“I have no fucking clue.”
31
HAYDEN
My eyes opened, and my head set to pounding immediately. I groaned, putting a hand to my head as I sat up. A wave of dizziness came over me. My elbow fell to my knee, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
A door opened and clicked shut, but I ignored it.
“Good morning.”
The edge of the bed dipped, and the smell of coffee drifted toward me. That got my attention. My head rolled to the side in my hand. Declan held out a travel mug toward me while sipping from another one.
I took it from him, sniffing it. It smelled like I’d made it myself. I closed my eyes, lifting my head to take a gulp.
Perfection.
I didn’t know how he did it, but it was right on the money.
“I don’t know how you figured it out…”
“Gunny was in the kitchen when I got up. The man was staring at the machine like it was a ticking bomb he was trying to figure out how to dismantle. In return for doing the hard work, aka setting the pot to brew, he told me how you liked your coffee.”
“Thank fuck for Gunny.”
He laughed softly and leaned back against the pillows. I scooted back into the bed beside him. His hand found my thigh. A happy sigh lifted my shoulders, and I wrapped my arm around his neck, pulling him back against my chest.
Once he was comfortable under my arm draped across his bare shoulder with his hand wrapped around my leg, tickle scratching the back of my knee, we sat together drinking our coffee in peaceful silence.
Half a cup later, I felt like a human, not on the verge of death. I let my head fall back against the headboard in contentment. I could remember a time I felt like this.
“If not for the hangover, this would be the perfect way to wake up every morning.”
“Agreed,” Declan whispered.
He leaned forward, and I pulled him back to me. “Where do you think you’re going, vato?”
He glanced over his shoulder. “If you’d quit strangling me, you’d find out.”
I nipped his neck, growling playfully. “I distinctly remember you enjoying it when I strangled you.”
“When your dick’s in my ass, abso-fucking-lutely.”
“Umm, I think you missed some positions.”
“Are you having memory lapses, Papi?”
“You’re closer to old age than I am, you fucking brat.”
“Takes one to know one, Papi.”
I drained the dregs from my cup and flipped the top closed before tossing it on the bed. “If you want the rest of that, you’d best drink it now,malcriado.”
“Or.”
That word went off like an explosion in my head, and I sprung into action. I straddled his legs and wrapped my hand around his throat. “Do you want to rephrase that?”
Indecision warred in the depths of his eyes while his lips twitched with mischief and curiosity. “And if I don’t?”
