Текст книги "Easy Melody"
Автор книги: Kristen Proby
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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 14 страниц)
Sam and I look at each other, shrug, and follow Will into the music room where Leo is playing guitar, Declan piano, and Meg is singing a sweet song that I recognize. I sit next to Dec on the piano bench, leaning on his shoulder as he plays. Sam sits next to Leo, and Will simply lifts Meg, sits in her seat, and settles her in his lap. We listen until the song is finished, and erupt into applause.
“That’s a great song,” I murmur, only loud enough for Declan to hear.
“So, I have to tell you something,” Meg says and suddenly looks nervous. Will wraps his arms around her and kisses her forehead.
“What’s wrong?” Leo asks immediately as tears gather in Meg’s eyes.
But she shakes her head, swallows, and with a watery smile, says, “I’m going to have a baby.”
Will smiles proudly and lets go of Meg as she’s pulled out of his lap by Leo, who wraps her in a gentle hug, rocking her back and forth, his own eyes wet.
“That’s so great,” Sam says sincerely. “Congratulations.”
“It’s gonna be a boy,” Will announces.
“You know the sex already?” I ask with a frown. “She isn’t even showing yet.”
“It’s too early,” Meg says with a sniff. “He’s hoping.”
Declan laughs and begins to play Braham’s Lullaby on the piano.
“So happy for you, Meg-pie,” Leo says to her.
“I’m celebrating with more cupcakes,” Will says, already on his way back to the kitchen.
“Bring the whole box,” Meg calls out to him. “He’ll eat the whole thing.”
“I bought two dozen and hid the other one,” Leo assures her, which makes us all smile.
This is… nice. Watching their connections with each other, their genuine love for each other, reminds me of my relationship with Adam.
It reminds me of Declan’s family too, with all the siblings, and the laughter and the chaos.
I watch as Will and Declan fight over the last lemon cupcake, and Leo and Sam bicker about the landscaping she wants to be done in the spring. Meg is happy to nibble on her cake and snuggle up to her man, glowing with a life growing inside her.
It makes me yearn, in ways I never have before. But I know one thing: I’m so happy to be a part of it, no matter how small.
I grip Declan’s hand in mine, and he squeezes it, three times, and smiles down at me, his eyes happy, and it makes me happy that I’m the reason for that smile.
Life sure doesn’t suck right now.
***
“I can’t believe I had dinner with Leo Nash and Will Montgomery tonight,” I say with a gusty sigh as I walk into our hotel room.
“Umm, who am I?” Declan asks with a laugh and pulls me against him for a long, deep kiss. “I’ve been waiting to do that for—”
“About five minutes, since you almost had sex with me in the elevator,” I say with a laugh.
“Not my fault that the elevator is so fucking slow in this place,” he grumbles against my neck. I know that if I let him, he’ll drag me off to bed and give me another night that I won’t soon forget, but I’m not ready for that.
Yet.
“Sit with me?” I ask, gesturing to the fireplace. I flip it on and sit on the sofa, in the middle, so no matter where he chooses to sit, I’ll be smashed up against him.
He sits, wraps his arm around me, and I lean into him, my cheek on his chest, and watch the fire. I can feel his lips brushing back and forth on the top of my head. His fingers dance softly up and down my arm.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m so much better than okay, I don’t think there’s a word to describe it,” I answer him honestly. “Thank you for today. For this whole weekend.”
“It’s completely my pleasure,” he replies and tips my face up to meet my lips with his own.
“I started getting tattoos on my arm when I was seventeen,” I blurt out, surprised that I said the words aloud. Declan shifts so he’s still holding me, but I’m facing him now, and he can see every emotion that crosses my face.
This is far more intimate than anything we’ve ever done while naked.
“Go on,” he says softly.
I swallow hard and try to decide where to begin.
“Start at the beginning,” he says, as if he can read my mind.
“I’ve never been a cutter,” I say, my eyes trained on the neckline of his plain white T-shirt. “Hurting myself never appealed to me, but I can understand why people do it, Declan. Sometimes life just hurts, and if you can control any of the pain, it makes you feel like, even for those few moments, you’re in control.
“My childhood was challenging. I grew up fast when Mom died and Dad found solace in a bottle. I was an adult far sooner than I could vote. Life didn’t suck, but it was a struggle, and when I was seventeen, I met a tattoo artist who didn’t ask for ID when I lied and said I was eighteen.”
Declan tilts his head to the side, listening intently. He’s not just listening, he’s hearing me. And that gives me the strength to keep talking.
“So I started up here,” I say and pull my sleeve up so he can see the ball of my shoulder. “I’d heard that it hurt really bad up here, and I wanted it to hurt. I know that sounds crazy and stupid—”
“You are neither of those things,” he says. His voice is calm, but his eyes are on fire.
“It did hurt,” I continue. “I wanted the calla lilies because those were my mom’s favorite and pink for breast cancer awareness.”
He reaches up and traces the lines with just the tip of his finger, making me break out in goosebumps.
“As you know, tattoos can become addictive, and for a while that was my drug. I had the whole arm done, from shoulder to mid-forearm, in the span of about two years. The artist I was seeing wouldn’t go down to my wrist because he said I was young and one day I might have a job that I would need to cover it for, so he said to just think on it.”
“You never added to it,” Declan says.
“No.” I shake my head and watch his fingers tracing the lines, the vibrant colors of my ink. “I stopped getting tattoos altogether when I was twenty.”
“Why?”
I take a deep breath and bite my lip. “Because I liked it too much. The pain. I would have gone every day if I could afford it, and when someone suggested I pierce my nipples, and I seriously thought about it, I knew it was time to stop.”
“Lots of people have piercings,” he says logically. “Your navel is pierced.”
“They do, and the navel happened around the same time as the tattoos, but if I’d taken that step down that road, I would have mutilated my body, Declan. I didn’t, and don’t, want that. I like the ink on my arm; the navel is enough. I don’t need anything else.”
“Thank you for trusting me with this,” Declan says, his voice rough.
Tell him you love him!
“I do trust you,” I say instead and point to his own ink. “What does yours mean?”
“I was a young musician in college,” he says with a sly grin. “You do the math.”
Chapter Thirteen
~Callie~
“I don’t know,” I murmur, walking from room to room in the unusual farm-style house that my new realtor, Peggy Lewis, has found to show me. I thought, and Declan agreed, that it was a good idea to find a new realtor, given that Pete didn’t seem to understand that help me find a house didn’t also mean let me take my pants off for you.
“This house has everything you asked for,” Peggy reminds me, following close behind me with her hands clenched at her waist. “Actually, each of the three homes I showed you today do.”
“Mm hmm,” I hum and ignore her. In the two weeks since we returned home from Seattle, I’ve been even more anxious to find my house and begin renovations. Maybe it was seeing how Sam and Leo decorated their house, and all of the ideas it inspired in me, or maybe it’s that, despite being thankful that Adam’s given me a place to stay, I’m tired of finding a different strange woman in the kitchen each morning, and it’s just time to have my own space.
“It’s nice,” Declan says from across the room, giving me space to pace and think. Unlike Peggy, Declan gets me. “High ceilings, big rooms.”
I nod, staring out of a window so big it practically spills out into the spacious back yard. I do like the space, and with a minimal amount of work, it would be gorgeous in no time.
But I can’t picture myself living here. No matter how I try, I can’t envision how I’d decorate it, what color of paints I’d use, which walls I’d knock down.
None of the three we’ve seen today speak to me, and it’s frustrating me. Even if I’m not looking for a house for me to live in, I can usually picture how the house should be rehabbed in my head.
But today? Nada.
“Maybe I’m just not in the right mood,” I say with a shrug and a sigh, then turn to Peggy. “I appreciate your time.”
“So, did these just not fit what you had in mind?” Peggy asks, and I know she’s just trying to do her job. She wants to find the right property for me, but damn it, I’m irritable, and I don’t even know why.
“No, you did a great job. I’ll definitely think about it.”
“Well, just give me a call if you have any questions, or if you’d like to see more.”
She ushers us out of the house and locks the door as we walk to Declan’s car. Peggy waves as we pull away.
“Talk to me, baby,” Declan says and takes my hand, squeezing three times.
“I don’t know what to say,” I reply.
“You’re out of sorts today.”
I nod and look out the passenger window. Geez, I’m moody. Hormones? Probably. Or, I’m just a girl.
That’s usually reason enough to get teary, but I don’t like to cry, so that just makes me even crabbier.
“I liked the last house,” I say after I clear my throat.
“But you didn’t love it,” he guesses correctly. “It’s okay, you’ll find it. You’re not in a huge rush.”
“Right.” Except I am in a rush. I want my space. I want to get elbow-deep in a project and make something ordinary beautiful. I want that.
Soon, Declan pulls into his driveway, but rather than get out of the car, I turn to him.
“Dec, I’m not great company tonight. You can just take me home.”
He frowns, his hazel eyes seeing too much as he cups my cheek and lightly brushes his thumb over my jaw. “I don’t want to be without you tonight.”
I lean into his touch, turn my face to kiss his palm, and nod. “Okay. Let’s be lazy tonight.”
“Do you know the definition of lazy?” he asks with a laugh and unlocks the house, gesturing for me to go ahead of him.
“The bar has been slow enough for me to take a couple of days off a week,” I remind him. “I can be lazy.” Kind of. “Why aren’t you working tonight?”
“Broken sewer line,” he says with a cringe. “Happens in buildings more than a hundred years old.”
“Yuck.” I shudder and glance to the empty room on my right. It’s between the library and music room. I’d open it up with wide windows and make it a sunroom, and spend every morning with my coffee in there.
And my imagination chooses now to wake up. Great.
Once in the kitchen, Declan says, “What would you like for dinner?”
“A big burger and Tavern Tots from Highland Tavern.” I sit in a stool and brace my chin in my hand on the island.
“I don’t know where that is.”
“It’s in Denver. I’ve been craving it like crazy.” I shrug. “Really good burger joint.”
“Huh, well, I can go grab burgers here, but it’s going to take time to get your Highland Tavern, and I’m hungry now.”
“I don’t want to go anywhere, and I don’t want you to go anywhere. Let’s just order pizza.”
He nods and circles the island, then just hugs me. “Sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I’m just thinking about the houses we saw today. I think I’ll pass on all three.”
“We’ll find you something.”
I nod and smile, tired of moping, and being a Debbie-downer. I do my best to shake off my mood and playfully grab Declan’s ass.
“I’m hungry too. Are you gonna feed me, or what?”
“I’ll feed you,” he says after kissing my chin. He pulls his phone out and dials the pizza place we both like, places our order, and reaches out for my hand. “Let’s eat and lounge upstairs. We can watch Netflix and be lazy.”
“Perfect. I’m gonna take my pants off.”
“That is an excellent plan,” he says with a laugh. The main stairway in this house is grand and dramatic. I’d refinish the banister and hang a more modern chandelier over the landing.
There are four empty bedrooms upstairs, and I’d love to knock down a couple of walls, make the spaces bigger.
Stop it! This is not my house!
I have to stop renovating Declan’s house in my head. I don’t live here, and I probably never will.
Declan’s right; I’ll find my place.
The pizza arrives faster than we expected, so he fetches it while I shimmy out of my jeans and climb in bed, under the covers and everything. I grab his pillow and bury my face in it, breathing him in.
I fucking love the way he smells.
“Okay, despite my better judgment, I had them add mushrooms because I know you like them,” Declan announces as he returns to the room. He stops on a dime, in the middle of the space, holding a big box of pizza, sodas and a bag of bread and just stares at me.
“What?”
“I—” He takes a deep breath and shakes his head, then walks the rest of the way to me. “You’re just beautiful. Sometimes you take my breath away.”
I blink at him, completely thrown. Declan is a mellow man, but he’s also an artist, and with his artist's heart comes a romantic side. He has a sweet habit of knocking me back a step with it because I never know when it’s going to show up.
“Thank you.”
***
“The show comes on in fifteen,” Adam announces and changes the channel on the big TV in the back of the bar to the Travel Channel.
“I can’t believe they were here only a month ago, and it’s already going to air.” The Odyssey isn’t packed this evening, and that’s okay with me. It’s a Monday, after all, and deep into autumn. I’m nervous about the show, how I’ll look, how the bar will look. Having a huge crowd here would only make it worse.
I grin down the bar at Declan. Of course he came to watch it with me. He calms me. I’ve never told him that, but I’m pretty sure he knows.
He checks an incoming text on his phone and frowns, replies, and lays the phone face-down on the bar. I cock a brow when he looks at me, but he shakes his head, as if it’s no big deal.
Must be work.
A large group comes through the doors, laughing and chatting, catching all of our attention, and I feel my jaw drop as I realize it’s the entire Boudreaux family, even Declan’s mama.
“Hi everyone!” I smile at them all and then look questioningly at Declan, but he just smiles. “What are you all doing?”
“Well, we came to watch the show, of course,” Dec’s mom says and winks at me. “This place sure is beautiful. No wonder they wanted to put it on television.”
“Thank you.”
“We mostly want to watch Dec make an ass of himself,” Beau says as he claps Declan on the back.
“That’s your job, big brother,” Declan replies.
“Well, have a seat wherever you like, and I’ll have my cocktail waitress come get your drink orders.”
I walk over to Declan and lean in so only he can hear me. “Did you know this was happening?”
“I told Beau and Eli about it when we worked out together yesterday. I didn’t know that they used the family phone tree to fill everyone else in, but I think it’s nice.”
“It’s better than nice,” I reply. “I just didn’t expect it.”
“They like you,” he says simply, kisses my cheek and joins his family just as the opening credits of the show begin.
The room grows quiet as we watch, and I’m thankful The Odyssey is the first bar showcased in the show because waiting until the end would be pure torture.
“Lookin’ good, Callie!” Rhys calls out to me when I first appear on camera, and the other boys whistle and cat-call.
“I’ll break your fingers,” Declan says in that smooth way he has, as if he was saying the weather sure is nice.
“You should have let Charly do your makeup, Dec,” Eli says when it’s Declan’s turn on the screen. “You might have looked prettier.”
“Boys,” their mama says sternly, and all three of them pout as if they’re tiny children again, making me laugh.
“You wore the shoes!” Charly exclaims.
“Of course,” I reply. “I love those shoes.”
When our segment is over, which feels like it was three seconds and three hours all at once, we all applaud and cheer. I’m happy with the results. They made the bar look hip, fun and classy, and that’s exactly the atmosphere I’m looking for.
Having Adam with me, and Declan’s family too, is just icing on the cake.
***
“Everyone’s gone,” Declan says after coming back in from walking his family to their cars. “And they had fun.”
“Me too.” I grin, and catch a look that passes between Declan and Adam.
“Hey, Callie, I think there’s something on the roof that needs your attention,” Adam says.
“The roof? The roof is closed.”
“Well, the movement sensors went off, so you should go see what’s up.”
I frown and cock my hip, my hand braced on it. “You’re too chicken shit to go up to the roof, so you’re sending a musician and his girlfriend to check it out?”
“Hey, I may be a musician, but I can kick serious ass when I have to,” Declan says.
“I can too,” I reply with a wink. “Okay, let’s check it out. I’ve told you for years, Adam, this place is haunted.”
We climb the stairs, and I find nothing out of place in the bar area, and then when I step out onto the terrace, I stop cold.
One of the firepits is lit, and on the table is a spread of food from my favorite restaurant.
The Highland Tavern.
“Declan,” I breathe and rush to the table. “How?”
“I have resources,” he says with a smile. “I also have cupcakes from Nic’s shop in Seattle.”
I turn and simply look at him, my arms hanging limply at my sides. He did this for me. This took planning and work, and he did it for me.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He takes my hand and kisses my knuckles. “Let’s eat before it gets cold.”
“It’s hot?” I grab a burger and bite into heaven. “Oh, my God.”
“Of course it’s hot,” he replies with a smirk. “You can’t eat cold burgers.”
“Seriously, this is ridiculous,” I say around a huge bite of burger.
“That it’s hot?”
“No. Yes.” I laugh. “It’s ridiculous that you had this flown in.”
“You wanted it.” He shrugs as if it’s no big deal and takes a bite of his own burger. “Wow. That’s amazing.”
“Told you.”
“I’ll have this flown in every week,” he says, reaching for a tot.
“That’s excessive,” I reply with a laugh.
“No, I think it’s necessary.”
We fall into a comfortable silence as we munch on our food, and when all that’s left is oily wrappers, he pulls me to him and snuggles me close.
“Delicious,” I say with a contented sigh.
“Yes, you are,” he murmurs while nibbling on my neck.
“The food.”
“That too.”
“I want cupcakes.”
He smiles, reaches for a box on the floor and hands it to me. It’s a plain white gift box with a red ribbon wrapped around it.
Inside are a dozen cupcakes, all different flavors, and a note.
“Would Nic send a note?” I ask, but Declan just shrugs. He’s no help.
Calliope:
I’m so proud of you. Tonight should be special. You’ve earned it. Thank you for spending it with me.
Thank you for being mine.
Yours,
Declan
Oh my.
“Declan, I—”
I slip the note back in the envelope and lay it on the table.
“You what?”
Tell him you love him! Now’s the best time.
But I’m such a damn wimp.
“Tonight wouldn’t have been half as special without you. And not just because of all of this, which I love, but because when I’m with you—”
He kisses my hand and squeezes it three times. “When you’re with me?”
“I just feel better. I feel more.” His eyes widen and then darken. “Emotions are brighter, and that’s the only way I can describe it.”
“I think that’s a beautiful way to describe it,” he whispers before he pulls me in and kisses the hell out of me. “You are more, Callie. We’re more.”
I nod and brush my fingertips down his cheek, his neck. “I like it.”
A slow smile spreads over his sexy face. “I like it too.”
Chapter Fourteen
~Declan~
I wake up needing her. I’m not jolted awake out of a dream, or because of a noise in the house.
It’s because I need her, and I’m not only hard as stone, but I’m sweaty with it.
I roll over. The moon is shining in the window, casting a blue glow over the bed, and there she is, with her back to me, curled up in a ball, sleeping peacefully. Her arm is over the covers, the bright colors of her ink perfectly lit up by the moon.
I became addicted to the pain.
That there was ever a time in her life that she needed the pain as an outlet for her feelings pulls a sorrow, a longing, from so deep inside me it almost renders me breathless. And the fact that she pulled herself together and became what she is now makes me burst with pride.
I reach over and trace the ink with the pad of my forefinger, smiling when she lets out a soft moan. Her noises are the best music I’ve ever heard. The way she breathes when I’m inside her, the way her muscles tighten around my cock, around my body.
I’ve never been with anyone like her, and I know I never will be again. She’s mine. Callie is it for me, and I know it’s going to take patience while she comes around to the idea, but she’ll get there.
I’m nothing if not patient. Some would call me too laid back, or even lazy, but the truth is, I just know how to bide my time.
I smile as she leans back into my touch, still sound asleep. The connection we have can’t be explained with words. It just exists, like electricity, or the moving of the tides by that bright moon.
God knows I feel both the energy and the pull of her, even when we’re not together.
I let my hand drift around to her chest and gently roll her already hard nipple through my fingers, then slide down her flat stomach and firmly urge her onto her back so I can part her legs, brushing my knuckles over the soft flesh of her thighs.
“Mmm,” she moans and cracks her eyes open. “Time is it?”
“No idea,” I whisper and kiss her belly as I work my way down. She threads her fingers through my hair, over and over again, with a sweet touch, and when I open her center to me and place a deep kiss over her pussy, those fingers clench in my hair, not pulling me closer but holding on while the first jolt of pleasure bursts through her.
“Oh my,” she breathes, then catches her breath again when my lips close over her clit and suck, not hard, but in a persistent rhythm. My face is rocking against her, and I can’t get enough of her. I love the way she tastes, her scent, all of it. I could camp out here all night.
But I need her. I need to be inside her, to claim her. It’s primal, and 100% male ego, and I don’t fucking care.
“Love you,” she whispers, just as I push two fingers inside her, and my world just tilted on its axis.
“Love you too,” I reply softly, but she’s whimpering, her lip caught between her teeth, already in that incredible place she goes when the pleasure takes over. It’s the damnedest thing to watch.
I kiss both her thighs, her flat stomach, then over to her side. Sex with Callie is usually fierce and passionate, fast, hard, maybe a little dirty. But tonight I want to savor, enjoy.
Love.
My body covers hers, her legs are hitched around my hips, and her arms are wrapped around my back. Her clean face is sleepy and happy, and as I slip inside her, we both sigh at how damn good it feels.
“It’s always different,” she murmurs. “Just when I think I know exactly how you’ll feel, you surprise me.”
I grin, seated inside her to the hilt, and kiss her neck, then drag my lips up to her earlobe. “I want to keep surprising you.”
She cups my cheek and guides my lips to hers, and for several long minutes, I move at a slow, leisurely pace in and out of her while I make love to her mouth. I link my fingers with hers, squeeze, and pin her hand over her head, using it as leverage as I pick up the pace, just a bit, adding a little more force to each thrust.
Not to change the tone of the moment, but to kick up her own need just a notch because I don’t know how much longer I’m going to last. Jesus, she’s sweet. Tight.
Mine.
“Love the way you feel,” she whispers and grabs my ass with her free hand, pulling me against her, and I can feel the tension building. Her back arches and her pussy tightens around me, making my eyes cross. “Your pubic bone hits me in just the right damn spot.”
“Callie, go over, baby.”
She cries out, then whimpers softly as she surrenders to the orgasm and pulls me over with her. We’re quiet, the room is hushed as we fall apart, then cling to each other and fall back together, catching our breath.
I brush the hair off her face and kiss her softly, then roll us to our sides, wrap her up against me and kiss her forehead.
“Sleepy,” she mumbles, and before I can reply, she’s slipped away, back into sleep.
I want this, every night.
***
Over the past year or so, my brothers, plus Ben and Rhys, have started getting together a couple times a month for a guy night. Mostly, we play pool, drink beer, and rag on each other.
It’s generally a good time, and as much as we all love our women, it’s nice to not have any estrogen around for a little while.
Not that we’d ever admit that to them.
Tonight, we’re in a dive bar a few blocks from the Quarter, playing pool and watching Monday night football. We usually gather at Ben’s, but he’s having work done on his place—mine’s not ready, and the others have that estrogen I mentioned earlier.
So, dive bar it is.
“Nine ball, corner,” Eli says and takes his shot, easily sinking the ball.
“So you’re moving into town?” I ask Beau as he watches Eli survey the table. Beau has lived on the inn property since Gabby opened, to keep an eye on things there, and to protect Gabby and Sam.
“Yeah, I’m moving into the loft next to Eli’s townhouse,” he confirms. “There’s no need for me to be out at the inn now that Rhys is there.”
“We told you a hundred times,” Rhys says and smirks when Eli misses his next shot. “We don’t mind if you stay. Your house is separate from the inn, you’re not in anyone’s way.”
“It makes sense to move into town,” Beau says. “I won’t have to commute to work anymore. The loft will do just fine until I find something else to buy.”
“Are you looking for a house?” Ben asks. “I think I saw a house about a block from me come up on the market.”
“Not yet,” Beau replies. “Although I do love the garden district.”
“How’s your house coming along?” Rhys asks me.
“It’s coming, one room at a time,” I reply with a shrug. “No hurry.”
“Declan’s never in a hurry for anything,” Eli says, but he smiles over at me with affection. It’s not a dig; it’s the truth.
I simply shrug just as my phone rings.
“This is Declan.”
“Hey, man, it’s Adam. Are you available to chat?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“No, I mean in person.”
“Is Callie okay?” I ask with a frown.
“She’s great. I’d just like to talk to you in person.”
Ben raises a brow, but I just shrug. “Sure. I’m at the Big Boy, it’s a bar in—”
“I know it. See you in ten?”
“See you then.”
I hang up and frown.
“What’s that about?” Eli asks as he takes a shot and misses, then swears a blue streak when Ben laughs at him.
“Not sure. Adam, Callie’s friend, is on his way to chat.”
“Uh oh,” Rhys says and pats my shoulder. “Good luck with that.”
“What does that mean?”
“Means he’s gonna want to have the same chat with you that we all had with Rhys last year,” Beau says.
“You guys didn’t scare me,” Rhys insists.
“You didn’t have any reason to be afraid,” Eli replies. “What did you do, Dec?”
“I didn’t do anything,” I say and cross my arms over my chest, lean back against the bar and watch Eli at the table.
“I’m glad we get to watch this,” Ben says and cracks his knuckles. “Just so you know, if he takes a swing at you, we have your back.”
“Maybe,” Beau says. “Depends on what he did.”
“I didn’t do anything,” I reply, my voice hard just as Adam walks through the door, surveys the room, then walks toward me when he sees me at the bar in the back of the place. He doesn’t look angry. His face is calm, his walk loose and relaxed.
“Doesn’t look mad,” Rhys murmurs, reading my mind.
“Hey, Adam,” I say and shake his hand. “You remember my brothers.”
“I do. Hi, everyone.” He nods at them, then turns to me. “Can we talk?”
“You bet.”
He glances at the others and then at me.
“We can talk in front of them,” I tell him. “They’re a vault, and I don’t have anything to hide.”
“Fair enough.” He sits on a stool to my right and shakes his head at the bartender when asked if he wants anything to drink. “I’d like to talk about Callie.”
“Told you,” Beau says, earning a look from me that says shut it.
“Shoot,” I say and lean against the bar, facing him.
“Look, her dad’s gone, and I’m the only man in her life that gives a fuck about her. You and I have been friends for a long time, and I like you, but I love her.” He stops and frowns, looking down at his hands, and I suddenly respect my friend more than I ever have. “You have a history, Declan.”
“He’s a man whore,” Eli says from across the room.
“Not helping,” I say mildly.
“No, he’s right,” Adam says with a chuckle. “You are. So am I, so I know it when I see it.”
“And you want to make sure that Callie isn’t just another notch in my bedpost,” I say, nodding.
“She’s better than that,” Adam says simply. “She’s better than any of us.”
“Damn,” Ben whispers. “I like him.”
“Honestly,” Eli says as he sets his cue down and walks toward us, “I’ve been wondering what’s going on there too.”
“I think we all have,” Rhys says. “I know I haven’t been in the picture for long, but even I know that you’re not a one-woman kind of guy, Dec.”
I frown, suddenly ashamed of myself for the first time in my life where women are concerned. In the past, I always made it clear that if I was with a woman, it wasn’t going to be long term. We had fun together, and went our separate ways, no harm, no foul.
But it never occurred to me that it could have caused hurt feelings, and that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
I glance around at the guys I respect most in the world, and then let out a gusty breath. “The truth?”
“No, lie to us, moron,” Beau says and rolls his eyes.
“I love her,” I say, enjoying the way the words roll off my tongue. “Adam’s right, she’s better than any of us. She’s probably too fucking good for me, but I’m so damn in love with her, I can’t breathe.”
“Well, that’s just the sweetest thing,” the bartender says, wiping a tear from her eye, eavesdropping unapologetically.
“Adorable,” Adam agrees, but he’s not smiling. “But that doesn’t really ease my mind.”
“What do you want from me?” I ask.
“I want to know where you plan to take this. Is she fun for now and when you decide you’re not in love with her anymore you move on to the next thing?”
