly. I kissed his head and hugged him for another minute before setting him on the ground so I could get some food. I asked Kade as I grabbed a plate, “How’re the new classes going?” Classes had been in session for a few weeks, but Kade had been pretty quiet about them for some reason.
He sighed. “They’re alright, I guess.”
“Taking anything exciting?” Monster followed me around the kitchen, rubbing against my legs the entire time.
“Not really.”
Declan leaned in and whispered into my ear, “He’s been like that all week. So blah about everything.”
I frowned, then asked, “Where’s Lindsay?”
Kade tensed a little before saying, “Don’t know, don’t care.”
“Wait, did you guys break up?” Dec asked.
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Declan asked.
“Because I didn’t want to talk about it like you’re making me do right now. We broke up, it’s over, I’m trying to move on from it. End of discussion.”
“You can talk to me if you need to, Kade,” Dec said quietly.
His brother sighed and looked at Declan. “I know that, but I don’t want to talk about it.”
Declan opened his mouth to say something else, but I nudged him, trying to get him to shut up. He got the message as we watched Kade walk out of the kitchen, so I said, “Levi and Andy want us to come over for some dinner party thing next weekend. Wanna go?”
“Uh, do you want to?”
“Kind of. But if you think it’ll be weird, then I don’t want to.”
“No, I guess it’ll be fine. We saw them at Christmas and their New Year’s party and everything.”
“You mean the New Year’s party that we literally bowed out of after less than an hour?” I asked.
He laughed a little. “It was better staying home with you.”
I half-smiled at that, then kissed his jaw before scooping some mashed potatoes onto my plate. “Oh my god, you made real mashed potatoes. You are the best boyfriend ever.”
He snorted and I was happy that he’d stopped tensing up every damn time I called him my boyfriend. I’d even heard him refer to me that way a few times over the holidays. He leaned down and kissed my cheek. “I think you’re the best boyfriend ever.”
“So many points,” I muttered under my breath.
“What?”
“Nothing!” My eyes widened when I realized what I’d said out loud.
“Did you just give me points?”
“Uh… No?”
He laughed. “Do you have some kind of weird point system going on that I don’t know about?”
“Nope, no, definitely not. That would be crazy.”
He burst out laughing. “You are the worst liar ever. How many points do I have, huh? Who’s winning? Me or you?”
I set my plate on the counter, then turned to face him and run my fingers over his stubbled jaw. “You have so many I lost count months ago.”
His eyes were sparkling with humor, but there was also a softness under them, one that I was pretty sure was appreciation.
“You’re winning, Cupcake. By a long shot.”
He leaned down to kiss me, and I felt little butterflies go off in my stomach. Even after months of being together, his sweet gestures and kisses always blew me away. So much so that I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I’d fallen for this man a long time ago, maybe before we’d even started dating. He was everything I’d ever wanted in a man; sweet, kind, caring, funny, and so fucking loving that he didn’t even realize it. He was the best person I’d ever met. He was truly my best friend, the best friend I’d ever had in my entire life. And I loved him more than I ever thought possible. I just wished I could tell him.
We broke our kiss and finished plating our food, then went out to the dining table to join Kade for dinner. We’d been trying to make sure the three of us had dinner together at least a couple times a week. After talking for a while, Kade randomly said, “I wish we had a back yard so we could grill this summer.”
I swallowed my bite of steak before saying, “Maybe we can go to a park and grill there. I know a few of them have their own grills. I’m not sure if you need special permission to use them or not, but we could look into it.”
“That’s a good idea,” Kade said before looking at his brother. “Do you remember the huge pig roasts Mom and Dad used to have? Wouldn’t it be fun to do something like that?”
Declan shrugged and got this sad look on his face, just like every other time his parents were brought up. “I guess.”
I frowned at him, but looked at Kade and said, “I think that would be awesome. Maybe one day one of us will have a yard we can host stuff in. I remember when I was a kid, my parents used to have barbeques in the back yard for their work friends. We didn’t have any other family, and I don’t really remember them having many friends other than a few people they worked with. But I used to hate when all these strange adults invaded my yard because it was supposed to be my place to play and have fun, you know? And if someone sat in the hammock, I had a hissy fit.” I laughed at the memory of my ridiculous self.
“Hammock?” Dec asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, we had a couple trees in our yard and my mom hooked up a hammock between two of them. It was my favorite place in the world. My mom and I used to lay in that thing together and pick out shapes in the clouds. Sometimes my dad would climb in, too.” I smiled thinking about how happy the three of us were back then.
Declan reached over and squeezed my thigh. “That sounds nice.”
I nodded. “It was. But when their work friends were over, I hated having them sit in my hammock. Especially if it was other kids. The last time we had people over, I asked Mom to take it down so no one would sit in it, and she told me I had to share, so she left it up. I was so pissed at her.” I smiled at the thought. I didn’t talk about my parents much—never, really. It was nice to share a couple memories, even if they made me seem like a total little shit of a kid.
Kade said, “Well, then, I guess that means we’ll need to get a grill and a hammock when one of us has a yard.”
I smiled at him. “That would be nice.”
“It would,” Declan added before pushing some of my hair off my forehead, then running his thumb down my cheek.
After finishing up with dinner, the three of us watched a movie together—Monster stayed on my lap for the whole thing—before going to bed. I was looking forward to having off work on a Sunday for once since Levi and I had switched weddings.