Finally done, she said, “Her colleague. You know the one… it’s that buff guy.”
His eyes went wide. “That blonde fucker?”
“Yep.” Caitlin seemed highly entertained by Declan’s reaction. She took a bite out of her stinking onion ring and waved the half-eaten thing in his face.
“Time to wake the fuck up, Mills. For all the hurt your stupid ass caused by turning her down, you deserve to do some groveling.”
Rejecting Bree’s love for him had been the right thing to do. It hadn’t been easy, but life isn’t easy. Right?
“You know why I turned her down, Cait.”
Caitlin propped the remaining piece in her mouth and huffed.
“You know why…” he repeated.
Caitlin snagged another onion ring from the bag and narrowed her eyes at him.
“Pff. You’re just scared. And let me tell you: scared isn’t a good look on you, Dec.”
His brother Brennan had said the exact thing. Declan gazed out of the windshield and his eyes followed an elderly couple passing their patrol car.
The only Mills brother who had supported him in this whole situation had been Ronan. His twin said Declan had dodged a bullet by turning down a Ryan girl. It should have been the first clue he’d made a mistake when only Ronan supported his decision.
“You know how it worked out between Ro and Fi. Fianna even went as far as moving to Colorado for a while to live with my uncle Frank’s family.”
“So?” Caitlin cocked a brow.
“So?So, I didn’t want to lose Bree as a friend when all would have turned to shit.”
“Who said anything about things ending between you and my sister? For all you know, you two might have lived to be a hundred together. I still can’t believe you didn’t trust your gut. You just went along with whatever Ro was spewing. I don’t understand how you two are even twins. Unlike Ronan, you would never hurt my sister. At least, you didn’t before you turned her down.”
“Ro still claims that Fi and him were on a break while he was with that girl.”
Caitlin bristled at Declan’s lame excuse for his brother’s behavior.
“He’s nothing but a liar. Ronan Mills only cares about himself. You on the other hand… You’re all about caring for others and doing what’s right. I know that somewhere in the back of your twisted mind, you thought you were doing Bree a favor by turning her down. But if you’d reach deep down into your soul, you’ll know that you’ve made a mistake.”
He wanted to steer away from all talk about Ronan and Fianna and asked what he’d wanted to know from the moment Cait said Bree would go out on a date.
“Is she really into this guy?” It would hurt like hell to see Bree finally move on.
“She’s going out with him tonight, Dec. If I were you, I’d—”
“I love Bree, Cait. I’m not messing things up for her and—”
Caitlin held up a hand and shook her head. “And because of your love for Bree, you need to step in, Dec. You don’t seem to realize the importance of this date. This Craig-person is the first guy she’s going out with since college.”
Caitlin leaned forward and emphasized the word ‘college’. Damn, that was a long time. He always tried to avoid talks about going out on dates. In hindsight, he must have known Bree didn’t like seeing him with other women.
And he knew where he stood in thinking of Bree with some other guy. He hated the idea, but luckily the situation never came up in the past few years. Now he realized it was because Bree didn’t want to go out with someone else. She’d only wanted Declan.
“I hate to say it, but I think there’s a possibility she really likes the guy.”
Not what he wanted to hear right now.
“Then it’s good for her to go out on this date. She needs to move on.” He wasn’t sure if he was persuading Cait or himself.
Cait threw a half eaten onion ring through the cabin and it smacked him on the side of his forehead.