Page 98 of Declan

As his familiar scent hit me, I whimpered against his mouth and wrapped my arms around him. Every part of me had missed him. Having him against me, chest to chest, the fractured pieces of my heart started to mend.

I deepened the kiss, never wanting the moment to end. If it was a dream, I never wanted to wake up.

Declan’s hand slid along my bare side and up my chest as his lips moved in sync with mine.

And then it occurred to me that he was kissing me. In front of about thirty other people.

I pulled away, on the verge of panicking.

Was he insane?

Although he looked around at the shocked faces, he seemed calm, if not just a tad nervous. Or shy. When his gaze settled on me again, the nerves washed away. A new confidence reflected in his eyes. One I hadn’t seen on him before.

“I missed you, too,” he said, moving a hand to my lower back and gently pulling me closer. “I wanted to answer your text in person.”

Tears sprang to my eyes. “I don’t understand.”

I examined all the people staring at us. He was risking everything by doing this.

Declan touched my jaw, turning my face back to him. His green eyes shone with a tenderness that made me weak in the knees. “Letting you walk away from me that day in the airport was a mistake I’ll never make again.”

“But what about your fear of coming out?”

“I’m still afraid,” he admitted. “But I’m tired of letting that fear rule my life. I’m in love with you, Kyler Michaels, and I don’t want to spend another day without you.”

“Y-You love me?”

His soft expression answered me before his words did. There was no denying the emotion in his eyes. Still, he said, “Yeah. I do.” He smiled and let loose a raspy chuckle. “I didn’t mean to fall in love with you. Damn it all, I fought hard to keep you at arm’s length. But you squeezed through the cracks of the wall I kept around myself.”

“I love you, too,” I said as my bottom lip quivered.

He touched my lip and his gaze flickered to mine, his dark lashes casting shadows across the tops of his cheeks. And then he kissed me again.

I expected to wake up in my bed any second.

How many dreams had I had over the past two months where he’d come back to me? Too many. Each one had broken me a little further, chipped away another part of my heart.

But as Declan’s lips moved on mine, as I felt his warmth and heard his soft exhales, I knew it was real.

***

Declan had never seen mine and Brysen’s apartment. He hadn’t made a hotel reservation, and I’d offered for him to stay with me. Gideon had dropped us off and said he was going to get himself a room, though.

Royal and Brysen had stayed at the lake to give us privacy.

I wasn’t sure how long Declan intended to stay. He loved me, but what now? Would we travel back and forth to see each other?

Stop overthinking, I told myself.

As I led him through the front door, still reeling by the fact he was actually in Addersfield, I had a sudden awkwardness take over me.

I tried to keep our apartment clean, but no amount of cleaning could take away the dark stains on the ceiling and the weird musky smell that I couldn’t seem to get rid of no matter how hard I tried. It was a dump compared to what he was used to.

“It’s not as nice as the places you usually stay, but—”

“Stop.” Declan grabbed my hand and stepped closer. “It’s perfect. Where’s your room?”

“You devil,” I said with a laugh as I saw his flirty eyebrow raise. “Did you travel all this way for a booty call?”