Page 38 of Hooked on a Demon
CHAPTER23
Declan
It feels like it takes all day before Eliana walks through the theater door. When she does, she looks as gorgeous as always in her dark tights and oversized lavender sweater. Her work bag is slung over her shoulder and sways ever so slightly with each step.
“Hey, Eliana!” a few of the guys call out as they notice her walking toward the stage. Declan continues to nail together the two pieces of tree-shaped plywood he’s working with, but keeps an eye on her as she makes her way toward them.
She smiles briefly, not quite reaching her eyes, and says hello back, asking them questions about what they’re working on and how their nights were as she passes. They’ve really come to like her, and Declan’s sure they look forward to her visits as much as he does. Or almost as much.
Kneeling down, her boots come into his frame of vision before the rest of her. When she stops beside him, he allows himself the opportunity to take her in; his gaze roves her body slowly, one painfully beautiful inch at a time. When his eyes finally meet hers, he sees a heaviness there. Tired. Or weary. With maybe a dash of forgiveness—and that’s all he needs. If there’s even a sliver of forgiveness available for him, he’ll take it and work his demon-magic with it.
“Can we talk?” she asks softly as if she’s unsure of his answer.
Standing, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically, as she steps back, putting space between them. “Absolutely.” He steps to the side and holds his hand out, signaling for her to lead the way. She steps forward, leading them to one of the empty offices backstage.
She enters the office first, turning to lean against the front of the desk, her plump ass resting on the edge with her feet crossed in front of her.
“Do I need to close the door?” Declan asks.
“Nah. We should be okay. I only wanted to have a bit of privacy away from the rest of your staff.”
Declan nods. Not knowing what to do with himself, he leans against the door frame, arms crossed across his chest. His stance feels intimidating, which he doesn’t intend, but he can’t think of anything else to do with his hands, and keeping them still prevents him from touching her.
Eliana looks at him, and it’s like he’s stuck in a riptide, hoping to find the surface but unsure if he will be pulled back out again. His eyes dip to her lips, where she’s pulled the bottom one between her teeth and is agonizingly chewing on it. He tucks his hands further under his arms to keep himself from reaching out and pulling the delicate flesh from the vise grip she has it in. Watching her be so concerned about what she wants to say has him aching to run his thumb along her bottom lip and reassure her that everything is okay.
It takes her a moment before she finally releases her lip, leaving red marks along its edge. “I want to start by saying that I’m sorry for shutting you out last night. I’m not sorry about getting upset, but I should have stayed to talk.”
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not, but if we are going to continue figuring out whatever this,” she says, gesturing between them, “is, then you need to know some things.”
His arms fall to his sides as he fights the urge to close the distance between them. He doesn’t know what’s going to come out of her pretty mouth next, but he has a feeling it can’t be good.
“No one other than Kaia and my therapist knows about this, and even then, they don’t know the whole story.” Something flashes in her eyes, but before he can make sense of it, it’s gone. “So please keep it to yourself. I don’t need Everest knowing and going allbig brother, okay?”
“Absolutely,” he says, involuntarily stepping forward and placing his hands on the back of the chair that sits between them.
“You know I moved away from Leeside to go to school and dance professionally.” He nods. “While I lived in Hollybrook, I met someone. His name was Sam.” His hands tighten on the back of the chair, turning his knuckles white, his gut telling him that whatever she’s going to say will not be good. “Things started off well with Sam. We were like any other couple when we first started out. Things were hot and heavy, and we spent so much time together. To anyone looking in, it stayed like that. But it didn’t take long for him to start putting little rules in place. Sam would get angry at me for staying out late or going out for a drink with my dancer friends after a Friday evening show. He didn’t like it when I left in the morning before he got up, so I had to wait for him, even if it meant I would get in trouble from production. He must have watched me enter my passcode as he began to police my phone. Deleting text messages. I’m not entirely sure, but I also think he synced his with mine somehow, and so even if he wasn’t checking it from my phone, he could still see every message that came through. He eventually poisoned me against my own friends and made me believe they didn’t want what was best for me. They were only talking to me to get a piece of my fame, and so on. I soon found myself isolated, with only him as my ‘person.’ I didn’t really clue into any of this until it was too late, and I was too deep. He never hit me, but he grabbed me a few times to prevent me from leaving during an argument.”
Of course. That’s why she shut down.Smoke seeps from Declan, swirling around him in thick waves as he takes this all on. She may have moved away, but if Everest had ever caught wind that she was experiencing this, there’s no telling what he would have done. And without a doubt, Declan would have been at his side. Through gritted teeth, Declan says, “Where is he now?”
She laughs humorlessly. “That does not matter.”
“It very well fucking does.”
She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth again before pushing herself off the desk and stepping toward him. Her hand lands softly on top of his, and his grip instantly loosens on the chair. She takes his hand, linking their fingers. “Declan.” Their eyes meet, and all the fury inside him melts away. Not because he’s not enraged at her ex, because he most certainly is, but because he doesn’t want her to see that side of him. She will only ever get softness from him. “Declan. I appreciate the sentiment, but I left him in the past, and that is where he will stay. What he’s up to now is of no concern to me. I didn’t tell you this to anger you or to seek revenge, but so that you would understand why I reacted the way I did. I had been talking about Sam recently with my therapist, and the way you grabbed my wrist—” Declan starts to speak, trying to apologize, but she holds a hand up to stop him. “It’s okay. You didn’t know. I know that. But yes, the way you grabbed me sent me back to that place. So, I shut down to protect myself. Again, I’m not sorry for getting upset, but I am sorry for shutting you out. I don’t want to do that.”
“I don’t want you to either,” he practically whispers. She smiles, and though he can still see the pain behind her eyes, the smile is there, too. She doesn’t hate him.
She brings their hands down to hang in between them.
“Can I hug you?” he asks tentatively.
She nods. “I’d like that.”
He brings their clasped hands behind her back and pulls her toward him. His other arm reaches around, engulfing her in the biggest hug he can muster, wishing he could erase her experience with Sam from her history. As her head tilts to rest on his chest, he places his chin on top, breathing her in and vowing that she will never face anything like that again.
CHAPTER24
