Declare (Declan Reede: The Untold Story #4) Read Free Page A

front door. It took everything I had not to shout at him in response, but I did flip him the bird when no one else was watching.
    “Daddy, why was Unca Joshie mad at you?”
    “It’s a long story, sweetheart,” Alyssa said, saving me from having to explain. “Granddad and Uncle Josh just take a while to let go of the past.”
    Phoebe nodded as if that were all the explanation she’d ever need. Maybe it would be.
    When we pulled up at Flynn’s, I expected the same harsh words and cold stares I’d borne the brunt of the last time I’d seen him—the same ones that were the only thing both Curtis and Josh were willing to offer me before I left—but he was actually polite, even if he barely spent any focus on me as he ensured Phoebe was fed and had gone to the loo before our drive.
    As Alyssa was loading Phoebe into the car, after she and Flynn had shared a long, teary goodbye, he called me over to him. Before I could think of a few smart-arse responses to the cutting remarks I was certain he’d make, he pulled me into a hug. Shocked by the movement, I stiffened in his hold.
    “I was wrong about you,” he said as I pulled away.
    I narrowed my eyes at him. “What are you talking about?”
    “Not long after you got here, when Alyssa was telling me all about the things that you were doing, I was so sure I knew the sort of person you were. When you came crashing back into her life, like a drunken arsehole, I thought that’s all there was to you.”
    My jaw ached with the pressure I was exerting to stop myself from telling him to fuck off while I waited for him to get to his point.
    “But I was wrong. I’d have to be an idiot not to see the smile on Lys’s face when you’re around.” He looked over to the car. “She loves you. But the thing that changed my mind the most is that you’ve got the same smitten look on your face whenever you don’t think anyone is watching. You try to hide it, but you can’t. You should let your guard down more often, Declan. You might be surprised by how people respond.”
    I cleared my throat, uncomfortable with the intensity of the conversation.
    “I’d tell you to look after them both, but somehow I think it’d be a moot point.”
    Nodding once to acknowledge his words, I moved toward my car. After taking one step, I swung back around. “Thank you,” I said. The words were genuine, but they tasted funny on my tongue. I was sure my face indicated my discomfort in issuing them. “For being there for her when I wasn’t.”
    He ran his hands through his hair and nodded, his mouth twisting downward into a frown. “Let me guess, that’s a thanks, but now you’re back in her life, so I can just get fucked?” He looked like he had a number of arguments against it ready on his tongue.
    “Actually, no.” The words were out before I’d thought about them, and they surprised even me. “As hard as it was to accept it at first, it’s actually nice knowing she has someone else she can rely on if anything was to happen to me. Or if she’s so pissed at me that she can’t see straight.” I chuckled. “Just do me a favour when that happens and remind her of what you told me today.”
    There was no point saying if, because I was certain there would be days I’d piss her off, just like there’d be days she’d get on my last nerve. Just like the night before at the New Year’s Eve party. But those moments would only be temporary, fleeting, and then we’d find our way back to the happy. I understood that now better than I ever had before.
    He laughed. “Sure thing, Declan.”
    I shook his hand. “Just call me Dec.”
    “Don’t let her be a stranger, will you?” he asked. For an instant, his heartache flashed across his face. He may not have wanted her as a lover, but it was clear he loved her in his own way.
    “Never.”
    “And thank you, for, you know, not telling her the truth about the value of the car.”
    I laughed. “Who am I to interfere with a private