“You did?” My Mama shouts in excitement.
“You met somebody, or you got reacquainted with somebody?” My Papa asks with his brow furrowed.
How the hell does he know everything?
“The second one.” I grumble.
My Mama’s face crumbles. “No– Jakob, no. Not her.”
“Tell her before she starts crying over something that’s not true.” His tone is sharp and cuts to my core. He’s her husband first and foremost, so I have no doubt that he’ll take myass out if I don’t answer quickly enough.
“No, it was never her, Mama. I’m– I’m in love with Declan Byrne.” I’m coiled so tightly that I feel like I’m going to snap in half while waiting for her response.
“Oh, thank God.” She empties the air out of her lungs on a dramatic exhale.
I’m so fucking confused. This was not what I was expecting at all.
“You guys aren’t surprised?”
My parents laugh –fucking laugh– at me. “No der Sohn. We’ve known for years.” My Papa grins at me. “I just want to know why it took you so long to tell us.”
“Well, uh– we’ve only actually become a couple recently. I just didn’t know how to tell you guys.” I hang my head while realizing I could have told them from the beginning.
“Jakob Emmett Fischer.” My mom chastises. “Have we ever given you any reason to believe that you couldn’t come to us about this?”
“No, that’s not it at all. I just wanted to be sure about us before I brought it to you guys.”
“And are you? Sure, I mean.” My Papa asks with a no nonsense tone.
“Yeah, he’s it, Papa.” This time when I answer him, I look straight into his ice blue eyes that look identical to my own. I don’t break eye contact first. I don’t shy away from his hard stare. After a few long seconds, he nods in acceptance and relaxes his posture.
“Oh, this is so great, mein Junge. When are you bringing him over?” She gushes. She’s always loved Dec and was heartbroken when she learned we aren’t friends anymore.
“Actually, we want to have Sunday dinner this weekend at Dieter’s house.”
28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Declan
My collar feels tight. So much so that I catch myself pulling at it again. The nervousness that snakes through my veins is such a funny thing. I’ve known Jake’s family for years, but this is different. I’ve never been over here as his– well we really need to talk about what to call each other because ‘boyfriends’ sounds so much less than what we are.
It’s been days since mine and Rowan’s little hunting side quest. There’s been nothing. No word from anyone. My phone has stayed silent. That could mean that she has no idea it was us, but I know that’s bullshit even as I think it. Obviously it was us. I know retaliation is coming, and the radio silence is driving me a little insane. It’s the only excuse I have for suddenly panicking about what to label Jakob andI.
Turning my body towards him as we pull into the driveway that I’ve driven past more times than I can count over the years, my hand reaches out and grabs his unused one, making sure to steal all of his attention.
“What are we called?” I blurt out before I can stop myself.
He parks the truck before turning his full attention to me. He’s looking at me like he may have to check me into a mental health facility. I mean, it probably wouldn’t be abadidea, but that isn’t what we’re talking about right now.
“I’m sorry. Have I been unclear in the times we’ve fucked around? Or when I’ve told you that I love you. More specifically, that I’min lovewith you?”
“Okay, first off, we haven’t fucked– yet.” A mischievous smirk covers my face. It’s bullshit we’ve fucked. We just haven’t had penetrative sex yet. I’ve been really careful about making sure he’s actually ready because I refuse to hurt him. I just know it’s going to wind him up.
“Shut the fuck up, Declan. We’re nothing. I changed my mind. I hate you again. Does that answer your stupid question? We’re two ships passing by on the open ocean or whatever other poetic shit that means we’re just enemies who put each other’s dicks in our mouths sometimes.” He pulls on the door handle, which makes me quickly pull his hand off the door while hysterically laughing.
“No! Stop it!” I pull him back to a sitting position the whole time I’m trying to stop laughing. “I mean, what are we called, jackass, not what are we? Like boyfriends doesn’t sound strong enough. What do we call each other?”
