Ignoring my question, he nods toward the door, “Can I come in?”
“Whatever,” I sneer, sticking my key in the lock. “You have five minutes.”
He walks into my house like he owns it, touching things as he passes by.
“Stop touching my shit,” I growl.
“Sick shirt,” he says nodding to the faded Propagandhi tee I’m wearing. His eyes stray to my clothes hamper currently overflowing with various other band t-shirts.
“Thanks” I step around him so I can make sure there are no unmentionables on the top of the basket.
He lowers his eyes. “Unless you’re one of those chicks who wear oversized band tees because they make you look edgy, but you’ve never even heard the music.”
“Anti-Manifesto,Failed Imagineer,Victory Lap,” I state, naming three of their songs. “Now can we move on to why the fuck you’re in my house?”
“Okay, so you know their most popular?—”
“Declan!” I growl.
He chuckles. “Always so testy.”
“I swear to God?—”
“Okay, okay,” he says, putting his hands up again. “You should know that Ash has no idea I’m here and would probably try to beat my ass if he found out.”
“Make sure you let me know when that happens so I can watch.”
“Damn,” he whistles. “I can see why he’s so fucked up over you. I saidtry, sweetheart. That little bitch’s right hook is weak as?—”
“Can you just get to the fucking point?”
“Ash talked to your dad.” He says it so casually. Just lazily flicking his finger to detonate a bomb.
“What? When…”
“Not at first. He had his family’s PI find him a while ago, and he tried to tell you, but then you ghosted his ass, so he eventually gave up.”
“Yes, I know all this. He didn’t tell me for a fucking year until it accidentally slipped out.”
Declan rocks back on his heels, and when I look him in the eye, I just know there’s some sort of dick joke he wants to make, but he somehow manages to control himself.
“What you don’t know is that when you came back into his life, he contacted your dad. He wanted to make sure it was really him before he gave you the info.”
“When?” I ask.
“Right after the New Year’s Eve party. The fake one.”
I press my lips into a thin line, resting my hand on the entryway table. “Continue.”
“Your dad said he didn’t want to see you.”
Leave it to Declan not to sugarcoat anything.
“He didn’t?—”
“Want to see you,” Declan finishes for me. “Some shit about having a new family and wanting to leave the past in the past. Anyway, Ash was protecting you. He didn’t want you to get hurt.”
I scoff. “That’s ironic.”
