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“I have no idea, but not trying isn’t an option for me. Do you still want to try, Declan?” Tanner asked. He felt as though he was holding his breath waiting for his friend to answer him.
“I do,” Declan admitted, without missing a beat.
“How do we get Shelby to agree?” he asked.
“We ask her what she wants,” Declan said. “I just hope that the three of us can handle the shit that will be tossed our way for being together.”
“We did just fine in college. You remember the crap people used to say about us back then?” Tanner asked. “It was awful, but we got through.”
“Sure, but we weren’t with a permanent woman in the picture,” Declan said. “I’m worried more about what will happen to Shelby than to us. She hasn’t been in this lifestyle before. She’ll be talked about. Hell, she’ll be called disgusting names and I’ll have to murder some people. Then where will I be?” Declan asked.
“Prison,” Tanner said. “You’ll be in prison, so we’ll have to come up with a better plan.”
A knock at the door startled them and Declan answered it, finding Shelby standing in the hallway in her maid’s uniform. “I’ve come to clean your room, Sir,” she said.
Declan smiled at her and pulled her into the room. “How about you forget about cleaning?” he asked.
“I can’t do that,” Shelby said. “I’m on Claude’s radar for taking off yesterday. If he does a spot check to make sure that I’m doing a proper job on my rooms, and yours isn’t clean, I’ll be fired.” Tanner wanted to tell her to let Claude fire her, but that would probably upset her, so he didn’t.
“We want to talk to you,” Tanner said. “We’ll help you clean while we talk—deal?” he asked.
“All right,” she said. “What do you want to talk about?” He could tell that Shelby was nervous as she started to strip the bed linens.
“Well, not what you’re thinking,” Declan said, taking the dirty sheets from her.
“I’ll admit that I’m worried that you’re going to tell me that you’re both done with me,” she said. Tanner thought that was pretty brave for her to tell them.
“Not a chance,” Declan said.
“We want to ask you to spend more time with us,” Tanner quickly added. “We want you to have dinner with us, and even spend the night—permanently.”
“Permanently?” she asked. “What happens when you two go home?”
Tanner took the stack of clean sheets from her and started making their bed. “We can figure that out as we go. We want you for the long haul, honey. For us, this wasn’t a one or two-night stand. How about it?” he asked.
“I’ve never had a one-night stand,” she said. “But I’ve never had a long-term relationship either.”
“It won’t be easy,” Declan breathed. “You have to know that people will judge the three of us for being together.”
“I get that,” Shelby said. “Some of the staff saw us walking in together the other night and well, every time I walk into the room, I can hear the whispers about us. It’s not pretty, but I won’t let them stop us from being together. I want to see where this thing goes with you both,” she said.
“Well then, you have us both, honey,” Declan assured. “For as long as you can stand us.”
Shelby giggled, “You are both pretty tough to take,” she teased. “And let’s not forget how bossy you are, but I’m all in if you both are.”
“We’re in, honey,” Tanner promised. He wasn’t sure how the three of them would work, but he was determined to find a way. His best friend seemed to be coming alive again more and more, with every second that he spent with Shelby. She was a way for them to find a compromise. She balanced out the two of them perfectly, and Tanner wasn’t about to give that up. And there was no way that he’d give Shelby up either.
