Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

DECLAN

The incredulousness on Aziel's face was justifying. But I didn't want to get into it right now. If my parents knew a guy I was sleeping with was in my room with my brother here, they'd take Ollie and forget their trip. I had to at least appear straight or they'd never let him come over again. I put up my hands, keeping my voice at a whisper.

"I know. Can we talk about this later? If they find out I've got a hookup here, they'll throw a fit. I don't want them to take my brother away."

He didn't look happy about it, but he didn't fight me. He yanked his clothes on, storming closer once he was through. I thought he'd yell or demand I stand up to them or something. Instead, he dipped his head and kissed me quickly, mumbling against my lips.

"I'll be back later with Dante. Lunch is on me."

And then he was gone. The teleporting thing was really starting to bug me. But then again, when I came out of my room fully dressed and my mom leaned past me trying to get a look in my room, it made me feel better to know I'd never get caught with Az. If I needed him gone, he'd disappear without issue. That was kind of convenient, actually.

"Alright. Dressed. Now, don't you two have to get to the docks? "

Mom was pissed that I didn't answer the door right away. She knew I was here and Ollie had a key, but apparently today she was looking for any sign that I couldn't handle watching Ollie this week. There wasn't much she could do if she found anything other than cancel her trip. Dad didn't even come upstairs, so he obviously didn't care enough to cancel. I heard him honk and raised my eyebrows at Mom significantly.

She scowled, grinding her teeth as she said goodbye to Ollie. "If you need anything, call us. I mean it, Oliver. Anything at all."

"We're good. Come on, Dec! Let's play!"

Mom's eyes narrowed on me as I went to join my brother, but she gave up, storming out of my place and slamming the back door so hard, I was worried she'd cracked the frame. I shook my head, mostly to myself.

"Hey, Dec? How come mom and dad don't like you much?"

Dropping onto the couch, I sighed. "Did they say that?"

"No. But they don't have a lot of nice things to say. Did you fight?"

I tipped my head back and forth. I'd been debating when to come out to Ollie. I planned on waiting until he was thirteen and a little more mature. But if my parents were talking shit behind my back, I didn't want him thinking I'd done something to them.

"Technically, no. But it's complicated. They're mad because I'm not straight and that bothers them. They think I should try harder to be with women. And they don't want me tainting you with my queerness, either."

His brow furrowed tightly. "You can't taint someone. Being gay isn't catchable. Wait. I didn't ask. You're gay, right? Or bi?"

A little tension eased in my shoulders. I hoped Ollie would take it well, but he was raised by our parents. They could've influenced his judgment.

"Gay. Women don't do it for me. That disgusts Mom and Dad. If they didn't need me to watch you, they wouldn't come visit anymore."

"But… You're their son. They don't love you because you're not into girls?"

He looked legitimately worried, which made me wonder if he didn't fall into the strictly straight category either. He was a little young, but then again, I knew by his age, too. Had a big crush on a boy in my class. He'd been nice enough to turn me down gently. One of the very few times that ever happened. I put my hand on his shoulder to reassure him.

"I'm sure they still love me. If they didn't, they would've cut me out completely, regardless of needing a babysitter. They still trust me with you. They just don't want me telling you about it. So do me a favor and keep this between us. They don't need to know you know. I'm not ashamed of it, but I don't want them causing trouble for you either."

"Okay… but for the record, there's nothing wrong with being gay."

I chuckled, ruffling his hair. "I know that. They just don't agree. How'd you learn about this stuff anyway? I figured they'd want to bury your head in the sand as long as possible about this kind of thing."

He made a face, kicking off his shoes and pulling his feet onto the couch. "School. They talked about it during health class last year. I think they were getting everyone ready for the new kids."

That made sense. Showing the kids there are differences in humans, too, would make the shock of paranormals a little less jarring. I loved that they were teaching that, and I had high hopes for the next generation. When I was in school, the only thing they talked about in health class was hetero-normative bodies and sex. I had to wonder if my parents knew about that lesson.

I shook off the stress of my mom showing up here, loading up Ollie's favorite game. "Az told me Dante wants to come play again. Are you two getting along?"

He nodded quickly, his eyes glued to the screen. "Oh yeah. He's cool. Kinda grouchy around other kids, but he's nice to me now. I want to introduce him to some of my friends, but not all of them."

"Yeah? Why not?"

He lifted a shoulder, glancing over at me. "Some of them are kinda jerks about the paranormals at school. I tell them to knock it off, but they don't listen. I don't want them to treat Dante badly. He hasn't even met them, he didn't do anything to them."

Pride lit up in my chest and I reached over to grip his shoulder with a smile. "You're a good friend, Ollie. Dante is lucky to have you. I don't think there's anything wrong with being picky about who you introduce him to. You're protecting him. But maybe don't hang out with people who like to discriminate against others."

"Yeah, I know. You should probably pay attention though, otherwise I can do this." He used my distraction to his advantage and attacked my character. I didn't have a chance to react before he killed me and knocked me out of the match. His cackling ended the heavy conversation, and I spent an hour trying to get back at him. The kid was good, though, and I didn't stand a chance.

"Dec? You up there?"

"Hey, Ben! Yeah, I'll be right down!" Tossing my controller onto the cushion beside me, I sighed. "Alright, you evil mastermind. I'm gonna get ready for work. Are you gonna stay up here or come down with me for a while?"

He pursed his lips thoughtfully before shutting the game off. "I'll come down with you until Dante gets here. He's never played before, so I've been teaching him how."

"Sounds good. I bought extra snacks so both of you can go nuts. Just don't spoil your lunch. Aziel is buying, apparently."

He tipped his head, following me down the stairs. "Are you guys friends now?"

"Pretty much. I like having someone to chat with while you two are playing."

"Good. You need more friends than just me. That's just sad."

Shoving his head playfully, I rolled my eyes. "You're a butthead. Go set up the front desk for me."

"What'd he do?" Ben asked, already setting up his station.

"Dec needs more friends! It's sad!" he called out, taking off before I could whack him. He was in an evil mood today. Hopefully, Dante could distract him for a while and get him off my back.

Ben nodded in agreement, but he wasn't smart enough to duck in time. I popped him in the back of his head with a mock scowl.

"Alright. Today isn't going to be mock Declan day. Both of you have work to do. Get it done."

The rest of the morning was pretty busy. I had clients right after we opened, and I realized I needed to pay the rent on the building and a few other bills were about to come due. Between those, I also texted Aziel to let his friends know if they were still interested that they could either come in and talk to me or email to set things up. I made plans to call Manny and apologize, but I got distracted by a walk in before I could follow through, so I made a note to myself to get it done later.

Aziel showed up just before lunch with Dante and a box of pizza. He was in a better mood than when he showed up this morning, and Dante was practically bouncing off the walls. He and Ollie grabbed the box and darted off without a word to go upstairs and I shook my head at Aziel's frown.

"They'll be up there most of the day. Ollie said he's teaching Dante how to play his favorite video game. They're good up there. Did you get my message?"

He nodded. "I let them know. Hendrix said he'd do some research first, but Felix will be by later with his mate." He made a face. "Prepare yourself for those two. They're idiots. Luckily, they mostly mess with each other, but they'll try to get you involved if they can. They've been in a prank war since they got together."

Oh joy. Guys like that irritated the hell out of me. "I'll be on the lookout. What about you? Got any ideas yet?"

Settling himself onto the couch, he shrugged. "Not yet."

"You know, for someone who said they were interested in getting a tattoo, you don't seem to be really invested," I pointed out.

A slow smirk crossed his face. "Would you be pissed if I said I only asked to get your attention?"

I assumed that was the case, but that didn't mean I didn't like hearing it. I huffed out a laugh, dropping my attention to the tattoo I was working on.

"Not pissed, no. Might take you upstairs later, though."

"Oh, really?" Ben drawled, rolling back a little to look at us both. "Do I hear romance is in the air?"

I rolled my eyes so hard, it bordered on painful. Pointing at him, I shot him a dirty look. "Don't start."

A shit-eating grin overtook his face, and he opened his mouth to no doubt say something irritating, but Aziel's growl made him hesitate. When we both turned to look at him, he was glaring at Ben.

"You heard him. "

Ben's grin fell, and he immediately went back to work. I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. He looked like a scolded puppy just because my hookup got pissed at him. My shoulders were still shaking when I glanced back at Aziel.

"Might need to keep you around. You can put little shits back in line for me."