It sounded like they were brushing everything under the rug, but I didn’t voice my concerns to Lance. I wanted to be back in Memphis. If Dad needed something, I wanted to be close by. I didn’t like the idea that no one could find him. What if he hadn’t fled? What if the guys got to him?
“If you say so,” I said.
“Besides, I hear you have a lot of school work to catch up on. Cutting class, hmm? I let it slide because it was her birthday, but I don’t believe for a second that you conveniently got the flu on Thursday.”
I winced. “It’s been a long week,” I explained. “I’ll be back to normal on Monday.”
“Good,” Lance began. “I would hate to have to ground you or sick Rose on your ass.”
I was hoping that Decker would join us for breakfast, but it was just the Trasks and me. Jonathan talked about his work mostly. He was incredibly passionate about saving lives, and it almost made me reconsider my disgust for the human body. Katy was incredibly kind, asking me about my interests and avoiding the topic of my mother. I wasn’t sure if she was just intuitive or if Lance had warned her that there was a painful history there, but either way, I appreciated her determination to make me feel welcome.
The hours passed by, and I grew more and more nervous. I didn’t want to ask Lance where Decker was and make him suspicious of me, but after lunch and dinner passed, I started doubting myself. “Where has Decker been all day?” I finally asked as Katy began to clean up our dessert plates.
“He went looking for his dad,” Lance explained. “He should be back soon though. Figured we could watch a movie in the theatre room,” Lance explained.
“Ooh! That would be fun!” Katy said with a grin. “I have the perfect movi—”
“We’re not watching The Notebook again,” Jonathan growled. Her pretty face fell.
“I was thinking maybe something with superheroes?” Lance offered while tossing the leftover food on his plate in the trash.
I heard the front door open and shut, and my heart constricted. Decker joined us in the dining room, and his eyes connected with mine. Warmth, pure warmth. He said a thousand reassuring words with a single glance before walking over to pat Lance on the back. “Hey, man,” he greeted.
“Hey, how was your dad?” Lance asked before grabbing what was left of the dessert pan and plopping it on the table in front of an empty seat. Decker sat down and started digging through the Sundae Pie, eyeing me before answering Lance’s question.
“He said he was too busy to see me,” Decker said with his mouth full. A hint of whipped cream was on the corner of his mouth, and I leaned forward to wipe it clean with my tongue but stopped about a foot away when I realized what I was doing. I was already fucking this up. I was obviously not good at secrets.
“Fucker,” Lance said. “Well, we’re going to have a movie night. You can watch people blow shit up to feel better.”
Katy piped in. “I still think we should watch The Notebook—”
“NO!” Jonathan, Lance, and Decker said at the same time.
I grinned while wondering how often Katy had been outvoted by the guys. A sneaky idea came to me. “I’d rather watch The Notebook, actually,” I said before winking at her conspiratorially. Lance’s face dropped. Jonathan pulled at his collar. Decker just gave me a knowing grin. I knew he’d see right through my comment. I didn’t actually want to watch the movie, but I liked making them squirm.
“I mean, I guess we can watch it?” Lance said with a frown like he’d eaten something sour.
“I’ll make the popcorn,” Jonathan said before disappearing into the kitchen. Katy clapped her hands in excitement before grabbing Lance’s wrist and yanking him toward the winding staircase and upstairs. I could hear her excited squeals even after they disappeared up the steps.
“You play dirty pool, punk,” Decker said before grabbing a forkful of dessert and placing it on his tongue. I looked around, making sure no one could see us before stepping over to him.
“I like Katy. I figured I could suffer through The Notebook if it made her smile,” I replied with a shrug. He smiled for a minute, then looked back down on his plate. His face was masked, but I knew there was a storm of thoughts brewing behind his dark eyes. “Are you okay?”
Decker’s face fell further, and he dabbed a napkin on his lips before responding. “I’m not surprised. This is what he does. You can’t help but hope…”
“That they’ll change?” I finished for him.
“Yeah. I just hate it, but there’s not much I can do.”
Deciding that Decker needed a distraction, I grabbed his index finger and placed it in the cool whipped cream portion of his dessert.
“What are you doing?” Decker asked excitedly before looking around. It was almost exhilarating, the rush of hiding, as wrong as it felt.
I feigned innocence before replying. “I just wanted a taste.” I plopped his finger on my tongue and licked it clean, watching in amusement as his mouth dropped open and he shifted in his seat. My eyes glanced down as I removed his finger with a pop, delighted to see that he was fighting a hard-on in his jeans.
Decker swallowed, then whispered in a soft voice, “I want a taste later tonight. Come over.”
“Yes, sir,” I replied before biting my lip.
“Good girl.”
I was lying in Decker’s childhood bedroom, staring up at the ceiling where numerous glow in the dark stars were pasted. It was surreal, being so close to him. He was on his side with his head propped up on his hand, staring at me as he traced circles along my arm. “So this is where the magic happened, huh?” I asked.
Decker sighed like a preening peacock before moving to the sliver of skin on my stomach where my shirt had risen. Chills traveled down my spine as he spoke. “Yeah, I studied for a lot of tests in this room. Sometimes it got pretty hot and heavy. I stripped the quadratic formula down and claimed her right here on this bed.”
I giggled. “I love it when you talk dirty. Say something else,” I demanded while sitting up and pushing him back down onto the mattress. Within seconds, I was straddling him and peppering kisses along his scruffy jaw.
“Decagon,” he whispered in a heady tone.
“Oh, yes, keep going.” I could feel the light chuckles in his chest, bouncing up and down.
“Hubble’s Law of Cosmic Expansion,” he added.
I started kissing his neck. His chest. “Tell me more,” I purred half-jokingly. “Should we test out the big bang theory?”
I was taking this too far, but it was fun and lighthearted. Decker and I needed more of that. He chuckled while threading his hands through my hair and lightly pushing me down further. “Was there something you wanted, Mr. Harris?” He pressed his hips up slightly, which was the universal sign of put my dick in your mouth, please. I was happy to oblige but wanted to make him squirm a bit.
“I used to hate it when you called me that,” he groaned as I hovered my lips over the waistband of his sweats. His dick was hard as a rock and bobbing against my neck. I shoved his pants down over his thighs and smiled at the large cock just inches from my lips.
“Why?” I asked before licking up the shaft. His body twitched.