Lust Thy Neighbor (9 page)

"I missed school again?”

"I called in for you. You can make up the work, but your health is the most important thing right now.”

Jacob drained the glass of ginger ale and Declan took it from him, placing it on a folded piece of paper on the nightstand. “Why aren't you at work?"

Declan shrugged. "Took today off." In truth, he hadn't wanted to leave his brother alone. Being sick sucked and he didn't want Jacob to have to take care of himself should he need help.

"Oh."

"Do you think you need to go to urgent care today or are you going to make it?"

Jacob shook his head, his shaggy hair falling into his eyes. Declan noted that he would soon need to take him to get a haircut. He had made the mistake of cutting Jake’s hair himself a couple months after their parents’ death, and the patchy result had evoked a meltdown from his younger brother. "No, I think the worst is over. Maybe it was that hotdog I had after school the other day.”

"What hotdog?"

"A few days ago, I stopped by for a snack."

Declan groaned. "Was it a convenience store hotdog?"

"Yeah."

“Those things are probably sitting out all day and maybe even longer. You never know what's in them that'll give you the shits or make you sick.”

Jacob shrugged but clutched his stomach. "I like hotdogs."

His older brother rolled his dark brown eyes. "Whatever, kid. I'm sure they taste the same coming up as they did going down."

"Sick, dude."

Watching in silence for a few heartbeats, Declan wondered how to pursue the topic of Violet. He wanted to tell Jacob that he planned to see her and he figured the sooner, the better. "Look, I need to talk to you.”

"Yeah?" Jacob put down the magazine that he had plucked off his bedside table. “What's up?”

"Remember when you asked if I was interested in Violet?"

He raised a suspicious brow. "Yeah..."

"Well, I am, and I'm taking her out this weekend.”

A flash of anger crossed his younger brother’s face. “When did you decide to do that?”

"It's nothing serious, okay? You don't have to worry about anything like that. But I wanted to give you a head's up. I'm going to do my best not to make you feel uncomfortable, but I
am
going to be seeing her. Dinner, movies. That kind of thing. But like I said, it's nothing serious. We're just friends.”

"So basically, you're going to screw around on her. Neighbors with benefits. That sort of shit?”

Declan narrowed his eyes at his brother’s crude phrasing. "Don't say things like that. It's rude, and I don't want to hear that kind of trash coming out of your mouth, especially about Violet."

"Fuck polite!"

"I mean it, Jake. You're treading on thin ice."

“Fuck your thin ice, too. You always do this!”

"Always do what?" Declan scoffed, "Date your teachers? Because I'm pretty damn sure this is the first!"

"Why does it have to be
her
?"

Declan got up off the bed and paced to the window. "Because I like her. I'm sorry that you happen to see her every day at school, but I can't help that I'm interested in her. And like I said, I'll do my best
not
to make things uncomfortable for you. It's not like I plan to make out with her on Back to School Night,” he added sarcastically.

"No."

He turned at the vehemence he heard in Jacob's voice to find his brother glowering at him. "What exactly do you mean no?"

"No, you can't date her. That's what I mean.”

"I wasn't asking your permission." Declan's tone was coated in steel. "I was just telling you so it wouldn't catch you off guard. It's nothing serious."

"Whatever. Go fuck yourself, okay?”

"That's it! You're grounded for a week. I've already asked you to stop that kind of language."

Jacob shot out of bed. "You can't ground me! You're not Mom or Dad. And you say fuck all the time, so I'm going to say it too.”

"Sorry to give you the news flash, kid, but I'm all you've got. I'm Mom and Dad, all rolled into one! I thought I'd be nice and consider your feelings, so that’s why I chose to tell you about me and Violet." Declan clenched his hands by his side. "Look, I'm just dating her! I'm not asking her to move in with us and I'm definitely not marrying her. For fuck's sake, I haven't even done anything more than kiss her! Why the hell are you reacting like this?"

"Because she's nice!" Jacob shoved against his brother’s chest with all his might, barely budging Declan. "Because I like her! And when you break up with her, like all your other girlfriends, she's never going to speak to you again. Know what that means? She's never going to speak to me again either!"

Declan froze. When Jacob pushed him again, he let it happen. And when Jacob went to throw a punch to his shoulder, Declan caught him and pulled him into a vice-like hug instead. He hadn't considered that Jacob would react like this. He had expected that his brother might be against him seeing Violet because she was his teacher, but he hadn't thought that Jacob didn't like the idea of them dating because he liked her and predicted an inevitable breakup.

"I'm sorry, kid," he spoke softly against Jacob's hair. When he resisted and struggled in Declan's hold, the grip tightened. "I didn't consider that. But you can't make decisions like that based on what you fear will be the outcome." He released his brother when he finally stopped squirming. "I thought you didn't want me seeing Violet because she was your English teacher."

"There's that too," Jacob muttered. "As if I'm not enough of a freak, my big brother will be doing my teacher."

Declan rolled his eyes and let the newest crass comment pass.

"And you’re not denying it. You're disgusting, I hope you know that.”

"And you're not a freak. What makes you think that?"

Jacob looked away. "No one sits with me at lunch. They're all cliquey, and I'm always alone. I just don't fit in."

"That's not true. You’re new, kid, it takes a little time."

Jacob rolled his hazel eyes in true Pierce fashion. For a second, Declan could clearly see their father in his younger brother and his chest ached. "Yeah, whatever. You're just saying that because you feel bad and you’re wanting to change the subject."

"High school is only four years. It's a transition period. And believe it or not, it's not the best years of your life. It sure as hell wasn't for me. But you've got to stop thinking too much about what people say or think about you. When you're confident, people will notice. Stop trying to make people like you. Don't pretend to be someone you're not. Figure out what
you
want to do. And then find friends who share that."

Jacob gave him a sulky look.

"Got it?" Declan asked.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks for the motivational speech. I'll be sure to get it framed.”

Declan nodded sharply, ignoring the sarcastic jibe. "Now, about Violet. I'm sorry if I hurt you in the past or if you felt bad when I stopped seeing the women I dated before.” Declan took Jacob's shoulders in his hands. “But as corny as it sounds, I like Violet."

Declan could see his brother mull over that statement."Whatever happens, you know that I'll always be there for you," he added. "No matter how big of a pain in the ass you are, I'll never leave you."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Look, kid, I don't need your permission to date," he said softly. "I'm just letting you know because I love you. But I
do
take you into consideration, Jacob. A lot. I know who I date affects you, especially now that you're older. But you can't object to me seeing Violet just because you're afraid of what might happen. You don't know the future. No one does."

Jacob hung his head. "Fine."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. So, you're going to try to be okay with it?"

"I’m not sure, but I'll try."

"That's all I ask."

*

"I
spoke to Jacob the other night. About us." Declan leaned against the handle of the lawn mower, his dark hair curling around his face because of the sweat. She thought he never looked better. He was wearing a dirty white tee shirt streaked with grass stains and a pair of jeans that had a ripped pocket.

When she spied him pushing his heavy lawn mower up and down his lawn from her spare bedroom upstairs, she decided to go talk to him. Ask him if he still wanted to go to her grandparent's dinner with her tonight. And to warn him that he should probably put on a suit and tie if he wanted to blend in.

Not that she cared if he did. If anything, she preferred this man in his natural element.

He had smiled when she waved to him from the side gate entrance and she watched him finish up the lawn for a few minutes. "How did he take it?" She was worried about Jacob more than her grandparent’s party. As Jacob's teacher, she had come to understand the quiet boy in the back of the class. He didn't participate much but when he spoke up, his thoughts were always perceptive. And as a woman who was interested in his older brother, she was also concerned about the impact their
friendship
might have on Jacob’s classwork.

Declan's laugh was a little rusty as he wiped his forearm across his sweaty forehead. "Fine. He took it just fine.”

Fine? That was something her students always told her. "Okay, now for the truth.”

"He didn't take it that well."

She released a breath, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "I bet."

"No, it's not like you're thinking. He likes you."

She squinted up at him. "What?"

He reconsidered his words. "Wait. Not like you're probably thinking. He's afraid of what will happen if we stopped seeing each other."

"
Ohh
."

"Don’t worry. I talked to him, worked things out." He ran his hand through his hair, tousling it further. "It's kind of funny if you think about it. He doesn't want me dating you because he doesn't want to see you hurt."

She smiled softly and titled her head to the side. "
Are
you planning on hurting me?"

He grinned and leaned forward, raising a hand to touch her but recoiled when he noticed how filthy his hands were. "Honestly? You never know. Sometimes accidents happen and people get hurt. I don't want to hurt you. And I know I don't want to get hurt.”

Her own eyes glazed over as she pondered his words. His one statement seemed to sum up her entire relationship with Henry. He hadn't meant to hurt her, but his inability to let her go the moment he had second thoughts—before he went as far as to cheat on her—had ripped her apart.

"Hey.” Declan finally couldn’t resist the urge to touch her and cupped her cheek, feathering the rough pad of his thumb over her smooth skin. "Where did you go?"

She shook her head. "Sorry. Just thinking."

"About me?" He smiled his charming, lopsided grin.

No. But she didn't want to hurt his feelings. Plus, the expression on his face was so cute she didn't have the heart to cut off his flirting. "Have I scared you away yet or do you still want to come with me tonight?"

"Suit and tie, huh?"

“You do have one, right?"

He threw his head back and laughed, clutching his free hand over his heart. "I think I've just been wounded. Yes, I have one. The suit is denim and the tie is made from an old white tee, but still.”

"Sorry." A flush spread across her cheeks, and his thumb traced over the redness. "I didn't mean it like that. You know, you should probably disregard anything and everything I say tonight. My grandparents don't exactly bring out the best in me. You’ve seen those candy bar commercials, right? The ones where they’re totally on edge until they have a chocolate bar? Well, that’s me around my grandma. Without the chocolate, obviously.”

He struggled to keep his expression straight. "Is that so?"

"Yeah." She stuffed her hands in the back pockets of her cutoff shorts. "I get pretty crazy around her. Once, I had this date to another one of these functions and Grandma started to grill him right at dinner. And for some reason I just started to—ohhhh!"

Declan leaned forward and captured her lips with his mid-sentence. He had caught her off guard, and she couldn't react for a few seconds. He tasted warm and earthy, and she could smell the scent of fresh cut grass all around them. Her hands fluttered up to hold him in place and she explored the planes and hollows of his face blindly.

She felt the raised line of an old scar just to the side of his left eye and she wondered how he received it. Maybe when he was a kid and he fell off a bike. Or maybe there was a crazy story about his twenty-first birthday that involved too much alcohol and testosterone. Whatever it was, she wanted to know. She wanted to know all about this man who was such a wonderfully intoxicating mixture of sweet and sexy.

He was protective and strong and compassionate in his own way. He might bumble his way through parenting his brother, but in the end, the important part was that Declan tried. He did his best. She could tell by the way he tried to come home on time every night from work just to fix dinner. She saw them working on homework in the backyard after he had fired up the grill and made hamburgers.

But she also saw a man who was lost. Declan was a guy who was stepping into shoes that seemed too big. He didn't pick his current lifestyle, but she had discovered that he wasn't blaming anyone. He accepted his life and went headlong into the situation, guns blazing with a goal in mind. She admired that.

Declan peppered tiny kisses across her eyelids, cheeks, and lips and she felt her knees go weak. She melted against his body and stood on her toes to kiss his neck, delicately biting the curve. She felt him shiver, and she smiled against his skin. They stood there, silently absorbing the new feel of each other.

"I'm gonna go get a pizza." A hesitant voice broke them apart.

Violet jerked, but Declan kept his firm hold on her. She saw Jacob standing by the sliding door, a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes and her dog on a leash by his feet. "I'm taking Bear along for the walk. If that’s okay with you, Miss Kelly?" Her yorkie barked at the sight of her, tilting his head in what appeared to be doggie confusion, wondering why she was so close to the noisy neighbor.