Declan

Chapter Three

Lexi~

The anxiety that had consumed Lexi the past few days was now an afterthought as she sat laughing with Nate and his friends. Now she understood why he talked about them so often. They were hilarious and accepted her as one of their own almost immediately.

From what Lexi could tell they were all former military, but from all different branches. She assumed Caleb had to have some kind of medical training because he was referred to as doc a few times. He had a baby face and didn't look a day over twenty one, but his body was lean and muscular like he hadn't had a carb in his life.

Marcus was the largest of the four and had the deepest voice Lexi had ever heard. He seemed like the strong silent type and definitely looked the meanest, but there was so much kindness in his eyes.

Pierce was definitely the class clown and from everyone's comments was quite the ladies man as well. Lexi could see why. Pierce looked more like a model than a former marine, hell all of them were muscle on muscle, but it was Declan who had her full attention. He was one of the tallest of the group second only to Marcus and his broad shoulders and thick chest made her want to climb him like a tree. Blush spread across her cheeks when she thought about what a fool she had made of herself at the airport.

I'm a hugger?

She couldn't believe she actually said that, but it was the only excuse she could think of to wrap her arms around him. From the moment she saw Declan standing in the airport her hands itched with need to reach out and touch him.

Listening to the team's stories was so entertaining that her cheeks and abdomen were starting to get sore from laughing.

While Caleb was telling a story and Declan's attention was focused elsewhere, Lexi took the opportunity to admire all of Declan's features. His light brown hair was a little too long to be a military cut and he would occasionally run his hand backwards through it. A short beard covered his perfectly square jawline and she wondered what that scruff would feel like against the inside of her thighs. The blush on her cheeks quickly spread across her chest at the thought and as if he could sense her arousal, Declan's blue-gray eyes met hers. Busted.

One side of Declan's mouth lifted into a knowing smile, but he couldn't possibly have known she was fantasizing about him, could he?

At first she thought it was her imagination, but as the night went on she and Declan kept stealing glances like a couple of horny teenagers. Maybe the feeling was mutual? But how on earth could a man that looked like that be interested in her? He was near perfect and she was far from it, but that didn't seem to stop his eyes from roaming all over her. Each time she caught him staring her breath would catch in her throat and she couldn't help but smile. It was hard to concentrate on the rest of the group with Declan's wandering eyes stealing her focus, but she had to admit she was enjoying being admired.

Nate was mid-story when a loud rhythmic thumping sound against the wall caught everyone's attention. The noise in the room instantly stalled as the group eavesdropped and a loud over exaggerated moan seeped through the thin sheet rock.

"I think the neighbors are bumpin' uglies," Marcus chuckled, stating the obvious.

"Well at least somebody is getting some tonight," Pierce grumbled. He lifted his beer and tilted it towards the wall. "Cheers, man."

The conversation in the room resumed only to be interrupted again by the rhythmic thumping of headboard on wall. "Do you think that's morse code for fuck me harder?" Nate joked as the thumping noise continued.

"Nah, not enough vowels" Declan replied.

"Wait do you guys actually know morse code?" Lexi asked.