Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Declan

"Would this be considered a walk of shame?" Rowan lounged against the wall directly across from the basement stairs. I'd awoken to the bright morning light and the sound of an awake household. I'd scrambled for my clothing, grabbed a handy basket of clean towels, motioned to Oz to follow me, and hoped I could make it upstairs undetected before Jonas woke up.

"Uh…" I held up the basket of rolled towels. "I was doing laundry?"

"In Jonas's shirt?" Rowan gestured at my shirt. Oh fuck. We'd both had on black T-shirts yesterday, and I'd totally spaced on using mine for clean up after we'd had sex last night. No way could I pass off Jonas's blood drive shirt as one of mine. "And you didn't sleep in your bed last night."

"Um…" I made a distressed noise as I made a beeline to the backdoor like it was a holeshot and a championship was on the line. I set the towels aside since no one was buying my excuses anyway.

"Morning." Eric saluted me from where he sat on a stool at the island. He pointed over at the coffee pot. "Coffee is ready."

"Thank you." After letting Oz out, I stumbled to the coffee maker and poured myself a giant cup, added enough sugar and milk to soothe my battered nerves, and turned back to Rowan, who'd followed me to the kitchen. "How do you know where I slept last night?"

"Simple process of deduction," Wren spoke up from over by the fridge. Damn it. Of course, they were awake too. Might as well bring the whole house in on this. I'd wanted to come out to the house, but this was a bit…abrupt. Not that anyone seemed to particularly care. Wren pointed toward the back hallway. "If you'd seen what Rowan did to your room, you would have said something."

"Should I be worried?" I decided to leave the question of where I'd slept last night for the moment. I headed toward my room, both kids right behind me.

"Perhaps." Rowan sounded near giddy, and I was surprised he'd managed to last this long without showing me. "It's not a black color scheme."

"Or motorcycle themed." Wren cackled, a perfect mad scientist laugh. "Which is probably just as well since you're unlikely to be sleeping up here much."

"Nuh." I made a strangled noise as I turned back toward Wren.

"What?" They held up their hands. "Just an observational fact."

"But regardless of where you sleep, the room needed the overhaul." Rowan gestured for me to open the door.

"Wow." I stepped inside, taking in the transformation. Gone were the avocado walls, replaced with a white with the barest hint of yellow without being ivory or cream. The heavier drapes and blinds had been replaced with airy curtains. My light-sensitive eyes would likely curse the dawn, but the overall effect was sunny and light. My bed had been remade with a light-blue puffy comforter, and the weird side chair had been replaced by a large wicker rocker. The dark dresser had a fresh coat of white paint as well as new hardware. "What a difference."

"The color is called Fresh Start." Rowan pointed at the walls. "It was time."

"It was," Eric added from behind the kids. His voice sounded nasal, like perhaps he was coming down with a cold or allergies. "And Rowan ran with a tiny budget and a lot of thrifting."

"It's impressive." I turned back toward Rowan. "You should hire yourself out."

Rowan snorted before cackling exactly how Wren had. "There are probably better ways to rent myself out in LA."

"LA?" I grinned even as Eric looked rather grim. Rowan, on the other hand, looked utterly delighted. "You got the part?"

"I got the part." Rowan gave a little shimmy. "And the streaming service ordered a full season. They've got Michelin Moses and Embellish signed on as consultants, so you know the soundtrack will be good."

"I'm sure." I didn't recognize either musician name, but I trusted Rowan to have a finger on the pulse of teen tastes. "When do you leave?"

"Filming starts in June, after graduation. Funny, I'm graduating only to return to high school a week later."

"No college?" I asked gingerly, having a feeling it was a loaded topic.

"Not yet." Rowan pursed his mouth. "I deferred a year in case this doesn't work out. Compromise with Dad."

"I'm happy for you." I patted him on the shoulder.

"Thank you." He beamed, turning my pat into a full-on hug. "And I'm happy for you too. You give me hope. If you can find the older man of your dreams, mine is out there too."

I gulped, but everyone else laughed. Clearly, my coming out had gone fine without me doing a damn thing.

"Lord, save us from that." Eric released a low groan. "Maybe there's a monastery renting rooms in LA?"

"Ooooh, single, older, devout men." Tone mischievous, Rowan gave a sly grin. "I love it already."

Jonas came up stairs right then to be greeted by Oz, who had been let back in the house. Approaching the crowd at the door to my room, Jonas pulled up short as his gaze dropped to my chest.

"You're wearing my shirt."

"Apparently, I am." Grinning, I smiled, but Jonas's expression was one of wide-eyed horror.

"Must have been a laundry mix-up." His voice came out way too hearty.

"That gate already dropped." I gestured at the three others. "I think they figured it out."

"We can be discreet though." Eric shot warning glances at both teens. "No gossiping, especially around Sean?—"

"My dad knows," I interrupted his warning. And surprisingly, that sentence didn't feel as odd as it had last right. Rather, I had a new sense of calm, aided by Eric and the kids' non-reactions. "Which means Denver knows. I'm not scheduling a press conference or anything, but you don't have to keep my secrets."

"Your dad knows, and Jonas is still alive?" Eric tilted his head, gaze swiveling between Jonas and me.

"I know." Jonas still looked rather pained, mouth tight. "It's a miracle to me too."

"This calls for bacon." Wren headed back to the kitchen. Phone out, Rowan followed distractedly behind.

"Seriously, you guys okay?" Eric asked me and Jonas. "No…drama?"

"Yeah. Being out is good." I took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of fresh paint and cleaning products. Fresh start. For all of us. I was far more at peace than I could have ever predicted. "And there's about to be bacon. It's a good morning."

"It is." Eric nodded, but his gaze had shifted from Jonas and me back to the newly redecorated room.

"The room looks good." I gestured widely. "Thanks for letting Rowan paint."

"It was time." Eric's voice sounded far away.

"Time for you to move back downstairs?" I made the suggestion because for my entire stay in the house, Eric had lived in a tiny room on the third floor. He deserved to reclaim the primary bedroom.

"Let's not get crazy." Eric offered up a ghost of a smile. "But the lure of my own bathroom again isn't a terrible thing."

"And where are you going if Eric moves downstairs?" Jonas asked as Eric wandered back toward the kitchen.

"Where do you think?" I gave him a meaningful grin, complete with an eyebrow waggle.

"Oh, you think so, do you?" Stepping into the room, Jonas put his hands on my waist as he adopted a scolding tone. "I don't recall posting a roommate ad."

"It's a practical use of the space available here," I said archly, confident he wasn't about to kick me out of his bed. "And I'm not going anywhere."

"Good. I suppose you can stay." He started to lean in for a kiss, then glanced back at the open door. "This okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, it is." I gave him a decisive kiss, which turned hot in a hurry. I glanced over at the bed. "Do you have to work today?"

"Nope. I turned down shifts for yesterday and today. Monday is an admin day though."

"Two days off in a row." I darted around him to close the door. I didn't really intend to jump his bones with Eric and the teens in the kitchen, but making Jonas blush bright red was fun. "Let's get crazy, indeed."

"I'm going to do that more."

"Get wild?" Returning to his side, I winked at him.

"Days off. I've never been good about putting myself first, but I want to work on it." He pulled me toward him again. "For us. I want to put us first, and that means not always saying yes to everyone else first."

"No, it means putting yourself first and then us." I wagged a finger in his face. "You have needs and goals and dreams too."

"I guess I do." Jonas shrugged like he'd never bothered to consider his own desires.

"You do," I said firmly. "Tell me a secret dream."

Jonas shook his head like the very notion was silly. "You. Seriously, just having a partner. Someone to do life with. Someone to care about."

"Okay, you've got me for that." I turned my pointer finger into a magic wand. "And?"

"What do you mean and?" Jonas scoffed. "That's the dream."

"It's hardly a secret one." I rolled my eyes as everyone who'd ever met Jonas could likely guess he was the relationship type. "Come on, Jonas. Dream big."

Closing his eyes, he scrunched up his face like letting this much hope in was painful. I held him close, silently encouraging him.

"I have a storage unit," he said softly. "Sometimes I think about getting a little house. Eric won't need me here forever. It would be nice to have someone to come home to, a partner like I said, and Oz, of course, and maybe a friend for Oz."

"Pack of dogs, check." I kissed him soundly on the cheek. "And I'm a Murphy."

"What does that mean?"

"You'll see." I leaned into the mysterious tone before chuckling. Maybe Jonas couldn't bring himself to say the words, but I could read between the lines of his little dream. "I'm bringing you to Easter dinner. Expect questions about adoption and surrogacy by dessert."

"You want kids?" He pulled back to stare into my eyes. The cautious hope I saw in his was all the confirmation I needed to nod.

"I'm told I'm not terrible with them." I shrugged like this was a totally casual, normal conversation instead of the most important talk of my life. "Maybe someday I'll want some kids to get mini-bikes for."

"Let's get crazy." Jonas sounded dazed, but I simply grinned.

"I could get behind that dream of yours, the house, dogs, family."

Jonas looked all emotional as he swallowed hard. "A family. That's the dream."

"Then I want to give you that." I made my voice as confident as I could, even as my insides shuddered. "I love you. Let me try to make your dreams come true?"

"Yes." Jonas released the word with a gasp, then narrowed his eyes at me. "You love me?"

"How could I not?" I gave him a fast, hard kiss. "And I'll probably screw up in trying to give you everything you deserve, but hopefully you'll be patient with me."

"How could I not?" He echoed me with a small, hopeful smile. "I love you too."

"Good." I'd been pretty sure he did, but hearing the words for the first time still made me giddy, drunk on endorphins. "Because I was serious about bringing you for Easter. Prepare to be a Murphy."

I kissed his surprised reaction away, continuing until he was too distracted to ask whether the Murphy bit was a joke. It wasn't. He'd see.