Surrendering (Surrender 1)

“Huh? No, of course not. Code 425 means my dad is on his way to my house. He wants Finn there too. Not sure why, but you need to drop me off before he gets there.”

His face falls and there’s hurt in his eyes. “Why would I drop you off? Don’t you want me to meet your dad?”

I didn’t realize how harsh I sounded; he can’t possibly think I’m ashamed of him. “Baby, of course I want you to meet my dad, but not today.”

“Tell me why.”

I make my way to his bathroom to try and put myself together. When I look at the mirror, I squeal. I look thoroughly screwed. My face is flushed. There’s a few small bite marks down my neck and stubble burn on my chest. My hair is wild and my lips are swollen. I start by throwing my hair in to a messy bun and washing my face with cold water. If I can hide the love marks with a hoodie, then we should be fine.

“I’m still waiting on an answer.” I jump because I didn’t realize he was behind me.

“Declan, did you forget my dad is ex–Special Forces? He shakes hands with presidents and probably had firsthand knowledge when Osama Bin Laden was found. He may have even trained on torture techniques. He’s going to take one look at me and know what I’ve been doing. Do you really want to meet my dad the morning after you took his only daughter’s virginity? Do you want to die today? I love you and I’m not ready to bury you yet. Not to mention Finn keeps a gun in his truck.”

He starts laughing at me. I’m trying to push all my toiletries back in my overnight kit when his hand covers mine. He stops me and pulls me to him.

“I don’t see what’s so funny. I’m completely serious.”

“Sparkle, let me get this straight. You want me to drop you off at home and hide from your dad because we had sex? Granted, it was the best sex of my life so far. And I plan on doing it again, a lot.”

I swat at

him, trying to get out of his arm so we can go. “Yes, you need to hide. If he sees us together, he’ll know. He’ll figure it out. Look at me! I’m glowing. I never glow! My lips are swollen and I’m pretty sure you gave me another hickey!”

“Baby, finish getting ready. I’m going to meet your dad today; it’s time. I’ll be a perfect gentleman. I love his daughter and he needs to know Finn isn’t the only one watching out for you. You’re mine now- in every way. I plan on you being mine for a very long time- maybe even forever, so just relax. Give me five minutes to get ready and we’ll go.”

There’s so much to process in his words that I can’t even argue with him. I shake my head and try to get my things together. He grabs my overnight kit from my hands and puts it back on the vanity.

“I think you should leave some of your things here. It’ll be a pain in the ass to carry it back and forth. Let’s just have a set of each other’s things in both our places.” Then he shuts the bathroom door and I hear the water running.

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!!! This is too much all at once.

I’m no longer a virgin.

Declan loves me.

Declan is about to meet my dad.

Declan wants me to leave my stuff at his house.

I’m about to hyperventilate and the pounding in my head is so loud I can’t focus. I hold onto the wall and steady myself to calm down. Another message comes through on my phone and I zap from my freak out. I finish getting ready and type Finn to let him know I’m on my way. The door opens behind me and I see that Declan has indeed freshened up. His sexy hair has been tamed and his face is shaved. I smell his cologne and automatically calm down. He’s right; he needs to meet my dad and there’s no time like the present.

“Ready, babe?”

“Yep, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. I’ll hold them back long enough for you to get a head start, but you’d better be ready.”

He smiles and grabs my hand, taking me through the house and to his truck. I hope to God my dad isn’t armed.

*****

Finn gets to my house five minutes after we do. He comes straight to the kitchen where I’m preparing a light breakfast. I’m thankful for the cooler weather so I can keep my sweatshirt on. He pours some coffee and sits next to Declan.

“What’s up?”

“I have no idea. He just told me to meet him here in an hour. I don’t think anything’s wrong. Maybe he wants us to help him with a job or something.” Finn replies.

Declan clears his throat and looks between the two of us, “What’s with the codes y’all use… 311, 425?”

I laugh and look directly at Finn; he’s smiling too. “When we were kids, everyone got a code based on their birthday. It started as a silly game so we could warn each other before we got caught doing something we weren’t supposed to be doing. For example, my mom is 311 because her birthday is March eleventh. One time, Finn and Robbie were sneaking girls out of the house and I knew my mom was in the living room. I shouted 311 from the hallway and they knew to go a different way. It’s just stuck with us.”