Page 34 of Shattered Desires

His words echo in my mind, and I’m done letting him have the upper hand.

I walk faster as they enter the room, Declan’s ass swaying perfectly as she walks. Looking down at my watch, I see we’ve still got a few minutes before the fans come back here for the meet and greet.

Before I can stop myself, I call out to her, “Dec?” I stop in the doorway, grasping the doorframe to steady myself. My pulse is beating out of control, so much so that I swear I can feel blood pooling in my ears. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

She immediately spins around and walks back toward me, her eyebrows scrunching together. She swoops her long, dark hair up into a ponytail as she makes her way toward me. I feel Kade’s eyes on me, but I don’t give him the satisfaction of acknowledging him.

The magazine shoot the other day solidified that I want Declan.

Seeing her walk out of the dressing room with Kade was the nail in the fucking coffin that I needed to grow a pair, in my brother’s words.

I’ve thought a lot about this. About telling Declan that I have feelings for her. But I’ve made up a million excuses over the years. Hell, I even left Chicago for five years, and part of that was because I didn’t want to fuck things up with her.

“Declan.” I grab ahold of her wrists and pull her closer to me, erasing any space left between us. “I’m a fucking coward, Dec. I should have done this years ago, and there’s no excuse as to why I didn’t… other than the fact that I couldn’t bear the thought of fucking up our friendship.”

Kade makes a move toward us and says something, but I don’t make it out. Declan pulls one hand free from my grasp, holding her palm up toward Kade to silence him before he can ever start. Her eyes stay trained on me. “What’s wrong?” she asks, and for the briefest moment, I second-guess what I’m about to do. But if I don’t fucking do it now, will I ever?

“Oh, now you’re gonna grow some fucking balls, little brother? Really? It’s too late,” Kade seethes and tries to grab Declan, but she shrugs him off.

“Spence?” Her dark eyes search mine as she stands between my brother and me.

I reach out for her other hand again. “If you want Kade—if you want to settle for some prick who thinks of you as a damn trophy instead of a woman—fine.” Letting her hands fall at her sides, I grasp her face before sliding one hand to the base of her neck. “If you can tell me he makes you feel even a fraction of the way I do when he kisses you, I’ll never touch you again.”

“You won’t kiss me?” Declan says, taunting me. “You’d never kiss me… unless we’re hired for a magazine shoot, that is.” Her dark eyes turn lustful, matching my own. Before I can think better of it, I pull her in toward me, and our lips crash together. Every single hair on my body stands, my chest seizes, and my entire body heats again, but for an entirely different reason.

She kisses me back forcefully, as if she wants this just as fucking badly as I do. Our tongues collide, and she tastes like winter mint gum and cherry Chapstick. My head swarms with a thousand thoughts, and I have to practically will my dick to not stiffen in my pants.

“Took you fuckin’ long enough, Spence!” Miller shouts, but I refuse to break away from her. Her hands move to the back of my head, pulling me harder against her. I lose out the fight with my dick, and I don’t even give a damn.

Declan pulls away first, but her gaze stays locked on mine. Her chest heaves in time with mine, and my eyes trail down to her lips, which are swollen and fucking perfect.

Her face doesn’t give much away, but I can see a fire in her eyes that rivals mine.

“I’ve been in love with you since we were fourteen years old. I’m sick of pretending like I can handle only being your friend. And I’m really fucking sick of my brother’s hands being anywhere near you.” I’m honest, and the corners of her mouth turn up.

She pulls me back into her, and before our lips meet, she whispers, “Miller’s right. It took you long enough.”

Kade storms out of the room, but I don’t give one single shit. He can be pissed. I’m done living by his rules, caring what he thinks. Kade lit a fire under me when he said those words. May the best man win. He’s not the right person for her. She knows it, I know it. Hell, all of us in this room know it.

I refuse to continue wasting my life without Declan when I know she’s the only woman I want.

***

20

***

DECLAN

I woke up this morning to two things. The first being the realization that what happened last night after our show in Boston was most certainly real life. I did not dream about Spence kissing me in a room full of our closest friends and the media.

The second was Isla and Bordeaux screaming in my face that we were taking a private jet to Vegas.

“We’re going to Vegas, bitch!” Isla screams while Bordeaux stands behind her with a bottle of champagne, popping it. I rub my eyes and yank the blanket over my head in the tour bus.

“What the hell time is it? What are you talking about?” My eyes burn, and I realize I didn’t take my contacts out before passing out.

Isla shakes me and pulls the blanket to reveal my bedhead.

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