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TWENTY-ONE

willa

Declan’s hand finds mine under the table. He laces our fingers together and squeezes, letting me know that even though he’s angry, he’s still here for me. I don’t deserve him.

I take a deep breath. “Declan has been my best friend since I was four years old.”

I watch the hurt in Belle’s eyes deepen and it bruises my heart. “Four?” she says with disbelief.

I explain how we spent every summer together. How we spoke every single day once we had the ability to do so. I even tell them about all the games I went to so that I could watch him play and the shows of ours he came to, but I didn’t bring him backstage for.

“Why wouldn’t you tell us about him? Why keep him a secret?” Kai asks, still eyeing me suspiciously.

“I wanted him for myself. I know how it sounds out loud. But he has always meant so much to me that I didn’t want to share him. As a kid, it didn’t matter because we lived six hours apart, and you guys weren’t going to meet, anyway.”

“And as an adult?” Kai asks.

“As an adult, I had nothing that was just mine. So I clung to the one person that had always been just mine.”

“How did that lead to marriage? How could you possibly keep a whole ass husband secret?” Cal asks. “A famous hockey player husband who could really pass more often.”

Declan laughs next to me. The sound alone calming some of my nerves. “Eight months ago, I had a serious wake up call. My life was going downhill pretty fast and the only consistently good thing I had was Willa. When I had the opportunity to sign with Boston and be with her, I took it immediately.”

“I did tell him I’d give a kidney to get him back here,” I admit, smiling at the way Declan is looking at me. He’s speaking to everyone else in the room, but his attention hasn’t let me.

“We dated long distance until I moved here in September. I proposed immediately, and she accepted. We got married the same day,” he laughs, almost to himself. He kisses me quickly on my temple before continuing. “It was the best day of my life.”

I pull on his shirt collar and kiss his lips. Not for show. Just for me, for us.

“Where do you live?” Jo asks him, apparently over the guilt from accusing me of being a home wrecker.

“I’ll be moving into Willa’s as of tonight. I was renting an apartment in the city. She wanted me to stay there while you were on tour. I didn’t understand why until this morning.”

I flinch, but he just pulls my chair closer and wraps an arm around my shoulder.

“What happened this morning?” Harlow asks. I see the way her eyes are flying between me and Declan. She’s worse than Jo when she senses something. She’s going to start digging if she thinks something is off. And knowing Harlow, she’ll find the truth.

“I feel like I know you guys,” Declan says. “Willa talks about you all the time and always has. She called me and woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me Cal had a little girl. The night Ezra went missing, I was on the phone with her when Kai came to ask her where he was. We talked for hours the night Belle showed up covered in bruises. She was at one of my games when she had to leave early because Maverick drank too much and was causing a scene in a bar.”

“We had no idea who you were,” Maverick says, his cheeks flush with embarrassment.

“Yeah. Found that one out before leaving for practice this morning,” Declan says. I know he’s trying to hide how hurt he is, but I can hear it in his voice.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper to him, sure my voice is going to break if I speak any louder.

“Shit,” Kai says, leaning back in his seat and blowing out a breath.

“But why, Willa?” Belle asks, tears in her eyes. “You can tell me anything. Why lie about someone who means that much to you?”

I roll my lips between my teeth, trying to figure out how else to explain this.

“I’m not asking why you lied to everyone. I get it. But why did you lie to me?”

“I don’t know, Belle. I really don’t,” I admit. Out of all of this, that has been the biggest question I had for myself. Belle would have understood and kept Declan quiet from the rest of them if I asked her to. But I never gave her the chance.

Silence falls around the table. I don’t think anyone knows what to do or say right now.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Declan. I’m Harrison, Harlow’s father,” Harrison says, doing that head nod thing guys do when they meet each other.

“I figured that one out,” Dec says, gesturing to Harrison’s red hair that matches his daughter’s. Harrison laughs and nods.

“I’m Jason, Belle and Cal’s dad.” Declan shakes Jason’s hand since he’s sitting next to him.

“Jon,” Jon mutters from across from Declan. He never stopped eating during all the drama and is on his third plate. I think something is going on with his home life because he’s around a lot lately and grumpy nine times out of ten.

Harrison, Jason, and Cal get into a conversation with Declan about hockey. The rest of us eat in silence. Declan keeps his arm around me for the rest of dinner and it’s the only hope I have that I haven’t destroyed everything.