Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

Jonas

On Valentine's Eve, I slept better than I had in years until I woke up in Declan's bed to Declan's hand landing on my face.

"Hey, hey." I moved out of thrashing range and stroked his arm and sides. "It's okay."

"Oh no, did I wake you?" He woke up enough to scrub at his face, then nuzzled right back into my chest. "You're warm."

His love of cuddling and touch was one of my favorite things, and I happily welcomed him back into my embrace.

"You were having a bad dream." I stroked his back as he snuggled in against me.

"Yeah." His voice was muffled by my chest, but he didn't seem to mind, rubbing his face on me as though he liked the ticklish sensation.

"Want to talk about it?"

"I don't remember much of it." His cagey tone said he remembered enough, but then he yanked my hands closer, arching into my touch. "Your hands are making me feel plenty better already."

"Like this?" I rubbed circles and he made happy little noises, and all was right in my world. I wanted to know what the dream had been about, but I didn't want to burst this cuddly bubble of perfection.

"Uh-huh." He wiggled against me, already mostly hard again. The joys of being in his twenties. "It's the middle of the night, and neither of us has to sneak back to our own beds."

"You're so happy about that." I kissed the top of his head, fully intending to kiss a lot more in a few moments.

"You seem surprised." Declan tilted his head up, an ideal angle for kissing. "I love cuddling you. You're my favorite pillow and blanket all in one."

"Good." I imitated his wiggle so he could feel that I was hard too.

"Wish I could do this every night."

"Me too." He had zero idea how much I wanted that to be true, nor how much I knew it couldn't be, which was why I couldn't waste this weekend.

The next day, I wasn't about to waste our golden weekend with another minute more of work than I had to. Accordingly, I practically bolted up the walk from the driveway to the backdoor. I'd spent all morning counting down to being back home with Declan, and his pleased expression as I opened the door was worth every bit of hassle.

"You're back early." He was installed at the breakfast nook, Oz at his feet, a cup of coffee in front of him along with the remnants of a sandwich.

"I am." I grinned at him. "I called in a favor from a friend so I didn't have to stay as late."

"You did that for me?" Declan's cheeks were pink and his eyes sparkled. Making him happy was both heartbreakingly easy and incredibly gratifying. Like last night, he appreciated little things more than anyone I knew.

"For us." I held his gaze. I needed this as much as he did, and learning to flex my no muscles wasn't a bad thing either. We'd left our cozy blanket nest on the couch, and I couldn't wait to get back to it. "This is our weekend alone, after all."

"What's that?" Declan gestured at the white paper bag in my hand. I'd visited the hospital gift shop on a break, and although limited in selection, I was pleased with my discovery.

"A potential hobby." I handed him the bag to open. He withdrew the large, colorful rectangular box.

"A puzzle?" He made a slightly suspicious face.

"You can say no, but it's got a mystery component." I gestured at the picture on the front of the box, which depicted a drawing of a tall Victorian house not unlike this home. Unlike Eric's, this house was decorated with period details and lots of great-grandmother-esque knickknacks. The artist had provided a peek at crowded rooms and secret hallways, and the back of the box revealed the secret we'd be trying to solve. "I thought we could give it a try? Might be fun."

"Sure. Why not? Guess we can't spend the entire weekend in bed." Giving me a toothy grin, Declan leered at me.

"Well, we could ." I glanced toward Declan's room, but Oz barked and paced toward the patio door.

"I don't think he's ready for us to go back to bed." Declan laughed as I let Oz out to do his business. "Let's do the puzzle instead." He started to set aside the paper bag but paused as an envelope fluttered out. "Whoa, what's this?"

"A cheesy card." My face went hotter than an autoclave sterilizer. I'd seen the card in the gift shop and thought of Declan immediately, but as he opened it, I had second thoughts. The Valentine's card depicted a cartoon couple of older dudes on a vintage motorcycle, with a mercifully blank interior free of sentiment neither of us was ready for. I'd added a small bag of conversation hearts and scrawled a drawing of one saying. "Be mine?"

As Declan stared down at the card and candy, I shifted my weight from foot to foot, increasingly certain I should have added a "for now" or "for the weekend" qualifier, but then Declan smiled broadly.

"My first real Valentine's card. I love it."

"Good." I bent down to give him a soft, relieved kiss. I'd been accused of being too mushy before, so I was glad Declan appreciated my efforts.

I helped him clear the breakfast nook table, and we started working on the puzzle. We made a good team, Declan coming up with an order of operations and me happily finding him edge pieces while we hunted potential clues for the puzzle's hidden mystery.

"You're good at problem-solving." I smiled at him as he linked together several more pieces. He was cute when he concentrated with the tip of his tongue stuck out the corner of his mouth and his brow wrinkled.

"Thanks. Tell that to every math teacher I ever had, but I'm good at strategy."

"Your race record shows that."

"It does." Declan's blue eyes went cloudy as he nodded. Breaking eye contact, he glanced down before brightening. "Hey look, these pieces fit together to make another clue."

"Good work." I made my voice overly enthusiastic because Declan clearly wanted to shift the conversation away from racing.

"I like this puzzle." Declan pushed himself up from the table to refill his water glass. "It was a great idea."

"I'm glad." After he set his water down, I pulled him onto my lap. He let out a little squawk.

"We're gonna break the chair."

"Nah. These things are sturdy enough to survive a house full of teens." I tightened my embrace before kissing him.

"Mmm. Okay, worrying less about falling." Chuckling, Declan kissed me back. I slid a hand up the back of his hoodie as he deepened the kiss. Shutting my eyes, I lost myself in the magic of making out with Declan. The kitchen was sunny with late afternoon sun. The outside world was chilly, but things were getting plenty heated indoors.

Until the backdoor creaked.

Declan rocketed off my lap right as Oz barked and Maren burst in, muttering to herself.

"Maren?" I couldn't seem to keep the distress out of my tone. Meanwhile, a bright-red Declan launched himself back into his own chair. "What are you doing home?"

"I could ask you guys the same thing." She gave us a pointed look. Yep, she'd totally seen the kissing. She wore the typical college kid uniform of a sweatshirt and leggings as she toted a stuffed backpack and a full laundry bag. "I thought no one was home this weekend."

"We are." I sighed. "But it's your house too, of course."

"Yeah, but I don't suppose you could pretend not to see me?" Dropping her bags, she offered a tight smile before adjusting her messy bun.

"What's wrong?" I asked, shifting from thwarted lover to concerned faux-uncle. Yeah, I wanted more time alone with Declan, but Maren mattered too, and she and I had always gotten along well as two take-charge people pleasers.

"Promise not to laugh?"

"Absolutely." I steeled my expression. No matter how ridiculous, I could save my laughter. If I'd learned nothing else about teens and young adults, it was that they took everything super seriously.

"I might have a Valentine's date tonight." Maren managed to look both petrified and pleased.

"That's great." I stood to give her a quick hug.

"I guess." She leaned against me. "It's weird, right? Really weird?"

"It's not weird if you're happy," Declan said sagely. I wished the dude could take his own advice, but I shot him a grateful look nonetheless.

"Diesel sent me this." Maren fished a stuffed animal out of her bag. It looked to be an axolotl, which I could only identify thanks to Wren.

"It's cute." Declan was clearly lying, but Maren smiled shyly.

"Diesel gets me. And he wants to take me somewhere as a surprise tonight, so I came by here to get ready."

"So, get ready."

"I brought all my laundry and most of my clothes because I can't decide what the heck to wear." She gave Declan a desperate look. "Hey, you're bi, right? What should a chick wear that says up for whatever the surprise outing is and casual but more than friends?"

Declan blinked, and I waited for him to correct her on the bi assumption and slam that closet door once again. However, he didn't. Instead, he took on a thoughtful expression as he considered the question.

"Tight jeans, boots, cute top, show a tiny bit of cleavage?" he suggested. "What do you have that might work?"

"Thank you." Maren gave a dramatic sigh worthy of Rowan's over-acting. "Can I show you some options?"

"Absolutely." Declan smiled wide. "I've got a younger sister, and I've helped plenty of female friends over the years. I can even French braid or work a curling iron."

"You're a lifesaver." Maren bounced over to give him a hug. "I'll go see what I can come up with for clothes options. And figure out what in the heck to give him."

"What does he like?" I asked. Thus far, I knew Diesel to be a year younger than Maren, blue-haired, tattooed, and possessed zero filter.

"Me. Apparently." Maren turned a dusky shade of pink. "I mean, punk music. Traveling. Eating strange foods."

"We'll bake him something." Declan had a more decisive tone than usual. "Now, go find some outfit options and give us a fashion show. Then we can talk hair."

"You're brilliant." Maren beamed before scampering out of the room.

"You really are," I agreed.

"Eh. I just speak fluent teen-to-twenties girl." Declan shrugged. "Told you, I'm a better friend than boyfriend."

"That remains to be seen." I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Didn't mean you," Declan mumbled, blushing.

I didn't think I could like the guy any more than I already did, but watching him with Maren made me fall that much harder for Declan. He helped Maren evaluate various outfit options with a critical eye, yet he also kept things light enough that she continued laughing rather than stressing about her date.

After she'd settled on an outfit, the three of us raided the pantry for a box of sprinkle cake mix. Declan had the idea of decorating the cupcakes to look like monsters with googly eyes and blue frosting rather than something more appropriate for Valentine's.

While the cupcakes cooled, Declan showed his prowess with a curling iron, and I restrained myself from swooning at his gentleness with Maren.

"You look amazing," I said once the primping was done. "I'm betting you won't let me take a pic for your dad."

"Absolutely not." Maren's eyes went wide. "And I…um…might not be back early."

"I'd be worried if you were." Declan gave a meaningful chuckle.

"You're in college," I added. "I'm not going to tell if you're gone all night. Just send a text so we know you're all right."

"You're the best." Maren hugged us both before heading toward the door. As she put on a heavy wool coat, she turned back toward us. "And don't worry. I'm not gonna tell either."

With that, she escaped into the night. And she might not tell, but the clock was ticking on someone else finding out who wouldn't be so discreet.