His eyes searched hers for answers. As he cocked his head, his charcoal longer hair on top swished over his frowned forehead.
She swallowed the big lump in her throat and said, “I’m in love with you.”
His brows shot up, and he took a step back from her. His hands let go of her upper arms. Losing his warmth and the lack of a verbal response made her involuntarily shiver. She looked up through her eyelashes and winced at his expression.
Dec rubbed his neck, exposing his hard bicep next to his ear. A smear of ugly vermillion paint graced his elbow. He shook his head in disbelief.
“Fuck, Squirt. I…”
She swallowed back the tears threatening to overflow her eyelids. After a few hefty blinks, the first damn tears descended. Declan wasted no time and beat her to it as he wiped them away with his thumb.
“Shit…”
He took her cheeks in between the palm of his hands and for a moment, she was sure he would lean in and kiss her. His stormy eyes locked onto hers, but she couldn’t read him. How could he control his emotions like this? Didn’t she affect him as he did her?
“Say you feel this too, Dec,” Bree said. The pleading in her voice was clear.
“I… yes, I love you.”
Bree’s heart rate went sky high, but his pained stare demolished all hope. And his next words shattered her heart into a thousand pieces.
“But not in that way. I’m sorry, Squirt.”
“Twins? But Ronan is so big and… rugged.”
Declan narrowed his eyes at his giggling date, Stacy, as she flung her hazel hair over her bare shoulder. Stacy tried to catch his twin’s eyes, but Ronan ignored her and nudged Declan’s leg with his knee under the table. “Told ye, Dec. These fine ladies like bad boys.”
Fine ladies,his arse.
He raked his fingers through his hair and sighed. This was the last time he would let his brother talk him into going on a double date.
Ronan barged into Declan’s home this evening, declaring enough was enough with his moping. Declan agreed to tag along, although he much rather spend the night at Bree’s with her curly head resting against his shoulder.
Like a second home, Declan used to go over to Bree’s cozy apartment any time during the week. The former best friends would talk about their day, lounge together on Bree’s sofa and binge-watch the latest horror show.
She would tease him about being jumpy during the scary parts. He would tickle her side before pulling her in to rest her head on his chest.
Like a cat, Bree loved to curl herself around him. No words were needed. Until Bree declared her love for him six months ago and even being in the same room turned awkward. Let alone lying entwined on her sofa.
He tried to be considerate of Bree’s feelings for him, but his actions hurt her. He kept his distance so he wouldn’t lead her on. And to be honest, the distance also made sure he wouldn’t give in to his own feelings for Bree.
He’d promised himself a long time ago to never let any romantic feelings mess up the best thing in his life. He’d witnessed the nasty break-up between Ronan and Bree’s sister, Fianna. It ruined not only their friendship; it divided both families for a long time.
But this distance between him and Bree ripped his heart right out of his chest. And the longer their status quo continued, the harder it got to get back to being best friends.
Long, fake nails trailed his hand. Declan gripped his beer bottle so hard, his knuckles turned white. He pulled away from Stacy’s touch and brought his beer to his lips.
He was glad he’d driven separately tonight. Normally, Declan would make the most of his evening. Even during a bad date. He would try to keep the conversation flowing by broaching solely safe topics and laugh at the right moments.
However, Declan’s date showed more interest in his twin. And knowing Ronan, he wouldn’t mind going home with both ladies. His king-sized bed has seen more action than Chuck Norris, Bruce Willis, and Jason Statham combined.
He held back a snort when the two women cackled at another dumb joke from Ronan. Declan loved his twin. But man, did he have a big head. Undefeated in his weight class, Ronan’s attitude got worse by each win.
With his next MMA fight three months away, Ronan indulged himself with the groupies circling him like flies on shit.
“What do you do, Declan?” Stacy asked.
He titled his head and wondered where this sudden interest came from. They sat in a packed Velvet Club for almost half an hour now. Until now, Stacy merely answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no’, never asking him anything in return. She listened in on her friend’s conversation with Ronan and often joined in when Ronan made his date laugh.