Chapter Twenty-Eight
Declan
My collar feels tight. So much so that I catch myself pulling at it again.
The nervousness that snakes through my veins is such a funny thing.
I’ve known Jake’s family for years, but this is different.
I’ve never been over here as his– well we really need to talk about what to call each other because ‘boyfriends’ sounds so much less than what we are.
It’s been days since mine and Rowan’s little hunting side quest. There’s been nothing.
No word from anyone. My phone has stayed silent.
That could mean that she has no idea it was us, but I know that’s bullshit even as I think it.
Obviously it was us. I know retaliation is coming, and the radio silence is driving me a little insane.
It’s the only excuse I have for suddenly panicking about what to label Jakob and I.
Turning my body towards him as we pull into the driveway that I’ve driven past more times than I can count over the years, my hand reaches out and grabs his unused one, making sure to steal all of his attention.
“What are we called?” I blurt out before I can stop myself.
He parks the truck before turning his full attention to me. He’s looking at me like he may have to check me into a mental health facility. I mean, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea, but that isn’t what we’re talking about right now.
“I’m sorry. Have I been unclear in the times we’ve fucked around? Or when I’ve told you that I love you. More specifically, that I’m in love with you?”
“Okay, first off, we haven’t fucked– yet.” A mischievous smirk covers my face. It’s bullshit we’ve fucked. We just haven’t had penetrative sex yet. I’ve been really careful about making sure he’s actually ready because I refuse to hurt him. I just know it’s going to wind him up.
“Shut the fuck up, Declan. We’re nothing.
I changed my mind. I hate you again. Does that answer your stupid question?
We’re two ships passing by on the open ocean or whatever other poetic shit that means we’re just enemies who put each other’s dicks in our mouths sometimes.
” He pulls on the door handle, which makes me quickly pull his hand off the door while hysterically laughing.
“No! Stop it!” I pull him back to a sitting position the whole time I’m trying to stop laughing. “I mean, what are we called, jackass, not what are we? Like boyfriends doesn’t sound strong enough. What do we call each other?”
I watch him work through what I’m asking before that addicting smirk crosses his face.
“ I don’t know, babe. We’re Chaos and Beast, Jake and Dec, best friends, partners in crime, probably cellmates one of these days.
I agree boyfriends sounds weird, but I guess that’s what we are? What do you want us to be?”
My mouth works quicker than my mind can catch up. That’s the only excuse I have for blurting out, “Husbands, but since that isn’t right, I guess we can be partners.”
His eyes grow wide in surprise before a playful smirk pulls at his plump lips. “You wanna be my husband, Beast?”
“No, I take it back. I want you to choke on a dick. Leave me alone, your family is waiting on us.” I grumble as I push out of the truck and leave him behind as I walk up the driveway.
He jumps out of the truck and chases behind me.
Laughing the whole way. “Stop! Baby, stop. I was just playing around.” He grabs my forearm and spins me until our chests crash together and his hands come up to cup my jaw.
“I love being partners with you. I’m sorry.
Truce? Please?” He juts his lip out for added dramatics.
A trait I’m certain he gets from his father.
“Fine, but you’ll pay for that later.” I growl out.
“I’d better.” He winks obnoxiously at me before placing a fast kiss on my lips and leading us up to the front door.
He drives me insane, but I’d be lost if he ever decided to leave. He may joke about the husbands thing, but I’m dead set on rectifying that as soon as all this shit is done with. He will be Jakob Emmett Fischer-Byrne by the time it’s all said and done. Mark my words.
* * *
Dinner has gone exceptionally well. All of his siblings are here, obviously his parents, and then my brother and Annie’s boyfriend.
I don’t think I like Calvin, personally, but who’s to say if that’s because he actually fucking sucks or just because Flynn’s hung up on her.
He gives me a weird vibe. I notice things the others don’t seem to.
The way she’s not really looking at anyone when they’re talking to her, and she keeps looking at him after she answers a question as if to check that she said the right thing, just to name a couple of red flags for me.
Those are just a few things I want to bash his head in for.
There’s also the Flynn thing. I know exactly what happened with them that night over three years ago.
It’s not my business, so I keep my mouth shut, but I know.
We all get a reputation for being up in each other’s business, and it’s one hundred percent warranted.
I know everything about my brothers. Sometimes because we confide in each other, and other times because we eavesdrop like nobody’s business, then blast each other in the group chat.
Much like how Jake and I were found out.
Jake’s parents are acting completely normal.
He said the talk with them went really smoothly, but I was worried how it would be once we were all together.
They’re doting over Mac right now, and I think it’s safe to say I’ll never make it to ‘the favorite son-in-law’ with him around.
Which is why I’m silently contemplating how to discreetly take him out.
What? I’m competitive by nature, and I want to be the favorite.
They act like he walks on water. I guess when you take into account all that’s gone on with him and Lee, in their eyes, he does.
Sometimes it’s weird watching your brothers be in love and take care of their girl when you look at them and just see the five year old version of them.
Mac was my little buddy his entire childhood.
Now he’s beating me out for favorite son-in-law and making Lelonie Fischer the happiest woman on the planet.
Pride surpasses my competitive streak and radiates deep in my chest. Damn, I’m so proud of him.
“So Declan, what is it that you said you did for work?” Calvin asks, trying to come off as indifferent, but I know that he’s fishing.
“I didn’t.” I glare at him, causing Jakob to discreetly smack my thigh under the table.
“He runs multiple of our businesses. Why do you ask, little bald one?” Mac smirks, but the joke goes over my head.
“Don’t call me that.” His voice comes out like he’s barely restraining his anger.
“Change the meaning of your name, then.” Mac shrugs as he goes back to eating like that didn’t just happen.
Calvin looks at Annie in anger and disgust before scoffing and going back to eating as well. Mr. and Mrs. Fischer don’t even act fazed by Mac clearly goading the guy, which tells me this isn’t an unusual occurrence between them. It also tells me that they must not like him very much.
“So, Declan. We hear about how your siblings are doing through Mac, but how have you been? What’s been going on in your life since we last saw you?”
Well, Mrs. Fischer, that’s a loaded question.
“I’ve just been working and helping my brothers out where I can.
They’re where the excitement in my life comes from.
I’m sure you already know, but Rowan has a little girl now, and Kieran’s about to be a Da himself.
Mac’s wedding is just around the corner, and the twins are just getting settled in their careers.
” I can’t help the way I beam or the pride that swells in my chest as I talk about my brothers.
“What about you, though? Did you ever finish your degree?”
She isn’t trying to take shots. She’s actually an incredibly kind woman. I think she just remembers how devastated I was when my parents died and when I had to give up my dream to pick up the broken pieces of my family.
“Uh– no, ma’am.” I give her a sad grin and cast my eyes down at the table. Jakob’s hand encases mine in a show of silent support. Of course weird ass bald kid or whatever the hell Mac called him has to speak up.
“Oh, you never graduated college? What was it you were going for?” He’s doing a shitty job of hiding his excitement over my failure.
“I was in my last year of my paramedic studies degree.”
He scoffs, “Isn’t that an associate’s degree? You dropped out before completing two years in college?”
Everyone shoots him warning glares, but before I can respond, Jakob pushes to his feet and slams his hands down on the table in anger.
“Listen, you fucking idiot, you have no idea what you’re talking about.
Dec had to leave college because his parents were murdered.
That left him at twenty three and his brother at twenty-five now taking care of a twenty year old, a seventeen year old, and two fifteen year olds.
Mind you, Dec did that without a second thought.
He’s helped raise those boys with little to no recognition and has kept them alive and out of jail for years.
You don’t know shit about my partner, and I won’t let your snobby ass sit here and talk to him like that.
So I’ll award you this one courtesy by letting it slide for now, but if you so much as look at him too long again, I’ll rip your vocal cords out through your rectum and set them on fire. Do I make myself clear?”
He’s not yelling. Actually, he sounds completely cold and calculated, and I think that may just be the scariest part.
Still my dick thickens behind my zipper.
I like this possessive version of him. It’s fucking hot, and now I just want to go home and fuck him until he isn’t pissed anymore.
My hand shoots out and grabs his wrist gently.
“It’s fine, Chaos. Sit down.” I smile lovingly at him. It’s forced and not at all our typical style, which makes him pause for just a second.
“It’s not fine, Beast. This douche wants to act like it’s a fucking joke when it’s anything but. You’ve done so much for your brothers and get none of the credit for it. It’s bullshit.”
“I hear you, really I do, but I didn’t do what I did for recognition. I did it because they’re my brothers and I love them. They deserved two parents, even if those two parents were just their older brothers.”
It only takes one gentle tug before he collapses back into the chair beside me.
Lukas Fischer watches on with something that looks like pride in his eyes.
It’s hard to tell because he can also barely hide his excitement over the dramatic scene that just played out in front of him.
Lukas is a lot of things, and at work he’s as stoic as they come, but here?
That man is nowhere to be found. He thrives on the drama, deciding to even have a dramatic flare himself most of the time.
Breaking contact with Lukas, my eyes flit to Mac and Lee next on instinct.
Mac looks contemplative but doesn’t say a single word.
Lee sits beside him, gently rubbing the back of his tattooed hand with her thumb.
Dieter looks so entertained and Hannah looks as excited about the spectacle as her Opa was.
Annie won’t look up from her lap, and if I’m not mistaken, I see a little bit of a tremble.
Calvin looks like I need to check his blood pressure with how red his face is.
I also think it’s safe to assume that he has no idea what Lukas does but knows enough to know Mac and I are BOCG.
The rest of dinner has the most awkward undertone, so when it’s over and Hannah grabs my hand to ask me to go play with her, I practically jump at the offer.
She leads me into her playroom, and no sooner than I sit down does she start handing me crowns.
It isn’t until she hands me the fifth one that I decide to inquire about them.
“What are all these for? What are we playing?”
“Well, you have to pick ones for you and Cub. Which one do you think my Cub would like?” She smiles brightly.
I pick the orange crown for myself and one that’s supposed to be gold for Chaos.
“Why do we need these?” I ask her.
In a quiet voice like she’s trying to tell a secret, she attempts to whisper, “Because you and Cub are Kings. My Papa says that it doesn’t just have to be Queens and Kings that get married, like Tante Lee and Onkel Mac.
Sometimes Kings and Kings get married, and sometimes Queens marry other Queens. ” She states matter of factly.
“That’s true. What do you think about that?”
“I think that’s great. My Papa said that you and Cub may get married one day. That would be so much fun. I love my Onkel Mac, and I know you’re his brother. Which means I love you too.” She throws her arms around my neck excitedly, squeezing tightly and almost knocking me onto my back.
I can feel his eyes on me as Hannah and I go back to playing and picking out what things she thinks we should use if we ever get married.
If this is what Maeve is like in a few years, I’m in huge trouble.
We play different games for hours, and when Jake and I leave that night, my heart is just a little fuller.
A spot in my heart that’s been solely reserved for Rhett and Maeve just grew a little bit more to include a Hannah sized cut out.