Page 100 of Declan

“Come here.” Declan pulled me into his arms afterward and brushed his lips across my forehead. His heart went wild beneath my ear. Matching the frantic beating of mine.

I closed my eyes and worked on catching my breath.

Once the exhilaration of seeing him—and making love to him—had passed, the questions began to trickle into my head.

What will happen now?

If he left me again, I wasn’t sure I could survive it. I was too involved now. Too wrapped up in him.

“Kyler?” He played with the hair at my nape before skating his fingertips across my shoulder. His touch was soothing.

“Hmm?” I was nearly asleep. The hours in the sun, plus the sex, had worn me out.

“My real name isn’t Declan.”

Cracking open my eyelids, I peered at him. The light was off, and my window blinds were closed, so it was dark. But there was enough light to see the perfect curve of his lips and sharp line of his jaw.

“So your nameisAgent Pecs?”

“No.” He cracked a sleepy smile and ruffled my hair. “It’s Adam. When I left for California, I reinvented myself. I didn’t want to be Adam anymore, a gay kid who hated himself. So, I created Declan Price.”

“Do you want me to call you Adam?”

“No.” Declan shook his head. “Adam is my past. I just wanted you to know who I really am. No more secrets or holding shit back.”

“Well, shit,” I said, staring up at him. “Guess I have to tell you my secret, too.”

His lips twitched. He knew me too well.

“I’m Batman,” I said and gave a drawn-out sigh. “Now, you know. Brysen is Robin, and Royal is Al—”

He captured my lips, probably to shut me up. I smiled against his mouth before returning his kiss.

I knew who he was on the inside. What he called himself didn’t matter. Adam, Declan, Spartan—they were all him.

My earlier worries vanished after that. Whatever happened between us next, I knew we’d figure it out together. He wouldn’t have come to Addersfield and kissed me in front of a bunch of people if he wasn’t serious about us.

We came from two different worlds and had somehow found our way back to each other.