26. Chapter 26
Chapter 26
VIVIAN
“ T his pizza is so good,” I tell Declan as I kill another piece.
“The best,” Declan agrees as he goes in for another piece himself, and I watch him take a gigantic bite out of it.
I can’t help but think how nice this is. I can’t remember having a night with another person that was just…nice. In fact this might be my favorite day in my entire life—just sitting on Declan’s black leather couch, watching The Big Bang Theory reruns, and eating takeout pizza.
I grab my water and wash down my pizza. “So, tell me about your family,” I say. I’ve been dying to ask, especially since I’m at his home and the chance of me running into someone from his family is strong.
“What do you want to know?” he asks, wiping his face on his T-shirt sleeve.
I shake my head. Boys . “Well, I know you said your dad lives next door, right?”
He nods. “Yeah, so I grew up in the house next door with my parents. My dad still lives over there with my brother Roman.”
“How old is Roman?”
“Ten.”
My eyes fly open. “Ten!” I exclaim, and Declan gives me one of his seldom-used laughs. It’s just a quick gruff sound, but I treasure it, they are so rare.
“Yeah, he was a huge surprise. I was seventeen, Axel was fifteen, and Slade was about to turn fourteen.”
“Oh my God, there are four of you?” He kept mentioning his brother, but the idea of four Declans out in the world is an interesting prospect.
He licks his lips as he pegs me with his intense stare. “No, Baby, there is only one me.”
I take another swig of water, his deep voice washing over me and making me needy. I hate the pet name Baby, or at least I did. But sometimes, when the right person says something, it hits you in a totally different way. And when Declan looks at me and says Baby in that deep, rumbly voice of his, it lights me up in all the right ways.
Declan studies my face, and as if reading my mind, leans into me and puts his finger under my chin. “You keep looking at me like that, Baby, and I’m going to take you to bed and not let you out until the world ends.”
Declan presses his lips to mine, and slowly our mouths move over each other. I move into his lap and straddle his large, strong thighs, but we are interrupted by loud banging on his door.
“Declan!”
“Fuck,” Declan mutters and lifts me off him as if I am nothing, then moves quickly to his door, opening it and revealing a boy with Declan’s dark hair and piercing gray-blue eyes, wearing New England Patriots pajamas. “Hey buddy, what’s up?” Declan asks, his tone brighter with the boy.
“Declan, someone broke into the house!” the boy says, his lower lip trembling.
“Fuck,” Declan coughs out and ushers the boy inside. “Where is Dad?”
“He went to where the noise was and told me to stay, but I saw your car and I was scared so I came here.”
As Declan listens to the boy, he grabs his jacket and takes out his gun. “Stay here with Vivian,” he says and rushes out the door the boy had come in.
I sit with my mouth open and replay what I just saw. Declan just ran from his house in a T-shirt with a gun drawn because of an intruder next door. And now there is a child here. I look around but see no phone line in the house for me to call for help. My pay-by-the-minute phone is dead in the bottom of my backpack.
“Who are you?” the boy queries, drawing me back to the here and now.
I smile at him, hoping it looks happier than I actually feel. “I’m Vivian,” I say. I don’t want him to be scared. I was scared of a lot of things at his age, and I want to make sure he doesn’t feel that.
“I’m Roman,” he says.
I smile at him. “Declan was just telling me about you.”
“Are you his girlfriend?”
“Uh…”
“He’s been not so moody lately, so Dad said he probably has a sugar mama.”
I laugh and love the lack of filter on this child. But the distraction is short-lived because I do remember Roman saying someone broke into his house. I move quickly over to the door and lock it.
“Are we okay?” Roman asks softly, taking in my actions.
I nod. “Yup, we’ll just wait here until Declan comes back,” I say. “Did you have dinner?”
Roman nods. “Yeah, Dad and I were reading books when we heard the door crash open.”
“Okay, let’s, uh, let’s watch some TV,” I say, motioning for the boy to move to the couch. I survey the area and decide if something happens, I can get him to the bathroom quickly and out the window. But until then, I can distract him with TV he probably isn’t supposed to be watching.
“Are you going to marry Declan?” he asks me as we watch Wolowitz poorly flirt with Penny on TV.
“We are just getting to know each other,” I tell him.
“Well, you’re pretty, so I hope you marry him,” he says and then locks his gaze on the TV, lost in the laugh track of the show. I sit and worry.