Page 54 of The Ex Next Door
But Declan had expressly said he wanted children, and she doubted he’d just take hers and be done with it. Most men would probably want to have their own. Amy didn’t know if she could ever go through that again, either. More children, more responsibilities. So much to think about in her new reality, and the possibility had presented itself far sooner than she’d expected.
She was supposed to be filling out app questionnaires, swiping and having dates with complete strangers with similar values and goals. Maybe a single dad with kids of his own. Yours, mine and ours. But she couldn’t very well ignore that an extremely handsome, athletic, hot guy who lived next door was interested in spending time with her. Surely she wasn’t supposed to reject something that had fallen so easily into her life. It wasn’t as if this would be easy. There would never again be simple in her life when it came to love and romance.
Amy took a seat on the brown leather couch in Declan’s living room, tucking a leg under her. His home was decidedly masculine with touches of leather and dark muted colors. It desperately required a splash of color somewhere andshe determined she’d buy him a colorful plant next time she was at the garden center.
Declan brought her an iced tea and set it on the coffee table. “Do you want to watch something?”
Then he did something shocking. He offered her the TV remote control.
“You’re going to let me choose?” She grabbed the remote. “Oh my God, thank you. This is such an extreme honor and I’m truly indebted to you. First, I would like to thank the Academy, and all who supported me—”
Declan swiped it back out of her hand. “If you’re not going to take this seriously, smart-ass, I’m taking back my power.”
Amy pounced on Declan, reaching for the remote as he moved it higher and out of her reach.
“You had your chance for romantic comedies. Now we move to the sports lineup.”
“No, please! Not ESPN. Anything but that!”
She did something a bit underhanded and copped a feel. Just a little stroke of his behind with her hand, but it shocked him enough to lose his focus and loosen his grip. Grabbing it back, she tucked the remote behind her and lay on it.
She crossed her arms. “Say goodbye to your power viewing. It’s mine now.”
Declan crawled on top of her, keeping his weight off. “I think I somehow knew that the moment you moved in next door.”
Oh. How incredibly sweet.
Then he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her, and that… Well, that was even sweeter.
His kisses trailed down the column of her neck, teasing behind her ear, before he met her lips again and again. If she didn’t stop this train, they were headed to the station, and yet it wasn’t time. There was no prerequisite timeline now forher, just the knowledge she wasn’t quite ready for this step. But she would be soon. Very soon.
“Declan,” she managed to say when they broke the kiss. “I…you… You never said why you quit teaching. And I always meant to ask.”
She bit down on her lower lip because the look on his face was almost laughable as he switched gears. He cooled himself down, realizing without words they weren’t boarding that train to paradise, and he was okay with that. The remote long forgotten, he rolled onto the sofa on his back and tucked her into his arms. She lay there, her head on his shoulder, her hand settled over his abs.
“I’m sure you heard I was working in Houston at one of the inner-city public high schools. They hired me on, thought it might look good for their sports department to have my name attached to it. I coached the varsity team.”
“But it didn’t work out?”
“Their boosters were mostly focused on their football team, which was fine, you know? It’s kind of typical at the high school level. I taught biology and calculus. Anyway, it was the old classic ‘football star who can’t pass his midterm’ dichotomy. I was pressured to pass him in my calculus class, but the kid didn’t even belong there. He hadn’t grasped basic algebra concepts. He was there because another teacher had passed him along. I wouldn’t do it. Refused.”
“Good for you.”
“I didn’t mind the thinly disguised hatred among much of the staff when their team started a losing streak after their best player got benched. I had my supporters, quiet though they stayed, and I’ve been raised to work well under pressure.”
“But…?”
“But things got a bit dicey.”
“Yeah? What happened?”
Declan let out a long breath. “The kid’s father didn’t take it well. He became louder than all the rest of the voices when he brought a gun to school.”
Amy shot up into a sitting position. “What?Why didn’t I hear about this? When did this happen?”
Declan tucked an arm behind the crook of his neck. “It was just a blip on the evening news a couple of years ago. Thankfully it was resolved without incident. Well, much incident. Let’s put it this way. No one was injured.”
He wasn’t kidding her. This had changed everything for Declan. He didn’t shake easily, but putting guns around children and teachers would be the one thing to do it. She’d heard rumors of teachers who’d either quit or retired early due to gun violence but… Declan.HerDeclan, whom she’d pictured all these years, when she allowed herself to think about him, living the high life of a professional athlete, attending parties and functions, with plenty of women and plenty of dating. She heard he’d retired early with an injury but she hadn’t picturedthis.
