“It's the nicest thing anyone's done for me in a long time.”
The admission made my chest tight. “Then I should have done it sooner.”
“You're doing it now. That counts.”
A waitress appeared with menus and coffee. We ordered without looking. Pancakes for him. Eggs and bacon for me.
When she left, Declan leaned back in the booth. “So. A date.”
“Yeah.”
“You planned this?”
“Luka suggested it. I executed it.” I took a drink of coffee. “Figured we should do the normal relationship thing at least once before the world goes to shit again.”
“That's romantic.”
“I'm working on it.” I reached across the table and grabbed his hand. “Look, I'm not good at this. The romance shit. The flowers and dates and all the things people do when they're falling for someone. But I want to try. For you. Because you deserve more than just crisis sex and stolen moments.”
Declan's thumb traced circles on the back of my hand. “I don't need grand gestures, Troy.”
“I know. But I want to give them to you anyway.” I squeezed his hand. “So just let me be awkward and earnest for one day.Let me take you out and pretend we're normal people who met under normal circumstances.”
He smiled, actually smiled in a way that made his whole face softer. “Okay. Yeah. Let's be normal for a day.”
The food came. We ate while talking about things that had nothing to do with Rafael or danger or fights. Movies we'd seen. Books we'd read. The stupid shit that filled normal conversations.
It felt good and easy in a way nothing between us had been easy before.
After we finished eating, I paid and pulled him back out to the car. “Where to next?” he asked.
“You'll see.”
I drove us to a record shop in Wicker Park, the place with bins full of vinyl and posters on every wall and music playing that I didn't recognize but liked anyway.
Declan's eyes lit up when he saw where we were. “You remembered.”
“You mentioned you liked records once. Figured we should check it out.” I followed him inside and watched him move through the aisles with focused intensity.
He pulled out albums and read the backs. He put most of them back but kept a few.
“You should get that one,” I said when he hesitated over something that looked old and expensive.
“It's sixty bucks for a used record.”
“So? You want it, get it.” I grabbed it from him and headed for the counter. “I'm buying.”
“Troy—”
“Let me do this.” I paid before he could argue and took the bag. I handed it to him. “You can play it for me later.”
He looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite read. “You're being really sweet today.”
“Is that okay?”
“It's perfect.” He kissed me right there in the record shop, quick and warm. “Thank you.”
We hit a bookstore next and then a coffee place that served pastries bigger than my hand. We walked along the lakefront despite the cold because Declan said he liked watching the water.
