Page 307 of Playing With Fire

“She should've.”

“Probably.”

That earns me a quiet laugh.

“She told me something I should've figured out a long time ago.”

“What's that?”

“That I don't have to choose between being part of this family and loving you.”

Delaney goes still.

I look at her. “I know that doesn't fix what I said last night. But I'm done pretending I don't know what I want.”

Her gaze searches mine. “And what do you want?”

I could give her the easy answer.

You.

Kiss her. Make everything feel better for a few hours.

But she's been asking me to be honest with her for months. She deserves more than another moment I can take back when things get difficult.

“I want to tell Declan,” I say. “Not because he gets to decide anything for us. Because he's my best friend, and I owe him the truth.”

She looks down at her coffee. “And if he's angry?”

“He probably will be.”

“And if it changes things?”

I swallow. “Then we'll deal with that.”

She turns toward me. “Together?”

“Together.”

Her eyes shine.

I reach for her free hand beneath the quilt.

She lets me take it.

“There's something else I need to tell you.”

“Okay.”

I rub my thumb over her knuckles. “You asked me once why I wear twenty-two.”

Her forehead creases. “Bishop.”

“The first answer I gave you was true.”

“Eleven twice?”

I nod. “Eleven twice.”