Free Lust Thy Neighbor by Emily Snow Page B

to be upfront about us occasionally seeing each other. Let him know that it's nothing serious." As an afterthought, he added, "That we’re both responsible adults."
    "Sounds good." She unwrapped herself from his arms. "I better get going. It's late and a school night."
    "School night. After what you just did to me I'll be having bad teacher fantasies until my alarm goes off tomorrow morning.”
    A flush raced across her pale skin, and she dropped her blue gaze to the floor. "Behave."
    "I will for now. Jacob will probably be absent again tomorrow. Do I have to call into the school and let them know?" Declan couldn't remember if that was the policy for high school, and he had forgotten to call today.
    She shook her head. "Not really necessary, but it'll make things easier if you called the office in the morning."
    He nodded and he walked her to the door, stopping along the way to bend and retrieve a snoring Bear from an equally loud Jacob on the couch. He handed the ball of black fur to Violet and watched them head back to their house, releasing a low whistle. "’Night, neighbor."

Chapter Seven
    "H ow do you feel?"
    Declan watched Jacob sit up, blearily rubbing at the sleep in his eyes. He looked a lot better than he had the last couple days. The color had returned to his face, and he no longer looked like he was going to throw up at any moment.
    "Better."
    "Here." Declan handed him a glass of ginger ale, which he happily accepted. "Drink this."
    "Thanks." Jacob looked at the clock. "It's ten o'clock?"
    Declan nodded. He had watched over Jacob most of the night. When he heard a weird noise just after midnight, he had checked on his brother to find him whimpering in his sleep. He remembered how their mom used to tell him that Jacob had nightmares as a kid, so Declan had sat down and watched over him, tucking the blankets close to him when he started to shiver.
    "I missed school again?”
    "I called in for you. You can make up the work, but your health is the most important thing right now.”
    Jacob drained the glass of ginger ale and Declan took it from him, placing it on a folded piece of paper on the nightstand. “Why aren't you at work?"
    Declan shrugged. "Took today off." In truth, he hadn't wanted to leave his brother alone. Being sick sucked and he didn't want Jacob to have to take care of himself should he need help.
    "Oh."
    "Do you think you need to go to urgent care today or are you going to make it?"
    Jacob shook his head, his shaggy hair falling into his eyes. Declan noted that he would soon need to take him to get a haircut. He had made the mistake of cutting Jake’s hair himself a couple months after their parents’ death, and the patchy result had evoked a meltdown from his younger brother. "No, I think the worst is over. Maybe it was that hotdog I had after school the other day.”
    "What hotdog?"
    "A few days ago, I stopped by for a snack."
    Declan groaned. "Was it a convenience store hotdog?"
    "Yeah."
    “Those things are probably sitting out all day and maybe even longer. You never know what's in them that'll give you the shits or make you sick.”
    Jacob shrugged but clutched his stomach. "I like hotdogs."
    His older brother rolled his dark brown eyes. "Whatever, kid. I'm sure they taste the same coming up as they did going down."
    "Sick, dude."
    Watching in silence for a few heartbeats, Declan wondered how to pursue the topic of Violet. He wanted to tell Jacob that he planned to see her and he figured the sooner, the better. "Look, I need to talk to you.”
    "Yeah?" Jacob put down the magazine that he had plucked off his bedside table. “What's up?”
    "Remember when you asked if I was interested in Violet?"
    He raised a suspicious brow. "Yeah..."
    "Well, I am, and I'm taking her out this weekend.”
    A flash of anger crossed his younger brother’s face. “When did you decide to do that?”
    "It's nothing serious, okay? You don't have to worry about anything like that. But I wanted to give you a