“A little.Not so bad, really.I should be ready to go again in a year or so.”
He raises an eyebrow, which usually means he’s about to call my bluff.“I’ll wait.However long you need.”
“Riiiight.”
“I’m serious.I’ll wait.In the meantime, I’ll re-virginate myself in your honor.”
I dismount from his body and riffle through the snack bags.“Any preference?”I ask Declan.But since I already know the answer, I throw him a bag of Crunchy Cheetos.He catches it in mid-air.Then I hand him a cold bottled water.
“Am I that transparent?”he asks, ripping into the foil-lined bag.
“To me, yeah.”I reach out my hand toward the pile of snacks.
“Sun Chips,” he says.
I grab my Sun Chips and a water and look at him over my shoulder.I’m transparent to him, too.
“C’mere, Summer.Please.”Declan scoots up to the headboard and leans against it, patting his lap.I roll my water bottle toward him and crawl across the duvet with the chip bag caught in my front teeth.
I sit.We munch, looking at each other.“Can I ask you something, Declan?”
“Anything.But why bother?You probably already know the answer.”
“That’s part of the question.”I wipe chip crumbles off my chest and continue.“Does it irritate you to be known?That someone has already figured you out?Or is it comforting?Does it make you feel like you’re already loved?”
One of his dark brows scrunches over an eye as he considers my question.“A lot of people know me, Summer.My brothers, Dad and Phyllis, Jasmine, Victoria, and Emma.My Navy buddies.And you.”
I nod.
“But I think you most of all.”
“Really?How so?”
“Well, I tone myself down with kids, my sisters-in-law, and my elders.My Navy buddies have seen me at my worst and my best, and sure I would joke around, but they mostly know my warrior side.My brothers will do anything for me, and already have, but I can’t completely let my guard down with them, or they’ll pounce.We’ve always been like that with each other.”
“I know.”
“You do know.”Declan strokes my arm and then reaches for my hand.“You’ve been there to see me in most every setting, with everyone or no one at all.We’ve grown up having each other as a best friend.”
I nod.
“So, my answer to your question is yes, I take a great deal of comfort in being known.It doesn’t irritate me at all.And being loved by those who know me best is the greatest honor of my life.”
I didn’t expect that, and I have to look away for a moment because I feel tears welling in my eyes.“Okay,” I say, then pull myself together to look at him.“You may have noticed that I can be a guarded person.”
“I’ve noticed.”He smiles.
“You should know why I was a virgin until… well, up until a couple hours ago.”
Now both his eyebrows are scrunched up.“Okay.”
“I was waiting.For you.”
Declan stays silent, but he spills his Cheetos all over the duvet.The maid is going to hate us.
CHAPTER 26
Summer
