I laugh. “Ass?”
Her smile is devious. “Oh come on, it’s the part of a hockey player women focus on the most. And the juicy thighs.”
“Nova!” Declan barks.
“Sorry! I’m outta here.”
“Don’t close the—"
The door clicks shut.
I stare at him. “Don’t worry. I intend to jump that lobster roll, not you. Keeping it professional and all.”
I grab the lobster roll off the tray. He walks over and sits in the chair behind the desk, reaching for his own roll. “You think you can fit that woman magnet in a chair this time?”
I plunk my ass down in the chair across from his desk. “Tight fit but I like tight.”
He freezes, his lobster roll halfway to his mouth and I wink at him. “Business.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I bite into the roll, and he finally bites into his own.
We talk through my ideas for the Cup celebration. He thinks we should have a wristband policy for the photo portion and that we should do it out on the dock. I agree. When I suggest I pay him to close the restaurant early for a friends and family only celebration, he chuffs. “Nope. That part is on us. Dad and Ma insisted.”
“Thank them for me,” I reply humbly. He puts down his drink and reaches for the laptop on the corner of the desk. He starts typing away. “Writing Aspen to start the chain of communication. I know she loves just popping by, but I want everything in writing so there’s no miscommunication. I need this to be perfect.”
“Is that why you dumped me?” I ask.
He stops typing. His eyes are so clear and bright. No one in his family has eyes as light as his. They’re fucking spectacular. “What?”
“Because I’m not perfect?” I ask and lean forward. I gently push the tray holding our now empty lobster roll holders to the side. “Because I know you’ve always been obsessed with perfection. With being the best and trying the hardest and you think I didn’t… I didn’t try with us.”
“Abbott, you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” His voice is low and deep and slow. A warning.
“So you dumped me because you’re not attracted to me anymore?” I ask and brace for a flicker of truth to cross his face, but it doesn’t appear.
He stands up, the chair scraping angrily across the tile floor. “So I think I have everything I need to continue to set this up. I’ll contact Aspen if I have any further questions.”
“Deck…” I whisper his name but I know he hears it, even though he strides towards the door like he doesn’t. “Just give me something. Some closure.”
He reaches for the knob but I place my palm on the door and lean into it. “I’ll walk away.”
“No you won’t,” Declan replies in a growl. He turns and we’re face-to-face, as close as we were at Patti’s Parlor and at his apartment. Close enough to kiss. “You never do.”
We stare at each other. My heart is pounding in my ears as I confess, “I’ve never been in the driver’s seat with us.”
“Fucking liar.” He grabs my hand off the door and I figure it’s so he can open it and run away but he doesn’t reach for the knob again. He takes the hand he’s holding and presses it to the front of his jeans. He’s hard under my palm. “That answer your question about attraction?”
I press into his long, hard length. He steps back. “I never asked you to be perfect. Fuck, Abbott. I’ve always thought you already were.”
I step into him, roughly grab his head between my hands and pull our mouths together. It’s fireworks. A pure and simple explosion of lust and love and years of regret. To my surprise and relief, he doesn’t pull back this time. He grabs my waist and pulls me closer, until there’s no space between us, not even enough to breathe.
Declan’s the one to deepen the kiss, sweeping his tongue inside my mouth with a confidence and unrestrained desire he never showed when we were young. I was always the one leading and he willingly followed. Tonight, as he pushes me into the wall and grinds his hips into mine as his tongue slips past my lips, Declan is running the show.
He’s all tongue and hands. His fingers tugging on the waist of my joggers before slipping behind me to grab my ass. His tongue claims every inch of my mouth and when he grinds against me and I feel his hard cock against mine I see nothing but sparks and light behind my closed lids, like I’m a power transformer exploding.
“I promised myself I wouldn’t,” he whispers hoarsely, his lips still on mine. He starts to pull away and I try to pull him back, my hands still holding his face. He reaches up and wraps his hands around both my wrists. “Abbott… I can’t.”
He tugs and I let go and he takes several steps back until he bumps into the desk. He wipes his mouth with his hand and I want to die. Literally, I feel like my chest is cracking open. “Why? You’re out. Your parents accept you. Your family accepts you. Nova is okay. She’s happy, even. So why the fuck can’t you be with me? Why are you going to bars and hooking up with randoms over me?”
