Tigers & Devils (18 page)

“Holy fuck,” I breathed. There may have been angels singing hallelujah as well.

“I’m bringing my DVDs here.”

“You’re easily pleased,” Declan murmured, nuzzling my neck.

“Do you have surround sound?” I asked, still distracted. He laughed; it felt soothing against my skin. “Yes. I actually had the subwoofer inserted into the bottom of the couches. You should feel the Death Star blowing up in
Star Wars
.”

Puzzled, I grabbed his head and gently turned it so I could look him in the eye. “I thought
I
was meant to be the geek? That’s even geekier than anything I’ve ever said in my life.”

Declan looked pleased with himself. “I like surprising you every now and again.”

The coffee machine began hissing, letting us know the coffee was ready. I gave him a quick kiss and jogged over to start pouring.

“You know, the fastest I ever see you move is when you’re going after coffee,”

Declan remarked.

120 | SEAN KENNEDY

“At least I’m consistent that way,” I said, pulling the milk out of the fridge. His fridge was well-stocked. “He must have a maid hidden somewhere,” I murmured.

“What was that?” Declan asked from the lounge.

“Nothing,” I called back as I shut the fridge and turned my attention back to the coffee.

We both froze as a knock came at the door.

“Dec! Open up!” a loud, deep voice reverberated through the wood. I looked at Declan, sure that I had turned pale.

Declan, however, looked as relaxed as he had moments before. “I think it’s time you met some of my friends,” he said casually.

MEET his friends
? Was he joking? Shouldn’t I be acting like someone in a bedroom farce, hiding under the bed or shimmying down a drainpipe outside the window? Not that
I
would be able to shimmy down a drainpipe—I would be more likely to hang on grimly for a few seconds before losing my grip and plunging to my certain death seven storeys below.

“Dec—” I said feebly.

“Hey,” he said, crossing over to me. “It’ll be fine, trust me.”

Of course I trusted him, but I needed to be given a debriefing first, in which it would be outlined what I could and couldn’t say, how to act, what to do…

“Simon!” Declan said, taking me by the arm. “It’s Abe, he’s cool.”

And of course, I knew who “Abe” must be—Abraham “Abe” Ford, captain of the Devils, and well-known as being half of the inseparable team of Ford and Tyler. Friends on and off the field, but Declan sure hadn’t told me that he was part of the in-the-know list. Or was he? Why couldn’t he just fucking tell me?

He kissed me, and he was so cool about it that I had to assume Abe knew. I took a deep breath as Declan left me and jogged to the door to open it. The instantly recognisable form of Abe Ford walked through, looking like he owned the place or was at least was comfortable enough here to treat it as a home away from home. He slapped palms with Declan, and even though I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, I was still amused by the hypermasculine bonhomie between them.

“I bet you smelled the coffee from downstairs,” Declan told him.

“We were too lazy to make our own,” Abe grinned.

We?

“Hey, Lisa,” Declan said, easily kissing the woman who followed Abe into the apartment. She gave his arm a quick rub, and my guts turned to rubber.

“Morning, Dec,” she said, casually shortening his name, which up until this point of time I had stupidly assumed I was the only one who did. By now Abe had turned around to see me standing like a stunned mullet in the kitchen, using the coffee machine as camouflage, hoping that my black clothing would blend chameleon-like against its black plastic. He pointed at me and looked back at Declan. “Who’s this?”

122 | SEAN KENNEDY

Lisa’s eyes widened, but there was a glossiness to them that showed she was both surprised and delighted for some unknown reason.

I wondered whether to introduce myself or let Declan do it and therefore give me some clue about the role I was meant to act out. Declan beat me to it.

“This is Simon.”

Nice and nondescript. Noncommittal. Brief. Thanks, Dec. But this condensed introduction seemed to signify a lot more to the people now suddenly sharing the kitchen with me.

“Simon!” Abe said, crossing behind the counter to grab my hand and shake it furiously. “I assumed it was, but it’s good to meet you!”

He had barely released me before I was getting my very own kiss from Lisa.

“We’ve heard so much about you,” she said, smiling as she pulled back to have a proper look at me.

“Uh, hi,” I muttered, wondering what the hell was going on.

“Believe me, he usually talks a lot more than this,” Declan said wryly.

“Relax, Simon,” Abe said, throwing open the cupboard doors as he searched within them. “No bikkies, Dec? What kind of host are you?”

Lisa was the one who really took pity on me. “We know Dec’s dirty little secret.”

Her tone of voice proved that she didn’t think it was either dirty or little at all.

“These are my friends.” Declan shrugged, sounding both apologetic and happy about it all.

“Why don’t you run downstairs, Abe, and get some biscuits from our flat?” Lisa suggested.

“Me?” he asked.

“You’re the athlete, mate, not me. Count it as part of your training.”

He put on a good show of being annoyed by it, but he wasn’t fooling anyone. “Be back in a minute.”

“Bring back the good stuff,” Lisa called after him. As the door shut, she turned her attention back to me. “You said he was cute, Dec,” she said approvingly, “but he’s
really
cute.”

She was either a flatterer or a pathological liar. My ego wanted to believe the former.

“Told you,” Declan agreed.

“And you two look very cute together,” she continued.

Desperate to deflect attention, I asked her, “How do you take your coffee?”

“Oh, and
modest
,” she teased. “No wonder you like him. White with one, thanks.”

She was very friendly from the get-go, wasn’t she? You couldn’t help but like her. She was casual, smart, and able to put you at ease within moments of meeting her. She

TIGERS AND DEVILS | 123

reminded me a lot of Fran. Which made me think that if they ever met each other, they would probably collide. Or take over the world together.

“What about Abe?” I asked.

“What about him?”

I stared at her, and Lisa laughed. “Black with one.”

“I’ll be right back,” Declan said, and he disappeared into the bedroom. I watched him go, wondering if I was wearing that beseeching
don’t leave me alone
with her
expression. She might have been friendly and casual, but I didn’t want to be pressured into giving that first encounter tell-you-my-life-story speech just yet. She sidled around the counter and leaned in to me confidentially. “Dec must really like you.”

I handed her a coffee. “What makes you say that?”

“Because he wanted to introduce you to us so quickly. You’ve been going out, what, a month or so?”

“About that,” I agreed reluctantly, not sure where this was headed.

“Believe me, he normally takes a few months, even longer. If he introduces us at all.”

Lisa must have read the expression on my face. “Oh, don’t worry, it’s not like he’s a male slut or anything. He’s practically a celibate hermit compared to other footballers.”

I finally found my tongue. “It’s your use of the word
practically
that worries me. Especially in context of other footballers’ sex lives.”

Lisa snorted into her coffee. “Point taken. But what I’m trying to tell you is he
really
likes you.”

I sized her up. “Now that’s starting to sound like a warning.”

She shrugged. “Maybe it is. Do you like him?”

This conversation was really going into uncomfortable territory for me. “Of course I do.”

“
Really
like him?”

“You’re sounding like an American highschooler. It’s not like he’s given me his jacket.”

“Yeah, but I know Declan. I don’t know you. I
know
he’s serious.”

“And I don’t have to justify myself to you.” Okay, probably not the best reaction to give to one of Declan’s best friends within minutes of meeting them, but I felt cornered. And when you’re cornered, you go on the defensive, if not the attack. She set her mug on the kitchen bench. “Maybe not. But I’ve seen other guys latch onto Declan for their own agendas, and he’s gotten badly burned for it. It’s not going to happen again.”

“I don’t have an agenda,” I said honestly.

124 | SEAN KENNEDY

She relaxed slightly. “You know what? Dec told me that although you hide a lot and laugh off things, your face is an open book. And he’s right, you can’t hide anything.”

You would think I shouldn’t like her after this interrogation, but I still did. At least she was honest, and I always respect that. “Does this mean you’ll give him the friend approval?”

“From me, yes. Abe will be another thing entirely.”

I groaned. “Fantastic.”

“Relax. He’s not dense. He’ll be able to see how much you like Declan, even if you try to deny it.”

“Dec knows you’re interrogating me, doesn’t he?” I asked her. Lisa grinned. “Of course he does.”

I held up a finger. “Just excuse me a moment.”

I heard her giggling into her coffee as I fled from the kitchen to find my wayward boyfr… partner… whatever word doesn’t sound naff.

Declan was lying on the bed, his hands intertwined on his stomach, staring up at the ceiling.

“Bastard!” I hissed, jumping on top of him.

He looked me over appreciatively. “You don’t seem too worse for wear. She must like you.”

I grabbed him by the wrists and pulled his arms up over his head. “Like I said,
bastard
.”

He tried to reach up to kiss me, but I held him down. He squirmed beneath me.

“Hmm, this is nice.”

“Nice?
Nice?
”

It turned out his captivity was just a ruse. Before I knew it, I was flying through the air, Declan was out from under me, and in seconds had me trapped beneath him.

“Get off me—”

“Say please.”

“You have
guests
in the next room!” I reminded him.

“One little word.”

“Declan—”

“Wrong word.”

I sighed heavily. “Please.”

I was rewarded with a slow long kiss. I arched up beneath him, and he pulled my arms behind his back. It wasn’t that comfortable, to tell you the truth. I teased him by slowly thrusting my lower body against his, and he moaned into my mouth. Which was when I took advantage of his temporary distraction by throwing him off me and jumping to my feet.

TIGERS AND DEVILS | 125

He fell against the bedside table. “Fuck, my knee!” he cried, hugging it into his chest.

Games were forgotten immediately. I threw myself down beside him. “Oh, Dec, fuck, I’m so sorry—”

Immediately my back was against the floor, and Declan was back on top of me.

“Gotcha.”

“Motherfucker!” I wheezed, out of breath as Declan was slowly squeezing the air out of my body while he used his own to restrain me. “You can’t use your injury—”

“Who said?”

“It’s not fair!”

“Awww,” he teased.

I sagged against the floor, all energy expended. “Fine,” I said with an air of martyrdom. “Do to me what you will.”

“That’s a tempting thought,” he said mockingly. “But there are guests in the next room.”

“Then get off me—”

Distracting with the kissing again. He was a master of that. He stroked the side of my cheek with his thumb. “I guess we better get back out there.”

I nodded, although I kind of was happy where I lay.

He helped me up to my feet, and we made our way back to the kitchen. Lisa grinned at us as we entered. We
did
look a little mussed up, but we also hadn’t been gone long enough to be accused of doing the deed so at least there wasn’t that embarrassment.

“Did he punish you, Dec?” she asked innocently.

“I think we punished each other enough,” he said, deadpan. “Is Abe still not back yet?”

He arrived only a couple of minutes after. “I couldn’t find any biscuits. So I ran down to the milk bar.”

Lisa rolled her eyes. “They’re in the tin. That’s marked
biscuits
.”

They squabbled good-naturedly between themselves as Declan made fresh coffees for everybody, and when we were all seated together was when the true interrogation began.

“So you work for a film festival?” Abe asked.

I nodded as I took a bite of a Granita. “The Triple F.”

“Do you like it?”

“I love it. Of course I complain about it all the time, but it’s a great job.”

“It must be a big responsibility,” Lisa said.

126 | SEAN KENNEDY

“Well, it’s really only me and my assistant who plan and run everything. That’s why it takes a whole year for us to arrange it.”

“Are you like most other people who work in the industry?” Abe asked. “Do you have a script hidden under your bed?”

“About three, actually. All unfinished.”

“Why?” Lisa asked.

I laughed derisively. “Because they’re pretty shit?” I admitted. “Sometimes I think I’m a better critic or film festival organiser than one of the creative types. I guess somebody has to do it.”

“I doubt they’re shit,” Declan said softly.

“
You
haven’t read them.”

“I’d like to,” he persisted.

Abe snorted behind his hand.

“What?” Declan asked dangerously.

“Dude, you are so gone.”

“Abe, baby,” Lisa said, laying her hand upon his arm. “Don’t forget Dec has as much on you as you do, or will, on him.”

Declan nodded satisfyingly, and Abe was suitably cowed. I could feel Dec’s knee pressing against mine, and I smiled. And then I felt the pressure of his hand resting upon my thigh. I almost jumped through the ceiling, but when the moment was right I slipped my right hand down to close over his. I doubted either Abe or Lisa could miss it, but they politely refrained from teasing us about it. I just hoped that when Fran and Roger were given the same opportunity they would be as polite.

After coffee, Lisa and Abe made plans to have lunch with us. As soon as the door shut behind them, Dec and I were both running back to the bedroom, peeling off our clothes.