Page 25 of Nick

Declan smiles condescendingly. "Sure you do." He stands, stretching out his shoulders and grins at me. "Enjoy your nap."

To be fair, he should have expected it after a dick comment like that. I sweep his legs, knocking him down to his knees. Thanks to all this muscle he's packed on, he's slower than he used to be, giving me just enough time to tackle him, flattening him to the floor. The bastard outweighs me by a bit, and I'm fighting to control his flailing arms. He tries some of Becca's ninja moves, but I've been at those classes too, so I counter them. "Take it back, asshole. I do stuff."

"You do stuff. Like nap. And take thirty minute trips to the bathroom. You do lots of shit." His whole body is shaking with his laughter, but I fight mine back. I have to keep the upper hand. And I do. For at least ten seconds. Then I'm somehow on my back in an arm bar.

"Son of a bitch. Fine." I tap out and drop to the floor. "You're getting faster. Finally."

Declan grins, turning on his side and propping his head on his massive hand. When did he get so big? Or so mature? He's not that much younger than me, but he always had this teen boy energy to him that we all nurtured.

"It was a lot of work. I kinda felt like I was carrying around two sandbags all the time. I didn't realize how small I was before."

I snort out a laugh. "You were never small. Never. But you were a lot scrawnier. But compared to an average dude, you were always big."

"Maybe. But in this family, I never felt like you guys. I always felt..."

"Geeky? Dude you're one step away from a pocket protector, despite the muscles."

"Asshole. I make geek look good."

"Yeah, you do." I sit up and pin him with a look. "I'm glad you feel better in your skin. Whatever you had to do, I'm here for it."

Declan nods, looking unsure. "I'm not sure it's the muscles that are making me feel better. I think it's just everything. Cara. Work. Everything seems to be...right."

"Must be nice," I murmur. Damn Declan for picking up on the wistful note in my voice.

"Are you okay? Things have changed around here pretty fast, haven't they?"

"Insanely fast."

"Fair. Are you wishing things were different? Are you wanting a girlfriend? I haven't seen you with many women, but—“

"No. I'm good man. I'm happy with how things are. I don't want a relationship." I fucking said I wanted one several times, but I didn't actually mean it. Or maybe I did, but I know I don't deserve it.

"You don't want one? Why? You're so good with women, you are total boyfriend material. At least that's what the women say."

"The women are talking about me?" That's terrifying. I don't want them getting ideas about me. "What are they saying?"

Declan shrugs, but there's a little glint in his eye that scares me a bit. "Just how you deserve a nice girl. I think all of them have a friend they'd like to introduce you to."

"Dios Mio. When did our lives change from action movie to Telenovela? I miss when we just talked about cars and booze. Those were the good days."

Declan laughs, and pushes to his feet. "Were they though? I don't remember them that way." With that mic drop, he walks out, leaving my door open. I just lay there on the floor, realizing he's right. Life back then was good, but there's a lot more laughter now. More softness. More joy.

I don't want to go back either.

Sounds of people packing up on the floor force me out of the office. The staff clears out quickly, so I head over to Ransom's office to catch up with everyone. It's a sacred time for all of us. A time to decompress, laugh, and plan the next move in our plan to take over the world.

I walk into a fight between Jonas and Kade and immediately all feels right with my world, at least for tonight.

"Give them back Jonas. I'm tired of your shit," Kade growls, hands fisted at his side.

Jonas looks completely unbothered by Kade's anger. "There have been studies linking caffeine to all sorts of issues, including anxiety and gastrointestinal issues."

"I'm really fucking anxious now, asshole!" Kade shouts.

I slide onto the couch next to Colton. "What's happening?"

"Jonas switched out the lunch room coffee for decaf. Kade just figured it out."

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