Soon enough, the conversation returned to joking around and good-natured teasing. Declan let himself linger in it for a while, enjoying the satisfaction of being with people he actually cared about and seeing them care about each other, too.
After Raiden tried a few more times to drag them all into the hot tub, Declan and Seb finally took off.
“What do you think?” Declan asked Seb as they stood back in the driveway.
“They’re great,” Seb answered brightly. “They remind me of you.”
Declan crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh yeah? Should I be worried you’re going to ditch me for the younger model?” he teased.
Seb laughed. “No. Of course not. It’s just nice to joke around, you know? Everyone in my family is so serious and stiff all the time…”
“Stuck up, is the phrase I would use.”
Seb laughed again. “Yeah, I guess that’s right.” He paused, then shoved his hands in his pocket. “I hope I didn’t come across like that, back when we first met.”
Declan spread his arms to take Seb into a quick kiss, then rubbed the top of his head. “I always saw the light behind your eyes,” he answered. “Don’t worry. Now come on. We’ll have to hit the road if we want to beat the traffic.”
SEBASTIAN
“I can’t believe you’re here!” Alexandria squealed. She clasped her hands in front of her, grinning back and forth between Declan and Seb. “I thought I was going to have to kidnap Seb to get you to New York.” She paused, then tilted her head to the side. “Too soon for that joke?”
“No one was ever going to kidnap me,” Seb said. “At least I don’t think so. Were they?”
Declan shook his head. “Nope, doesn’t look like it. The joke is allowed.”
Alexandria had a gorgeous loft in the East Village, a trendy Manhattan neighborhood with coffee shops, fashion boutiques, and grungy bars. Her decorating taste was bright and sophisticated, and almost everything had been acquired at a thrift store, giving the loft a unique sense of style.
Seb stretched his arm across the back of the orange floral couch, then cozied up a little tighter with Declan. Behind Alexandria, framed covers from old lesbian pulp novels were arranged on the wall, and a small red fish circled in a bowl on the side table. She lifted her soda water from beside the fish, still smiling wide. “Do you go out to clubs, Declan? Tell me I have at least a prayer of convincing you to go dancing while you’re visiting. I’m desperate to see the two of you bump hips.”
Declan snorted. “No one sees the hip-bumping but the two of us. But I might join you for a beer, if we’re around long enough.”
Seb curled his legs up on the couch and under his body. He’d loved spending time with Gray and Raiden and was still surprised how easy it was to connect with them. Still, there was nothing quite like being in Alexandria’s home.
And having Declan along, like his companion? It was revelatory.
Seb smiled up to Declan. Lately, he’d been fixated on the ears. They were big, and they even stuck out a little bit. It almost looked goofy, but Declan’s face was so full and square, it somehow just worked perfectly.
Declan turned down to him with a smile. Seb giggled to himself. Maybe, in fact, the ears did look a little goofy at the right angle, which he found somehow even sexier.
“I’m not going to move back into the house,” he said, turning to Alexandria. “I don’t want to live there anymore.”
“I don’t blame you. Are you going to talk to your father again?”
“There’s an event in a few months that he wants me to attend. He probably won’t think of me again until then. I’m not sure what he’ll do when I fail to show up, though.” He sighed, then took Declan’s hand. “He never cared about me. He just cared about exploiting my work. Now that he thinks I’m a fraud, he’ll probably forget I exist altogether.”
Declan squeezed his hand. “His loss,” he said.
“It’s true,” Alexandria added. “He’s the real loser here.”
Being supported by both of them at once gave Seb a renewed sense of clarity and strength. “I know,” he said. “But thanks for reminding me. Anyway, it’s like Declan was saying earlier today, there’s nothing glamorous about holding grudges. The best revenge is just to pursue my own work, and to live a happy life while I’m doing it.”
Alexandria coughed lightly, holding a hand over her mouth. “Is that really what Declan said?”
Declan grunted. “Something like that,” he said. “I’ve seen plenty of people get so obsessed with revenge, they end up dead because of it.”
Alexandria started playing with her phone, then slid it across the coffee table to the guys. “So these photographs of your father from the Horizon Christmas party two years ago, you’re saying I should just delete them?”
Seb snatched up the phone, then gasped at the picture facing him. His father was sitting on a couch with two women who couldn’t have been older than twenty, one on either side. Each in bikinis, they were holding a mirrored tray in front of him, lined with rows of white powder and a rolled up dollar bill. “Oh my god!”
