Page 24

TWENTY-THREE

willa

“Can we talk?” Declan’s eyes go wide, and I see the panic flash across his face. “It’s not bad,” I add, trying to hide my laughter when he relaxes so quickly it makes him look like a balloon that sprung a leak.

“No one ever asks that question for a good reason, Princess,” he points out, frown showing his disapproval.

I walk up to him where he’s standing by the front door and wrap my arms around his waist. He was about to leave for practice before I decided I couldn’t wait to talk to him. “I was thinking it’s probably time to go public.”

“Yeah?” His smile is so bright it’s blinding.

“I’ve been thinking about it, and I think it’s a good idea. Bethany was at the San Diego game waiting to sink her claws into you. The New York game was dangerous for you. Then Jo tells me the internet thinks I’m sleeping with Gideon.” I bite my lip and look into his eyes. He’s smiling down at me, like he’s just happy to be here. “I also kind of hate all the articles trying to guess who you’re making heart eyes at during your games.”

Declan chuckles. When he dips his head and kisses me, I melt into him. “You’re cute when you’re jealous.” I scowl, but he just chuckles again and kisses my scrunched forehead. “Fucking beautiful.”

“I need to get to practice, but we can go over the plan to announce to the world you’re mine,” he says, giving me a chaste kiss before letting me go.

“No need. I have a plan.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Do I get to be in on it?”

“Nope. But you’ll love it.”

Declan shakes his head, but he’s smiling. “I’ll be back for lunch.”

I watch him walk out the door and to his car; his jeans hugging his ass perfectly while they stretch tightly around his thick thighs. Ever since we decided to be more than just friends, I’ve been noticing how attractive he is. Not that I wasn’t aware before, but I wouldn’t let myself look or even think about it. Between his tattoos and all the muscles, my underwear is never dry.

I’m still terrified of us not working out and losing him. But I’m hoping that he’s my next adventure. The kind that lasts a lifetime.

“Where’s Declan?”

“Hi, Callahan. Please come in,” I say sarcastically as he lets himself into my house.

“Is he here?” Cal looks around, his face eager like an excited puppy.

“He has practice. He’ll be back soon, but he has a game tonight, so he can’t play with you today.”

Cal and Declan met two days ago, and they’re already inseparable. It’s something I knew would happen, but I’m not as upset about it as I thought I would be. It’s actually been kind of nice to have the two parts of my life come together.

“I know he has a game. I wish I was going,” he says, plopping himself down next to me and crossing his arms with a pout.

I roll my eyes. “You’re over here trying to get tickets, aren’t you?”

“No, but if you have some you’d like to give me, I’m sure Kai and I would find good use for them.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” I laugh. Cal is as subtle as an explosion.

“I came over because Jon and Harrison are both on their way for a family meeting. Feels a little wrong to leave Declan out, though.”

I smile at how quickly Cal accepted Declan as one of us. Maverick and Kai have, too, mostly. It’s Belle who hasn’t. I don’t think, anyway. She hasn’t spoken to me much in the past two days. Whatever Declan said to Harlow the other night got her on his side as well. I don’t know where Jo stands with me, never mind Declan. She’s still staying at Harlow and Cal’s.

“Jon and Harrison? What does one have to do with the other?” I ask.

“Oh, nothing. Jon wanted a meeting and then Harrison called Harlow about some concerns related to Senator Wolfe, so she told him to just come over so she didn’t have to repeat everything he was saying to all of us.”

I hold in my sigh. If Jon wants a meeting, it means we need to get back to work already, even though we’ve been off the road for less than a week. Harrison needing to talk is likely going to throw Mav back into a depression. There’s no way there’s good news about his criminal father. I just wanted some time without being worried about everyone I care about.

“Come on,” Cal says, standing and holding out his hand to help me up. I let him, suddenly feeling defeated. “Harlow is making quesadillas for lunch.”

“Why didn’t you mention that sooner?” I ask, perking up. Cal laughs and throws his arm around my shoulder. Declan picks that moment to walk through our front door.

“You making a move on my wife, Callahan?” Dec asks, chuckling, but the way he’s looking at where Cal is touching me is anything but funny.

“Fuck no,” Cal says, quickly dropping his arm and stepping away. “Even if I wasn’t madly in love with my own wife, yours is terrifying.” I scowl at him, a little offended. Cal points at my face. “See what I mean?”

Dec laughs and pulls me into his chest. “I find it sexy as fuck.”

Cal looks horrified. “You’re serious.”

“As a heart attack,” Dec says, leaning down and kissing me in a way that is inappropriate for company.

“Gross,” Cal mutters. “Lunch is getting cold.”

“Lunch?” Dec pulls away and perks up so fast that I laugh. “Why didn’t you say that sooner?”

“Same fucking person,” Cal grumbles under his breath, stomping out of my house on the way to his.

“Come on.” I grab Declan’s hand and tug him out of the house. “Harlow is making quesadillas.”

He scoops me up into his arms, causing me to let out a surprised scream, and runs right past Cal and into his house. “What are you doing?” I ask, laughing as he sets me down on a stool in front of the island in Cal and Harlow’s kitchen.

“I love quesadillas,” he says, like the answer is obvious.

Harlow laughs from where she’s standing behind the stove. “I made double the amount I normally would for this amount of people, plus a few extra.”

“Are you allowed to eat that amount of cheese before a game?” Kai asks, snagging the quesadilla Cal was about to put in his mouth and taking a giant bite.

“Hey!” Cal complains, but Harlow is right there with another one. He smiles and kisses her. “Thanks, Firecracker.”

“I don’t stick to the super clean eating thing like some players do,” Dec says, shrugging. I snort, which earns me a wink. He eats healthy. He just refuses to give up cheese. Not that I can blame him.

Everyone stacks their plates with quesadillas, salsa, sour cream, and the Mexican rice Harlow also made. We decide to eat at the dining room table even though normally we would be in the living room. With the way our family is growing, Cal is going to need a bigger table.

“Alright, who wants to go first?” Jo asks after we’ve finished eating.

Jon clears his throat. “I had a meeting with Isla from the label this morning. They want to add more tour dates. Local this time. They want to advertise it as a hometown tour type of thing. Only New England venues and only for a two-month period.”

I look at Declan. He’s already looking at me, a small smile on his face, but it’s not making his eyes twinkle in the way his real smiles do. He’s happy that Shattered Halo is doing well but hates the distance.

Jo hands out a mock schedule she printed for us, but before I can look at mine, she slides a second schedule next to mine. I look up and she gives me a small smile before going back to her seat. Comparing the two, I realize one is a proposed tour schedule with dates and locations and the other is Declan’s game schedule.

I gasp when I realize what she did. “Jo.” It’s all I can manage. She worked the tour around Dec’s games. He has twenty-eight in the two months we’d be touring. Thirteen of them are home games, and Jo made sure I’d be here for all of them.

“I couldn’t work in any of his away games since they’re not really close to where we’ll be. The only one that I think would be possible is Buffalo. We’re home for a week around that one,” she says. I smile at her, and she smiles back. All the hurt feelings between us disappear with her thoughtful gesture. “He can even make both Boston shows.”

“Thank you,” I tell her.

“This is awesome, Jo,” Declan says, looking close to tears. “You have no idea what this means to me.”

“Don’t cry! If you cry, I’ll cry and then Mav will cry. It’ll be a whole thing,” Cal says, sniffling.

Declan chuckles and turns to me. He’s smiling again, and it’s not forced to make me feel better this time.

“So, can I approve this and get the venues booked?” Jon asks, looking confused at why everyone is being emotional right now. We all give our agreement.

“Your turn, Dad,” Harlow says to Harrison.

“I’ve been trying to figure out where all of Wolfe’s money is coming from.” Harrison glances at Maverick. “Since you told me that your dad claimed he was using old money to fund his campaigns was bullshit, I’ve tried to prove it.”

“You haven’t?” Mav asks, his brows drawing together.

“Not exactly. With the way everything is tied up with authorities right now, it’s been more difficult. But I found something else while I was digging.” Harrison pushes his tablet into the middle of the table so we can all see it. It’s a listing for a cabin on a lake in Maine on a vacation rental website. “I already had Wolfe’s financials from the time Ezra went missing. I gave them to my guy to trace the transactions weeks before the arrest.”

“He rented a cabin?” Harlow asks.

“I did,” Maverick says, his face pale. “I used my dad’s credit card. Ezra and I were going to head there that night.”

“Did your dad know that?” Harlow asks at the same time Harrison says, “Did you share that with Ezra?”

“Ezra knew, yeah. My dad didn’t find out until the bill came the next month.”

“The code to get into the cabin was used once three hours after Ezra was last seen,” Harrison says.

Maverick goes so still and so pale I think he might faint. I quickly reach across the table and grab his hand. “I can see what you’re doing. Stop.”

“I can’t,” he says though a pained whisper. “I should’ve gone there to look for him. I should’ve —”

“Stop, Mav. You can’t live in that headspace. Why would you look for him there? You were supposed to go together,” Belle says.

“When my dad died, I spent months blaming myself, saying that if I had just left school on time instead of stopping to talk to a cute boy, I could’ve been home to call an ambulance. I could’ve saved him.” I squeeze his hand. “But I couldn’t predict a heart attack any more than you could predict Ezra’s actions.” Mav nods and slides back into his seat, releasing my hand.

“We think Ezra went to the cabin?” Belle asks, eyes flickering between Mav and Harrison.

“I’m confident he did,” Harrison says. “It’s likely the first place he stopped. It doesn’t give us much in a way of finding him, but it establishes a firmer timeline.”

“So he ran there and then ended up in Green Peak, New Hampshire? Then went to Nashville with Jasper. Do we know anything else?” Harlow asks.

“I have a theory,” Declan says, shocking almost everyone at the table.

“Uh, how much do you know?” Kai asks like he’s nicely trying to tell Declan he doesn’t know what’s going on.

“He knows everything,” I admit. Everyone nods in acceptance and turns their attention to Declan. Everyone except Belle, who is shooting daggers from her eyes at me.

“What’s your theory?” Harlow is waiting with the face she gets when she’s in the middle of investigating something. It’s a mixture of serious and curious wonder.

“It wasn’t Wolfe.” He says it so casually, like that theory doesn’t blow a hole in everything we’ve been thinking so far.

“It has to be my dad,” Maverick argues.

“That’s where the evidence points,” Harrison agrees.

“Then why isn’t Ezra sitting right there?” Declan points to the empty chair next to Maverick.

“The trial hasn’t happened yet. He could be waiting for that. Or maybe he’s worried about how everyone will react. Legally, coming back from the dead is going to suck,” Jo says.

Declan leans forward in his chair, folding his hands and looking at Harlow. He knows she’s the one he needs to convince because once she is, she’ll dig into his theory better than an FBI agent.

“If I was in hiding to keep Willa safe and the bastard who was behind all of it was locked up, there wouldn’t be a single thing on this fucking planet that would stop me from returning to her side.” He reaches out and pulls me fully off my chair and into his lap, but his gaze never leaves Harlow’s. They’re having some weird stare-off. Like he’s challenging her to disagree with him while she tries to find a way to do so.

“Or he doesn’t love me the way I love him,” Maverick says in a voice that sounds so defeated, it causes tears to burn in the backs of my eyes.

“No, Mav. He loves you like crazy. Jasper said as much when we had that call with him, unprompted. He was not only aware of how much Ezra loved you, but was affected by it enough to mention it to us,” Harlow says, breaking her staring contest with Declan to look at Maverick.

Jo throws her arms around Mav as he sobs into her shoulder. She eyes me with a silent plea for help. I’m usually the one to comfort Maverick. I’ve known the most loss, which somehow made me the default grief friend. I smile sadly and nod, letting her know she’s doing all she can do right now.

“So we need to find a suspect that isn’t Wolfe, but would convincingly threaten Maverick’s life,” I say, leaning back against Declan’s chest. He wraps his arms around me, holding me tight, like he’s afraid someone is actually going to force him into hiding to protect me.

“It’s possible he had a partner. I’ve been reading through all the drug trafficking allegations because those seem the most likely to be part of what Ezra witnessed to start this whole mess. The scope of the operation is huge. There’s no way he did it alone, but so far, he hasn’t rolled on anyone. Either out of loyalty or possibly fear that someone would take out his wife and child.” Harrison scratches his chin. “My money is on the latter. I doubt Wolfe is loyal to anyone other than himself.”

“I have to go see my dad,” Maverick whispers.

“I’ll go with you,” I offer immediately. Declan stiffens. I put my hand over his mouth before he can argue. He knows what happened the last time any of us went to a prison, so I know there’s no way he’s letting me go without an argument. “I’m going with him,” I say directly to Declan. I see the fear in his eyes, but it won’t stop me.

“I can go alone,” Maverick says, having seen the same fear in Declan’s eyes that I have.

“When are you going?” Dec asks as soon as I remove my hand.

“Maverick is on the approved visitor list. It’ll take me a few hours to make some calls to get Willa on there too.” Harrison is already getting up and calling someone before I can respond to thank him.

“Tomorrow?” Mav asks, hesitantly looking between me and Declan. “He’s being held in Auburn. So about three hours from here.”

“I have weight training in the morning, but we can be on the road by ten. Does that work?”

“Declan,” I start to say, but he shakes his head.

“I’m not letting you go alone, Princess. I’ll stay in the car and wait, but I’ll lose my mind if you make me wait at home for you.”

“Okay,” I agree. He kisses me softly before placing me back in my chair.

“I have to head to the arena. You’re still coming, right?”

“Of course. Who else is going to yell at you for playing like a cocky idiot?”

Cal barks out a laugh while Declan just smiles.

“I’ll see you there, Princess.” He kisses me again quickly before saying goodbye to everyone else.

“That was really heavy for a lunch meeting,” Jon says. I startle a little, having completely forgotten he was there.

I turn to him. “On a lighter note, I need your help with something.”

“Belle!” I yell, running after her. She stops on the sidewalk between her house and Cal’s.

“I don’t want to talk right now, Willa,” she says, her voice quiet.

“Please. You’re my best friend —”

“No,” she snaps, turning to face me. “You’re my best friend. Your best friend is Declan.”

“Both things can be true,” I say sadly.

“They can, but they aren’t. Declan knows you in a way that I thought I did. He knows everything about Ezra!” she exclaims. “Declan knows your heart, and I didn’t even know he fucking existed.”

“What about you and Kai?” I argue. “He knows your heart better than I do, and he should. I don’t get angry at you for that.”

“I gave you every ounce of me, Willa! I told you every hope and every terrifying fear. I told you what I felt for Kai. You held me while I healed from Brad. I whispered secrets in your ear at sleepovers when we were kids. I kept nothing hidden from you.” Belle’s eyes are glassy with unshed tears, her body shaking from anger and sadness. “I thought we were each other’s person. But you’ve always been Declan’s, and I just got the scraps.” She turns on her heel and runs to her house.

I open my mouth to apologize or argue or beg her forgiveness. I don’t know which, but it doesn’t matter because I can’t get a sound past my lips.

“Give her time to calm down. She’ll come around.”

“Will she?” I ask, turning to face Kai.

“She loves you. She’s just hurt.”

“Belle and Declan mean so much to me, but in such different ways. There was never a competition,” I try explaining to him because I can’t seem to do it with Belle.

“You made her feel like she was in a competition she wasn’t aware of and then lost. I’m not saying that was your intention,” he adds quickly, seeing the protest forming on my lips. “I’m just telling you how she feels so you can work on fixing it. Which is probably more than I should say at all if I want to sleep next to her tonight.”

“Thanks Kai.” He nods and jogs after Belle.

I take a deep breath and try to get my head on straight.