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Her breath hitched, but he refused to turn around and look at her. He didn’t want to get his hopes up again. His heart couldn’t take the disappointment if she told him that she didn’t feel the same way about him.
“You don’t have to say anything, Shelby,” he said. “I just thought that you should know how I felt about you. Listen, I have to take Ma to an appointment. You should stay here and think about what you want. I won’t force you to be with me, but I’m not going to stop fighting for you, honey. You’re worth every ounce of fight that I have left in me.” He left before saying anything else—anything that he might end up regretting. He wanted to turn back around and beg her to give him the chance that he was silently asking her for, but he couldn’t stand her rejection. For now, he'd just have to learn to be patient for her answer. He had a feeling that Shelby was worth the wait.
* * *
He was getting antsy staying at his mother’s house, and he knew that it was time to move Shelby over to his penthouse. Hell, he was going to convince his mother to move in with them, but that was going to take a little finessing. Why were the women in his life so damn stubborn? First, his mother was demanding that they stay with her while she had her doctor appointments and now, Shelby wasn’t giving him the promises that he needed from her.
Tanner couldn’t blame her, really. He and Declan promised her the package deal and now, Dec was MIA. How could his best friend ghost them like this? The only thing he could think of was to go to work and try to get some things done before he had to take his mom to her last appointment for the week. Hopefully, they’d have some good news from her treatments and that was all he was waiting for to move him and Shelby to his penthouse. He knew how hard the treatments were on his mother, and if she needed the comfort of her own home for the next few days or even weeks, he’d give her that. Then, when she got the all-clear, he’d ask her and Shelby to move into his place.
The building was empty as he walked past Declan’s office. He hadn’t spent much time in the office since coming back. Knowing that Declan wouldn’t be there felt like a punch to the gut, so he decided to work from home most days. Plus, he’d be able to help take care of his mother and spend time with Shelby if he was at his mom’s place.
He heard a noise coming from Declan’s office and he stopped in front of the closed door, pressing his ear against the wood. It sounded like snoring, but he couldn’t be sure. He turned the knob, finding it unlocked, and pushed the door open to see Declan sprawled out on the sofa in his office, sound asleep.
“Shit,” Tanner cursed, “what the fuck are you doing here, Declan?” he asked.
Declan snorted and sat up, looking around the dimly lit room. “What the hell, man?” Declan asked.
“That’s my question for you, Dec,” Tanner said. “What are you doing here? Where have you been? Do you have any idea how upset Shelby has been that you’ve ghosted her?”
Declan ran his hand down his days’ worth of stubble. “I fucked up,” he admitted. Well, at least he was owning up to it. “I got scared and well, I thought that I was doing the right thing by letting the two of you be together. You know, give you both a chance at normalcy,” he said.
“I can’t believe you didn’t come to us—to me. I could have told you that you were dead wrong. She wants both of us, man. Shelby doesn’t give a fuck about what anyone else says. She doesn’t want normal—she wants what the two of us promised her back in Paris. Can you still give her that?” Tanner asked. He hoped like hell that Declan would say that he could. If he didn’t, they’d both lose Shelby and that wasn’t something that Tanner could live with.
“It’s why I’m here, man,” Declan said. “I was in France and all I wanted to do was get on a plane to be here with her. I promised you both that we’d be a team and I’ve let you both down. It’s why I came here first. I wanted to ask you to forgive me and see if there was any way that we could move forward—the three of us. If you tell me that the two of you have already moved on, I’ll understand. It’ll hurt like a bitch, but I’m the one who ghosted you both.”
“I want you to stay. I want us to give Shelby what she needs but what happens the next time you get cold feet?” he asked.
“I won’t,” Declan swore. “In fact, I think that we should ask Shelby to marry us. Well, marry us both in ceremony—I know that she can only marry one of us legally. I don’t care which one she legally marries—I just want her to be ours. I want to take care of her, just like you and I talked about.”
“I’d like that too,” Tanner admitted. “In fact, it’s all I could think about lately. I begged her to let me take care of her and she’s been avoiding me ever since. She said she wasn’t sure how to move forward without you.”
“Really?” Declan asked. He sounded so hopeful; Tanner couldn’t help his smile.
“Really,” he said. “She wants both of us,” he said. “Although, I’m sure she’s going to give you some shit and make you beg to take you back.”
“I wouldn’t expect any less from our girl.” God, it was good to hear Declan call her their girl again. Tanner missed having his partner around but more than that, he missed his best friend.
“Let’s go get our girl then,” Tanner said.
