Page 26 of The Complication
“Declan! You can’t keep doing this. I swear to God, I’m taking your wallet away. No more spending money on me and Joy. Do you hear me?”
Then the worst thing possible happened.
Declan Foster pouted.
The man’s natural expression was resting bitch face, and I found it adorable. Yet, now his brow furrowed more, and I swore his bottom lip jutted out as he stared at the empty cart in front of me. How was I supposed to stay strong against this? He was heart-meltingly adorable. With one small look, he was napalming all my resolve and best intentions, leaving me with only the desire to cave to all his wishes.This isn’t fair!
“No! Don’t look like that. Declan, be reasonable. You can’t keep spending all this money on me.”
“I want to help,” he mumbled.
“Sweetheart, you are helping. You’ve helped plenty. Please stop looking like that. And don’t teach Joy how to make that look. I can’t handle it if you both turn on me.”
Declan glanced up, the pout disappearing under a look of worry. “Joy and I want to help.”
I chose to ignore the “Joy and I” part because what remained of my brain couldn’t deal with it right now. “How am I going to repay you for all this? I’m still trying to get theproper documentation to the insurance company, so they’ll cough up a check. I didn’t even buy most of Joy’s things the first time, but inherited them from Molly. There’s Molly’s life insurance policy, but all that money is being put in a trust for Joy’s college fund. I can’t?—”
The tall blond holding my baby pressed his fingers to my lips. “I do not want you to repay me. This is my gift to Joy. I’m helping you. We’re friends, right? That is what friends do.”
I jerked my head to the side, trying to hide the sudden burning of my eyes. It was just too much. Not to mention, it also played on my insecurities about being the world’s shittiest dad. Wasn’t it bad enough that Joy had suffered the loss of her mother? Did she have to go to a new father who didn’t know what he was doing and have her new home burn down?
“Parker, look at me.” Declan’s voice was low and fierce. I had no choice but to turn my face toward him. “I have more money than I will ever need. It means nothing to me. This isn’t about things. What I’m giving you is time. If you’re not wasting your time buying all the stuff she needs to live comfortably and safely, that means you can spend more hours with her and getting a new home lined up. Okay?”
“Yeah.” The single word was rough and ragged to my own ears. He had a good point. If he was fine spending the money, why the hell should I argue with him? Joy had been through enough bad stuff. Why not spoil her a bit? All too soon, she’d outgrow it and wouldn’t remember any of this when she got older.
“Thanks, Declan. I don’t know what I’d do without you right now.”
Declan wrapped his free arm around my shoulders and pulled me in close, pressing my face into his broad shoulder. I couldn’t help it. I gave in to the impulse and hugged his narrow waist in the middle of the fucking grocery store while fighting tears. Declan had never struck me as a guy who waswilling to suffer through public displays of affection, but he showed no problem with it as I wiped aside some tears.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered before brushing a kiss to the side of my head.
Who the fuck is this man?
The Declan Foster I’d thought I’d known for nearly a year was a cold, standoffish man who was always proper and showed no outward affection.
At least, that was how it had begun. In those last few months, I’d noticed that he’d lingered at my place longer. He’d asked about my art and would rub my back as I was drifting off to sleep. Was this what happened when Declan counted you as a real friend?
Fuck, if this was how he treated his friends, I was becoming envious of whoever won his heart. That person would be put on a pedestal and treated like a god.
And just like that, I learned to hate that faceless, nonexistent person.
“Sorry. I feel like I’m constantly falling apart, and you have to deal with it.”
“Stop apologizing too. No more thank-yous and sorries. I don’t want it, expect it, or need it. My only desire is for you to heal.”
“Da! Ba!” Joy shouted. She reached her hand forward and hit me on the top of the head.
“Joy wants the same thing.”
A warm spot of happiness pushed aside the pain that seemed to overwhelm me at the most random moments. My cheek resting on Declan’s shoulder, I looked at Joy with her hair in tiny pigtails on the top of her head as she blew bubbles at us. As long as she was happy and safe, nothing else mattered.
“Declan?”
The very loud, shocked voice shattered our cocoon andmade me very aware that we were still standing near the entrance of the grocery store as foot traffic awkwardly flowed past us.
My head snapped up and my gaze jerked around until I spotted a short, handsome man with a closely trimmed beard and dark hair. His eyes, however, looked as if they were going to roll out of his head as he stared at our little trio.
“Hello, Rome,” Declan greeted, confirming that he did in fact know this person.
