Page 74 of Declan

I force a smile anyway. That’s what I’ve always been good at, masking how I feel until I’ve made peace with it later. And even though it feels fake, the moment I walk through the front door, the warmth of voices and laughter hits me like a wave.

This is home. In the weirdest, loudest, most broken way. It’s home.

“Lee Lee!” Wesley’s voice booms as he comes over, pulling me into a hug so tight I feel my ribs creak. I return it just as hard, burying my face against his shoulder for half a second longer than I need to.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in so long,” he says as he pulls back.

“I’ve been busy,” I say, giving him a soft smile. “But I’m glad to be here now.”

“Me too, baby sister. Come on, let’s get you a drink.”

“Best offer I’ve had all day.”

As we move through the house, I hear someone behind me.

“Lena, wow, you look amazing,” Dari says, her voice coated in sugar and insincerity.

I glance at her tight black dress, short enough to be indecent, and smirk. I look down at my fitted jeans and one-sleeve black top. “Thanks. Sometimes, leaving things to the imagination is way more sexy.”

Her mouth drops and I walk away, satisfied. I’ve always hated how these girls float around the club like they own it. I hated how easily they slipped into the beds of men like Declan. But not tonight. Because tonight I know better. Declan may be scared, but his love isn’t in question.

Still, guilt coils in my chest as I move from room to room, saying hi, smiling, laughing when needed. I shouldn’t have left him like that. I should’ve talked to him, calmed him down, reassured him that we’d figure it out together. But I didn’t. And now he’s probably walking into this house, thinking he’s alone in it.

“Declan!”

Wesley’s voice calls out, and my stomach tightens instantly. I turn, heart in my throat.

And then I see him.

He walks through the doorway, tall and steady, but the second his eyes find mine, everything else fades. The room, the noise, the people, it all blurs. What’s left is him. And the raw look on his face.

Pain. Regret. And something deeper.

Love.

The kind of love that speaks without words.

And God help me, it breaks my heart.

Because it’s everything I want hidden in the eyes of a man too scared to claim me.

Declan doesn’t look away, not right away.

For a long, breathless second, we just stare at each other across the crowded room, like the noise has been sucked out of it. His jaw is tight, his eyes pleading, and even from here, I can feel the pull. The gravity of him. Of us.

And I hate that I love him so much in this moment.

I tear my eyes away first. I have to. If I keep looking, I’ll crumble. I’ll go running into his arms and forget that he’s the one who made me feel this way to begin with. And maybe that’s not fair. But tonight, I’m not sure I care about fair. Tonight, I want to be seen.

Not as Wesley’s sister.

Not as someone to protect or keep hidden.

But as his.

The sound of Wesley clapping his hands pulls my attention back to the moment.

“All right, assholes! Food’s ready. Get your shit and sit your asses down!”

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