20. Declan

I've never been more grateful to have a day off. I get to spend it with my favorite person and my second-favorite person too. Grant insists Mom stay for lunch. Since he's feeling better, we order takeout and eat under the July sun on our deck, overlooking our tiny yard, as Grant peppers her with questions about me growing up.

"What did he wear for his first Halloween, Cyndi?"

She snaps her fingers, her brown eyes lighting up. "Oh, I nearly forgot the irony of this."

I knit my brow. "Why is my childhood Halloween costume ironic?"

"Not ironic. Wrong word choice. More like an omen," she says.

Grant's blue eyes lock with hers. "I need to know. What was he?"

Lifting a finger, she reaches for her phone. "One second." She clicks on a folder, slides her thumb across the screen a few times, then shows the image to Grant.

He bursts into laughter, then slugs my shoulder. "You were a dragon. When you were one-year-old, you were a stinking dragon. Omen, indeed."

I roll my eyes at the shot of me in a green costume with red spines. "An omen is a bad thing."

"Well, if the shoe fits," Grant says.

I shoot him a harsh stare. "If you keep up this sass, I will send you back to bed. You are on the injured list. Also, the Dragons have a better record than the Cougars this year, so maybe harbinger is the word you want, since a harbinger brings good things."

"Look at you, trotting out your fancy words," Grant says as he picks up his fork and dives back into the chicken and quinoa bowl I ordered for lunch. "Also, I'm only on the seven-day injured list. And only because they had to. I'm not really injured."

"And harbinger is not really a fancy word," I say, returning to my meal too.

"It kind of is. Why don't we put the dragon shot of you up on your Insta and see who knows the meaning of the word?"

"I am not putting baby pics on my Insta," I say, but as my gaze shifts from Mom to Grant and back, a better idea pops into my head. "How about one of the three of us having lunch on our deck?"

Grant beams like I've made his month. "Yeah? You'd do that?"

"Sure," I say, especially since this seems to make him even happier than going to the club. "The fans will be glad to see you feeling better too."

"Let's do it. You in, Cyndi?" Grant asks Mom.

"Of course." She stretches out her arm, and snaps a shot, then shows it to us.

"First shot, Cyn!" Grant gives a fist pump and Mom blows on her fingers before she sends it to us.

Later, after we say goodbye to Mom, I shoo my man up the stairs. "Nap time for you, babe."

Grant pouts. "Can we watch a movie in bed?"

I shake my head, holding my ground. "You're not playing hooky. You're supposed to be taking it easy but you're acting like a kid who faked a cough to stay home from school."

"Trust me. I was not so skilled in high school that I could fake a cough to spend a day with the school hottie. Also, I was the school hottie."

I crack up. "No doubt."

"And you're the school hottie now, so get in bed with me, hot stuff."

I huff like I'm annoyed, though I'm not in the least. "I'm only doing it to get you to rest," I say.

Grant winks at me. "I approve of your strategy."

We fall into bed in the middle of the day, the sun streaming through the window. Grant grabs his phone, asking, "Cool with you if I post the pic now?"

"We're posting it on my Insta," I remind him, giving him my phone. "But can you write it up? You're better with that."

"I got you," Grant says, dropping his phone and taking mine. He opens my feed, drafts a post, and shows me.

Rolling my eyes, I crack up. "We are not posting—I have the hottest BF evah."

"Fine, fine," he says, then tries again and shows me. "Lunch with two of my favorite people. Yes, the Cougars' catcher is feeling better. Thanks for all the well wishes."

I smile, feeling a little like he can see inside my soul. "I was thinking that at lunch. You are two of my favorite people. But you're my favorite," I say, kissing his forehead, then his hair. I draw a deep lungful of Grant's shampoo, then his neck, letting him fill my mind, that barbershop scent I crave. "You can post it."

Grant hits post, then sets down my phone. "You're sexy when you let me handle your social media."

"I had a feeling you'd be into that," I murmur.

"Is that why you said yes?"

"Maybe. I want to make you happy. Is that such a bad thing?"

Grant shakes his head. "Nope. It's a good thing."

Speaking of good things . . .

Running my hand through his soft hair, I tell him I've been researching vacation spots for us. "You want to go to someplace else in November other than Miami? Miami feels a little..."

"Jinxed?"

"You took the word right out of my mouth," I say, glad he's on the same page. "It'll be our first vacation together, so I want to go someplace with no history for us. What do you think of Hawaii?"

Grant hums his approval. "A vacation with you? I'm a sure thing. You could say you're taking me to San Jose and I'd say yes."

I pull a face. "Please. Give me more credit than that. I have the hottest BF evah. I am not taking him to San Jose for a getaway."

Grant wiggles an eyebrow. "Oh, so I'm Hawaii-worthy, am I?"

"Five-star-resort-in-Kauai-worthy," I say, grabbing my phone to google one of the hotels I found. "I looked this up when I got on the plane yesterday. Before I got the news of what happened to you. We can go for a week," I say, showing him the resort with ocean views and private villas and our own pool if we want.

"Damn, you travel in style," he says with an approving whistle.

Honestly, I'm a little giddy that he's so keen to go. "I've been wanting to travel with you for some time," I tell him, feeling like I'm letting him in on a secret.

"That so?"

"I want to get away with you. Chill with you on the beach in the sun, go for a swim, get room service, screw in the morning, screw when the sun sets, screw at night."

"Sign me up to be your travel companion. You just named my three favorite things."

I laugh, then head down this road a little further. "Maybe over Christmas we can go to Tokyo, with Mom and Tyler. Meet my stepbrother and his wife and daughter. You and I can check out the sights, eat sushi."

"I've never been there," Grant says.

"Let me take you." Travel feels like something special I can do just for him. Something no one else can—show him the world with me.

Grant smacks a kiss on my cheek. "You can take me anywhere. I'm easy like that. I just want to be with you," he says. "Tell me when the flight is, and I'll be ready for my mixed nuts on the plane."

"Sounds like a plan."

I grab my laptop and turn on a film.

We don't watch the movie for long. We take a nap in our bed in the sun, and that feels just right too.

I'm much less pleased to wake up to my phone ringing.

And it's not one of my favorite people calling.