43. Declan
Chapter forty-three
Declan
" S o, how's it going with Serenity?" Daniel asks me a month later at The Envelope.
She wants six months, so I haven't pushed for any dates or intimacy yet. I expect she'll ask me when she's ready. She's been the one calling the shots this past month. It's been uncomfortable not knowing what to expect, but I trust her. We do our daily runs together, with Hank, and send flirty texts all day and all night but she hasn't initiated anything else.
I explain as much.
"She's wooing you," Harrison says with a smile on his face.
"Why aren't you wooing her back?" Daniel challenges.
"What?"
"You going to let her do all the work when it comes to building this relationship?"
Well, when he puts it like that... fuck. I was letting her call the shots. This break, this re-do is what she wanted, but he's not wrong. I should absolutely be trying to win her back.
So, while I sit at our table, watching Serenity work, I come up with ideas for how to win her back. While I hated her leaving, she was absolutely right. She deserves her own romantic story. The girl obsessed with happily-ever-afters deserves to be wooed, to be romanced, grand gestures, and a love she never doubts.
I absolutely hate watching her get on the bus at the end of her shift, but I know the bus stop is near her apartment, so she should be safe.
Joseph drives me home in silence, as professional as ever, but I feel a shift in his demeanor. I think he misses her, too. Or at least how she smoothed my rougher edges.
After I wish him a good night, my tired feet walk me into Serenity's library. I've never romanced someone before. I've never thought about how I should be as a partner. For so many years, I've only had to worry about myself, and I never felt the need to change, or work on myself.
I was an asshole, sure, but if people didn't want to deal with me like that, they didn't have to. But Ser? I want to be better for her. I want to be the best possible partner for her.
With that in mind, I pick up the first book in her collection and take it to bed with me. Surely, if she loves these 'meet cutes', and 'tropes' and 'book boyfriends', they should give me some inspiration on how to be better for her.