“Who the fuck are you?” I snapped at the man.
He grinned at me, tossing the controller on the table. “You don’t recognize me?”
“Not even a little.”
The man leaned back on the couch, draping his arm across the furniture like it belonged to him. “My, my. How times havechanged. Of course, I’m not surprised you don’t recognize me. Back in high school, you only had eyes for Krista.”
“That did not sound right,” Jeff laughed.
“Not like that, you idiot. I meant, he didn’t notice me because he was staring at Krista.”
“Right,” Jeff nodded, “which makes it sound like you wanted him to notice you.”
“No, it meant that he wouldn’t have noticed an army of bees flying at him because he was so focused on Krista.”
“Which we need to discuss,” Jeff retorted, turning to face me. “You know, now that you’re back.”
“I’m not back.”
“Well, you’re here, which invalidates your statement.”
“Ooh, big words,” the man jeered.
“Shut up. I have learning capabilities up here,” Jeff said, tapping the side of his head.
Anger was surging through me, but I tamped it down. This was not the way I thought I would wake up on my first day home. I was supposed to be at peace, not struggling to contain anger.
“Who the fuck are you?” I shouted.
When the man stood, I nearly took a step back. On the couch, he didn’t look that imposing, but at his full height, fuck, the man was practically a giant. With muscles that big, he could squish me like a bug.
But the grin on his face kind of ruined any hopes he had of intimidating me. “I can’t believe you don’t recognize me. Dude, we played ball together.”
I studied him for another moment before his features finally started forming what I had to be imagining was the puny face of a kid who played point guard in high school.
“Declan?”
“The one and only,” he grinned.
“But you were…” I held my hand up to about the height of my neck, shocked this kid had skyrocketed to the giant he was. “How the hell…”
“Shot up my senior year,” he grinned.
“Holy shit,” I laughed, holding out my hand to shake his.
He looked at me strangely, then strode around the table and wrapped me up in a hug, lifting me off my feet.
“Okay,” I wheezed, feeling my lungs being crushed in my chest. “That’s…you can put me down now.”
He did, and I nearly fell over.
“How the hell are you?” he laughed, slapping me on the shoulder.
I nearly stumbled.
“Good,” I lied. “And you? What are you doing now? Chopping down trees?”
“Nah,” he laughed. “I’m a fireman.”
