28. Skylar #2
Nate smirks knowingly like he’s used to people not being able to form coherent sentences in his presence. “It’s good to see you, Skylar.” With that, he disappears, as the sound of his engine humming to life fills the empty doorway.
“Why don’t you be a little more obvious?”
I look behind me and there’s Declan, intimidating in his own right, ripped black denim, a gray T-shirt clinging to him like a second skin, his hair…dark, all traces of blonde completely gone.
“You dyed your hair back?” I squeak. I’m not proud of the way my voice sounds, but it feels like I got caught red-handed, so there’s not much I can do about it.
“Don’t change the subject.” He stalks toward me. “I heard your voice get all high-pitched and stuttery when you were talking to Nate.”
I narrow my eyes. “It was not high-pitched!”
He crosses over into the living room, plopping down on one of the loveseats. “Sure.”
I stomp over to where he’s sitting. “You know what? Fuck you.”
Declan pins me with a look as if to say, “We tried that already and it didn't work.”
“So what if Nate is the very definition of Daddy? It’s not my fault.”
He shakes his head, a smile turning up the edges of his lips. “You’re right. It’s not.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
I take the seat next to him, shrugging out of my jacket and toeing off my boots before putting my feet up on the coffee table. “Why was he even here?” I ask softly, so quietly that I wonder for a second if he hears me before he starts to speak.
“Business.”
“It didn’t sound like business,” I press.
He blows out a breath, sitting up and placing his elbows on his thighs. “It doesn’t concern you.”
I stand back up, a sudden onslaught of anger radiating in my gut. “I think it does.”
His head snaps in my direction. “It doesn’t—”
“I overheard you, Declan. Were you talking about me?”
He stands, positioning his body in front of me. “No.”
“Then who?”
“I’m not doing this right now, Sky.”
He tries to move away, but I mirror his movements, blocking him. “Why not? Because you think I’m too weak to handle the truth?”
“Skylar,” he warns.
“I just started to trust you again and you pull this shit? I never should have—”
“I’m trying to protect you, Skylar!” he finally snaps. “The more you know, the more danger you’re in. I’m…” he trails off, resting his palm against his forehead.
“Don’t,” I seethe. I’m so tired of people making choices for me. My dad decided I needed to be married in order to fulfill my destiny or some shit. Declan broke my heart in an attempt to keep me from following in his mother’s footsteps. No one asked what I wanted.
I push at his chest, and he lets me. “Haven’t you learned anything from the last time?
” I push him again, a tear breaking free and sliding down my cheek.
“Stop. Fucking. Protecting. Me.” I punctuate each word with a shove, but he still doesn’t stop me.
He takes each one, his jaw tense as his midnight eyes scan mine.
“I’m not weak. I can take care of myself.
” I reach out to push him again, but he grabs my wrist this time.
I shake it free, curling my hand into a fist before I pound it against his chest. “I’m strong.
” I do it again, but not enough to hurt him, physically, anyway.
“I know, Firefly. I know you are.”
“I could have handled it. I could have…” My words are cut off by a sob. “Why did you make the decision for both of us?”
“I didn’t know what else to do.” His voice is strained but quiet.
“I hated you. For so long you made me hate you and for what? Because your stupid, manipulative, abusive piece-of-shit father got in your head?”
“Yes.” He grows even quieter. “He got in my head, Sky.”
When I look up, his blurry form is swaying, and I can’t tell if it’s my eyes playing tricks on me or if he’s going to fall over, but all I can think to do to steady us both is stand on my tiptoes and press my lips to his.
He’s warm, and I can taste the salt from my tears on his lips.
My chest squeezes, every nerve ending in my body coming alive as he deepens the kiss, sliding his tongue against the seam of my lips.
His hands find my hips, guiding me backward until I hit the wall behind me.
I don’t think twice as I drag his shirt up.
He takes the hint, momentarily breaking our kiss to grip the fabric, tugging it over his head.
This is the first time in years I've seen him shirtless up close. He wasn’t wearing a shirt when I crawled into his bed the other night, but it was too dark to see anything.
Now in the light of day, every single one of his corded muscles is on full display.
There are a few tattoos scattered around his abdomen and one on the left side of his chest. I look closer and that’s when I see the intricate design.
Whitish-yellow ink surrounds black wings, making them appear to glow.
A firefly.
He has a firefly tattoo right above his heart.
My fingers reach out before I can stop them, ghosting over the detailed ink.
“You’ve always been my light, Skylar, even when there was only darkness.” I look up, fresh tears flooding my eyes. “I thought I was protecting your light by letting you go, but it turns out I extinguished it. I did the one thing I vowed I never would. I hurt you.”
I shake my head, letting the tears fall freely now.
He holds out his wrist to me, the faded numbers covering his veins. “I’ve known since I was thirteen.”
He doesn’t have to say the rest. I know what he means when I look down at the tattoo and back up at him. It was his first one. He somehow convinced Ash to cut school one day during junior year and got it done at some place at the mall. I always thought the thirteen was for his lacrosse number.
He has not one, but two tattoos for me?
“Declan,” I whimper, but he puts a finger on my lips.
“You don’t have to say anything.”
So I don’t. Instead, I kiss him again, only this time I kiss the firefly tattoo, then every other one on his abdomen, before bringing his wrist up and pressing my lips to it. Then slowly, one by one, I remove each article of clothing I’m wearing until I’m standing in front of him completely bare.
With no preamble, he drops to his knees, circling my body with his arms. “I don’t deserve you,” he says, his voice low and muffled from my skin.
“Maybe not, but you can have me anyway.” I hook my pointer finger under his chin, dragging it upward. “Declan, I want you to have me.”