Navy Seal's Second Chance Romance, page 5
“I don’t have the time to argue with you right now, Piper. Just go back in the house,” he said, and she jutted her chin out at him.
“I’m in love with him, Max. It wasn’t just an accident or a mistake,” she said.
Chapter 14
Piper
“Piper, what are you talking about?” Max was seething with rage still, but there was also a look of confusion that had entered his eyes now.
I couldn’t believe I had just said. I had thought it for so long. I had repeated the words over and over again in my head so many times that it had just come tumbling out of me before I could stop it.
“I’m talking about my feelings for Declan. He didn’t just bang me, like you said, Max. I wanted to sleep with him,” I said, firmly keeping my gaze on Max and not on Declan because I was too embarrassed to look at him.
“You don’t have to make excuses for him, Piper,” Max said, clenching his jaw and I clasped my hands together, interlacing my fingers.
“I’m not making excuses, Max. I’m telling the truth,” I said. He looked past me, then at Declan, and his expression changed to shock.
“What is happening here?” Max said, losing the firmness in his voice now.
“You don’t need to be angry with him anymore, Max. I wanted this to happen,” I said, with a quivering voice and then I felt Declan come up behind me and place a hand on my shoulder.
“Piper…” he breathed my name in a soft whisper, and I whipped around to face him. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. This was the lowest I had ever sunk. I had confessed my feelings to him. In front of my brother no less! There was no taking back now.
Declan’s eyes widened, his blue eyes were soft and sparkling in the dim light of the night. It hurt me to see him in pain. But he didn’t look like he was in pain.
“I’m sorry Declan. That you thought this was a casual thing, but I’ve always had feelings for you, and it wasn’t a mistake for me,” I said, mumbling the words in a weak voice. Max was in too much shock to interrupt us.
Declan kept his hand tenderly on my shoulder and was looking at me keenly.
“It wasn’t a mistake for me either,” he said, and he pulled me into his arms. I couldn’t hold the tears back anymore, as I buried my face into his chest. It was warm and safe there, and I breathed in the musky natural scent of him. His arms were muscular and strong around me, as he held me there and I had no idea what he was going to say next.
“I left town that day because I felt guilty for wanting you. I had always wanted you. I was in love with you Piper, and you are my best friend’s sister,” he spoke with his voice muffled by my hair. I felt like a fool, with my makeup caking my face, with glitter in my hair and in that ridiculous dress!
I looked up at him, staring into his eyes. His words had not yet sunk in. My mind was telling me that this was all a joke or all a dream, and I was going to wake up from it very soon.
“Piper…I’m in love with you,” he said and gently brushed my fringe away from my forehead.
“You shouldn’t have left,” I said in a whisper, and he breathed in deeply.
“I was a coward. I didn’t know how you felt about me. I woke up, and you were gone. I thought you resented me for what happened. I didn’t want to face Max,” he said, and I tightened my arms around him. I had fantasized about this moment for so long. It had been so far out of reach for me that I didn’t want to let him go, not even for a moment. Declan Wheeler was saying that he was in love with me! Even if it was a dream, I wanted to squeeze every ounce of pleasure from the moment.
“I left because I was afraid of Max finding us. There were no boundaries between the two of you. I’d seen him walking into rooms without knocking. So, I was a coward as well. I didn’t want my brother catching us, especially since I thought you didn’t even like me,” I said and this time we both broke into nervous, happy laughs.
Declan lowered his face, and our lips met in a slow wet kiss. Neither of us cared about what Max was thinking. It was all out in the open now, and we were glad.
“I came back for you Piper, to see you again, to experience this town again. I couldn’t live with my guilt anymore,” he said when he pulled away from me. Our eyes were locked together, just like our bodies were and I couldn’t get enough of looking into his eyes.
“I was scared of falling into a depression again after you left this time. It’s been six years, and I still haven’t gotten over you. I was angry because I didn’t know how long this was going to take me,” I said and Declan pressed his lips to my forehead.
“I won’t leave unless you want me to,” he said, and we smiled at each other.
“Will you two come into the house now!” we heard Max call out to us and we turned to him and smiled. Even though he wasn’t smiling, at least he wasn’t as enraged as before. Without waiting for us, he turned on his heels and walked back to the house.
Declan and I looked at each other, and I bit down on my lip. I wanted to spend time alone with him, not under the watchful eye of my older brother. We weren’t teenagers anymore.
“Your brother deserves an explanation,” he said and released his arms from around me, he kept a hand on my waist as we followed Max into the house.
Chapter 15
Declan
I couldn’t stop touching Piper as we followed Max into the kitchen. I kept a hand firmly on her waist as we stood beside each other. Our bodies hot with need, but I knew Max needed time. It would be selfish of us to expect him just to leave us alone. I half expected him to order me to take my hand off his sister, especially because he kept looking at where my hand met her waist.
Instead of saying something, he turned to the fridge and took out a bag of frozen peas and handed it to me.
“For your nose. Sorry ‘bout that,” he said grudgingly, and I took the bag from him.
“I’ll live,” I said, keeping a distance from him, even though I just wanted to hug him. I wanted him to feel the happiness I was feeling. I pressed the bag to my nose while Max cleared his throat. He looked uncomfortably around the room, till his eyes settled on us again.
“So, this is a real thing?” he said.
“Max, I swear this is real. We aren’t just making this up for your benefit,” Piper jumped in. I’d always found her inability to be delicate in tricky situations cute, but right now we needed to tread with caution if we were going to get back into Max’s good books.
“You should take as much time as you need to get used to this. We’re not used to this either. None of this was planned, Max,” I said, and I held his gaze strongly, making him see the honesty in my eyes.
“So you left town because you felt guilty for sleeping with my sister. Now you came back because you couldn’t stay away from her?” he said, fumbling with his words a little. He was in even more disbelief than Piper and I were.
I gazed at her and smiled and then looked at Max again and nodded.
“I’m in love with her, Max. It was never just a one night stand for me,” I said, and he clenched his jaw again.
“And Piper…” he turned to her, and she gazed at me and smiled.
“I thought I was just a silly teenager in love with her older brother’s best friend. I had no idea he had feelings for me too. I’ve always wanted him,” she said, still smiling at me and I wanted to take her in my arms and cover her face with kisses.
I heard Max sigh, and when I looked at him, he was shaking his head.
“I need some time to wrap my brain around this, but I’m not going to stand in the way of my sister’s happiness. No matter how pissed off I am at you, Declan,” he said, and took a few steps towards me.
“Max!” Piper said his name with a tinge of worry in her voice. She probably thought he was going to punch me in the face again. I lowered the frozen bag of peas from my nose and faced him.
He thrust his hand out to me, and I stared at it for a few moments before shaking it.
“I will never do anything to hurt your sister, Max,” I said to him, and he nodded his head. He knew me well enough to know that I wasn’t lying. If anyone was capable of hurting anyone in this venture, it would be Piper.
He withdrew his hand from me and took in a sharp breath.
“I should probably give you two some privacy. I’m going out, don’t stay up for me kids!” he said and walked out of the kitchen.
Piper and I stared at each other, with smiles on our faces till we heard the front door slam.
“He took it better than I expected,” I said with a laugh, and she lunged at me, and I caught her in my arms again. Hesitantly, she touched my nose, and I clenched my jaw because it was beginning to hurt now.
“We’ll have a very romantic first night together…in the hospital,” she said, smiling with her eyes heavy. I kissed her tenderly on the lips and tightened my grip on her waist.
“We waited six years to be with each other; I’m pretty sure we can wait a few more hours. Max needed to let it out,” I said with a laugh.
“Let it out on your face?!” Piper said, and I kissed her again. I’d never thought I would kiss her. I had never imagined I might even touch her again. This was too unbelievable for me.
“I love you, Piper. I’m going to take you on a date tomorrow. Our first official date,” I said, and she was laughing.
“I promise I won’t be wearing this,” she said, and I nuzzled my face into her neck, and she giggled.
“I don’t care what you’re wearing. You look gorgeous in everything,” I said and squeezed her ass lightly, and she squealed.
“C’mon, let’s take you to the hospital before your nose dislocates mister,” she said and reached for my hand. She led me out of the house and into her car.
Just an hour ago, I thought I was going to lose her forever. I thought that there was no hope for us and now we were going to begin a new life together. We were going to begin a life that I had only imagined. I was with the woman who was capable of completely changing everything.
“I love you, Declan,” she said, as she started the car. “I just love saying that out loud,” she added and giggled.
I placed a hand on her knee and looked deep into her eyes. I wanted to be touching her at all times.
“There is nothing I want more in this world than to be with you,” I said, and the car kept running while we kissed some more. Finally, everything was the way it was supposed to be.
THE END
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Holly Jaymes, Navy Seal's Second Chance Romance
