Chapter Nine
Declan approaches the SUV first to clear out the side door, tossing some snack trash into the nearby garbage can.
With the day no longer early morning cool, he takes off his sweatshirt, and I walk past, climbing into the passenger seat, pretending not to notice his tee underneath slide up as he does so.
He takes the driver’s seat and tosses the sweatshirt in the back on his brother’s bags.
“We can roll the windows down if the scent gets to be too much,” Declan offers, lowering the blast of air-conditioning and repositioning one of the air fresheners that had started to fall off the vent. He fastens his seat belt and watches as I click into the passenger seat.
“It’s all right. It smells nice.” I take a deep breath and sniff. It’s comfortable, and I feel right at home, not minding that the pine scent is at odds with the warm weather.
“Good. I mostly don’t want you catching a whiff of the laundry bags,” Declan teases.
“It makes me feel like we should wear mittens and drink hot chocolate.” I almost add and cuddle by the fireplace but stop myself just in time, though I can’t prevent myself from recalling when Declan stood in the doorway on a game night this past winter, knocking snow from his boots and absentmindedly pulling off his wool hat, nose red from the cold.
“At least we have chocolate,” he says. “Want to open it?”
I fumble with tearing the plastic, having to turn the bar to the other side, while looking out the window. Grady is adjusting the mirrors in our car as Amelia messes with the music. What I’d give to be a fly on the wall in that car for the next two hours.
“I’m not sure our siblings get along,” I say.
Declan laughs. “Grady can take some getting used to.”
“At least we don’t have to worry about them dating or something. That would be weird.”
“Would it?” Declan isn’t perturbed by my statement. He holds out a hand, and I drop a few squares of chocolate as he nods toward the glove compartment. “There’s probably some napkins in there.”
“Do we really need napkins?” I ask.
“I mean…” He arches an eyebrow. “I may be experiencing some minor trauma from you tearing me a new one about smudgy fingers near your precious card deck.”
Oh shit, he remembers that.
I didn’t think I’d made that big of a deal about it, but obviously it was enough to make a lasting impression. Hopefully, I wasn’t that obnoxious about it, but I still cringe at the prospect of my gorgeous character cards covered in grimy candy residue, so I stand by my reaction.
I tilt my head back and laugh. “No, you can’t hold that one against me. Your hands were like—” He holds up the chocolate, which is already starting to melt in his palm. “Like that!”
He licks his palm clean. “What were you saying about our siblings dating?”
Grady pulls out of the spot and drives down the rest stop ramp slowly, waiting for Declan and me to start merging back into traffic. Declan holds out his hand until I find him a napkin, then turns on the ignition and follows the car onto the highway.
“That it seems incredibly unlikely.” I don’t understand why there’s some part of me that needs reassurance about this. “She really seemed to hate that he was calling her by her nickname already.”
Declan’s amused by my logic and not the least bit unsettled. “If there’s one thing my brother loves, it’s a nickname.”
“Yeah, Dex,” I tease.
“Actually, most people call me that.”
That’s earth-shattering information.
My jaw drops. “What?”
“Like, at school. Probably because they always heard my brother calling me that,” he explains. I lean over the center and tap Declan’s arm several times, which he ignores, though his smile grows, until he finally relents to ask, “Can I help you?”
I keep my fingers resting against his skin. “Have I been calling you by the wrong name?”
He glances from the road to my baffled expression. “I like that you call me Declan. Not a lot of people do.”
“Really?” My concern melts away into a feeling of being special, something a little bit unique. Like a reverse nickname.
“Mostly just some family, and you guys at Roll Again.” Declan nods confidently, then suddenly goes shy when he glances down to my hand still on his arm, and he returns to the initial subject as I pull away.
“But, yeah, I’m glad our siblings are getting along well enough for this drive. It’s a fun time.”
“Of course,” I agree.
He thinks for a second, then adds, “But them dating seems…highly unlikely.”
I laugh. “Exactly.”
It’s so obvious that Amelia finds his brother mildly irritating to say the least. But hold on—is Declan implying that Grady wouldn’t be interested in my sister?
Amelia is great. Funny, smart, and a total catch. Any guy would be so lucky to catch her interest. I remember Grady’s curiosity about her driving glasses earlier, and my immediate reaction here is to get super defensive.
“Is it because my sister—”
“What? No, nothing against your sister,” Declan is quick to reassure, turning to make eye contact once more. “I didn’t mean to make it seem like that. It’s just Grady has never seemed interested in dating, well, anyone.”
“Oh,” I say, realization washing over me. “I get that.”
“So, combined with the fact that they don’t really seem to like each other much to begin with, my guess is that you really don’t need to worry about them getting together like that.”
He’s making it seem like this is some huge unfounded concern of mine.
“Why would I be worried?” I ask.
“You just said it would be weird.”
I break off another piece of chocolate, but when I go to give it to him, he keeps his hands on the wheel and opens his mouth. I roll my eyes and toss it onto his tongue. “Why would it be weird?”
His face is blank. “I…can’t think of any reason.”
“Exactly.” I take the final piece of chocolate for myself to finish the bar, folding the candy wrapper in half several times and sliding it into the cupholder to dispose of later.
Yet Declan looks at me out of the side of his eye, a smile curling up on his lips. “But if you think of a reason, let me know.”
“Or if you think of anything,” I counter, worried we’re trapped in an endless game of chicken, but I’m not brave enough to be the one to make a move here. I like how things have been going between us these last couple days and don’t want to do anything that could jeopardize that.
The highway divides, and he merges to the left to follow our siblings and the GPS. Should we play some music? It’s his car. I’ll let him take the lead on that, at least.
Declan chooses to keep making conversation. “What do you have going on the rest of this summer?”
“Um, attending lots of graduation parties.” I cross my legs on the seat and lean against the headrest. The seat belt is tight as I turn to face him, so I hold it loosely in my hands to keep it from stabbing me in the neck.
“Hanging with Amelia before she ditches me for Europe, this big impressive study abroad program she’ll be at for three months.
Picking up shifts at my friend Peyton’s family restaurant. ”
“I know Peyton,” Declan reminds me.
“I can’t believe I forgot for a second that you also know Peyton. And obviously, going to play Rivalry,” I add with a laugh.
“You’ll need to get in as many matches as possible to improve your stats.”
“What about you?”
He eases on the brake as some car weaves through traffic going ninety.
“Well, work shifts and game nights at Roll Again. Then Grady likes to drag me along to canvass for certain progressive issues whenever they need an extra guy, but he’s going to be busy this summer with an internship.
Roy and I like to go fishing at his dad’s place… You know Roy,” he teases me.
Roy is the short guy with big glasses, whom I’ve never seen talk much except in impassioned bursts about new game releases. “I know him, but I didn’t realize you two were that close.”
“Yeah, he’s a good guy.” Declan taps the steering wheel.
“It’s strange, I don’t think Roy and I have played against each other lately.”
“Oh, really?” Declan goes quiet, a flush rising on his cheeks. “I hadn’t noticed.”
Anticipation courses through me, because I have a sneaking suspicion of where this is going. “What’d you do?”
“His parents are big on curfew for school nights. And you were running late sometimes—well, most times—this year. If he was your assigned partner and you weren’t there right at the start when tables were assigned, we’d trade.”
“You arranged it ’cause you wanted to play against me.” I enjoy watching him squirm in his seat.
“I wanted Roy to get home before curfew,” he says, struggling to keep a straight face. “If he got grounded, we couldn’t go fishing.”
“That makes sense.” The smile is still plastered to my face.
“And, um, what else?” He scratches his elbow, glancing back out the rearview mirror.
“This summer we’re selling the house, so that will take a lot of work, getting everything sorted through and packed up, though a lot of stuff is probably going to sit in storage for a while until it all gets figured out. ”
I panic that he could be going somewhere far away and I’ll never see him again, that this new familiarity with Declan could slip through my fingers as easily as it started these last few days—all before I remember that we’ve already established we’re going to the same college.
“Why are you moving?”
“Well, my parents are. Basically, it’s time to get out of that house. I’m not sure where they’ll end up.”
I wish he’d give a few more details, but I don’t want to pry. “Wow, that’s open-ended.”
“It’s strange moving out before leaving for college.
Like, I’ll never be able to revisit that part of my childhood again.
My life will always be divided into a before and after.
” He presses his lips together, puffing out his cheeks with air.
“I have no idea where I’ll spend the holiday breaks.
I can table that problem until Thanksgiving. ”
“That’s a lot of change at once,” I agree.