14. Declan
DECLAN
Six days until OA Con
I am so screwed. All that talk about never again and not falling for Ava a second time?
Yeah, pretty sure that ship has sailed. Yesterday’s anime break turned into a full-fledged Soul Eater marathon, complete with a running dialogue about which costumes and props we wanted to make someday.
And as much as I tried to remind myself that when she said those things, surely she didn’t mean us, together, in the future, my heart refused to listen.
So now here I am, checking my hair in my phone’s camera for the fifty millionth time with a mouthful of breath mints burning my tongue.
Waiting for the first glimpse of Ava as she comes jogging down the sidewalk from her house.
I should be prepping the rest of the foam to be cut, but I’m too keyed up and distracted not to do something stupid, like slicing off the tip of my finger.
It’s not Ava who first appears, however, but a silver Chevy Tahoe that Hiro pulls up behind my truck. Bailey and Zeke tumble out of the back, calling out greetings, and I have never been less thrilled to see them.
“Hey, guys.” I glance up the street—no Ava. “What are you doing here?”
“What are we doing here?” Hiro parrots incredulously, coming around the front of the car. “It’s Sunday at two. We’re picking your sorry butt up and heading over to The Dragon’s Den for opening weekend. You know, like we’ve been literally planning all week?”
Crap.
That was a thing, wasn’t it.
I scrub a hand through my hair with a grimace. “I forgot that was today. I’m sorry, guys, but you’re gonna have to go without me. Ava’s on her way over, and we still need to cut out all of the dagger pieces.”
Hiro waves my reasoning away with a flick of his hand. “So cut them out after school this week or whatever. I already told Ren you were coming today, and you know what a big deal this is for him.”
I do know. Hiro’s older cousin, Ren, has dreamed of opening a medieval-themed board game café for years, and this weekend marks the realization of that dream. I really do want to show up to support him, but…
“Ava’s going to be here any minute. I can’t just bail on her.” Not to mention I don’t want to.
“So bring her along.” Bailey slips her rainbow-painted nails into the back pockets of her flower-patched jeans while she walks over to the workbench and examines the model daggers Ava and I put together yesterday. “These are awesome, by the way. I want some.”
“I’m sure that can be arranged,” I answer distractedly, my brain still contemplating her offhand suggestion. Hanging out with Ava alone in the garage is one thing. Hauling her to a nerd lair with my friends is another. Would she even want to go?
Memories of our last encounter outside of the workshop twists my stomach in knots.
I felt so awkward at that party, surrounded by all those perfect athletes.
Friggin’ Tyler. Would Ava feel just as weird being thrown into my world?
It used to be hers too, but that honestly might make it worse.
Then again, we did watch an awful lot of anime together yesterday.
Maybe it could work.
Maybe she’d like it.
Maybe…
No. Don’t even go there. Acknowledging that I’m a lost cause is one thing. Believing there could be an actual future involving the two of us together is a whole other. Even if she did sit really close to me on the couch. And there was, like, room. That proximity was a choice.
“Ava, hey!”
Hiro’s voice from outside the garage snaps me back to reality, and I slip out in time to see Ava coming down the walk in her shop clothes, ponytail swinging away. My heart instantly syncs, beating in time to the back-and-forth swish.
“Hi, Hiro.” Ava waves, her gaze bouncing around the group gathered in my driveway. When it settles on me, there’s a tentative uncertainty lurking behind the hazel orbs. “Is this a bad time? I can come back later.” She pulls her phone out, checking the time.
“It’s all good,” Bailey says, stepping forward. “Mr. Rocks For Brains over here forgot we had plans, but you should totally join us. Hiro’s cousin Ren just opened a board game café nearby, and we promised to check it out. Oh, and I’m Bailey, by the way. Nice to meet you.”
“Same.” Ava lifts her hand in a little wave. “You go to Pacific Prep with us, right? I’ve seen you around. Love the hair.”
“Thanks.” Bailey beams and jerks her thumb toward Zeke, who’s leaning against the side of Hiro’s Tahoe. “That’s my boyfriend, Zeke. He goes to Pacific, as well.”
Zeke gives Ava a chin up nod. “Hey.”
“Hi.” Ava smiles before glancing over at me. “Sounds like we’ll have to rain check on the crafting then?”
I shrug, shifting my weight from foot to foot.
“We don’t have to. I mean, the convention is next weekend, and I know you’re pretty busy during the week…
” I don’t add that I could easily cut the pieces out myself.
If this friendship we’ve rekindled is going to end after the convention, I want to spend as much time with her as I can before that happens.
“Not that busy. You should definitely go support your friend. Our fingers can live to see another day.”
I let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, okay. But, um, Bailey’s right. You could totally come with us. If you want.”
She bites her lip, and I try not to fixate on the movement, even though it’s a cliche for a reason: teeth on lips? It’s like teenage kryptonite.
“I don’t want to get in the way,” she says, but—impossibly—she sounds like she actually wants to come. And suddenly there’s nothing I want more.
“You won’t be,” I assure her. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”
“It does sound fun, but”—she lifts her arm, showing off the hole in her admittedly ratty shirt—“I’m dressed for working in the shop.” She wrinkles her nose. “Not sure they’d want me there looking like this.”
“We’re not in a hurry,” Bailey interjects. “You can totally run home and change if you want.”
“If you’re sure…” Ava looks over her shoulder, and there’s something in the hesitant way she glances up the street toward her house that tells me she doesn’t want to go home right now.
“Or you can just borrow something of mine.” I rub the back of my head when everyone turns to look at me, and shrug. “What? It’s the easiest option.”
“Ava doesn’t want to wear one of your crappy old T-shirts,” Bailey deadpans, but Ava lights up with gratitude.
“That’d actually be great. Thanks, Dec.”
“You’re, um, you’re welcome.” My face burns from the looks my friends all shoot me, and my voice comes out strangled when I add, “Go ahead and grab whatever you want. We’ll wait out here while you change.”
“Okay, cool. Be right back!” She cuts through the garage, and it isn’t until the door clicks shut behind her that I reluctantly turn to face my friends. All of whom are smirking.
“What?” I snap.
They exchange grins, and Hiro shrugs. “Nothing. Just happy to see you so obliging for once.”
“Sending her to your room alone seems a bit risky, though,” Zeke adds. “Who knows what she’ll step on trying to find something to wear.”
I sniff. “My room is perfectly clean, thanks very much.”
Hiro’s eyes round. “He cleaned for her. Damn. It’s worse than I thought.”
“Very funny,” I growl.
“Don’t worry, Dec.” Bailey claps a hand on my shoulder. “We’ve got your back. A few hours with us hyping you up, and that girl won’t even remember who Tyler is.”
“Yeah,” Hiro chimes in. “Tyler who?”
I groan. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. “Please don’t.”
“No worries, dude,” Zeke says. “We’ve got this.”
“Just be yourselves, and don’t go saying anything”—I grimace—“extra.”
Zeke grins. “You mean we shouldn’t go into detail about how your marching band won first place in that competition last fall? Or how your YouTube channel is up to almost forty subscribers?”
I grit my teeth. “I will end you.”
“Ooh.” Bailey rubs her hands together, eyes dancing. “This is gonna be more fun than I thought.”
“Seriously, guys—” My plea dies on my lips when the front door swings open, and Ava scoots out backward while simultaneously corralling Johnny Five inside.
She still has her faded shop jeans on, but now my black Demon Slayer tee is loosely tucked into the waistline, and it’s stupid, ’cause it’s just a T-shirt, but my entire chest feels like it’s caving in. Breathing is a non-option.
“Yup,” Hiro mutters under his breath. “Way worse.”
“I’m ready when you are,” Ava calls out, jogging down the front steps. She pulls the elastic from her ponytail, and I swear she goes into slow motion while she shakes her hair out. Bailey kicks the back of my leg, and I startle to attention.
“Let’s go.”
We pile into the SUV, Zeke taking the front passenger seat and Bailey scooting into the bucket seat behind Hiro.
She tosses her bag onto the other middle seat, leaving me and Ava to crowd into the back.
Embarrassment pricks the back of my neck from her not-so-subtle arrangements, but Ava appears unperturbed as she buckles in beside me.
I try not to stare at the way the sleeves of my T-shirt skim her biceps.
Not staring, not being weird.
Just casually sitting in the back with Ava.
No big thing.
“Hey, Declan.” Ava leans in close, her voice pitched low, and a subtle hint of vanilla lotion threatens to undo me. “What do you call a car that never stops?”
I force myself not to breathe overly deep.
Act. Normal.
“I don’t know, what?”
Her lips curve upward, and okay, yeah. I’m totally staring at her mouth.
“Tireless.”
I laugh, and the motion loosens the tension built up inside me. “Nerd.”
“Someone say my name?” Hiro calls from the front, and before I know it the entire car is firing off lame dad jokes.
We keep it going right up to The Dragon’s Den, where the parking lot is surprisingly packed.
Hiro has to loop around the entire building before finding a last, semi-hidden spot in the back.
I peer up at the wide two story with its classic medieval siding and gold painted sign approvingly. “The place looks great.”
“Wait until you see inside.” Hiro holds one of the massive double entrance doors open for us and beams with pride. “Ren absolutely killed it with the cozy tavern vibes.”
We step inside what Hiro refers to as “The Great Hall,” and it legit feels like we’re inside a fantasy novel with the high wood ceiling, exposed beams, and dark wood tables clustered about the center.
Wooden booths line the windowed wall to our right, with a simple bar facing us on the opposite side of the room.
An open stairwell to our left leads up to a balcony area, where a handful of smaller tables look out over the large space.
Underneath it are arched doors marked as restrooms, as well as floor-to-ceiling bookshelves brimming with games.
A huge, wrought-iron chandelier with fake candles flickering away hangs over the center of the main room, and there’s even a stage tucked into the far-right corner.
The entire place screams epic adventure.
A young woman who looks to be in her early twenties greets us at the hostess stand, her glasses sliding down her nose as she asks, “Table for five?”
“Yes, please,” Hiro replies, taking the lead. “And if you can let Ren know his cousin Hiro is here, that’d be great.”
“Will do.” The woman pulls five menus from the stand and leads us over to one of the booths, which are wide enough to easily fit six people.
Bailey and Zeke slide into one side, and Hiro quickly fills the remaining spot next to them, once again leaving me and Ava to sit together in the most obvious way possible.
I barely refrain from rolling my eyes while sliding into the booth beside her.
“This place is seriously amazing, Hiro,” Ava says, taking the menu I pass her while she looks around.
“I know, right?” Hiro gestures toward the balcony on the far side of the hall. “There’s even two private rooms upstairs you can rent. One in a dungeon theme, the other as a dragon’s treasure lair. They’re super cool.”
“Awesoooome.” Ava nods toward the stage. “And it looks like there’ll be live music? Please tell me we’re talking bards.”
“Only the most authentic minstrels for this place,” Hiro confirms. “Costumes and all.”
Ava grins along with him. “Sweet.”
Bailey leans across the table. “Declan, you and Hiro are musically inclined. Any chance you’ll take up the troubadour life and grace The Dragon’s Den with your talents?”
I make a face before hiding behind my menu. “Hard pass.”
“Are you kidding?” Ava nudges my arm. “Just think of all the action you’d score up there. Women love musicians.”
“Is that why you said yes to Tyler’s jazz-tastic promposal?
And here I just thought it was because he’s a hot jock.
” The words tumble out before I even realize what I’m saying, and I instantly want to call them back.
Things were so much easier when we both simply ignored Tyler’s existence, but now it’s out there, front and center.
With the three stooges looking on, no less.
Her eyebrows scrunch together, her attention fixed on the menu like it holds the answer to the Da Vinci Code.
“That was…” She sighs. “Let’s just say I’m not the best at saying no.
Especially not in front of a crowd.” She sets her menu down.
“I think I’ll order the Rings of Sauron.
Hopefully it comes with more than one.” Her mouth tilts up in a crooked smile, and I bite my tongue to keep from asking any follow-up questions, because she’s clearly trying to change the subject. But man do I want to.
Thank God my friends have zero respect for boundaries.
“So you and Tyler aren’t, like, dating or anything?” Bailey asks, glancing between us with a calculating gaze.
“Um, no,” Ava replies. “Just prom. As friends.”
Just friends?
Heck yeah.
Never mind that—technically speaking—Ava and I are “just friends.” Knowing that Golden Boy and I are on equal footing is enough to buoy my spirits straight up to the ceiling. And as Hiro skillfully guides the conversation toward discussing what game we should all play, I make a decision.
I’m not going to play it safe and pretend I only want to be Ava’s friend anymore.
I’m going all in.
Game on.